Overwatch 2: Invasion Impressions – The Biggest Update Yet

Overwatch 2’s lifecycle has been rough to say the least. Overwatch 2 has had a rough start to its lifecycle. There was hardly any new content towards the end of the first game’s lifespan. The game structure also changed dramatically, and Hero Missions were cancelled. Overwatch 2’s development team has made huge progress with Season 6 – titled Invasion – releasing a massive content drop that is jam packed with new modes and maps. There will even be a brand new hero. Following my exclusive look at Overwatch 2’s Toronto Story Mission back in June, I was once again invited to go hands-on with Overwatch 2: Invasion – this time, with the entire Invasion update.

New Hero

Illari: Overwatch 2 Support Hero

All Overwatch 2 Seasons add some content but the ones with a playable new hero feel more special. The Season 6 Invasion release would be a milestone without adding a hero. However, the addition of a hero is an added bonus to all other content. Illari, a Peruvian support hero who is capable of harnessing the power the sun.

Illari’s solar power allows her to use either her main fire, which is her one-shot gun to do damage or her secondary fire beam to heal allies. As a consequence, Illari’s gunplay is a mix between Ana and Ashe. Illari has a weak rifle, but she can shoot a healing beam at medium distance. Illari is a great choice for players looking to heal.

Illari’s Healing Pylon ability acts like a combination of Torbjörn and Symmetra’s turrets but with healing shots instead of damaging ones. Strategic placement is important because it can be damaged. If you place it over an area with a lot of people, such as a control or arena, then it will be incredibly useful. Illari has an Outburst that she can use if the situation gets a bit too close for comfort. She blasts her weapon in the same direction as she moves, pushing any enemies back. I did not have this opportunity during my time with Illari. However, I’m sure it will come in handy when Illari is fighting an opponent near a pitfall. 

Illari’s Ultimate is a weapon that aims to release full solar power. Illari’s Captive sun allows her to levitate above the battle and release a ball of explosive solar energy. The initial blast will slow down any enemy that is struck by it. But if the afflicted targets take enough damage during the Ultimate window, they will explode, leading to massive damage.

Illari is a good hero, and I found it fun to use. I don’t know yet where I will place Illari on my list. Moira won’t be my go-to Support, but if Moira gets taken away, I will probably take Moira’s place.

Story Missions

Overwatch: Invasion’s Story Missions

Rarely is the new hero the center of the season. Invasion’s main draw is the PvE-only content, which is a welcome addition to Overwatch 2’s suite. As part of this long-awaited update, three Story Missions are included in the Invasion bundle. There is also a bonus cooperative mission called Underworld. Story missions are set in Rio de Janeiro and Toronto. They also take place at Gothenburg. Blizzard introduced new streaming technologies to enable these maps to be played. 

Resistance, the first Story Mission in Resistance takes us to Rio de Janeiro Brazil. This mission is driven by Lucio. Here, you can choose between tanks Reinhardt and Winston; DPS characters Echo, Genji, Mei, and Tracer; and Lucio as the sole support hero. In Rio de Janeiro, the first half takes place at ground level and in an Omnic vessel. As you climb into the ship and destroy the core of the Omnic, a Charger Omnic with shields will be waiting for you. To take it out, trick the Charger Omnic into attacking its core and then attack it when it is stunned. This is a simple but enjoyable game.

The next mission is one I played during an exclusive hands-on at Blizzard headquarters last June. Taking place in Toronto, Canada, the mission, titled Liberation, centers on Sojourn and her fellow Overwatch heroes rescuing Omnics from abduction. The intense fights culminated in a daring escape from a train station filled with enemies and a park. You will be fighting against a number of Omnics during the course of this mission. These include Null Sector grunts (robots), Artillery Bots (bots), and even the terrifying Stalkers. This was, based on my own playthroughs of this mission, the longest. It took me around 30 minutes to complete a playthrough at a harder difficulty. 

Liberation offers the greatest number of characters that you can choose from among the Story Missions of this season. This mission allows you to choose D.Va Reinhardt Winston Zarya Cassidy Echo Genji Mei Pharah Sojourn Tracer Baptiste Brigitte Lucio Mercy. My detailed thoughts on Toronto’s Liberation can be found here.

