Watch Dogs Series - forgot about this tbh

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Oh no, you should definitely try Watch Dogs 2. There's a lot more to do and explore in Watch Dogs 2 than in GTA V. San Francisco is such an immersive place; you could naturally progress and discover all of what the world offers.

The tonal shift is a warranted criticism, but nothing that drastically takes away from the experience.
The setting is cool for sure but I'm not sure about the discovery part. At lot of it boils down to the typical ubisoft tower hunt. There are only so many buildings I can climb and cranes I can ride before getting a bit bored and for me it got tedious very quickly.

Still enjoyed my time with the game, worth playing for the interesting hacking/drone concepts alone.
 
The setting is cool for sure but I'm not sure about the discovery part. At lot of it boils down to the typical ubisoft tower hunt. There are only so many buildings I can climb and cranes I can ride before getting a bit bored and for me it got tedious very quickly.
Watch Dogs 2 removed that feature, thankfully.
 
Watch Dogs 2's tonal shift is of odds with the combat. You are in a group of "peaceful hacktivists" trying to bring down corporate espionage and surveillance. Yet you have free range to use assault rifles, shotguns and grenade launchers.

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You could still hack, use melee combat and stealth your way through the missions. But it's jarring seeing Marcus wield such weaponry. Within context of the story, tone and setting. Many reviewers pointed that out.
Remember that Marcus DIY melee weapon is made based on what devs thought Marcus would use.

Outisde of Wrench's launcher anything other than a pistol is probably just for gameplay
 
On that topic I would really advise against using Wrench if you want to maintain a less than Lethal approach. I don't care what the UI tells me, caving in someone's head and chest cavities with a sledgehammer is not going to be a stealthy takedown...
 
On that topic I would really advise against using Wrench if you want to maintain a less than Lethal approach. I don't care what the UI tells me, caving in someone's head and chest cavities with a sledgehammer is not going to be a stealthy takedown...
Nor was Marcus using that 8-Ball on a bungie cord, Ubisoft had some interesting ideas for "nonlethal" weapons.
 
Man I loved the original Watch dogs. Aiden really made that game for me in terms of how he's a heroic character who's ideals frequently hit the glass walls of reality. The morality system was a cosmetic but nice touch, only open world game where I actually cared about avoiding harm to bystanders and cops. The on the fly Hacking mechanics were very unique and smooth. I remember hunting down other players when they interrupted the main story being pretty fun.

Basically the closest thing we will get to an open world punisher game.


Fucking hated 2 though. it's such an absurd and shitty shift in tone it felt like a crap GTA clone with hacking. Could not have given less of a shit about the characters, except Wrench he was alright. Really should have been a Jordi game if they wanted to make something more comical.

Ive held off on Legion for a while waiting for bloodlines and it looks like I made the right call. With Aiden it actually looks like a proper sequel. They kinda wrote themselves into a corner with his age though. Gonna be hard to bring him back for another one.

They didn't bring back dark souls style PVP hacking did they? Also I was given the impression that you needed the season pass to port Aiden into the main story and multiplayer.
 
Wrench and Aiden are wonderfully overpowered, especially in the base campaign; Aiden has instant takedowns, bullet time, can use any weapon in the game, and his special active reload ability means he can gun down even the top tier Albion guys with a few shots. Everything Wrench throws, shoots or explodes hacks everything in the radius which causes a mental amount of chaos and is so much fun.

The cynic in me thinks this is a ploy to sell season passes, but I'm enjoying myself too much to care.
 
Fucking hated 2 though. it's such an absurd and shitty shift in tone it felt like a crap GTA clone with hacking. Could not have given less of a shit about the characters, except Wrench he was alright. Really should have been a Jordi game if they wanted to make something more comical.

Ive held off on Legion for a while waiting for bloodlines and it looks like I made the right call. With Aiden it actually looks like a proper sequel. They kinda wrote themselves into a corner with his age though. Gonna be hard to bring him back for another one.
Honestly they should just go back and fill in the missing gaps of Aiden's timeline, instead of continuing to push forward into the future with all the sci-fi crap.

