Overwatch Classic takes fans on a nostalgia trip. But the realization: it wasn’t all that great back then.
In Overwatch 2, there is currently an event taking place, called “Overwatch Classic”. In this event, players can experience Overwatch just as it was playable at the time of release. What was initially celebrated by everyone as a great idea turns out, in hindsight, to be quite disappointing.
Because most are just realizing: Overwatch 1 wasn’t all that cool back then.
What’s going on with Overwatch? In Overwatch 2, you can currently play the “Overwatch Classic” mode for 3 weeks. This mode essentially resets the game to the state of the first Overwatch. This means matches are once again played in 6vs6 format, a large portion of the new heroes are not available at all, and the old heroes have their abilities from back then.
Torbjörn can upgrade his turret to level 3, Symmetra buffs her teammates with shields, and Mercy can perform the feared mass resurrection.
How fans are reacting: The reactions can be described as “mixed” at best. Because many who have always wanted a return to classic Overwatch suddenly realize: It wasn’t all that great after all.
Many “cheesy” strategies make the game worse. So writes Mrmeeksees in the Overwatch Subreddit:
Lmao, I don’t even know what I was looking forward to. It’s crazy how many “Quality of Life” improvements they’ve made over the years. We always complain, but damn, we don’t realize how good we have it. These original hero concepts are just trash. Symmetra? What exactly is your ‘healing’ again? Whose idea was it for Bastion to heal itself? Mercy with mass rez?!?
However, it should be clearly noted that this mode is not a “test run” for plans to introduce a 6vs6 mode – Blizzard has made this clear in their blog post. It is currently just a fun event that brings back the nostalgia of the Overwatch launch. The actual plans for the return of a permanent 6vs6 format are unaffected by this mode.
This should also ease some of the conspiracy theorists. Because some have claimed that Blizzard intentionally brought a “bad” 6vs6 mode with Overwatch Classic to show everyone that 6vs6 is a stupid idea. To debunk this, one would only have had to read the official blog post.
