I know the Watch_Dogs series has always received mediocre scores and reviews, but I’ve always enjoyed them. Sure, hacking a CCTV camera by looking at it from another CCTV camera makes no sense, but hacking is never realistic in movies or video games. At least this series makes hacking fun without being a bunch of mini-games. And you use your cellphone to hack everything, which is also fun.

I do think it’s funny that when the first Watch_Dogs came out, everyone complained about how bland the main character was. So with Watch_Dogs 2, they changed the main character to be a fast-talking wise-cracking kid. And people complained about that too. So then when Watch_Dogs Legion finally came out, it’s almost as if you could hear the company say “Fine! You think it’s so easy to come up with a main character? You pick one!” and they spent a lot of effort introducing an entire game mechanic where you can recruit and play as any NPC you see walking down the street.

For what it’s worth, my favorite character has always been Aiden Pearce, from the first Watch_Dogs game. He was the closest to a hard-boiled detective and it made the game feel more cyberpunk, even though the setting for Watch Dogs Legion was actually more of a cyberpunk world.

It’s possible I enjoyed the games so much because I always went the pacifist route and played it like a stealth game. I liked when Watch_Dogs 2 introduced a remote-controlled car you could use to hack things remotely, even though it wasn’t capable of opening doors. But then in Watch Dogs Legion they expanded it so you had a remote-controlled drone and it could open doors. I was basically able to play the entire game by walking to the edge of a hostile area, deploying my drone, and playing the entire mission that way. If my drone was ever caught, it’d blow up and control would return to my character, who was safely standing outside the hostile area. I’d just deploy another drone and try again.

Anyway, if you haven’t played any of the games, I recommend them. While I think the first one is the most cyberpunk, it also has the most dated game mechanics. Also, you can start with any of the games. There really isn’t any connecting plot between the three games, just minor references here and there. So pick whichever one looks the most interesting and give it a try.

  • monkoEnglish
    5·
    9 months ago

    1 - Good concept, lame protagonist. Execution was mediocre but it sold well enough to give us

    2 - which was pretty great. I played a bunch of the co-op multiplayer, though it should’ve been a freeroam thing instead of mission-based. 2 was easily the best, although

    3 - introduced some novel concepts that, while awesome in theory, ended up making the actual story bland. The idea of a “be anyone, do anything” game is awesome on paper, until you realize that means every character you play is just a cardboard cutout that might use the same voice lines as several others.

    Legion has a special place in my heart, though, because I love the idea of an “inverted Nemesis system” even if it was botched. I sincerely hope one day we’ll get a title with this concept at its core, but with a greater degree of simulation and diversity. Imagine a game where it’s fun just to see how events play out, even if you’re not a part of them (not unlike Shadow of War/Mordor).

    Unfortunately, Legion’s implementation is a shallow illusion. It’s not completely unfun, but the joy of obtaining new operatives drops off quickly when you realize they’re just not that interesting, and they never will be.