Sadly for developer Ubisoft Montreal, the original “Watch Dogs” game will go down in history as nothing short of a critical disappointment. Trailer hype initially sold the original entry in the franchise, and that same hype turned customers and bystanders alike against what was being offered by the Ubisoft studio. But sales are what matter and the financial success of “Watch Dogs” guaranteed a sequel even if a vocal part of the gaming community was condemning it for being a shell of its self shown to the world two years prior.
But unlike other game developers who block out all the negativity when it comes to a release, Ubisoft Montreal wanted to make things better with the eventual sequel. Featuring a different setting, characters, and improved gameplay, “Watch Dogs 2” was a stylish, fundamentally sound, thoroughly enjoyable experience featuring rock solid gameplay, brain-twisting puzzles, and a group of protagonists that, while annoying and culturally satirical at times, were people you wanted to root for. Leaving the continental United States for a land looking to liberate itself from oppression, “Watch Dogs Legion” promised to change how gamers potentially perceived the franchise going forward with yours truly excited to see if “Legion” could reach or even surpass the entertaining heights of “Watch Dogs 2”.
Did I Complete “Watch Dogs Legion”?
Following the events of “Watch Dogs 2”, the world has seen more issues producing a lack of freedom for those stuck under the boot of either the government or some incredibly powerful corporation (or both). London is no different than the U.S. in terms of experiencing tyranny while a ragtag group of hopeful revolutionaries look to stand up for citizens who can’t do for themselves. One of those intended saviors is the hacker coalition known as “DedSec”. With branches spanning across the world, DedSec is championed by those in the know and vilified by the mass media with the latter giving way to a tipping point moment early in “Legion” that forces the first focal character to suffer a terrible fate while his old cohorts pick up the figurative & literal pieces.
With the ability to play as almost anyone the player comes across with a little bit of scouting and recruiting (some recruitments take more than simply talking to a would-be DedSec member, while others will jump on board after completing a part of the story or by liberating a certain section of the map), the player will spend at least twenty hours completing the main story with several side quests, diversions & the hefty amount of collectibles typically associated with Ubisoft open-world experiences adding anywhere from ten to another twenty hours to one’s play time. Attaining the platinum trophy initially seemed like a daunting task due to the amount of collectibles needed to be found including those associated with upgrading all the weapons & skills, as well as some special trait-specific trophies centering on rarely appearing townspeople. Thankfully most all of the necessities for every trophy fell into place with difficulty & frustration only coming courtesy of technical issues that included having to re-do several “Paste-Up” spots before the platinum trophy would pop.
Did “Watch Dogs Legion” Live Up to the Hype?
Heavily promoted upon the game’s initial announcement, “Watch Dogs Legion” strays away from the open-world norms in regards to the protagonist while maintaining a lot of the features its predecessors offered. Instead of focusing on a single or even small group of playable characters, the goal is building a team of would-be heroes able to assist in various scenarios like infiltrating a police department without being instantly attacked or call in a carrier drone at any given time for a hasty escape. “Legion’s” “play as anyone system” is rooted in the fact each recruitable character is meant to make the London division of DedSec more versatile. This intent of team diversity is achieved thanks to every potential recruit having particular traits & weapons usually associated with their job or class. For example – a professional hacker may be able to mildly electrocute people while a “street artist” has a paintball gun in their inventory that can’t be attained otherwise.
While most players will fill up their DedSec roster with randoms off the street, a particular few can only be obtained via completed story missions and liberating sections of the map with the latter only coming courtesy by finishing three collectible challenges and overcoming a specific mission connected to said liberation. For those characters the player personally recruits there will be at least one mission to be completed before they join DedSec’s forces. Those who don’t care for DedSec, but can be recruited will take a little extra work including picking up a specific tool in the “Tech” menu section where players can purchase weapons, upgrade gadgets like the infinitely helpful robot spider, and having the ability to temporarily turn turrets & drones against its allies via “Tech Points” collected throughout London and gained by finishing certain missions. These purchased gear & abilities are spread across every active member of DedSec. Most of these DedSec haters correlate with the game’s most prominent enemy groups. If the player is successful in recruiting, say, a member of the Albion security group that character will be able to blend in with their original crew members without them realizing the person is a part of DedSec – though getting too close to a fellow class member who is now an adversary will ID them as a traitor.
One of the biggest optional features associated with recruiting DedSec members is “Perma-Death”. At the beginning of the game’s campaign, the player is given the chance of turning on the option that will result in any DedSec member taking lethal damage dying & never returning to the fight. “Perma-Death” can be turned off at any time during the campaign, but can’t be turned back on once the player does deactivate the mode. “Perma-Death” adds such a heightened level of suspense and, at times, frustration if the game acts up and a character dies due to something out of the player’s control. Though it may be wiser to play without the feature, “Legion” is both made and benefits from having “Perma-Death” active.
