Everything We Know about Overwatch 2 so Far
One of Blizzard Entertainment’s major announcements from the recent Blizzcon is the existence of Overwatch 2. Based on its name, it should come as no surprise to learn that said title is a follow-up to the multiplayer-oriented first-person shooter. However, there are some surprising characteristics of Overwatch 2 that interested individuals should know. Consider these examples:
No Release Date
Currently, Blizzard Entertainment has no release date in mind for Overwatch 2. In part, this is because the title is still very early in the video game development process, meaning that it is still much too soon for estimates to be made on said subject matter. However, it should also be noted that Blizzard Entertainment doesn’t seem to be in a real rush to get Overwatch 2 out on to store shelves both literal and metaphorical as soon as possible. Instead, the statement is that they prioritize making it “great” over making it as fast as possible. Something that makes sense when one considers just how much a bad launch can impact such titles.
Don’t Expect a Lot of Updates Anytime Soon
Speaking of which, interested individuals shouldn’t expect a lot of updates about Overwatch 2 in the near future. This is because Blizzard Entertainment has already said that it will be going dark on this particular topic for the time being, which makes sense if the upcoming title is still as early in the video game development process as it has been made out to be. In other words, don’t expect any further Overwatch 2 information until it actually comes out.
Not a Conventional Sequel
It remains to be seen what exactly Blizzard Entertainment means when they say that they want to “redefine what a sequel means.”However, there are definite indications that Overwatch 2 won’t be a conventional sequel. For instance, the launch of Overwatch 2 won’t mean an end of updates for its predecessor. Apparently, some of its new content will be made available in its predecessor, while the rest will be exclusive to it. As a result, there are some people who have compared Overwatch 2 to being more of an expansion than a sequel, but at this point in time, it is still much too soon to say for sure.
Will Have Story Missions
There has been a fair amount of story material put out for Overwatch. For proof, look no further than the various animated trailers that have been released for various characters. However, said trailers have been rather disjointed. Never mind how they are still side material rather than the main thing. Overwatch 2 promises to have an actual story within the game itself. As for what the story will look like, well, suffice to say that the titular organization will be reuniting within the title for the purpose of fighting off Null Sector, figuring out what is going on with Null Sector, and confronting other rising threats in the process. Unsurprisingly, this has caused some people to make comparisons between Overwatch 2 and The Avengers, which to be fair, isn’t an unjustified comparison by Blizzard Entertainment’s own admission.
Will Have New Mission Types
Naturally, Overwatch 2 will have new mission types. One excellent example would be the new story missions, which are pretty much exactly what they sound like. However, please note that these missions are still multiplayer missions, meaning that interested individuals will be teaming up with one another to overcome Null Sector as well as other threats. In other words, the new story missions will be PVE rather than PVP.
Besides story missions, there will be other PVE missions as well called Hero missions. These missions are not connected to the story. Instead, these are meant for maximum replayability so that interested individuals can play them again and again. Something that is further encouraged by the fact that players will be able to level up characters in this particular mode for the purpose of unlocking customization options for them. It is unknown whether this customization will carry over to PVP missions, but so far, the suggestions seems to be, “No,” presumably because of the major balancing headaches that it would cause.
Speaking of which, PVP missions will be receiving more content. In particular, it has been mentioned that Overwatch 2 will be featuring a new kind of PVP mission in the very literally named Push mode, in which two teams will be competing to have an Omnic push barriers back and forth across the map. Of course, new objectives mean new strategies, so it is perhaps unsurprising to learn that Push mode will apparently be “very flanky” in nature thanks to the various ways to approach the Omnic on its route. In any case, those who are curious about what Push mode looks like might want to check out the gameplay trailer, which gives us what is by far the best indication of what can be expected from the upcoming title.
Will Have New Characters
Of course, Overwatch 2 will have new characters for new options. So far, the one new character to be confirmed is Sojourn, though said confirmation is still very light on details. For example, we know that she isn’t a new recruit like a lot of other characters in the game but rather someone who was already working with the titular Overwatch back when it was still a sanctioned organization. In fact, keen-eyed individuals have pointed out that she was already brought up in the “Recall” short as well as Ana’s backstory, so it will be interesting to see how she relates to other Overwatch veterans. Besides that, it is interesting to note that Sojourn is a Black Canadian woman, which should come as welcome news for people who have been asking for a black female character in the series for some time.
Further Thoughts
As stated earlier, the information that we have now is pretty much all of the information that we will have about Overwatch 2 for some time to come. Due to this, it is best for interested individuals to let further new come out when it comes out instead of getting too stressed out about the matter. In any case, even if people don’t follow the whole thing too closely, the high-profile nature of Blizzard Entertainment releases means that they can expect any further news about the upcoming title to spread like wildfire, meaning that there is no chance of them missing it.
