Returning to Overwatch after two years

When I think of games that I’ve had the most fun with in my life, a few come to mind. I played the heck out of Halo 2 in the 2000s, tinkering with the ally/enemy habits and game-modifying skulls. I also spent a lot of time with Left 4 Dead 2, packing the game with Steam Workshop mods and frequenting modded servers. Though, in recent years, I had the time of my life with Overwatch, one of the biggest FPS titles around in modern times.

I made a habit out of starting my evenings while still in school (after all my homework was done, of course) around 7:00 PM by hopping on Overwatch and mostly staying in the Arcade section. My most-played mode was Total Mayhem, where every hero’s ability cooldowns are massively reduced, and health bars are doubled. This mode is downright chaos and has its own meta where characters that may be F-tier in Quick Play are suddenly S-tier, as they can now spam their abilities to oblivion. When Total Mayhem wasn’t in the rotation, I’d mess around in the Random Heroes and No Limits modes.

I lost interest in the game when I graduated and could no longer maintain this evening habit. Recently, though, I found all the games I had installed to be tedious and had plenty of free space, so I figured I’d install it and boot it up. After two matches, my muscle-memory kicked in, and I found myself once again smiling, laughing, and getting fully immersed into the world of Overwatch. I had to figure out new heroes Sigma and Echo, but they were easy enough to learn thanks to my quick understanding of their play-style.

There’s no denying that Overwatch is packed with addictive elements. At the forefront is the bevy of loot boxes; this was never necessarily the hook for me, but it was still a thrill to get some flashy cosmetics for your favorite heroes. I particularly love the Glam Moira and 80s Zarya skins, the dances for Lucio and McCree, and so on. What makes Overwatch addictive for me is the interactions: Waving hi to the enemy, voice lines triggering to give you positive reinforcement, and the camaraderie about the game in its arcade modes.

By staying away from competitive modes, I’ve managed to avoid the toxicity that plagues multiplayer games to this day. I commend Blizzard for introducing the endorsement system, as it’s surely curbed some nasty messages in some ways. Nevertheless, deviating from those modes despite my skill level on some heroes not getting to shine, has been worth it and kept me in the game. Whereas others, like League of Legends, burned me out easily.

With Overwatch 2 on the (somewhat distant) horizon and its focus on the co-op (my preferred medium in online gaming), I’m enthusiastic about what Blizzard has in store. In the meantime, Overwatch has been a fantastic way to pass the time and hasn’t seemed to lose a step in the two years I’ve been away from it. Here’s hoping that the next title delivers after its recent delay and provides me with the same joy I get when I fire up Overwatch!