The new PvE experience shows off some fun moments with the returning cast of Overwatch heroes.
What makes Overwatch 2 a proper sequel to the original is that it will expand the franchise's scope with a fleshed-out PvE experience and dedicated story missions. These co-op focused engagements pit you and a squad of other players against AI enemies. Shifting towards a more Destiny-style experience, you'll also be able to level up and customize aspects of your favorite heroes as they contend with the twists and turns of the evolving story. The biggest, and likely most welcome change that this new experience will bring, is that this new pillar of Overwatch will allow for the characters to show off more of their backstories and growing relationships with the other heroes.
"It needed a change. Obviously, we've been really seeing new heroes and new maps and arcade, all these great features throughout time, but we've always had this big idea and we wanted to do this big, much larger game that couldn't quite be contained in the normal little patch cycle," said Goodman. "It was great initially when we had some of the cooperative stuff we released as live releases with special events, and seeing the response there was just like, 'Okay good people are on board. This is really cool because this is what we really wanted to do,' and just seeing the response here today has been amazing, so we're really, really excited."
Overwatch 2 is about reframing its larger story in ways that the original's PvP focus could not. The prospect of PvE engagements isn't entirely a new thing in Overwatch. The limited-time events known Archives were essentially Overwatch's story missions and brought a squad of players together to fight off waves of enemies in narrative-driven adventures. As it turns out, these limited-timed events in the original game were just a sampling of what was to come with Overwatch 2. In the sequel, these have been evolved into new narrative-driven missions and stand-alone co-op engagements, which have a squad of players fight through levels full of enemies and mini-bosses. Overwatch 2's PvE also features a more in-depth character customization system, allowing you to select different perks and modifiers for the roster--it seems like Overwatch 2 is becoming a more fleshed out and varied game.
At Blizzcon, we got to play a story mission set in Rio De Janeiro. While this map is a well-known place for PvP engagements, on this occasion, it's also hosting a fleshed-out story mission involving Tracer, Reinhardt, Mei, and Lucio, as they face off against minions from Null Sector, a growing extremist group bent on causing chaos in the world. As you're fighting through the stage, bashing, slashing, and shooting different AI robots, you'll hear banter from the various characters.
The standout moment from the level was the climax, which had our team work together to destroy a reactor inside Null Sector's ship. While we were battling waves of monsters, we used our character's various skills to defend ourselves, and the new gadgets found in the mission allowed us to toss special grenades and activate turrets. It gave me similar vibes to Left 4 Dead, which focused on passive, in the moment storytelling to show off character moments and changes in the environment. However, a significant difference with Overwatch 2 is that these familiar heroes will evolve and grow over time.
"There's a lot of meat to Overwatch 2, but we thought it was really important that something like the new PvP mode Push and that all the multiple new maps that we're adding for each of the core game modes, will be available to fans who have been so loyal to us," said Hawley. "Overwatch 1 players can still play with Overwatch 2 players, even if they're not into all that other stuff. They'll still be able to get to play all of the competitive content add into Overwatch 2."
At its core, Overwatch 2 was still very much the Overwatch you're familiar with, albeit with a new look for many of its heroes and some new locales to explore. The demo at Blizzcon 2019 showed off a lot of what made me enjoy Overwatch--those fun and exciting moments that we often see dramatized in Blizzard's trailers. Though we saw brief glimpses of those character moments in the familiar PvP engagements, the characters get to shine more in the new PvE mode, which I really dug. I could see myself spending a lot of time in the new missions, which will show off more backstories and new plot threads with the various heroes.
Author's Website: https://www.gamespot.com/
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