By: Hy Luu

SAN JOSE, CALIF. –Overwatch 2, an upcoming sequel to the critically acclaimed Overwatch 1 made by Blizzard Entertainment, launched its PvP game mode on Oct 4. Here is what’s new in the sequel.

One of the biggest changes made in the new game is the removal of a tank in the game, turning it into a 5v5 team shooter instead of a 6v6 from the previous game. Their reasoning for this major change stemmed  from the community feedback from Overwatch 1.

Another major change is the removal of loot boxes from the game entirely. Players are now forced to buy the skin outright, instead of getting them for free simply from playing the game. This change is a part of their process of transitioning the game to a free to play business model, one anyone can download without paying a $40 price tag like the original game.

Now, let’s look at the gameplay changes. Ow2 added 5 new maps and a new gamemode, Push, which is a take-on escort with the change that both sides can use. The gamemode consists of one robot in the middle which both try to control and push to the enemy side, whichever team pushes the robot closest to the enemy’s spawn wins or if the robot reaches its destination then they will instantly win.

Other gameplay changes include the addition of three new heroes as well as reworks for some of the previous heroes. The new addition includes Junker Queen, a new tank hero that specializes in close combat by boosting the team’s speed to engage in close combat and to chase, and her ultimate. A new DPS character (DPS refers to the role of the hero in this case an attacker) called Sojourn which is a copy of Soldier 76 with a railgun for her alt attack, But she is much more maneuverable than soldier with her jump slide ability letting her disengage or push low enemies. Her ultimate includes auto charge for her railgun, letting her melt the entire enemy team.  Last, but not least, the newest support Kriko has arrived. Kirko has an offensive support archetype, she can dash to allies across the map, and is the only characNew ter that has the ability to cure status effects from allies. 

These aren’t all the changes coming with the release, the second major update for Overwatch 2 is the addition of the PvE gamemode which has been delayed to Q4 Dec. 2023.

Students of Silver Creek hold a variety of opinions about the newly released game from . Mizaki Nguyen, a Junior, says, “I don’t play the game myself but I like watching people play on stream.” Miles Weinberg, another Junior, claims, “I believe that Overwatch 2 does not have enough content to be considered a new game. Although, the revamp has attracted a lot more attention to the game.” Some other students reached a consensus that Overwatch 1 should’ve just been updated instead of releasing a whole new game.