I really like the first Watch_Dogs game, but Watch_Dogs 2 was such a disappointment that, out of fear of being disappointed again and wasting my money, I avoided playing Watch_Dogs Legion until recently. After having replayed the first Watch_Dogs again, I finally decided to give it a try. And I really enjoyed it! Also, it has me convinced that Watch_Dogs really IS the modern day version of the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Here’s my review. There will be SPOILERS.

The Story

Story-wise, the motto is the bigger the better, but, to be frank, that does not necessarily guarantee a good story. Continuing where its predecessor started, Watch_Dogs Legion puts hacktivist group DedSec at the center.

We are thrown right into the middle of the action when they, under leadership of Sabine, try to prevent London’s Parliament from being blown into the sky. Such a classic target… Well. Suffice to say that action leads to a surveillance police state-like scenario, also a classic, where DedSec’s members are criminalized and corporations try to manipulate peoples’ choices, minds and even emotions. And as if that weren’t enough, you also have to rebuild DedSec London from scratch.

Recruiting people pretty much off the streets of London is awesome, but you need to find out who was behind the bombing and try and neutralise that threat in order to liberate the seven boroughs from corporate control. The fact that there are four different factions to tear down guarantees a multitude of – sometimes rather repetitive – missions. There are some nice twists and turns along the way, some expected, some not, and the more you progress in the story, the better equipment you get to unlock, which makes the end game kind of a walk in the park.

Is it a good story? Well. It is an average, run-of-the-mill story, most of all because our protagonist is not personally invested in it. Which brings me to the Characters.

Characters

If you played Assassin’s Creed IV: Back Flag you will remember that the player is actually recruited by the Assassin Brotherhood as an Abstergo insider and a means to dive into the memories of the assassin hero of the game, Edward Kenway, and to also gather information on Abstergo’s plans in the modern day setting. The fact that Abstergo’s CEO is one of Aiden Pearce’s targets in Watch_Dogs is a nice tie-in.

Watch_Dogs Legion takes another route. In the beginning Sabine sets out to recruit people to restart the DedSec chapter in London. To do that, you are then presented with a selection of recruits to choose from, and can choose three in total to start playing. Which is what you will do throughout the game: pick the most suitable DedSec member, switch them for another once it is more convenient or your current agent is injured.

Your potential recruits come with different skill sets or perks. Some are adept at hacking, others are great fighters, have special skills like the must-have drone hack and some are simply there to bail out your team if they get arrested or are injured. So having doctors and paramedics on the team is always a good idea.

Some potential DedSec members are from enemy factions and therefore harder to recruit, but they can infiltrate enemy strongholds more easily. Which is a great bonus. Also, once you liberate a borough by fulfilling a set of tasks and missions, you are awarded with a special recruit, e.g. a professional hitman, a spy, a bee keeper, a hooligan or a drone racer. While the spy and drone racer are really useful, these recruits mostly help you gain some special achievements, like “Take down 10 enemies stealthily using a professional hitman”. There are also some special recruits you can either unlock in game, like an actual Assassin, or by purchasing an add-on.

You can customize your characters concerning their appearance as well as their outfits, which is also great fun! I really loved that in Watch_Dogs 2. To purchase clothes and accessories, complete missions, hack crypto wallets or steal from crypto safes.

As for personality, I was extremely lucky during my first playthrough. Not only did I pick an extremely likeable drone racer as my primary hero, I also snatched a sassy counter-terrorism agent and a competent, cool and fabulous spy. These three became my go-to-agents, apart from those missions that required a specific specialization and before I had unlocked Aiden Pearce as playable character.

Unfortunately, the recruits I selected during my second playthrough were not nearly as entertaining, which is why I pretty much played as Aiden Pearce exclusively. Not a bad thing, either.  I hope to have better luck next time!

The supporting cast are also a likeable bunch, from bar keep Connie Robertson to AI assistant Bagley. Especially Bagley is great company. As for the villains, they are rather cliché, but that’s okay, since the story is also a cliché. You have the mad scientist, the gang leader, the power-hungry military guy and the secretive hacker. To be honest, I was not invested in the story at all. I was more into exploring the city and recruiting potentially interesting people off the streets.

The Setting

Since today’s London already ranks among the most surveillance camera-heavy cities in the world, it is the perfect place for a Watch_Dogs game. In this dystopian future drones fill the sky, security personnel are harassing people at every corner and self-driving cars are the norm. While drones already were a thing in Watch_Dogs 2 this one takes it a step further with different types of drones that you can turn into weapons, hacking tools or modes of transportation.

London itself looks gorgeous and the different boroughs all have their own vibe and – most of all – feel truly alive. Which I really adore in this game.  Also, you can choose different difficulties – I played on Normal so far – and even choose between Classic (my choice) and the more difficult Resistance mode.

Equipment and Loadout

Hacking and getting into places stealthily should be your main goal. To do just that, I equip all my operatives with a spiderbot and cloaking shield, and I also try to upgrade the skills for hacking each type of drone, as well as turrets, as soon as possible. To purchase or upgrade your tech, you need to collect tech points, which can be discovered across the map. Once a borough is liberated, the locations of the tech points available there will all be automatically revealed.

While all your operatives can be outfitted with a gun, only the spies have silenced weapons.

Combat and Enemies

You will mainly hack your way through the game by hijacking cameras and drones and sometimes have to choose a more hands-on approach. You will be able to distract targets to either sneak past or take them down and can upgrade your equipment to disrupt their coms, too, which can be handy during combat. Speaking of combat, you can face them with guns or hand to hand, and use specific gadgets like the spy watch, which disables your enemies’ weapons for a short period of time.

Apart from armed security personnel you will face chase and riot drones as well as combat robots and turrets. So, best come equipped with the best skill set you can afford.  

Missions

During the main missions you will have to hack, infiltrate, sabotage and can choose to do it either stealthily or pick a fight. DedSec is a pacifist activist group, so killing people should not be your top choice when confronting enemy factions. That’s something I have no issue with, Watch_Dogs has always been more fun when played stealthily anyway, and I prefer stealth whenever possible.

What I do not like about the main missions is the fact that you will be revisiting some locations numerous times, which is a waste considering all the possibilities London has to offer. On the other hand, that makes the later missions easier, because you are already familiar with the layout. Good thing the recruiting missions add a little spice and you can also participate in Bare Knuckle League boxing matches or choose to interfere with security personnel harassing civilians and provoke a police chase.

The Verdict

Watch_Dogs Legion is surprisingly fun to play and I will definitely be replaying it a couple times more. To be honest, the Bloodlines-DLC was so much better! Why? Because your actual protagonists are personally invested in the story. Featuring Watch_Dogs’ protagonist Aiden Pearce and Watch_Dogs 2’s Wrench, your goal is not saving the world as much as saving your legacy, yourself and your loved ones. The dynamic between Aiden and Wrench is amazing, and my favourite sociopath Jordi Chin also has a cameo. Yay!

Next up I hope to dive back into the world of GreedFall, once GreedFall, The Dying World finally (hopefully) makes it to the PlayStation. Expect a look at Watch_Dogs Legions: Bloodlines before that.

Until then, keep on playing!

Cheers
Vanessa