Ironclad in Gothenburg is the last mission in this group. It has the least number of heroes to choose from, in stark contrast with the large roster in Toronto. In fact, the four players can choose from only four characters: Reinhardt, Bastion, Torbjörn, and Brigitte. The mission differs from the two previous missions in that it is more of an escort payload mission rather than just moving from one arena to another. This mission requires you to move your payload across Gothenburg from one giant turret into another in order to defeat the approaching ship. However, once you get their attention, Torbjörn and the crew need to ready the big guns in his workshop, and the mission turns into a wave-based position-defense mission at the end, complete with turrets that can be moved around the workshop by any teammate (though they can only be repaired by Torbjörn if they sustain damage).

Although it contains the smallest number of playable characters and is perhaps the most obvious of all three Story Missions in the game, this was my favourite. The defense section was a lot of fun, especially when I played with the elemental turrets. And the wave-based attack sections were a great way to get sucked into the thrills and excitement.

The Newest Modes

Underworld Flashpoint and more

Underworld, a PvE-only mission added to Invasion’s Story Missions. This mission occurs in a version expanded of King’s Row – a PvP map that is popular with fans. You must clear the Omnics and restore power to one bot while you escort that robot to the data terminal. You’ll have to fight a lot of Omnics along the way as you feed the batteries and accompany the robot. As you progress, you will battle the Omnics that you saw in the Story Missions. This includes Artillery and Stalkers. Then, the final phase is a defense of the terminal from waves of Omnics.

Underworld isn’t nearly as narrative-driven as the Story Missions included in this season – your heroes don’t really chat with each other in any kind of contextualized way, and the presentational elements are minimal throughout – but when you’re in the gunfights, they definitely feel like an extension of the Story Missions. Underworld has a few modified missions. For example, one in which you have to dodge constant airstrikes and another that only allows your Ultimate to charge when standing on specific areas of the map. Underworld’s missions are a little different, with small tweaks that add a new twist to each game. But don’t be expecting as much as the Story Missions.

But PvE is not all this season brings. Flashpoint, an entirely new multiplayer competitive mode is also added to Season 6 Invasion. This multi-control point mode includes five different control-points, each of which is activated in turn. The match always starts at the control point in the middle. After the center control point is captured and successfully held, another random location on the map will be activated. It continues until one team has managed to take three points. The best Control moments are the intense contested point sequences, and the overtime blitzes. It was great to engage in firefights when teams were desperately fighting for the same point while the opposing team gave it their all. Flashpoint will be a game I enjoy playing once the servers open to public. Launching with Suravasa and New Junk City, the game will feature both open and role queues.

Invasion has also added Hero Mastery Missions. I haven’t had a chance yet to try them, but there is a plan for new missions to be introduced every season. They are meant to assess your skill with a particular hero and include leaderboards that show how you compare. In the player progression system, you can upgrade your heroes’ levels and earn them emblems by completing certain challenges. Name cards can be obtained at each of the following levels: 8, 15, 30 and 75 for every hero. Some leveling may also take place in PvP, but most is done through PvE. The progression rewards cannot be purchased, and must instead be obtained by leveling.

Overwatch 2’s New Strategy

Invasion may seem like the big release of Overwatch 2 but it still has plenty of fuel left in its tank. Blizzard would have been in a better position today if they had continued to produce content this good for the past few years. This season has been the first in many years that I have felt optimistic about the future of Overwatch 2 despite the fact that not all seasons can add as much content. Aaron Keller, the game director at Blizzard told me Invasion represents a shift in the philosophy of the company for future content releases.

Keller said to me that a boxed release for a video game would not be the best option. Because we want to continue to support our live game. But at the same, Season 6 is a big release. So this is the culmination from years spent working on content that was previously saved. This is the point at which the team wants to shift the focus of the Live-Service portion away from Heroes and Map releases. Overwatch seasons should be about more than just Heroes and maps. Story Missions for Season 6 are what we’re planning for future seasons. The Story Missions can also be based on other areas of the game.”

Overwatch 2 Invasion has arrived on every platform where Overwatch 2 is available. Overwatch 2 is available for PC, Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. You can play the new Story Missions by purchasing an Invasion Bundle for at least 15 dollars. It also contains 10 Overwatch Coins plus a Legendary Sojourn skin. You can also get the $40 Ultimate Invasion Pack, which comes with all of that, plus more skins, Overwatch Coins, as well as an additional Battle Pass.