REVIEW – 2014’s Watch Dogs came out on two console generations, which might have been the reason behind how it lacked in performance (not to mention that graphical downgrade). The sequel offers a new protagonist, a new location, and a calmer ambiance, which seems good at first look – and don’t worry, the result is good as well.

Aiden Pearce and Chicago might have been quickly forgotten. In me, only two thoughts remained: „what the f_ck the driving physics are wonky,” and „look at these “beautiful” reflections.” That is all. The first game’s dark point was pretty much the plot before we got to control Aiden, and here, it’s more like the future. Opposites under the same banner…

Mark us, Holloway

Marcus Holloway is a new character. We control someone with a darker skinned (let’s face it, Lincoln Clay in Mafia III wasn’t a one-off!), young, and ambitious hacker, who also ends up being recruited by Dedsec to fight the evil bad guys, the Blume Corporation. They created ctOS, San Francisco’s all-seeing, all-hearing, all-memorizing safety system, and Marcus tries to wipe his records. The result? He ends up joining Dedsec to fight back. Ding, a positive: Holloway has a CHARACTER. He’s not a slice of old bread like Aiden was, he’s a lively, more real person than the guy in the first Watch Dogs.

San Francisco

Instead of the windy Chicago, our location will be San Francisco, even including the Alcatraz island! The new place offers a lot of different environments: a ton of offices here, hippies there, and… khm, female NPCs with private parts over there, not to mention naked people! (I have to mention that in a few days, Ubisoft will patch out the naked parts.) The Dedsec crew also pumps the ambiance up a notch – forget what you saw in the trailers before the game was released.

They have no concrete leader, and it’s not an issue: you can get along with them nicely, and their communication between mission gives a breath of fresh air as well. Finally, Watch Dogs HAS A LIFE – it almost reaches Saints Row heights of parodying real events, even going as far as poking at the US president, or a certain religion, not to mention Ubisoft itself!

3D printer

With our sandbox hacking, we can control a drone here, race there, look around before missions with the RC car… or just go bonkers with a forklift to get one money bag. Not to mention the ability to create a clone of yourself with a 3D printer to get out of tight situations safely.

Also, there’s no separation with missions in Watch Dogs 2. If you see a mission on the map, it happens there, not somewhere „off”. Period. Ding, another positive for Watch Dogs 2!

Also, San Francisco, which is vibrating with the parodies and the lively characters, will now make you want to take a break from the mission of getting rid of the boss of Blume and just have a ride for a few minutes. Now that I mentioned driving let’s talk about it: the physics are improved. Ding, third massive improvement – Ubisoft changed it up big time, and now I don’t have a sense of danger whenever I decide not to run around (still, the handbrake is a bit too sensitive for my taste…).

With the gameplay style, the game categorizes, and it’s present on the skill tree, too. If you play like Rambo, you can do it, but if you prefer to be stealthy with non-lethal outcomes, it’s also rewarding. I preferred the latter option: after a while, I was able to disable security systems entirely, which was a massive help for me. Suddenly, the low HP was not an issue anymore!

Online could be good… if it worked

I could be rating this game in two ways, but I can’t do that, so let me put it this way: if you don’t play with online functions (it could be an amazing feeling to find your intruder and claim victory!), then take 5% off my rating. Community hacking with more modes. The problem is that in the first few days, as with almost every second AAA title, the online did not work.

I didn’t talk about audiovisuals yet. Graphically, Watch Dogs 2 is alright, but we saw better things in other games. Audio isn’t bad, either, but I have to say that Marcus’ victory shouts after winning races were pissing me off after a while. Thankfully, the soundtrack compensated.

It’s good!

Watch Dogs 2‘s issue is that it doesn’t have anything to make it memorable in the long term. It’s like a Saints Row with tons of hacking. The result is okay, and it’s definitely better than the first game. If the online starts to work flawlessly, then the 8 rating is well deserved. Without it, a 7 is still a good rating.

Hopefully, the third installment will be even better… (and I didn’t mention the sci-fi game announcement hidden inside!)

-V-

Publisher: Ubisoft

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Genre: Open-world, hacking, driving, third-person shooter

Release date: November 15, 2016 (PS4, Xbox One), November 29 (PC)