Feed: Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Feed Link: https://www.engadget.com/
---

Title: An Overwatch: Classic event will take fans all the way back to the
beginning

Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2024 17:15:38 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/gaming/an-overwatch-...

For the first time in over two years, Overwatch 2 players will be able to
group up in teams of six. A three-week event featuring that format starts
tomorrow, November 12. But thereΓÇÖs a twist: you wonΓÇÖt be able to select
Kiriko or Sombra, or battle it out with an additional player on each side on
Push maps just yet. ThatΓÇÖs because in Overwatch 2ΓÇÖs first real taste of
6v6, Blizzard is taking us all the way back to the beginning with a limited-
time mode called Overwatch: Classic.

You will be able to experience Overwatch almost exactly as it was upon its
May 2016 debut. That means you can choose from the first 21 heroes, who all
have their original kits and abilities. That means Hanzo loses his Lunge jump
but regains his dreaded Scatter Arrow, Bastion and Torbjorn are vastly
different than they are now and Cassidy's Flashbang once again stun locks
enemies for a moment.

Symmetra reverts to being a support who can teleport allies almost anywhere
on the map from the spawn room, while Mercy can will once again bring five
dead teammates back to life. Ultimate abilities will charge up faster too.

In addition, just like in Overwatch for a brief period at the very beginning,
there are initially no limits on hero selection. So if you and your teammates
want to run with a composition of four Winstons and two Lucios, have at it.
However, this will only apply for the first few days, after which Blizzard
will apply the single hero limit rule for the rest of the event. Games will
take place under the Quick Play ruleset, rather than the Competitive format.

The original 12 maps will be available too ΓÇö including the assault maps
that Blizzard retired from the main modes during the transition to Overwatch
2. While assault maps are still available in the Arcade and custom games,
you'll once again be dealing with the notorious choke points of the otherwise
gorgeous Hanamura, Temple of Anubis and Volskaya Industries.

Blizzard Entertainment

Things won't be exactly as they were in May 2016, however. Original maps that
have seen major reworks over the years ΓÇö Dorado, Numbani, Route 66 and
Watchpoint: Gibraltar ΓÇö will appear as they are in the current game. You'll
only be able to use the original default Overwatch skins and no, there are no
loot boxes. The user interface remains the same too, which hopefully means
the ping system will still be in place.

Blizzard doesn't plan for this to be a one-and-done deal. There will be other
Overwatch: Classic events in the future, focusing on various moments in the
game's history, like the infamous triple-tank, triple-support GOATS meta.
This limited-time mode is also separate from the other 6v6 tests Blizzard
plans to run in the coming months as it looks to measure players' interest in
that format and garner feedback.

There's a good chance that this limited-time mode will bring some lapsed
players back into the mix, even just for a sip of nostalgia. I first played
Overwatch several months after its debut, so it'll be fun to see roughly how
the game felt at the very beginning. I will be instalocking Mei every match
so I can remember what it's like to freeze an opponent before giving them a
cheeky wave and firing an icicle into their skull. Ah, memories...

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/gaming/an-overwatch-...
the-way-back-to-the-beginning-171538261.html?src=rss

---
VRSS v2.1.180528