DISCUSSING THE UNFULFILLED POTENTIAL OF OVERWATCH’S NARRATIVE AND GAME DESIGN

DAN SUCIU (GUEST AUTHOR @ DIL)

RISE AND FALL

BlizzCon 2019 at the Anaheim Convention Centre. Vice President Jeff Kaplan goes onstage, and sets the community aflame with the announcement of Overwatch 2, promising to “deliver [on a] complete story experience” that would quench the thirst of millions of long-awaiting fans.

May 2023. In a particularly uncomfortable developer chat with Matt Morello, game director Aaron Keller announces that Team 4 would be “[unable to] deliver” on the “high expectations” for Overwatch 2’s original PvE vision. Just over one year later, large swathes of the player base now view the idea of new PvE content with skepticism or complete apathy. And so, before story missions are lost to the passage of time, let us look retrospectively; where, if ever, did they fit into Overwatch’s narrative design?

THE ARCHIVES: SOWING THE SEEDS

The community was first introduced to what Overwatch PvE could look like with the trio of Archives missions released annually from 2017 to 2019. These were titled Uprising, Retribution, and Storm Rising, respectively. Each provides a unique snapshot of Overwatch’s history, in particular, how it conducted itself during its era of decline. All three narratives were also fairly self-contained and existed independently of one another, meaning that it was not essential for players to do massive amounts of ‘homework’ on the lore to enjoy new releases. This maintained the anthological approach to storytelling that had been standard up to this point, prioritising accessibility for new audiences, rather than committing to a grand, overarching narrative.

ASSESSING THE ARCHIVES

The Archives were undoubtedly a success story in regards to player popularity. According to Blizzard’s published statistics, Uprising amassed 145.5 million matches during the 3 weeks the event was live, amounting to just under 7 million per day. This hype only escalated with the release of Retribution, which was reported by Stephany Nunneley-Jackson as having a “higher player participation rate […] than any prior event” in the game’s history. A moment of pride for the Q1 2018 investors’ call! Indeed, Team 4’s decision to periodically re-release the Archives until 2022 suggests that they were generally held in good favour, enough to be regarded as a staple within the community. Even in 2024, there remains a fairly vocal demand for the Archives to make a permanent return in Overwatch 2, although the developers have not currently issued a full, direct response.

However, despite undeniable merits, the Archives missions had several drawbacks that likely played a role in their eventual discontinuation. The first, and perhaps most important reason, was that the developer resources required to produce each mission were likely too high for the limited gameplay experience they could offer. As per data released by Team 4, the average completion time for a playthrough of Uprising ranged from 14 minutes and 36 seconds to 17 minutes and 24 seconds, across all four difficulties. This standard was maintained across all three releases. Such consistency from the developers was commendable. However, repeatedly committing 1 year of development time to short experiences such as Retribution may have raised some long-term sustainability issues. Perhaps these resources were thought to be better spent on Overwatch 2’s PvE, like the shiny new Rio de Janeiro mission showcased at Blizzcon 2019. And yet, years after that surge of optimism, one can’t help but wonder if their decision to stick with a 15-minute bitesize approach proved fatal. With each experience too short to make a lasting impact, the missions became increasingly dependent on being part of a broader collection, to provide an engaging and standalone gameplay experience. And so, what was to be done when that collection collapsed in on itself?

GAMEPLAY HURDLES

Gameplay variety was also an underlying issue, albeit a less recognised one, during the Archives’ release period. The Left 4 Dead approach to level design certainly had its highlights. However, coasting on the novelty of battling wave after wave of Talon troopers or Null Sector omnics was never going to be a sustainable strategy. The gameplay was simply too linear, with most of the mission replayability being derived from the character selection screen. Team 4 even acknowledged during BlizzConline 2021 that “combat was just not engaging enough” in their previous attempts, emphasising the need for “new units” and for objectives to be more “varied.” The final execution of this in Overwatch 2: Invasion (2023) is certainly up for debate, given its generally poor reception. Ramattra’s Null Sector horde was far from a breath of fresh air, apart from a few exceptions like the new ‘Stalker’ unit.

Moreover, objective design in the new Liberation and Ironclad missions lacked the nuance to be considered a major improvement. The cycle of ‘defend point A’ and ‘escort from B to C’, with minimal extra flavour, was worn out by the Archives and had become redundant. One notable example of this formulaic approach being broken was during the finale of Ironclad, which utilised modified Torbjörn turrets for some tower defence-style gameplay. This was certainly one of the more memorable highlights of the overall experience. Thus, it remains clear that solving the issue of gameplay variety is central to tackling future story missions.

FUTURE STEPS

Story missions and Overwatch have had a complex relationship, to say the least. For a game that sprung from the ashes of the MMO concept ‘Project: Titan’ almost a decade ago, it’s remarkable that no resolution seems to be in sight. However, this is not to say that the Team 4 developers should give up on the medium permanently, assuming external factors permit them. Story missions represent a marriage between the narrative and the core gameplay experience that has otherwise not been replicated. Perhaps an understated quality of these events is how they can act as unifying points for the community, and a milestone celebration of the characters that made the game so beloved in the first place. Their strength lies in their accessibility, as players can directly immerse themselves in the storytelling without needing to consult external sources, and are given agency that no other medium can provide.

It's also important to recognise that there is no shortage of storylines in the existing Overwatch canon that could be converted into missions. A more historical, Archives-based approach might seek to explore Operation White Dome, or the neutralisation of the Detroit Omnium, which are both key events that shaped humanity’s ever-complicated relationship with the omnics. Alternatively, a continuation of Invasion, given some restructuring and room for new writers to enact their vision, could progress the story further. Naturally, this would take some serious courage, not only for the team to take on another risk, but also to demonstrate a willingness to learn from the mistakes that burned them so heavily in the past. Yet, what is Overwatch if not finding beauty from a long list of mistakes?

ONE YEAR LATER: OVERWATCH’S STORY MISSIONS STILL NEED TO BE ‘WORKED OUT’