A majority of the gameplay options seen in previous “Watch Dogs” games returns here. Every character can hijack & watch what’s going on inside or outside a building via nearby security cameras, raise traffic barricades, and force cars to move against the driver’s will (be it an actual person or the AI in regards to the self-driving vehicles). Upgradeable tech & gear can prove beneficial in almost any environment including the aforementioned robot spider and even having the ability to temporarily cloak the protagonist. Stealth is a major gameplay factor once again thanks to the game’s cover system and the enemies’ line of sight.
While gunplay is pretty much the same as what was seen in “Watch Dogs 2” with a variety of weaponry including a standard electrified pistol and even a grenade launcher, melee action takes its presentation from other Ubisoft games like “Assassin’s Creed: Origins”. With a dodge button, the player can avoid an incoming haymaker from an opponent and retaliate by punching or kicking the prone adversary. Characters can break the automatic guard put up when not throwing strikes by grappling their opposition, but it isn’t a surety at any time. Though the melee changes are commendable, the execution is lacking thanks to the overall loose feel that is made worse when taking on multiple enemies at a time with no lock-on feature. Somehow driving is actually less enjoyable than its counterparts. The arcade style driving mechanics are hampered by tight roads, stiff movement no matter what vehicle is being used, and the ability of getting stuck in the world at any given moment.
The innovation that comes with “anyone can be the protagonist” causes the story to lack that special personal touch that the first two games had (in varying degrees of quality). After an explosive opening mission & follow-up exposition, the game’s narrative slows down with the few main adversaries rarely lasting long enough to leave a grand impression. There are twists & turns here & there (especially during the last two hours or so of the story), but the plot definitely feels like a step back compared to “Watch Dogs 2”. Also, none of the recruited characters matter in the story and are just avatars being used to progress a rather underwhelming narrative. Like the story, a majority of the missions are paint-by-the-numbers “Watch Dogs” with a character usually infiltrating an area (with their gear, by doing it themselves, or both), taking down or sneaking past enemies, getting information, completing one of the copious amount of circuit puzzles (including a few some frustratingly timed versions) placed throughout the game and leaving the area and/or escaping pursuers.
There are some missions that break up the monotony like controlling a drone through the insides of a computer, but those activities are few & far between. Side missions aren’t much better or different than the main counterparts, and the hefty amount of collectibles don’t necessarily add that much more to the experience including audio logs and left-behind notes. There are a few mini-games like darts & kicking around a soccer ball, but nothing comparable to something like golf in “Grand Theft Auto V”.
Technically, “Legion” is a lot more unstable than its predecessors. Beyond graphical glitches & frame rate drops on the PS4, there were multiple times the game hard crashed when simply moving around the world or entering the in-game menu. There are also gameplay issues that pop up from time to time such as losing the ability to use the cover system or enemies teleporting either to another part of the map or completely disappearing. Even some trophies suffered from issues such as the billboard cover-ups (“Paste-Up”) being inconsistently counted without the map providing any indication if the player had completed said “Paste-Up”.
“Legion” is also a mixed bag graphically and from a voice acting perspective. Most character modes look odd especially when they’re talking. Yet London and some specific outfits (the “Bee Keeper” especially) look fantastic. With a limited amount of voice actors, a majority of the recruited characters all sound the same even with obvious voice modulation. The only real standout voice is “Bagley” – the always helpful AI with a sharp, cutting whit & penchant for threatening great violence. Micro-transactions do exist with some store-specific characters available for purchase with real money, but said characters are usually lesser versions of ones that can be found in the game. The micro-transaction-based clothing items are flashy, but just like the characters that can be purchased aren’t necessary to make moments like distracting a guard to free someone wrongfully arrested any better than it would if the player didn’t spend an extra dime. There isn’t any online multiplayer offering as of this time, but is promised to be revealed in December (a little over a month after the game’s initial release on eighth generation consoles).
Unlike its direct predecessor that really ironed out issues seen in the original iteration while presenting an interesting take on a genre pretty much saturated with experiences aplenty, “Legion” has some great ideas hindered by an underwhelming execution. What should’ve been a monumental experience turned out mostly to be just okay.
Should You Play “Watch Dogs Legion”?
“Watch Dogs 2” set a standard for the franchise by doing everything the first game did, but better for the most part. “Legion” tries to follow “2’s” lead, but comes up short in regards to a memorable story, enjoyable melee combat, driving mechanics, and the game’s general stability. But for all the negatives there are some wonderful ideas presented such as the game’s biggest draw in regards to recruiting anyone available. The rewarding feeling of finding that figurative needle in a haystack, being successful in recruitment, and using said character to pull off the next big mission (or simply causing havoc) is second to none. Even if you’re a hardcore DedSec wannabe it’s hard to recommend this game at full price on any system; but it is a solid purchase when on sale for around half the price. And even if “Legion” doesn’t sound too appealing no matter the cost, how many other games allows players to take control of someone who can sic bees on enemies or transform into a living statue to avoid the police?
