Overwatch will forever and always be a shooter classic, but my heart sinks when I think about how its once pristine legacy has been dragged through the dirt in service of a future that right now still seems so unclear. I formed so many memories around long nights experimenting with new heroes or diving into seasonal events with life-long friends by my side. Few games have ever managed to ignite that sense of passion within me, and that alone is an achievement worth celebrating. Now, as the servers prepare to switch over for good, I’m left mourning the empty void that once defined an entire part of my life.

Once you let me combo my Earthshatter with somebody else’s ult, or give me a Zarya who bubbles me as I charge headfirst into a massive mech, I’ll be happy. Maybe I’ll even put another 1,000 hours

With the DLC throughout the game's life cycle, it has 14 different classes. You get plenty to choose from, and as Overwatch has its fair share of heroes, you will have a similar experience of experimenting and finding who works best for

Overwatch’s biggest strength is how good its characters feel to play. Unfortunately, playing them online can feel unrewarding, specifically because of how toxic its player base is. Fortunately, Overwatch 2 has a unique opportunity to rectify this by offering the same high-octane gunplay without forcing you to hemorrhage SR purely because people on your team are being total dicks. It doesn’t need a complex story, or a million maps, or anything like that. All it truly needs is a basic, solid structure like Mass Effect 3 had, where you can run wild with your favourite heroes and use abilities to your heart’s cont

After getting annoyed at Competitive, I found myself longing for those co-op events - specifically, the Archives ones where you proceed through a linear level taking on waves of enemies. I realized that, for me, the joy of Overwatch isn’t necessarily tied to competitiveness - it’s about facing reasonable challenges with people who are interested in working together, and playing a character you absolutely love the feel

Considering the servers of OW2 will be shared with the original game, it would stand to reason that OW2 should contain cross-play among multiple platforms as well. There is, of course, the issue of the PC setup typically offering the superior experience, leading to some player advanta

Basically, I don’t think a fixed, single-player campaign is going to work for Overwatch 2, if that’s what Blizzard is currently planning. On the flip side, a robust hero shooter with an emphasis on cooperative play could do phenomenally well. I’m thinking of Mass Effect 3’s multiplayer, where you get to choose a type of enemy, a map, and a difficulty. After that you consciously work with your teammates to take on waves of baddies while completing a variety of objectives. It’s so simple, and yet so effective, because the moment-to-moment satisfaction is completely tied to using your abilities. I still think playing as an Asari Vanguard in Mass Effect 3 was the most fun I’ve ever had in a multiplayer game - it’s a shame BioWare isn’t bringing it back for Mass Effect: Legendary Edit

But it doesn’t matter. Sure, it looks as if we’re about to take the point and win the match, but then our McCree gets killed mid-Deadeye and rage quits. As soon as he leaves, xTRiCkSHOTZZ69x phones it in and it’s 6v4. We’ve gone from Manchester United to nine-year-olds who kick a ball around a waterlogged pitch on Sunday mornings. I hate

Put it this way: I’m a Reinhardt main. I want to use my shield to close distances and control engagements. When I spot an opening, my job as main tank is to communicate that to the rest of the team so we can push forward as a unit. Ideally, the engagement process will go smoothly and I’ll have a support player keeping me healthy while I swing my Rocket Hammer as if I’m a massive, precision-engineered beyblade. I’ll synchronize my Earthshatter with a DPS ult so we can team kill and lock down the po

But in online play - specifically, PvP - click this link now isn’t how it works. Unless you’ve got a full six-stack made up of you and your friends, chances are people won’t care much about cooperating. And so, that entire aspect of Overwatch that I love - knowing my main inside out and fulfilling my role in tandem with the characters I’m surrounded by - dissipates into thin

This will seemingly reside somewhere in-between a completely new follow-up and an evolutionary "expansion" of the first game, as it'll coincide with the original OW and will actually share a collective PvP pool with that game. The focus this time will be on all-new PvE missions, in addition to some new stages , heroes, and spruced-up visu

For Overwatch 2 players, you have options for similar team-based shooters. The formula gets twisted and turned in all sorts of ways for a fresh take, but you can find the core elements that will scratch that itch. No matter what your platform of choice is, there is something for