I play Overwatch since OW1’s launch. It’s competitive/ranked play mode is incomparable to say… CounterStrike 2’s level of polish for example. That said, it’s crazy fun in Quick Play (unranked), and if you are looking for a hero shooter where the whole hero is entirely different from others, then it’s the best free to play hero shooter since all microtransactions available are only cosmetics. No pay to win mechanic available whatsoever.

The bad press is because between OW1 and OW2 they completly trashed the competitive scene, while also overpromising and not delivering at all, a PVE campaign mode. After that, they moved to a semi-pay-to-win model where there where timed exclusive heroes behind a battle pass, after that you could unlock them by grinding, but that model has evolved into a cosmetic-only model. So, no more semi-pay-to-win, only cosmetics.

So, right now, OW2 is closer to OW1’s greatness than it has ever been since they trashed it. Not there yet in terms of balance, polish, competitive mode, but it has grown in the amount of modes, heros and maps.

For me, for what I value, OW2 is the best hero shooter. We’ll see when I get a hold of Marvel Rivals.