The long awaited sequel to Overwatch finally released on October 4 and let’s just say, it was a disaster. 

 The game servers suffered multiple DDos attacks that led to queue times that took multiple hours and caused constant disconnections from the game. The queue reached highs of 900,000 and was just a nightmare to get through. The issues were resolved in a few days, but definitely left a sour taste in the mouths of fans. 

 Along with these issues at launch, there have been many other minor issues like players losing cosmetics, changes in stats and playtime, and many issues with heroes. The hero who has had the most issues is Bastion, who at the time of the article being written is currently unavailable to play.

Once players were able to enter the game, it was nothing too extraordinary. It is pretty much the exact game we got in the beta.

With the game’s release, there are three new heroes, Sojourn, Junker Queen, and my personal favorite and the newest of the three, Kiriko.

Kiriko does something that many new heroes haven’t been able to do, changing gameplay in a match. For the person playing her this is a positive change, but for literally anyone else in the game she’s a nightmare. She does a shocking amount of damage for a support hero, even out damaging most DPS. This means that enemies are getting shredded by a healer and teammates are getting shredded because she’s not healing. 

Speaking of her healing, this is one of the hardest abilities to master in the game. There is so much delay on it and you have to actually aim it which leads to a lot of healing just being dumped into a wall. Her ultimate and her suzu though are very helpful and can actually turn fights.

When it comes to the game as a whole, the gameplay is pretty much the exact same as Overwatch 1. The change to 5v5 did help speed up the game, but it didn’t completely change the feel of the game. Hero changes have also made a minimal impact, with the only heroes being majorly affected being Orisa, Bastion, and Doomfist, who definitely took the biggest hit.

The new Push gamemode is mid in my opinion. It does add an aspect of a lot of back and forth gameplay which is fun, but it really depends on what kind of a team you get. It can be fun but playing it with randoms is a complete nightmare. 

The new maps that were added are some of the best things the sequel added, with my favorite being Midtown. The map just feels so much bigger than old maps, and despite having a futuristic theme, it does make you feel like you’re duking it out in NYC. There are plenty of alleyways and side paths that make this make a flanker’s dream and can lead to amazing team fights.

Like every game since the unfortunate rise of Fortnite, Overwatch 2 introduced a battle pass. I much preferred the loot boxes to the battle pass because you didn’t have to buy the loot boxes to get items. It was an option, but it wasn’t worth it and players were better off just earning them. The battle pass just feels so much more underwhelming and unfortunately, it’s not something that can just be changed.

Overwatch 2 is still a fun game, but that’s because it’s just Overwatch. I wish that Overwatch 1 didn’t have to go permanently, but at least we still get something. The small amount of changes makes this game feel less like Overwatch 2 and more like Overwatch 1.5. Let’s just hope the game’s lifespan goes better than its release.