I feel like Watch_Dogs is increasingly becoming divorced from reality, as its villains, agendas and settings get more outlandish. I keep on saying this, but the first one excelled at bringing forward an urgency of the mundane evil around us and the presence of 'Watchdogs' as literal underdogs against the establishment and the darker elements technology and surveillence brings to society. It was a grounded fiction, which drew heavily from and extrapolated current trends into a realistic world of its own.

The second one turns the 'Watchdogs' into some rainbow superhero corps complete with a literal mustache-twirling villain, and the third one creates some outlandish fictional scenario with some evil-super villain-Nazi occupying army while simultaneously absolving government of any involvement- which I find absurd, as the British government is completely capable and willing to carry out similar deeds on its own (and with less prompting).

Watch Dogs 2's tonal shift is of odds with the combat. You are in a group of "peaceful hacktivists" trying to bring down corporate espionage and surveillance. Yet you have free range to use assault rifles, shotguns and grenade launchers.

View attachment 2325210

You could still hack, use melee combat and stealth your way through the missions. But it's jarring seeing Marcus wield such weaponry. Within context of the story, tone and setting. Many reviewers pointed that out.
I hated how the game made you out to be an unambigously good person plot-wise, while the gameplay allowed you to do everything to the contrary. For me, Watch_Dogs 2 could only be played without any lethal weaponry, with an emphasis on stealth. Emptying machine gun clips into the public or even private security guards is everything Marcus wouldn't do.
 
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The second one turns the 'Watchdogs' into some rainbow superhero corps complete with a literal mustache-twirling villain, and the third one creates some outlandish fictional scenario with some evil-super villain-Nazi occupying army while simultaneously absolving government of any involvement- which I find absurd, as the British government is completely capable and willing to carry out similar deeds on its own (and with less prompting).
To add to this point, Watch_Dogs Legion presents some external authoritarian threat that attempts to seize power and break continuity with the British state (with some additional dogwhistles hinting at white supremacy), whereas IRL a progressive evolution of the existing power structure into woke tyranny is IMO, far more likely. No need for Albion or Cass, the Metropolitan Police and your typical bureaucrat can be just as good of a threat.

Ultimately I find it interesting that a game about being against the institutions is ultimately immersed in the institutionally-correct line of thought popular today (also seen in other media like Handmaiden's Tale). There is ultimately nothing really all that transgressive about the future that it portrays- a far cry from Watch_Dogs 1's critique of the merging of mass surveillance, the establishment, and everyday life.

A few choice selections from the tweet below:
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To add to this point, Watch_Dogs Legion presents some external authoritarian threat that attempts to seize power and break continuity with the British state (with some additional dogwhistles hinting at white supremacy), whereas IRL a progressive evolution of the existing power structure into woke tyranny is IMO, far more likely. No need for Albion or Cass, the Metropolitan Police and your typical bureaucrat can be just as good of a threat.

Ultimately I find it interesting that a game about being against the institutions is ultimately immersed in the institutionally-correct line of thought popular today (also seen in other media like Handmaiden's Tale). There is ultimately nothing really all that transgressive about the future that it portrays- a far cry from Watch_Dogs 1's critique of the merging of mass surveillance, the establishment, and everyday life.

A few choice selections from the tweet below:
View attachment 2340119
View attachment 2340127
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View attachment 2340138
View attachment 2340142
It's eerie how closer IRL Britain is to being dystopian than the one in Legion.

Seriously, "exceeding their outdoor daily exercise allowance"? What the fuck is that horseshit?
 
To add to this point, Watch_Dogs Legion presents some external authoritarian threat that attempts to seize power and break continuity with the British state (with some additional dogwhistles hinting at white supremacy), whereas IRL a progressive evolution of the existing power structure into woke tyranny is IMO, far more likely. No need for Albion or Cass, the Metropolitan Police and your typical bureaucrat can be just as good of a threat.

Ultimately I find it interesting that a game about being against the institutions is ultimately immersed in the institutionally-correct line of thought popular today (also seen in other media like Handmaiden's Tale). There is ultimately nothing really all that transgressive about the future that it portrays- a far cry from Watch_Dogs 1's critique of the merging of mass surveillance, the establishment, and everyday life.

