Overwatch 2 is a free-to-play first-person shooter developed by Blizzard Entertainment that was released on Oct. 4 and is the sequel to 2016’s hero shooter Overwatch. The game is available to play on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

Overwatch 2 was announced at BlizzCon on Nov. 1, 2019, with plans for players to retain all cosmetics that they unlocked in the previous game.  The game was also originally planned to be on sale for $60 but was later announced as a free-to-play title. Blizzard planned to release the game into parts, with the PvP portion to be released as a beta form in April 2022 and the PvE portion to come later.

Overwatch 2 is a fast-paced hero shooter where players are split into two teams and each player selects a “hero” from a roster of 35 characters. Each hero is organized into 3 different classes: damage, support and tank. The damage class is responsible for offensive efforts and eliminating enemy heroes. The support class is responsible for healing and buffing teammates. The tank class is responsible for protecting the team and making space for them. Each character or “hero” has a set of skills which are made up of active, passive and ultimate abilities. Overwatch 2 also fully supports cross play, which allows players from various consoles to play with one another.

Overwatch 2 is very much like its predecessor Overwatch but with minor changes. In the original Overwatch, it was designed for six-on-six team combat, with two of each class on a team. This system was changed, as the number of tank slots is reduced by one, which brings the number of players per team to five. Developers hoped that removing one tank would speed up gameplay because they believed six players on each team was too slow.

The game now requires players to confirm their identity through a SMS message on their cell phone linked to their account. Those with prepaid cellular plans, particularly in the US cannot use SMS on their plans which locks them out of Overwatch 2.

The game is pretty much the same as the original, but it is enjoyable. 3/5.