So, Overwatch 2 PvE. A new concept, much sought after, and previously unseen. Let’s go Overwhat we know... Bad joke?
Overwatch 2’s announcement at BlizzCon 2019 was a delight to many and a cause for speculation for others. Many details of the game have been discussed at length, but it’s unclear just how complete the story will be. Blizzard needs Overwatch 2 to be the eventual successor to Overwatch and a big push during BlizzCon was that Overwatch 2 would include an engaging story and a highly replayable co-op mode. In other words, that Overwatch 2 PvE would be a thing.
According to the writers of Overwatch 2, the game promises “a complete story, with beginning, middle, and end”. Lead writer for Overwatch 2 Michael Chu said that the four-player story-based missions would be a “more traditional way to tell a story in the Overwatch universe”
“In addition, we’ve finally moved the story forward after Winston’s recall, and we hope to continue to push events into the future in the stories to come,” Chu said.
It’s this quote that makes us question whether Overwatch 2 will release with a complete story experience upon launch. Maybe, they’ll keep the Overwatch 2 PvE locked behind the future events Michael Chu mentions.
“We like to call the story a Story Experience,” Chu said. “It’s not quite a single-player campaign in that you will be playing the story alongside three other players in co-op. Players will experience the story together with their friends.”
It seems to me that Blizzard will be trying to do something new when it comes to storytelling. Thing is, Overwatch has had consistent and well-done Overwatch Animated Shorts.The question ishow exactly Blizzard intends to incorporate these into the story segment of the game. Would this come later? As it seems, that there is a large focus on the Null Sector and Omnic Crisis in the story video previews we’ve seen so far.
What raises skepticism, however, is that the story missions presented to us seem to follow a very similar fashion. You are running from one area to the next with dialogue here and there, defending or moving through a place, taking out AI enemies during the Archives story mission with enhanced abilities and a level progression.
If this continues throughout different locations of Overwatch when Overwatch 2 releases with its co-op and story “experience”, there are concerns that Blizzard might be going in the wrong direction. Of course, kudos for trying to attempt to tell a story differently, but with what we know now, it remains to be seen if it will be anything different.
Overwatch 2 doesn’t even have a launch window yet. It will come to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One when it launches.
Are you hyped yet?
