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After the decent release of 2016’s Watch Dogs 2, Ubisoft decided to switch things up a bit and that is something that can be seen even within the game’s promotional material alone.
Set in a dystopian futuristic London, the game features a city taken over by a private military organization called Albion. The player assumes the role of a rebel organization called DedSec which will break every single law to take back control and save London from the dictatorship.
The game offers many different mechanics, such as stealth, hacking, melee combat, eavesdropping, and the ability to control machines – but the main gimmick that it tries to sell itself on is that despite having a storyline, it does not follow any specific protagonists and you can recruit any resident of the city to be your playable character for a mission.
While all of the experimental aspects of the game sound interesting, it always comes down to the execution that determines whether it’s any good or not. So, let’s find out if Ubisoft hit or missed.
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The Good Stuff About Watch Dog Legion
These are some of the things we liked about this game.
1. Hacking
The number one thing that Watch Dogs prides on is the hacking feature, and it’s arguably the most useful in Legion in comparison to the previous installments. Almost everything in the game is hackable, such as garage doors, electronics, traffic signs, weapons, and even override explosives.
The game is quite creative with its hacking mechanics and you can see that easily in the fact that you can set up traps throughout various locations and then watch your enemies fall for it, which is great for taking out multiple of them at the same time.
You can also hack Spiderbots and make them do everything for you in most missions of the game – it’s to the point that almost the entire game can be beaten with the bots unless it specifically requires your characters to go inside.
There’s also hacking cargo bots, hacking different locked locations open, and spending hours finding random trivia about people by hacking into their phones, and if you’re lucky you’ll find some trivia hidden as well like with the first game.
2. A seamlessly gorgeous experience
Watch Dogs Legion is one of the most breathtakingly gorgeous games to come out this year, and definitely the best showcase of Ubisoft’s capabilities when it comes to world creation and amazing visuals.
The city of London is populated and the RTX technology it implements is amazing, and the reflections are so good that you might find yourself questioning if it’s live-action. The game is fluid in both the gameplay and the visuals and is extremely well optimized even for the graphics cards and consoles that are now outdated, and the global illumination and DLSS settings are definite highlights.
Besides the storyline and the main quests, the game has side activities such as finding hidden locations and getting into private Fight Clubs to let off some steam.
3. Attention to detail
The game has a lot of detail added to every single aspect of it, which might even be considered a case of overproduction at times. Every single NPC you can find for example has a very strict schedule in their daily lives, even after you recruit them.
You often find yourself running into characters doing the same everyday things that you saw them doing previously and it makes them feel more realistic than the randomly generated NPCs we are used to seeing in games like GTA.
Different operatives that you find also have different kinds of weapons and skills that they use to tackle situations, such as batons, bats, wrenches, guns, tasers, and paintball guns to name a few – which adds much-needed variety to the different ways you can deal with a mission and sets it apart from other games.
A lot of the different operatives also come with specific perks, such as policemen having access to police stations, construction workers opening new spots that cannot be accessed as a civilian, and even some wacky things such as hypnotizing characters and making them fight their own side.
What We Don’t Like About This Game
1. Overproduction
There are a couple of things in the game that are quite pointless. The quickest example I can give you is hacking traffic signals. It’s pointless to have a quick getaway because the enemy AI isn’t very good at chasing you and the game, in general, does not have any intense car chase sequences.
2. A weak story
The story of the game is not bad, but it’s kind of ‘just there’. It does not have any depth or cool writing and most of it just feels like the quests you would see in an online game where you play with self-insert avatars and make your own adventures. The game emphasizes the versatility of how you can complete its missions, but it does not entirely make up for it.
3. Too easy
The game is very easy even on the Hard difficulty, which makes it a breeze to go through most of its missions and complete the story. If you use the Spiderbot a lot or have particularly good operatives that have unique perks, that makes the game even easier and it’s unfortunate that you have to purposefully hold yourself back regarding things to still feel challenged.
The Verdict
Watch Dogs Legion is evidently a game that Ubisoft tried very hard to make a great experience, and for the most part, it worked out. The gameplay is solid and rich with dozens of hours of content and game mechanics that will make every playthrough unique.
The characters you find and how their personal lives and unique personalities can affect the main story is always amusing to watch, especially thanks to the fact they all play quite differently compared to each other.
The graphics of the game are amazing and its optimization is remarkable thanks to the fact it always looks amazing yet you will encounter the minimum number of bugs for a game of its scale. The game is all about freedom and it does not contradict its message by holding you back in any linearity – which is what makes it so good.
Of course, the game is not without its flaws and the most prominent issue is the fact Ubisoft spent too much time adding a large number of features that mostly won’t be used in the game instead of spending more time on the story and difficulty, but it does not really take away from the overall enjoyment you can have with Watch Dogs Legion.
Wrapping It Up
The franchise improves with every new installment and brings fresh experiences to an otherwise non-innovative genre. It’s a great way to kill your time and you will be willing to give future titles in the franchise a chance once you’re done with this game because it will surely leave you wanting more.
If you liked this review, make sure to check out some of the other honest reviews on our website. And if you don’t agree with it, don’t shy away from letting us know your opinion!
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