I didn’t care much when Overwatch 2 launched. I fell off the original game a while ago, and it seemed like switching to a sequel when the game functioned perfectly in the live-service space was not only a bad idea, but downright irritating to players who needed to transfer over their data, own the correct type of phone, not to mention that the original version was shut down forever. Despite all that, I’ve been hooked back in like a Roadhog victim, but I’m not sure how much longer that can last. I think I’m ready for the single-player campaign now, please.
Online shooters aren’t usually my thing. Overwatch having set heroes takes away from the meta and the stress of having to care about loadouts, and means you can pick to a certain extent based on personality. The reason I play as Ashe is as much because I love westerns and wry cowgirls as it is her gameplay abilities. Overwatch’s aesthetic, low barrier to entry, and quick, varied matches means it’s keeping my interest longer than other online games do. TheGamer is going to have its own Overwatch showdown soon too, so I need to keep up even if I won’t dominate the way I did on Tekken night.
Sooner or later though, I’m going to get bored. Sooner, most likely. I’ll just be done with Overwatch and I’ll tap out. We have a huge swathe of massive games set to launch between now and the end of the year, and helping Ashe move a car around a city isn’t going to keep me away from Bayonetta, Kratos, or Sonic. I’m not sure I’ll be back. Nothing against the game personally, but it has become my go-to game to rewind, even overtaking FIFA. I’m just not sure how long it can hold that position.
Of course, single-player gets me back instantly. I love Overwatch’s aesthetic and it plays well, even if I’m not on a level to dominate every match-up. Being able to make my way through a campaign, flitting between heroes, going at my own pace, not worrying about teammates… that all sounds like the ideal way to play. I get Agents of Mayhem vibes from it all, and as one of planet Earth’s few Agents of Mayhem defenders, that’s no bad thing.
That was always the draw with the sequel anyway for me. I didn’t see the need to give us a whole new game and I won’t be working towards nor investing in the battle pass. I’m already irritated at the obnoxiously long time it takes to earn enough to buy a single skin. The thought of being able to play a story mode was a major appeal, and even though that was dampened by the news it wouldn’t be ready for launch, all things considered it was enough to hook me back in, at least temporarily.
Overwatch 2 is, surprisingly as it sounds, 2022’s surprise package for me. It’s just Overwatch, and I’ve played Overwatch before, so I shouldn’t be too shocked by any of it. But it has managed to pull me in in a way a lot of games I had much higher hopes for have failed to do. My time with Overwatch 2 won’t last forever, but I’ve already seen enough to know that when the single-player portion drops, I’ll be right at the front of the line.