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I waited years for this campaign and it’s so disappointing - Overwatch 2 PvE Mode Quick Review

2K View2023-08-12

Overwatch 2 (XBOX/PC/PS)

8.6

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SHOULD I PLAY OVERWATCH 2 PVE MODE?

Play it if you really like Overwatch 2. After a few years of waiting, Overwatch 2’s PvE mode is finally here and it’s probably one of the most disappointing events since the launch of the game itself. It’s not completely terrible or unplayable, it’s just okay. The campaign introduces three short story missions, as well as some challenges that provide loot and experience, but that’s about it. This lack of content, especially after waiting for what feels like a century, was very dissatisfying—and it all ended on a cliffhanger too. How infuriating!

TIME PLAYED

I played Overwatch 2’s PvE mode for four hours. I completed the three missions in less than two hours, with each one taking anywhere between twenty-five to thirty minutes to finish. I’ve mostly played the normal and hard mode in the campaign, but I’ve yet to try expert and legendary difficulty.

WHAT’S AWESOME ABOUT OVERWATCH 2 PVE MODE?

• Protecting the world. I’ve always enjoyed Overwatch 2’s previous events and liked diving into the action, especially in a more immersive environment where I was interacting with characters and finding out more about the storyline. Fighting seemingly endless waves of enemies excited me, especially since I got to see new places and bonk different kinds of robots.

• Robots are trying to take over the world…again. In this campaign, the Null Sector robots have begun their assault on various cities around the world and it’s up to the Overwatch crew to help restore peace. I found the storyline well-made and full of emotion—it’s probably one of the main reasons anyone should play this campaign. The voice actors did a wonderful job of infusing these characters with so much personality. Everything had purpose and seamlessly integrated into, both the campaign story and Overwatch 2 lore.

• Heroes never die. This game has always managed to give me goosebumps almost every time I watched a cinematic or played an event. I’m glad that these emotional highs aren’t lost with Overwatch 2’s PvE mode, but instead are amplified to a certain degree in making this latest endeavor feel utterly valiant and noble. I felt like a hero playing this campaign and that inspiration made me fall back in love with the game once more.

• Lore and more. After completing a few missions, I unlocked different data entries about some of the characters, as well as some other content like chat logs between the Overwatch members and emails. If you’re a lore junkie like me, reading these entries and seeing their group chats was interesting and funny.

• Defeat a legion of robots over and over and over. Although the campaign is quite short, it does have four different difficulty modes and a wide array of challenges to complete for earnable loot and experience points. I personally enjoyed replaying the story missions to level up my battle pass.

WHAT SUCKS IN OVERWATCH 2 PVE MODE?

• Lack of content. After playing the campaign and completing three missions in less than two hours, I’m left feeling dissatisfied and disappointed. I want more action. More butt-kicking. More invasions! I don’t want to wait multiple seasons or possibly until next year just to continue this story. I wish Overwatch 2: Invasion came with more content to relish and that it didn’t end on a cliffhanger. I mean, who does that to someone after waiting multiple years? C’mon, Blizzard!

• Visual quality. If you’ve watched every cinematic and played through a handful of events like me, you’ll notice that the quality of the cutscenes isn’t up to par with what the game has usually delivered over the years. I’m not sure if that’s because it’s a game mode, but the quality feels a lot poorer than any of the content Overwatch or Overwatch 2 has published to date.

💬 Are you going to play Overwatch 2’s PvE mode or will you pass on it? Let me know down in the comments!