A few choice selections from the tweet below:
View attachment 2340119
View attachment 2340127
View attachment 2340132
View attachment 2340137
View attachment 2340138
View attachment 2340142
Never forget, the call is coming from inside the house. These people lack any self awareness to realize that they're the threat. That they just might be the baddies.

I wouldn't even really call this projection for once. I just genuinely feel they think they're being attacked unaware that people are trying to regain their freedoms from their ideology.
 
The second one turns the 'Watchdogs' into some rainbow superhero corps complete with a literal mustache-twirling villain, and the third one creates some outlandish fictional scenario with some evil-super villain-Nazi occupying army while simultaneously absolving government of any involvement- which I find absurd, as the British government is completely capable and willing to carry out similar deeds on its own (and with less prompting).
Ubisoft also has a weird view of the real world. In WD2 they painted the Silicon Valley as the good guys who got infiltrated by the evil Blume corporation. The "heroes" were a bunch of people who cared more about having followers on Instagram than being hackers. None of them are likable, except maybe Josh the autist. Then again, the first mission in WD2 is about taking down a Martin Shkreli lookalike, they just regurgitated what the MSM told about him.
I wish Ubisoft cared more about the worldbuilding of Watch Dogs. I still believe that WD1 is the best one and they should have made a sequel about the dangers of this current world where everything is connected, every data is collected and how Big Tech can influence politics and the media.
 
Unpopular opinion, but I think Watch Dogs 2 did a better job with the whole world building theme with technology than Watch Dogs 1.

In WD1, the whole city was connected. It felt like Big Brother with how gloomy the city felt. All your information was connected and citizens had no choice but to accept it. Almost like being robots themselves.

WD2 expanded on that theme with the followers progression. Everything YOU do gains you followers. Take photos, win races, do missions, just participating in the city would net you influence. WD2's citizens embraced the idea of being connected (on a macro scale). It connects now with everybody on social media sharing their day to day lives. There's still the sinister cloud of HOW and WHAT that information is being used, but largely the world masks that with ignorance.
 
Tbh I'm enjoying replaying WD1 and Noam Jenkins does a great job at giving Aiden personality he would not have had originally. He's got that throaty edge to it.

The only gripe I got is that hacking to hear random conversations doesn't really give you anything in terms of rewards. A misstep.
 
I think time has kind of vindicated WD1 and Aiden. I've noticed a hell of a load of people look back on the game and story quite fondly compared to how it was mocked back at release.
 
I think time has kind of vindicated WD1 and Aiden. I've noticed a hell of a load of people look back on the game and story quite fondly compared to how it was mocked back at release.
I think people were more pissed about the downgrade really, compared to what you saw in the marketing.

biggest irony is wd1 would be ripe for a slight remaster and be more relevant than ever, but common sense was never ubisoft's strong suit.
 
Tbh I'm enjoying replaying WD1 and Noam Jenkins does a great job at giving Aiden personality he would not have had originally. He's got that throaty edge to it.

The only gripe I got is that hacking to hear random conversations doesn't really give you anything in terms of rewards. A misstep.
You're eavesdropping. That's the reward. And whatever money and song they have on their person.
 
Unpopular opinion, but I think Watch Dogs 2 did a better job with the whole world building theme with technology than Watch Dogs 1.

In WD1, the whole city was connected. It felt like Big Brother with how gloomy the city felt. All your information was connected and citizens had no choice but to accept it. Almost like being robots themselves.

WD2 expanded on that theme with the followers progression. Everything YOU do gains you followers. Take photos, win races, do missions, just participating in the city would net you influence. WD2's citizens embraced the idea of being connected (on a macro scale). It connects now with everybody on social media sharing their day to day lives. There's still the sinister cloud of HOW and WHAT that information is being used, but largely the world masks that with ignorance.
I dunno, it also reduces the gravitas of the situation, Deadsec went from some fragile organization of individuals working against the full weight of the establishment to some PR operation that seemingly has full reign over pozz central, aka San Francisco.

And in the meantime, Deadsec also never really manages to land any hit that forces a backtracking of mass surveillance, it just gets worse in each Watchdogs title.
 
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