Overwatch 2’s events have been hit or miss thus far, though the newer ones do seem to be moving in the right direction. The presence of unique Overwatch 2 announcers within Battle for Olympus and Catch-a-Mari have been extremely entertaining, while event rewards becoming easier to earn has pleased fans. And, as has been the case for the past few years now, Blizzard absolutely knocked it out of the park with its April Fools' day patch.
Within the Overwatch 2 arcade, players will be able to find a game mode with an intentionally broken title that tells them not to play, something that only makes it more alluring. As it turns out, this mode not only features the googly eyes that come around once a year, but a number of absurd ability reworks for the heroes alongside some ridiculous new voice lines. Though many of these changes were obviously made as a joke, some are actually worth keeping around in one form or another.
Overwatch 2’s Funny New Voice Lines Should Have a Rare Drop Rate
Though Overwatch 2’s googly eyes are still an excellent gag, and it is nice to see them attached to recently released heroes like Ramattra, they are outdone by the incredible new voice lines featured in the event. Blizzard went out of its way to add tons of special Ultimate voice lines for the hero roster, and all of them are hilarious. Reaper’s deadpan delivery of “weeeee” is gold, as is Moira shouting “kamehameha” as she uses her Dragon Ball Z-inspired Ultimate ability. Cassidy and Winston arguably have the best ones of all, with the former saying random times of day in place of his usual “high noon” and Winston uttering his own name instead of "hello."
While Blizzard embracing the Winton meme and poking fun at Cassidy’s classic Ultimate voice line is a joy, it would be a shame if all this dialogue was around for just a few days before being taken out for a whole year. It obviously should not replace the typical Ultimate lines permanently, as they suit the tone of regular matches, and it is important for them to be quickly recognizable in competitive play. However, there is a happy middle ground between removing the new dialogue and having it be the only option.
To please players and make sure that the Overwatch 2 casts' silly new lines do not go to waste, Blizzard could simply give them a small chance of triggering when an Ultimate is used. A 5% chance, for example, would be low enough to where the lines are not heard every play session, with the normal lines used a majority of the time. Considering that dialogue like Cassidy’s High Noon replacement is so similar to the original line, and Sigma’s Ultimate dialogue is just his existing voice line in reverse, players should still be able to identify the Ultimate being used even if a more comedic line appears here and there.
Overwatch 2’s April Fools' Abilities Can Inspire Proper Hero Changes
Obviously, a vast majority of Overwatch 2’s April Fools' abilities are over-the-top and should not be kept around permanently, like Zenyatta’s flying kick, Reinhardt’s jetpack, and Mercy’s wild damage output. Still, some of the adjustments actually feel like viable buffs to the roster of heroes, and it is clear that they took a decent amount of work to create. Instead of throwing that time and effort away, Blizzard should consider testing a few specific April Fools' adjustments as permanent changes.
One change that has been praised by most gamers is the one relating to Moira’s Biotic Orb, as in the April Fools’ mode players can stop and start her orb with a press of a button to give players more control over the ability. Brigitte’s whip pulling her toward enemies is another good change since it emphasizes her up close play style, while Sombra’s translocator dealing damage encourages more aggressive gameplay for a hero who hides too often. Headshots for Ana’s Biotic Rifle make her a fair bit stronger, while Widowmaker’s “nerf” to deal poison damage could be a viable way to stop frustrating one shot kills. Cassidy being able to roll more at the cost of reloading fewer rounds is worth discussing further, as is Junker Queen’s shout damaging her foes. Just like with the voice lines, hopefully Blizzard considers making a few of these changes permanent, as they have serious potential.
Overwatch 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
