The studio is preparing a sequel to the shooter and promises that all the accumulated in the first Overwatch players will go to a new game.
The rumors have been confirmed – Blizzard is developing Overwatch 2 with story missions, heroic quests and a new PvP mode. The game was officially unveiled to the public on November 1 at Blizzcon 2019. The reveal was supposed to be a surprise, but several messages appeared online shortly before the show from insiders who spoke on condition of anonymity about the novelty. But now we know that Overwatch 2 will be released on October 4 this year. And you should know that a lot of Overwatch players will return to the game, and your best advantage in the rank grind at the release of the game will be Overwatch 2 boost, it will help you play along with super skilled players, and only enjoy the victories!
Storyline
Since the release of Overwatch, players haven’t stopped pestering the developers with requests along the lines of “well, when we’ll learn more stories about the characters, we need a story!” That’s how the team came up with the idea of creating a sequel a few years ago. Overwatch 2 primarily relies on PvE content, pumping characters and re-passing the quests. For the announcement the writers have lined up a chronology of events that take place in the videos and comic books: from the rise of the machines to the moment when Winston summons the heroes.
PvE content
Players will participate in both story missions and heroic missions. The events of Overwatch 2 begin when Mercy, Reinhardt, Genji and other characters come to Winston’s recall in Paris. The heroes will have to fight the Null-Sector, an elite group of the Claw. However, they will be far from the only enemies.
The new part of the story is not served in fragments, as it was before – all the main things are revealed directly in the game. Kaplan has a department which is responsible for creating commercials for Overwatch 2. Video will be shown at the beginning and at the end of quests.
The main difference between story missions and heroic missions – the set of characters. In one case it is limited to the story, in the other – arbitrary. Special items will be available in story missions. Equipment can be found in containers scattered throughout the level.
During the closed panel, the developers showed off three items from the chest:
Epic Level. “Healing Station”: restores 1000 units of health to the characters around you. Recharge time is 90 seconds. Can be used several times per battle.
Legendary Level. “Caustic Grenade”: Enemies hit by the grenade will take 60% more damage.
Epic level. “Defensive Barrier”: Creates a barrier with the strength of 2000 units. Charge time is 90 seconds. Can be used several times per battle.
Heroic missions are scattered all over the world. They will regularly change the objectives of tasks and abilities of the enemies. At the same time, they are all built around certain personal stories. How many of them there will be is unknown.
Progress System
How exactly the character development system will be designed is not clear – it is still being tested. The developers are experimenting with different abilities of the characters. For example, Reinhardt can arrange an earthquake not on the segment of the territory in front of him, but in the area around him.
May has the ability to freeze opponents as they emerge from Cryostasis. Or land in an ice ball and roll directly on the enemies.
Hanzo has a killer combination – he can light up foes and aim a homing arrow that attacks all opponents.
And these are far from the only examples from the presentation. So far, the characters have two branches with three skills, which can be combined as desired. However, this is far from the final option. All passive improvements will only be used in PvE.
PvP
“Push” is a new PvP mode, partly similar to the “Escort” mode from the first Overwatch. Two teams compete for a robot, which starts in the middle of the map and has to push an object. The task of the competitors is to capture the robot and bring it to the opponent’s base. However, according to the developers, matches rarely end this way. More often the winner is the team that by the end of the match has pushed the robot further across enemy territory than the opponents have managed to do.
As an example, the new mode showed a new location – “Toronto”. There are control points on the map, to which you need to push the object. Once that happens, the team unlocks new locations to revive. When intercepted, the robot moves much faster than when it needs to push the object.
On the maps themselves, created for “Push,” there are a lot of places where you can take a shortcut. That’s why characters that aren’t well-suited to other modes will be relevant there. For example, Reaper.
New heroes
All we know is that his name is Sojourn and she’s from Canada. Along with her will be added several other characters like Junker Queen. We won’t see the rest of the characters until the game’s release.
Maps
“Toronto”, “Gothenburg”, “Rio de Janeiro” and “Monte Carlo” are the new PvP battlegrounds in Overwatch 2. All of these maps are still in development. However, at the presentation, sports fans have already noted a reference to the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team, playing in the NHL.
Revamped engine
The creators of Overwatch 2 completely modified the architecture of the engine. Thanks to these improvements the game will have not only elaborated PvE-missions, which was not possible before, but also the updated character models.
Interface
Another element that is completely redesigned. The authors want to make it minimalistic and informative.
Connection of the first and the second Overwatch
All earned wealth from the first Overwatch will be transferred to the second one. The developers consider it unfair to leave out an important piece of content for gamers. Especially when it comes to unique rewards.
And most importantly. In multiplayer battles Overwatch 1 and Overwatch 2 owners will play with each other. The developers confirmed this on Twitter. The company is not going to deprive the owners of the first part – they will get the same PvP content, as the owners of OW2. French streamer AlphaCast assures that over time, both clients will be combined. However, the owners of the first Overwatch will not be able to play in PvE-modes.
Now fans have quite logical questions: “What do they offer to pay for? For the new engine and PvE content? And how much will the sequel cost? And the owners of the first part will do a discount? What’s the full price?” All in all, Blizzard has at least one more presentation to make offline or online. What’s certain is the list of platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.