The first beta for Overwatch 2 ended on May 17th. A major criticism was that it plays hardly differently and looks almost identical to the first part. But now players have to play the first part again and suddenly realize: Overwatch 1 is significantly less fun than the successor.
The Overwatch 2 beta has just recently ended. On April 27th, the beta also thanks to Twitch Drops started very successfully. However, shortly thereafter, the mood shifted to a disinterested shrug or even negative.
The community’s conclusion was: Overwatch 2 is hardly different from Overwatch 1, making it a disappointment. The numbers on Twitch collapsed, a whole 99% of viewers turned away compared to the Twitch Drop phase.
But now, with the beta of the second part over, Overwatch fans have to play part 1 again. And the direct contrast apparently leads to a rethink in the community.
Especially on Reddit, the voices are increasing that say: Bring the beta for Overwatch 2 back, because the first part is simply no longer fun.
“Most players have realized that OW2 is actually better than OW1”
How did players find Overwatch 2? We in the editorial office found that in Overwatch 2 almost everything has stayed the same, but it still feels like a completely different game. However, those who have been active in gaming forums, Discord communities, on Twitch or YouTube have heard differently.
In particular, a video by well-known YouTuber Jason Yevgeniy “videogamedunkey” Gastrow has contributed significantly to the image that Overwatch 2 changes many things, but at its core is still the same game. He said, “You can’t escape the feeling that you are still just playing Overwatch 1.”
Here you can see the video from videogamedunkey:
How has the mood changed? Since May 17th, the beta for Overwatch 2 has been over. Anyone who plays Overwatch regularly must therefore play the first part. And now fans of Blizzard’s shooter are realizing that part 2 indeed made significantly more changes than they thought.
On Reddit, you can find posts with titles like “The OW2 beta needs to stay. OW1 is unplayable since I’ve played [Overwatch] 2” (via reddit).
This mood is also reflected in the comments:
- “I believe most players have realized that OW2 is actually better than OW1”
- “After playing so much of the beta and really enjoying it, I now feel like I have almost no fun with OW1.”
- “It just feels worse to play… Also, the wait times for support are much worse.”
- “OW2 feels like what Overwatch was always meant to be: a competitive, fast-paced, adrenaline-fueled game. OW1 is slow, clunky, tiring, and frustrating.”
Overwatch 2 changes many small but fundamentally important things
Why has the mood changed? The reasons for this shift in mood are apparently that players notice in direct comparison how many annoying small things from part 1 are no longer in Overwatch 2.
These were the most important changes in the beta:
- Each team now has only 5 players instead of 6.
- There is now only one tank per team, making DPS characters deadlier.
- Tank shields have been heavily nerfed or completely removed, resulting in more aggressive gameplay.
- Changes like increased speed of all DPS or the passive healing for support heroes also make gameplay faster and more aggressive.
- Most “crowd control” abilities have been completely removed. Players are therefore significantly less likely to be stunned, frozen or knocked back. Sombra hacks now only interrupt abilities and do not completely shut them down.
- The hated game mode “2CP” has been completely removed in Overwatch 2.
All these changes, while individually relatively minor, create a larger domino effect that alters the overall game feel. As a result, many of the heroes that fans know inside and out from part 1 play differently in part 2. Some surprisingly strong characters were the strongest in the beta.
See here which heroes were very strong in the Overwatch 2 beta:
Just now, as the beta is over, many players realize even more what Blizzard has changed with Overwatch 2. But for now, they can only continue playing Overwatch 1, without all the changes. And with many things they didn’t even miss in part 2.
When does the next beta start? This is currently unknown. However, on June 16th, the date for that will be announced. It is also unknown when Overwatch 2 will celebrate its proper release. However, it is expected that at least the PvE part of the game could not be released until 2023.
Regardless of the game itself, there was a huge discussion about Overwatch recently. It was about a tool that Activision Blizzard has used for diversity purposes, and which has caused a lot of criticism:
