The popular first-person shooter game “Overwatch 2” brought a refreshing taste to the game, introducing new mechanics and bringing back a fan-favorite item. Last week’s update, “Honor & Glory,” gave players hope.
Aaron Keller, game director of “Overwatch 2,” unveiled in a recent livestream what the rest of the year will look like for in-game content. Future in-game costumes to obtain, game mechanics to keep character and map diversity and more collaborations with other companies are in the works for the next three major updates. In the newest update, the community received incredible news of a much-needed change, giving characters a refreshing take with perks.
Perks are used to change how characters are played normally. A character who can teleport now can do it twice as much, another who once had a shield can bring it back again, and one can heal their allies despite not being able to prior.
This addition has given players a new experience with characters they have known for years. I enjoy how they added this and tried various perks on the characters I play.
Some feel weaker than others, but future seasons can always fix things up. The perks do a great job of making a character feel the same while giving it the change it has been needing. I’m excited about how future updates will mix things up with new characters and perks joining the roster.
Loot boxes were a beloved item in “Overwatch” as they gave everyone a fair chance to obtain in-game items during regular games or events such as Halloween and Christmas. No matter what time of the year it was, loot boxes were an exciting thing to open up when obtained. It did have its controversy as it was considered gambling, but many factors could make people agree or disagree.
“Overwatch 2” was released in 2022, which saw the end of loot boxes and brought in microtransactions to replace it. Microtransactions are payments made to buy virtual items for the game. The main item players buy would change the way their character looks.
Players were furious at the change as it came off as corporate greed. Not everyone could give $20 every time a new costume dropped. Loot boxes have returned after two years, and the feeling of obtaining four random items from one is a great feeling. The feeling of spending ridiculous amounts of money on just one item is gone. All players need to do is play the game to earn them.
I was always a fan of loot boxes as it was never difficult getting them or the cosmetics available at the time. “Overwatch 2” made a great change that was desperately needed, as it was losing its player base with terrible recolors of existing cosmetics and bad game-balancing decisions.
Its newest competitor “Marvel Rivals” skyrocketed in popularity during its release back in December. This was the primary reason why changes were made as soon as possible.
As a player of “Overwatch” and “Overwatch 2,” I’m delighted to see the company make changes that will be for the better. This is just the start as there is more to come that any veteran or new player wanting to try it out will be excited for.
March will bring another collaboration with Le Sserafim, a popular South Korean girl group, as the game will get another set of cosmetics based on them. Their first collaboration in Nov. 2023 gained massive popularity, with their song “Perfect Night” gaining 116 million views on YouTube.
I cannot wait to see what’s next for the game later this year and encourage anyone who may be a fan of this type of game or curious to give it a shot. It is early into the new update so I’ll rate “Overwatch 2’s” Season 15 “Honor & Glory” a four out of five Loper stars.
