Overwatch 2 Needs More Unique Mission Gimmicks in PvE Like…

Summary

Overwatch 2's sixth season, "Invasion," introduces three PvE missions that take place in the home cities of iconic characters, allowing players to choose from a small roster of heroes for each mission.
The Ironclad mission features Torbjorn as the main figure, showcasing his engineering skills with unique turrets that add depth to gameplay, resembling a tower defense style rather than typical shooter gameplay.
The Ironclad mission's gimmick sets it apart from other PvE missions, and future missions could benefit from incorporating hero-specific gimmicks to add replayability and depth.

Overwatch 2 recently launched its sixth in-game season, which has been dubbed "Invasion" by Blizzard. This name refers to the long-anticipated PvE missions that Season 6 introduced to the title, with there currently being three PvE experiences that players can enjoy. These missions take place all around the globe, primarily within the home cities of some of the franchise's most recognizable characters.

This allows each PvE mission of Overwatch 2 to feature an small roster of heroes that players can choose from for each experience. Some heroes clearly take center stage for some missions, such as Torbjorn's presence in the Gothenburg-set mission called Ironclad. Ironclad features a fantastic twist on Torbjorn's iconic turret-building mechanic, and this is something that should absolutely be repeated for other heroes in future missions.

Overwatch 2 PvE: Gothenburg's Torbjorn Turret Twist

In Overwatch 2's lore, the damage hero Torbjorn is renowned for his engineering skill, being a key figure in developing Earth's defenses during the Omnic Crisis. Particularly around his home city of Gothenburg, Sweden, Torbjorn masterminded an arsenal of defenses in the way of turrets that greatly aided the city against hordes of Omnic robot armies.

This is explored in the Ironclad mission of Overwatch 2's PvE experience, with Torbjorn essentially being the main figure of the mission. To hint at Torbjorn's engineering prowess, the mission allows Torbjorn to utilize turrets that do not exist in the standard PvP gameplay that makes up Overwatch 2's main gameplay loop. For example, players can deploy freeze and knockback turrets during Ironclad, giving a greater level of depth to gameplay that is closer to a tower defense experience as opposed to the usual high-octane shooter gameplay of Overwatch 2.

These varied turrets give a greater sense of replayability for the Ironclad mission, offering more variety to standard gameplay as opposed to just having different enemy types from the franchise norm. It is a shame that the other PvE missions of Overwatch 2 did not adopt a similar gimmick for their featured heroes, and this is something that can be remedied in future missions that will be added to the title.

Future Hero Gimmicks that Overwatch 2 Could Employ

Each Overwatch 2 hero has a unique background and skillset that sets them apart from one another in-game. This diversity ultimately offers the perfect pool to pull from in terms of what hero gimmicks could be employed in future PvE missions for the title.

Gimmicks could have easily been present in the two other currently available PvE missions for Overwatch 2, such as Lucio's Sao Paulo mission. With Lucio being a DJ outside of his work as a hero and having an affinity for music, the Sao Paulo mission could have featured something like deployable DJ decks that heal or boost damage for heroes within its area of effect.

Even heroes like Reinhardt would be ripe for their own mission gimmicks, with a Germany-set mission potentially allowing other heroes to temporarily suit up in Reinhardt's crusader armor. The possibilities of these kinds of gimmicks are near endless thanks to Overwatch's deep lore and hero variety. As the only mission currently showcasing such a gimmick, it is no wonder why Ironclad is so popular among the current PvE mission roster of the game. While it is important that these gimmicks are not overused, there is clear utility in future PvE missions featuring hero-specific gimmicks of their own.