How to play Galactic Rescue in Overwatch 2’s Starwatch event

Starwatch is Overwatch 2’s premier event for season four, and with it, players will have their first opportunity to play some PvE content, even though it’s not necessarily the campaign that players were promised when OW2 was originally announced.

Galactic Rescue is an arcade mode that is a hybrid between PvE and PvP, giving players a chance to immerse themselves in an alternate space-themed, sci-fi universe, akin to what you might see in Star Trek or Star Wars.

The four-vs-four mode is playable from May 9 to 22, and players who partake in the event can earn free cosmetics through related challenges, including an Epic Wrecking ball skin that makes him look like the moon.

How to play Galactic Rescue during Starwatch

Players can find Galactic Rescue in the Overwatch 2 arcade, and the game mode allows players to pick from one of two sides, either the Infinite Empire or the Watchers. The Empire is led by none other than the Galactic Emperor Sigma, and the rebels are led by the Bonebreaker Doomfist NPC. The goal of the rebellion is to save the 3CH-O Echo, who was captured by the Empire.

There are four capture points across the adaptation of Horizon Lunar Colony that players will attack as the Watchers or defend as the Empire. While the Watchers have the assistance of the Doomfist NPC, people who play for the Empire will have turrets that they can use to help them defend the various points.

If the Empire can hold the points until the game’s timer expires, they win. Conversely, if the Watchers can grab all four points, they win.

Galactic Rescue mechanics

There are a few unconventional mechanics players will have to face during Galactic Rescue outside of just randomly having NPCs and turrets.

Similar to Zarya’s Graviton Surge, there are cases with black balls in them called “gravity implosion barrels.” When destroyed, they suck players around them into the copy of Graviton Surge.

Additionally, players can resurrect their teammates even without being Mercy. Similar to the way you might pick up a teammate who gets knocked in a battle royale game, players can get close to a downed teammate to get them off the floor.

Meanwhile, the final point in the game has some added flavor to it. When players get to the room, gravity can go in and out of flux. This means players can, and likely will, start bouncing around in a low-gravity setting, leading to some interesting interactions.