Watch Dogs 2
- Developers: Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Bucharest, Ubisoft Reflections, Ubisoft Paris, Ubisoft Toronto
- Publisher: Ubisoft
- Genre: Action Adventure
- Platforms: PlayStation 4 (Reviewed), Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
- Release Date: 15th November 2016
- Microtransactions: yes
Anonymous
Another month another Ubisoft open world game but is it any good?
Watch Dogs 2 is the sequel to the underwhelming original released in 2014. For those that have never heard of the series the basic gist is you play a hacker in a world controlled by the internet and big corporations are manipulating you to control your life. At your disposal is your trusty mobile phone which can be used to hack the city’s servers and control traffic lights, gas mains etc. it really is a novel idea and in Watchdogs 2 it is incorporated quite well.
Ctrl-Alt Del
The game is set in San Francisco and you play as Marcus a 20-something who has just joined the hacker group DED-SEC. You are joined b a gang on mis-fits including a familiar face from the first game and a bloke with a electronic mask covering his face. If im honest the dialogue between the group was a tad cringy in parts and sometimes come across as Ubisoft executives writing what they think is ‘cool’ and ‘hip’ but overall they are likeable.
The storyline follows the gang trying to topple Blume the evil big corporation controlling the city. It hits similar beats to TV shows such as Mr Robot and I found it very entertaining and I definitely wanted the main villain to get his comeuppance.
Monkey Fist
As well as the lengthy storyline there is quite a lot of side activities to complete such as drone racing and crazy taxi style driving missions. The missions are also varied- one minute you’re infiltrating a Google rip off and the next you’re cracking into cash machines and deciding wither or not to credit or debit cash from different people. I must also mention the soundtrack which is excellent, it works in a radio style and the licensed tracks are great.
Streets Of San Francisco
Now unfortunately we do have to talk about some of the negatives in the game, Watch Dogs 1 was criticised for being a bit boring and dull so for Watch Dogs 2 Ubisoft has cranked everything up to 11 with the colourful visuals and wacky residents of the city. The issue with this is it comes across extremely similar in style to, in my opinion, the ultimate sandbox game GTA 5. Now GTA 5 does everything pretty much that this game does but it does it better. If you can get pass this or have become bored with GTA 5 then I definitely recommend you give it a go.
The sales figures for this game have been a bit poor so its often on sale and can be picked up quite cheaply. All in all I would definitely recommend this is if you’re a fan of open world stealthy shooters with an engaging storyline plus lots and lots to do.
8/10
