Overwatch 2

There is plenty of good to be found in Overwatch 2 and in the heat of battle the intoxicating multiplayer dynamics that fans love are there to enjoy all over again. But if the first Overwatch taught me anything, it's to dream a bit bigger about what games can be, and there is still a bit more dreaming to be done here.

Overwatch 2 plays brilliantly. It’s a wonderful shooter full of depth, with unique heroes to master, maps to learn, and hours of your life to lose all over again.

Overwatch 2 is mostly composed of content that fans have already been playing through for years, which is disappointing despite how incredibly fun that content still is. For long-term players, Overwatch 2 may feel more like a glorified update with problematic progression and roadblocks to enjoyment that didn't exist in the original game. In its current state, Overwatch 2 is more product than art, but there is still plenty of time to turn things around between now and whenever the game's 1.0 version launches.

The fundamentals are all set for Overwatch to shine as it once did in the multiplayer shooter scene once again, and the future definitely looks bright with what is set to come over the following months. I can’t review Overwatch 2 on what it could potentially be though, and instead can only judge what’s in front of me at launch – and that is a very fun team-based FPS, packed full of charm and love for the world it takes place in, and one that I can’t wait to lose hundreds more hours playing in.

Overwatch 2 still has the same enjoyable gameplay loop and incredible character design from Blizzard’s original hero shooter. But this free-to-play update is iterative, rather than groundbreaking.

Overwatch 2 isn't quite a sequel, nor is it a patch – but it is brilliant. A whip-smart reinvention of what came before, breathing life into the franchise and reminding us why we loved it in the first place.