When Blizzard Entertainment first announced the new Stadium mode coming to Overwatch 2, it didn’t sound like much to me. But after having the pleasure of playing it early, I’m glad my hunch was totally incorrect.
My first impressions are that Stadium genuinely feels like a spin-off game in the Overwatch universe, changing enough to be fun but keeping it familiar with the same heroes and modes you know and enjoy to potentially become something truly worth getting invested in.
Image via Blizzard Entertainment The most distinctive changes in Stadium are that it’s played in third-person perspective, and you can’t swap heroes after choosing one at the beginning of the match. This is where it feels the most different from OW2’s base game, but I’ve been enjoying it thus far. That’s not to say you can’t play into a direct counter on the other team and be shut down by them throughout the match without the ability to switch, but I get the feeling that is a reason for Stadium’s limited hero pool at launch in season 16.
The idea behind the mode isn’t revolutionary. Stadium borrows an in-match currency and upgrade system a la MOBAs or VALORANT/Counter-Strike where you earn currency to get upgrades for your character throughout the best-of-seven match. But playing it with a tried-and-true system like Overwatch’s heroes and gameplay makes it feel very fresh.
Throughout every match, you earn Stadium Cash by playing well (earning MVP per round, getting eliminations, dealing damage, healing, etc.) as fans cheer and an announcer shouts out top players, and can then turn around and use that Cash in between rounds to purchase some very interesting power-ups. And that’s where the fun begins.
The mid-match shop is called The Armory, and its filled with everything from ability-buffing Items to hero-changing Powers that can completely change how you play any of the 17 available heroes at launch, across three different modes and nine maps that have been tailored for Stadium.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9tUpO0BTQY Want to make Reinhardt fly? You can. You can also have D.Va leave a trail of lava behind her after she boosts, Genji can shoot piercing projectiles out of his Dragonblade ult to hurt enemies even out of his melee range, or give Mercy a five-second Valkyrie ultimate after she Resurrects an ally.
There’s a lot of ways to customize your heroes to different playstyles or focu on one ability above others to turn it into a super powerful one in comparison to how it starts out. There’s a solid amount of fun to be had when it comes to thinking up your own builds, but the game has some example ones for each hero for you to try as well.
The list of Items and Powers is extensive, but it all makes for something that feels very new but safely familiar all at the same time, allowing Stadium to earn its title as the third distinct mode in OW2 after Quick Play and Competitive Play.
In the Armory, you can refund Items bought and switch up your build on the fly, focusing on different aspects of your build depending on how a match is going to to counter whatever is happening in any given match, adding a nice layer of strategy to the experience.
I almost feel as though Blizzard isn’t hyping up Stadium enough, because it feels so different to me and it’s hard to find a direct comparison in another similar game. It’s more than a limited-time mode or something like that—and I don’t want to sound hyperbolic—but I personally think it can be considered more of an evolution of the game than it was from OW1 to OW2.
Screenshot by Destructoid Blizzard says it will be adding more heroes and maps to Stadium over time, but there will be plenty of growing pains throughout Stadium’s own distinct competitive ranking system along with seven unique leagues to be placed in and grind through, earning exclusive skins and more.
You can get your own chance to play Stadium when season 16 of OW2 launches next week on April 22.
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