The criticism of Overwatch 2 continues. The new content is not as good as the old one – especially the new map “Shambali Monastery” has many flaws.
In Overwatch, the second season has started. This not only brought the new tank hero Ramattra but also the new map “Shambali Monastery”, where a payload needs to be moved again. However, many players are not fond of the map due to several minor and major issues. Some features are missing, and there are a few “cosmetic flaws”. As a result, the community jokes: “Shambali looks like an Overwatch map ordered from Wish”.
Where does the criticism come from? The frustration of the community is especially prominent in the Overwatch 2 subreddit. In a post that was supposed to be about the loading screen of the new map, numerous critics point out many problems with Shambali. The article has received more than 8,000 upvotes in under 24 hours, which is quite a solid number for the Overwatch subreddit.
What is being criticized? As mentioned, the main focus of the post is primarily the loading screen of Shambali. Unlike all other loading screens, the “spawn doors” were not removed from this image, making the location not look like a real place anymore, but rather like an “artificial” map. Although this may seem like a small aesthetic detail at first glance, it comes off as “cheap” to many.
But there are also significantly larger, more serious issues with the map. User TripAtkinson reports that Blizzard apparently “forgot” to place the red and blue orientation lines at the start of a match. Such markers indicate to the defending team during the preparation phase how to reach the defensive position and from where the opponents will attack. Especially with a new map, the absence of such lines is frustrating – because without knowledge of the map, one is likely to wander around aimlessly for a while and possibly miss the start of the game.
There is also criticism regarding gameplay. Certain objects apparently do not have “hitboxes”, allowing players to simply shoot or walk through smaller stone bases and elevations.
Finally, many are disappointed with the details of the map. While it can be understood that many assets were simply copied from Nepal, other details are not. For example, as a flying character (like Pharah or Echo), one can see “floating houses” that apparently just stand in mid-air. The payload also seems to “come out of a mountain”. Other details include the numerous bells on the map. Not only do they not make a sound when shot (unlike all other bells in Overwatch), but bullets just pass through them.
Aside from all these flaws, the basic design of the map is well received. It is enjoyable as both an attacker and defender and has many places for interesting tactics and approaches. However, numerous smaller quality issues once again lead many players to believe that a few more weeks of “polishing” were needed for it to be considered a full-fledged and appropriate map for Overwatch 2.
The predominant opinion is that Overwatch 2 has simply released Shambali Monastery “too early” or that the map should have been made playable in a beta test.
Have you already played on the monastery map? Did you notice the small errors and issues? What is your opinion on the map?
