Summary
The first batch of story content forOverwatch 2has arrived, and unsurprisingly, fans are focused on the missions themselves. Plenty are praising the impressive amount of newOverwatch 2dialoguewithin the levels as well as the cutscenes and storytelling. On the negative end of the spectrum, the lack of replayability for the missions and the repetitive “stand and shoot waves of enemies” structure has been criticized. As fans wait to see how Blizzard will follow up on Invasion, it is worth looking at one aspect of PvE that deserves a lot more appreciation: the menu.
Truly great video game menus are a rarity, as for the most part, they serve as little more than a gateway to reach the actual content offered by a title. While there are certainly exceptions, like the originalCall of Duty: Black Ops’ brilliant main menuand its escapable chair, most of the time players will simply choose from a list of options that is surrounded by a nice piece of artwork before moving on.Overwatch 2’s missions menu offers a bit more, though, and the thought that went into it shows the passion behind the game’s PvE offering.
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Overwatch 2’s Charming Menu is Worth Exploring Fully
AtOverwatch 2’s missions menu, players will find a few things. At the center is the standard missions terminal, which can be clicked to actually access the game’s PvE missions and adjust their difficulty levels. To the left isOverwatch 2’s lore codex, which Blizzard announced ahead of its debut, and it certainly lives up to expectations. Players can find several bits of lore about the enemies alongside journal entries written by the heroes themselves, with players getting to learn what they think about each major moment in the story. However, it is the other features that are the most charming.
Once players take control ofthe genius gorilla Winston- the hero that leads the reformed Overwatch and sits in front of the mission terminal - they will likely see a third terminal on the right side of the screen. If they interact with this item, they will find a number of voicemails, chat logs, and e-mails. Some of these items include fully voiced requests from help by minor characters inOverwatch 2’s lore, while others will see heroes discussing a story mission’s biggest moments with one another.
Within this section of the menu, players will find things like a message from Lucio’s father where he thanks the team for making his son a member. Considering that fans only knew a bit about Lucio’s dad prior to this, and were unsure if he was still alive, this message was a nice surprise. Beyond that, there are a lot of humorous moments, like Tracer typing so fast that there are plenty of typos orZaryainstantly asking where the gym is after she arrives at Watchpoint: Gibraltar.
While the e-mail section and lore codex would be good enough features on their own, especially since they can be accessed whenever players arequeuing up for anOverwatch 2matchto help kill some time, Blizzard added another nice touch to the menu. Below the screen, players can find several items to touch, and each interaction brings about special voice lines from Winston and Athena. The picture of Overwatch will see Winston saying he’s glad to have a team again, while the hologram will have Winston commenting on new Omnic enemies that appear in PvE. A small train toy results in some comedic lines, as do the various food and drink items like Peanut Butter and Nano Cola.
Blizzard did not need to add any of these cute Easter eggs and conversations toOverwatch 2’s mission menu, but its decision to do so was an excellent one. Little features like this that lean intoOverwatch 2’s personality and highlight its colorful cast do a lot to help the game stand out. As PvE continues to grow, hopefully Blizzard keeps adding e-mails and text messages while also swapping in more desk items that provide cute Winston dialogue. Even in Seasons without playable PvE content, expanding the missions menu to add some tiny bits of lore could keep story lovers engaged.
Overwatch 2is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
