Overwatch 2’s new map, Antarctic Peninsula, transports players to Mei’s home away from home and challenges them to the ultimate turbulent blizzards as she pops heads and takes names. However, since the most recent location in the FPS game is a control map, how will the Overwatch 2 team ensure that it doesn’t become the site of Paris-style massacres and the Temple of Anubis?
Once home to the lovable but deadly ice queen Mei, the Overwatch 2 team has been excited to explore their home-away-from-home lore for some time, calling it a “step in the process” of exploring. the overall narrative of the multiplayer game.
With underground caves, a frozen ship and interactable penguins the team is very excited for us to meet up, I ask what the design philosophy behind the map was; Is it one that advocates teamwork, or one with long hallways that’s perfect for Dirty Widowmaker mains like me?
“Overall, we like to strike a good balance that makes you feel like you get to play a bunch of different heroes,” level designer Trey Spisak tells PCGamesN. “For example, at the Icebreaker point (the one with the big ship) it’s a bit flatter than others, so heroes like Reinhardt, Solider 76, and characters that have more boots on the ground with less mobility might be a bit better. .
“But when you get to the sublevel below Point A where they’re doing ice drilling, for example, there’s a lot of verticality, especially around the point. That’s perfect for someone like D.Va, Winston, Genji, or Pharah. We try to find a good mix.”
I also asked how the team has incorporated community feedback on the Antarctic Peninsula, especially considering that fans have spoken about previous raid maps like Paris and the Temple of Anubis, both of which were removed going into Overwatch 2 after a constant negative reaction.
While not strictly the same (the Antarctic Peninsula is a control map, after all), the modes are similar enough that tight bottlenecks and single-entry sites can still be problematic. Fortunately, Spisak has put my worries to rest.
“When we’re designing these new maps, we’re careful not to create these super twisty, impossible to traverse without other options,” says Spisak. “We’re trying to make it so we don’t have to go back and fix things like that, so we’re trying to stay super focused on making sure everything feels balanced. We use a lot of the feedback from our team to uncover many of these issues.”
As someone who has truly horrible memories of playing in Paris, this makes me very happy. The Antarctic Peninsula looks beautiful, is rich in lore, and is a whole new look for the game’s frigid locations. Oh, and it also has literal penguins – What more can you really want?
The Antarctic Peninsula launches on the Overwatch 2 Season 3 release date, which is catching on. Before the new update, be sure to check out our Overwatch 2 tier list to stay ahead of the competition, as well as our rundown of Overwatch 2 Ramattra’s abilities, in case he hasn’t mastered it yet.
via: www.pcgamesn.com