Overwatch 2 got here to Steam at present as a part of a brand new Blizzard initiative to publish a few of its video games on Valve’s platform. The debut is a chance to draw a brand new viewers, however it has additionally opened the gates to an onslaught of unfavourable participant evaluations.
Blizzard’s free-to-play hero shooter has obtained over 6,000 consumer evaluations and a “Principally Damaging” tag on its first day of launch. Many gamers criticize how Blizzard has dealt with the final 12 months of growth, from the transition to the sequel to the gutting of its promised PvE Hero mode. The highest evaluation beneath “most useful,” posted by Steam consumer Ornge, knocks the sport for locking new heroes behind its premium battle cross and for having the audacity to promote the newly launched Invasion PvE missions for cash.
“The sport is enjoyable, I nonetheless really feel the expertise I really like a lot in there, it is simply broken by such intrusive greed [that] I am unable to suggest it to anybody,” they wrote.
Most of the prime Steam evaluations sound like they arrive from present or retired gamers who’re taking this chance to specific disdain for Overwatch 2. Scrolling by way of them, I see loads of memes and ASCII artwork, in addition to folks calling it a “money seize,” suggestions of different FPS Paladins, and one one who hates Hanzo a lot they suppose all the recreation is not price taking part in.
It is a totally different vibe out of your run-of-the-mill unpopular recreation launch as a result of numerous the evaluations are presumably coming from longtime gamers with tons of of hours beneath their belt. It would not be correct to name this a review-bombing, however greater than most service video games on Steam, Overwatch 2’s evaluation part reads like a pulse verify of what gamers are indignant about in the intervening time.
“Downloaded it simply to depart a unfavourable evaluation,” Steam consumer Ignite wrote.
Overwatch 1’s complicated transition to Overwatch 2 made it one of the baffling sequels in gaming, and the cancellation of its PvE Hero mode earlier this 12 months simply made issues worse. Present and lapsed gamers alike have routinely slammed Blizzard for monetizing components of the sport that weren’t monetized earlier than, like locking new heroes on the premium battle cross and promoting $20 pores and skin bundles on the store. So it isn’t shocking to see these introduced up in a majority of the unfavourable evaluations. Disappointments apart, there may be some hope that Blizzard can earn again goodwill over time: Season 6’s new assist hero Illari is immediately enjoyable, and the story missions are fairly neat (however in all probability not well worth the $15).