To say that Overwatch 2 has had a tough begin to its lifecycle could be an understatement. After an absolute dearth of recent content material on the tail finish of the unique sport’s lifecycle, Overwatch 2 did little to regain favor with its group, because of polarizing adjustments to the sport’s construction and the cancellation of the extremely anticipated Hero Missions. Nevertheless, with Season 6, titled Invasion, the Overwatch 2 improvement workforce is making big strides to launch a content material drop completely jam-packed with new modes, new maps, and even a brand new help hero. Following my unique take a look at Overwatch 2’s Toronto Story Mission again in June, I used to be as soon as once more invited to go hands-on with Overwatch 2: Invasion – this time, with your entire Invasion replace.
New Hero
Illari, Overwatch 2’s new Assist hero
Whereas all Overwatch 2 seasons add chunk of content material, those that add a brand new playable hero actually really feel like an even bigger occasion. Whereas Season 6: Invasion would really feel like a monumental milestone even and not using a new hero, we additionally get a brand new hero on prime of all the opposite new content material that arrives at present. Illari is a help hero hailing from Peru who can harness the facility of the solar.
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With photo voltaic powers on her aspect, Illari gamers can use her major hearth to deal injury along with her single-shot rifle or use her secondary hearth to heal allies with a beam. Consequently, her gunplay most resembles some center floor between Ana and Ashe. Illari’s rifle would not pack a lot of a punch, however her therapeutic beam can attain medium vary. When mixed along with her skills, Illari looks like a strong selection for healing-focused Assist gamers.
Illari’s Therapeutic Pylon means acts like a mixture of Torbjörn and Symmetra’s turrets however with therapeutic pictures as an alternative of damaging ones. As a result of it may be destroyed, strategic placement is vital. Nevertheless, if you happen to can place it within the excellent spot over a management level or different crowded area, it may be a useful addition to the workforce. If issues get a little bit too shut vary on your tastes, you should utilize Illari’s Outburst, the place she blasts within the course she’s shifting, additionally pushing again any close by enemies. This chance did not current itself throughout my hands-on along with her, however I think about this will likely be annoying when combating an enemy Illari close to a pitfall.
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Illari’s Final goals to unleash full solar energy. Captive Solar permits Illari to levitate above the battlefield and let loose an explosive ball of photo voltaic power. If an enemy is hit by this preliminary blast, they’re slowed. But when the targets take sufficient injury through the Final window, they may explode, resulting in huge injury.
I had lots of enjoyable and an honest quantity of success with Illari throughout my hands-on time with Overwatch 2: Invasion, however I am not but sure the place she’ll fall on my listing of go-to heroes. I do not anticipate she’ll supplant Moira as my fundamental Assist hero, however within the occasion that Moira is taken, I will most likely leap into the sneakers of the solar-powered Assist.
Story Missions
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Overwatch 2: Invasion’s Story Missions
It is uncommon that the centerpiece of a season that receives a brand new playable hero is not the hero themself. Regardless of how distinct, enjoyable, and funky Illari is, the primary attraction for Invasion is sort of actually the brand new PvE content material that joins the suite of Overwatch 2. This long-awaited addition brings three Story Missions as a part of the Invasion bundle, plus a bonus co-op mission known as Underworld. The story missions happen in Rio de Janeiro, Toronto, and Gothenburg. The maps for these missions are the largest ever created for Overwatch, to the purpose that Blizzard wanted to introduce new streaming tech to make them playable.
The primary Story Mission, Resistance, takes us to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for a Lucio-driven mission. Right here, you’ll be able to select between tanks Reinhardt and Winston; DPS characters Echo, Genji, Mei, and Tracer; and Lucio as the only help hero. Half of the mission takes place on the bottom in Rio de Janeiro and the opposite half up in an Omnic ship. When you’re up within the ship, your mission is to destroy the core, however a battle in opposition to a shielded Charger Omnic awaits. As a way to take it down, it’s essential trick it into attacking the core, then lay into it whereas it is shocked. It is a simple however enjoyable affair.
Subsequent up is the mission I performed final June throughout my unique hands-on session at Blizzard’s headquarters. Happening in Toronto, Canada, the mission, titled Liberation, facilities on Sojourn and her fellow Overwatch heroes rescuing Omnics from abduction. These intense battles culminate with a daring escape by a flood-with-enemies prepare station and park. Over the course of the mission, you face off in opposition to numerous sorts of Omnics, together with Null Sector grunts, Artillery bots, and the formidable and horrifying Stalkers. From my playthroughs, this was the longest of the three missions, clocking in at round half-hour for a single playthrough on a more difficult problem.
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Liberation additionally contains the biggest roster of selectable characters of the three Story Missions included on this season. On this mission, you select between D.Va, Reinhardt, Winston, Zarya, Cassidy, Echo, Genji, Mei, Pharah, Sojourn, Tracer, Baptiste, Brigitte, Lucio, and Mercy. You’ll be able to learn my in-depth impressions of Toronto’s Liberation mission right here.
