Game News Overwatch 2: release date, new features, characters, gameplay… We take stock of Blizzard’s shooter
Published on 09/11/2022 at 18:29
A wait so long that we had started to lose hope, but finally we see the light at the end of the tunnel! Overwatch returns for a brand new opus, still signed Blizzard, but which will include some exclusive elements. Release date, gameplay, story… JV’s editorial staff takes stock of Overwatch 2.
Summary
- What is the Overwatch 2 release date? On what media?
- What characters will be in Overwatch 2? Will there be the same characters as in the first game?
- What will be the gameplay of Overwatch 2?
- What will Overwatch 2’s story be?
What is the Overwatch 2 release date? On what media?
The anticipation has been running high since its announcement in 2018 and its closed beta at the end of June. Finally, we will be able to revel in this FPS since it is next month that the game will be released in early access. More precisely, on October 4, on a wide choice of media: PC, Xbox One & Series, PS4, PS5 and Switch.
What characters will be in Overwatch 2? Will there be the same characters as in the first game?
Two new characters have been announced: Sojourn, a Canadian DPS heroine, already well known to players since she was present in the PVE event from the archives: Storm Rising, and the Junker Queen (“Junker Queen” in VO), a Australian which will be an aggressive tank.
According to a rumor, counting Sojourn and the Queen of Junkers, there should be 4 new heroes in all. Since we have a new DPS and a new Tank, we just have to wait for a new support character. For the moment, no information has been released on the subject. We will then content ourselves with the two officially announced characters.
Regarding the old characters, Tracer, D.Va, Hanzo… Don’t worry, all your favorite characters from the first opus will indeed be present in Overwatch 2. On the other hand, they will not be quite identical to what they were. during the previous game, both in their new style of clothing and in their gameplay. Some will be almost unchanged while others will have brand new abilities and even new roles, such as Orisa who sees many of her abilities revisited but also the hero Doomfist who will become a tank.
What will be the gameplay of Overwatch 2?
Unsurprisingly, we will find the usual PvP, like the previous opus. However, say goodbye to your 6th teammate because the game will no longer be 6v6 but 5v5. You should expect a team type with 2 DPS, 2 support and only one tank which will be the central element of your team. This choice to reduce the number of players during the games would have been put in place to accentuate the impact of each member of a team on the game. Although this information has been much debated, we just have to test this new configuration to form our own impression.
New multiplayer game modes should appear but for the moment, we only know of one: Push, where teams will have to stay near a robot that stands in the middle of the map. The objective is to make the robot move in one direction per team: one will have to move it forward while the other will ensure that it goes backwards. This will be the fastest mode in the game and there should be no ties at the end of games.
A ping system will be set up to help players communicate with each other, very useful for players who do not wish or cannot express themselves orally. Blizzard seems to hope that this tool will limit the toxicity of the game.
6 new maps have been announced: Midtown, in New York, Circuit Royal, in Monaco, Rio, in Brazil, Toronto, in Canada, Colosseo, in Rome, and a map in Portugal. In the beta, Toronto and Colosseo are maps with the new push mode. In addition to these new maps, Blizzard adds a dynamic system where the weather and a day / night cycle will be present.
What will Overwatch 2’s story be?
The game’s story remains basically unchanged but a new PVE mode will bring more elements to the subject. The PVE has been confirmed but will not be presented to players until 2023. It will be the direct door to the lore of the game because it has been announced that the history of the characters will be deepened there. For the moment, we do not know if these PVE games will be paying or not.
We had been accustomed to Overwatch’s story through a transmedia system in the first game. In other words, to a story that was developing and taking shape through videos, comics and other media that allowed us to see our heroes in a different light via non-game means. We can then ask ourselves if the mode PVE will take the entire place of the lore of the game or if the transmedia will continue and take new forms.
