Overwatch 2: release date, new features, characters, gameplay… We take stock of Blizzard’s shooter

Gaming News Overwatch 2: release date, new features, characters, gameplay… We take stock of Blizzard’s shooter

What is the Overwatch 2 release date? On which media?

The anticipation has been high since the announcement in 2018 and the closed beta at the end of June. Finally we can enjoy this FPS as the game will be released in Early Access next month. More precisely on October 4th on a wide range of media: PC, Xbox One & Series, PS4, PS5 and Switch.

What characters will appear 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 at the PVE Event from the Archives: Storm Rising, and the Junker Queen (“Junker Queen” in VO), an Aussie, she’s going to be an aggressive tank.

According to a rumor, there will be a total of 4 new heroes with Sojourn and the Queen of Junkers. Since we have a new DPS and a new tank, we just have to wait for a new support character. At the moment no information on this topic has been published. We will then settle for 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 actually be present in Overwatch 2. On the other hand, they will not be entirely identical to what they were. in the previous game, both in her new style of clothing and in her gameplay. Some will remain almost unchanged, while others will have brand new abilities and even new roles, like Orisa, who sees many of her abilities reworked, but also the hero Doomfist, who becomes a tank.

What will Overwatch 2 gameplay look like?

Unsurprisingly, we’ll 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 that will be the central element of your team. This decision to reduce the number of players during matches would have been made to emphasize the influence of each member of a team on the game. While this information has been much debated, we’ll just have to test this new configuration to see for ourselves.

New multiplayer game modes should appear, but for now we only know of one: Push, where teams have to stay close to a robot standing in the middle of the map. The goal is to make the robot move in one direction per team: one has to move it forward while the other one has to make it go backwards. This is the fastest mode in the game and there should be no ties at the end of the games.

A ping system will be set up to help players communicate with each other, very useful for players who don’t want to or can’t express themselves verbally. Blizzard seems to be hoping that this tool will limit the game’s toxicity.

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 is adding a dynamic system where the weather and a day/night cycle will be present.

What will be the story of Overwatch 2?

The game’s story remains basically the same, but a new PVE mode brings more elements to the theme. The PVE has been confirmed but will not be presented to players until 2023. It will be the direct gateway to the game’s lore, as it was announced that the characters’ story would be deepened there. At the moment we don’t know if these PVE games will be paid or not.

We were used to the Overwatch story in the first game through a transmedia system. In other words, a story that evolved and took shape through videos, comics and other media that allowed us to see our heroes in a different light through non-game means. We can then wonder if the PVE mode could do that Whole will take the place of game story or whether transmedia persists and takes on new forms.