Overwatch 2 is here! Sort of! The beta for the game's multiplayer portion dropped this week, letting folks try out the dramatic changes Blizzard has made to the competitive side of the hero shootin' sequel.<\/p>\n
But despite a 5v5 format change<\/a>, a controversial new scoreboard<\/a> and dramatic hero reworks, Overwatch 2 is still very much Overwatch, with both games set to share the same multiplayer. The real <\/em>Overwatch 2, one might argue, is set to come with the game's full PVE campaign, featuring story-driven co-op missions that pit our heroes against the Omnic hordes.<\/p>\n That side of the game is still its biggest unknown. And, unfortunately, Overwatch doesn't have a great track record in telling strong, ongoing stories.<\/p>\n What it does have is a big, memorable cast. After all, Overwatch is the ur-hero shooter. Hardly the first game to stuff itself with a cast of quirky, distinct characters (what's up, TF2 and every single MOBA), but it definitely marks a pivot from what shooters were to what they became. In a post-Overwatch landscape, even games like Battlefield and Call of Duty are all-but-required to have unique characters with their own names, kits and backstories.<\/p>\n “The presentation was impeccable, and a lot of care went into defining characters.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n It's easy to see why. At the time, the Overwatch cast hit fandom hard, with Pixar-quality short films introducing us to a diverse roster of heroes and villains. The presentation was impeccable, and a lot of care went into defining characters through personality, silhouetting and thematically-defined playstyles.<\/p>\n The fandom around these characters was ravenous. People latched on hard to their faves, and there was excitement over seeing where Blizzard would take this cast of esports mech pilots, time-travelling sprinters, mad Irish scientists and hyper-intelligent gorillas next.<\/p>\n The problem was, Blizzard didn't really take them anywhere.<\/p>\n See, Overwatch has stories. But from character trailers to comics and in-game “Archive” PVE missions, they're almost uniformly backstories, developments happening safely in the past where they can't affect the current moment. The game's very first 2014 reveal trailer remained the most recent event in the game's canon until Overwatch 2's 2019 Zero Hour announcement<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Mei](\"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/overwatch-2-needs-to-pull-its-story-out-of-the-past.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>Archive footage<\/h2>\n
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Present tense<\/h2>\n