Venture is actually the best hero Overwatch 2 has added in years

Overwatch 2’s Venture is here as part of a four-day trial, and the DPS hero is a total ball to play, adding a new dynamic to the DPS roster. 

I wasn’t convinced Overwatch 2‘s Venture would really work when they were first announced at BlizzCon last year. Being able to burrow under the map and move around seemed a little goofy, perhaps even gimmicky. That, and the focus around the drill made me wonder how their abilities would mesh together to create a cohesive whole.

Having now played the game’s 40th hero as part of an ongoing four day trial, I can confidently say I was wrong. Venture is a total blast to play. After a couple of hours playing them in Quickplay, they bring something unique to the current DPS roster. 

The second coming of Overwatch 1’s Doomfist

The hero brings back a playstyle similar to old DPS Doomfist – but mercifully, a little less annoying to play against. Venture’s strengths and weaknesses are very similar to that old version of Talon’s leader. On top of this, they’re exceptionally good at close range, and most of their abilities are focused on allowing you to close the gap on a target in order to put them in your danger zone. Once you’re close, you can use a combination of ‘Primary Fire – Drill Dash – Primary Fire’ to kill most squishes. This makes them extremely potent if you can isolate a target and get up on them. 

However, just like Doomfist of old, diving in and using all of your cooldowns to get a kill will leave you exceptionally vulnerable. Venture’s cooldowns are fairly significant too. You need to make sure you have enough time to be able to get Burrow back up. It’s easy to over-commit and find yourself behind enemy lines with nothing to protect yourself. It’s that or leaving your Drill Dash up so you have an escape when the entire enemy team turns their focus on you for trying to kill their supports in the backline. 

It’s exceptionally easy to go in, try for the kill, and then realize how isolated you are from your team and die. However, again, like Doomfirst in Overwatch 1, it’s easy to slip into the mentality of, ‘I got my one’. And in some fights, if you eliminate a key support, often enough that’s worth it. However, you’re always on a knife’s edge between carrying your team and feeding your brains out. That dance sure is compelling though.

Venture fills a niche Overwatch 2 doesn’t have right now

Venture’s Ultimate does seem to be where they lack a little power. It can be great in an ideal situation and secure a lot of kills. In one instance while playing, I was Nano’d and tore apart four players on the enemy team. However, it can also be blocked by shields, geometry and you need to be on the ground to use it. It’s something that has the potential to be devastating in practice, but in my time playing, I found it wasn’t often I really got it to pop off. That said, it only helps boost the comparison to Doomfist, as his Ultimate has always been deeply underwhelming. It might have been nice to have Venture’s allow them to disengage in the way Meteor Strike does. Having said that, using an Ultimate to run away, has never felt good.

At the end of the day, I’m happy to admit I was wrong about Venture. While the character does retain a goofier side, they can also be utterly devastating. Their mobility is immense, and up close few heroes can delete their opponents as quickly as they can. It’s also nice that we have a new DPS hero that doesn’t boil down to ‘aim really good’. This is all ability management and awareness, and having more heroes like that really does broaden the DPS roster.

Ultimately though, and the most important thing, Venture is just plain fun. Hopefully, as their play develops, they will find a solid niche on the roster. We will have to see where they land in the meta once they launch in Season 10 on April 16.