A Review copy was provided by the publisher.
Watch Dogs: Legion is the third entry in the Watch Dogs series, coming nearly four years after its predecessor. The first game was set in an alternate Chicago where mass surveillance dominates society. In the tech-crazed world, a hacker group named DedSec fought back against digital and literal oppression. Its sequel took these themes of tech-rebellion to the big tech capital of the world, San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Watch Dogs: Legion takes us out of the US, and fittingly, to the city with the most CCTV cameras per capita in the world: London. So grab a cup of tea, a crumpet, and some jellied eel pie while we take a look at what Watch Dogs: Legion has to offer.
In this near-future London, a shocking terrorist attack has led to mass paranoia. Fearing for public safety, the government contracts Albion, a private security firm, to police London. The city quickly turns into an Orwellian nightmare where privacy is dead and the downtrodden of society are scapegoated for all of London’s problems while the elites live comfortably. If this raises alarm bells of familiarity in your brain, that’s no coincidence. The game’s creative director Clint Hocking said of its premise: “Watch Dogs: Legion is not a cautionary tale; the things it warns of are already here. Watch Dogs: Legion is an invitation to hope”.
Throughout the story, you’ll work to build up the London cell of DedSec. But where previous games followed a small group of preset protagonists, anyone in Watch Dogs: Legion can be recruited to your team. You will start with just one operative, but over time, your team will greatly expand. The team building mechanic is the game’s raison d’etre, and is unlike anything that’s been done in the series before. The central gameplay of hacking, stealth, and combat returns, but this time your ability to tackle a mission depends on your team’s diversity. If you need to steal data from a building site, a construction worker with a high-vis vest will be able to do the job unnoticed. If you need to brawl your way through a security checkpoint, a tough-as-nails football hooligan is your best bet. Despite the wide range of skills each recruit can offer, fighting is a non-negotiable part of many missions. This means that you’ll often find that you’ve brought a laptop to a gunfight, regardless of which operative you choose.
While the ability to recruit anyone is rewarding, the gameplay experience of expanding your team can get repetitive. This is because you need to do a favour for each and every new recruit before they will join up. These missions often amount to “go here, get the thing, destroy the thing, or rescue the person”. The good news is that once your team is diverse enough, extra recruitment is entirely optional.
We reviewed the game on a base model PS4, and the strain on the aging hardware was clear. Frame rate dips were common in busy scenes and we found the game had a recurring screen-tearing issue that dampened the otherwise gorgeous graphics. Ubisoft have confirmed an upcoming patch which will come shortly after launch that may improve the game’s performance. If you’re holding out to play it on a next-gen console, you needn’t wait to play. The game will have a free upgrade to the next-gen version for owners of the game on PS4 or Xbox One. The limitations of current-gen hardware were also apparent in other places. Switching to new team members is a sluggish process that can kill the momentum of planning for a mission. Hopefully, next-gen consoles can improve the experience in this regard.
The main plotline takes you from London’s criminal underground to government spy agencies and everywhere in between. Each of these factions adds a depth to the open world. The “404” plotline sees you working with a rival hacker group to take down corruption and immoral practice in London’s tech scene, while the “Clan Kelley” missions follow DedSec’s crusade against a human trafficking gang. There’s no doubt that the overall story is tonally distinct from Watch Dogs 2’s satire-ridden outing, opting for a more serious approach to shocking themes and pertinent social issues. At the same time, it avoids the mistakes of the original game, which was criticised for an exhaustingly dour tone. Watch Dogs: Legion confronts hard questions with the kind of disarming dry wit only its British setting could afford.
If you’re a fan of the Watch Dogs universe, there’s plenty in store for Watch Dogs: Legion that could keep you coming back to London. Ubisoft has announced that the future paid DLC will star Aiden Pearce (the protagonist from the original game), and Wrench (a main character from Watch Dogs 2). There are also plans for a crossover with Assassin’s Creed, starring a modern-day member of the Assassins Brotherhood. In addition, a free online mode will launch on December 3rd, and more free content is planned for the single-player mode.
Overall, Ubisoft Toronto has delivered a solid entry in the Watch Dogs series. Watch Dogs: Legion offers a great story in an underexplored setting in video games, as well as refined stealth gameplay with dozens of ways to play. Whether you’re a fan of the series or a complete newcomer, Watch Dogs: Legion is sure to please.
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