In stark distinction to the large roster of selectable heroes in Toronto, the ultimate mission of this batch, Ironclad, going down in Gothenburg, Sweden, is essentially the most restrictive. The truth is, the 4 gamers can select from solely 4 characters: Reinhardt, Bastion, Torbjörn, and Brigitte. This mission is distinct from the earlier two because it’s extra of a payload escort mission than merely working from area to area. You need to transfer the payload from large turret to large turret throughout Gothenburg in hopes of destroying the looming ship. Nevertheless, when you get their consideration, Torbjörn and the crew have to prepared the large weapons in his workshop, and the mission turns right into a wave-based position-defense mission on the finish, full with turrets that may be moved across the workshop by any teammate (although they’ll solely be repaired by Torbjörn in the event that they maintain injury).
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Although it is the obvious video-game mission of the three Story Missions and incorporates the fewest playable characters, it was maybe my favourite of the three. I beloved messing round with elemental turret placement through the protection sections, and the extraordinary wave-based assaults supplied a number of white-knuckled moments dispersed among the many satisfaction of mowing down the encroaching Omnics.
Different New Modes
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Underworld, Flashpoint, and Extra
On prime of the Story Missions, Invasion additionally provides a further PvE mission within the type of Underworld. This mission takes place in an expanded model of the fan-favorite PvP map King’s Row. Your mission is to filter the corrupted Omnics whereas restoring energy to a bot, then escorting that robotic to a knowledge terminal. In fact, alongside the best way, you must take out a ton of Omnics as you feed batteries to and escort the pleasant robotic. Alongside the best way, you will battle among the Omnics you see within the Story Missions, together with Artillery and Stalkers, earlier than a culminating protection of the info terminal in opposition to waves of Omnics (together with Orisa and Ana robots).
Underworld is not almost as narrative-driven because the Story Missions included on this season – your heroes do not actually chat with one another in any sort of contextualized manner, and the presentational parts are minimal all through – however if you’re within the gunfights, they undoubtedly really feel like an extension of the Story Missions. Underworld additionally options modified missions, like one the place it’s essential keep away from fixed airstrikes or one other the place your Final solely prices if you stand in particular zones on the map. These add small wrinkles to make the missions really feel a bit totally different every playthrough, however do not count on as a lot from Underworld as you get within the Story Missions.
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However PvE is not all this season brings. Season 6: Invasion additionally provides Flashpoint, a brand new aggressive multiplayer mode. This new multi-control-point mode options 5 totally different management factors, that are activated separately. Every match begins with the middle management level. As soon as that is captured and held for lengthy sufficient, a random different level on the map prompts. The match goes on till one workforce is ready to seize three of the factors. Very similar to different Management matches, one of the best moments come from the frantic contested-point sequences and extra time blitzes. I beloved participating within the firefights that performed out when one workforce was desperately making an attempt to carry onto the purpose as the opposite workforce gave all the pieces that they had. I am trying ahead to enjoying extra of Flashpoint as soon as the general public servers are dwell. Flashpoint will likely be accessible in each Open and Position queues, and options Suravasa and New Junk Metropolis maps at launch.
Whereas I did not get an opportunity to expertise them for myself, Invasion additionally provides Hero Mastery Missions, with a plan to introduce new missions each few seasons. These missions purpose to check your abilities with a selected hero, with leaderboards to see the way you stack up. You too can earn emblems for heroes and improve their ranges by finishing challenges within the new participant development system launched on this season. Identify playing cards are earned at ranges 8, 15, 30, 75, 125, and 200 for every hero, and whereas some leveling is on the market within the PvE modes, a lot of it should be executed in PvP modes. There’s presently no method to buy the development rewards, in order that they should be earned completely by leveling.
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Overwatch 2’s New Technique
Whereas Invasion actually looks like a tentpole launch for Overwatch 2, it reveals that there is nonetheless loads of fuel within the tank of the once-thriving sport. Had Blizzard stored up with content material of this high quality over the past a number of years, the group would possible be in a a lot better place at present. Whereas not each season can realistically add this a lot content material, this season is the primary time in an extended whereas that I’ve felt longing for the way forward for Overwatch 2. Will probably be attention-grabbing to see how Blizzard continues after this season, although sport director Aaron Keller tells me that Invasion indicators a change in philosophy for the best way the workforce will launch content material going ahead.
“We do not need to save up content material and reserve it for these large releases years down that line; that is what a field launch could be for a sport,” Keller informed me in June. “As a result of we at all times need to be supporting the dwell sport, however on the similar time, there’s this actually massive launch developing for Season 6, and so that is the fruits of us engaged on lots of issues that, for years prior, we had been saving and us recognizing that we do not need to at all times be saving content material like that. And I believe that is additionally the workforce making an attempt to get to some extent the place we begin shifting the live-service portion of the sport away from simply being about Heroes and map releases. We do need there to be extra to an Overwatch season than these two elements as the largest a part of that season. That is what the Story Missions are for Season 6, and now we have plans for different seasons sooner or later that are not essentially round Story Missions. They are often round different components of the sport.”
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Overwatch 2: Invasion arrives at present throughout each platform that Overwatch 2 is on. You’ll be able to play Overwatch 2 and far of its content material without spending a dime on PlayStation 5, Xbox Sequence X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Swap, and PC. Nevertheless, if you wish to play these new Story Missions, it’s essential drop no less than $15 for the Invasion Bundle, which additionally contains $10 value of Overwatch Cash and a Legendary pores and skin for Sojourn. There’s additionally a $40 Final Invasion Bundle, which incorporates all that plus further skins, Overwatch Cash, and an additional Battle Move.