James GordanANALYSIS– In the latest Watch Dogs game, London has become a wide open world where it’s hard not to have fun.
London obeys the power of a corrupt government hiding behind a cruel and ruthless police force that does not care about your rights or your privacy. That is the frustration that Ubisoft faces in another great open-world action and stealth video game that is darker and more interesting than you would expect in the story, and as you will see in this analysis of Watch Dogs Legion, it is also very nice because of the stealth and the crazy things that it allows you to do.
Those who have to protect the innocent are betrayed with impunity by beatings, threats and kidnappings, while freedom of speech and the privacy of citizens are increasingly blurred under the protection of laws typical of dictatorships. No one is safe, no one is beyond the control of the powerful, and therefore an army of civilians must be formed to protect themselves against this threat. And it is a great revolution that invites us to direct Watch Dogs Legion, which I loved in the open world; with its shootings, its cunning, its riddles and the exploration of an interesting and beautiful scene like London. It is true that many game mechanics are inherited from predecessors who, when it comes to problem solving, do it with little news, no surprises, but it does so well, and the design level is so good that it is difficult not to enjoy testing a system with the gadgets, weapons and special skills of our protagonists. And I speak in plural, yes, because it is undoubtedly a great contribution to a video game characterized by an enormous freedom of action.
Anyone in London can join the fight, join DedSec, and although it sounds crazy and is a good advertising slogan, the truth is that it works very well in Watch Dogs actions. The character of the charismatic hero is lost, he is not; you will have a hard time connecting with hundreds and hundreds of characters that you can embody in a game this way. But in return, you get freedom and new ways to do crazy things, and have more fun than ever before in a snowshoe; or you shoot with more precision or the greatest expert penetrates without leaving a trace. It all depends on the characters you control, as their unique characteristics bring a pleasant new strategic nuance. At one point it reminded me of the Hitman saga. Do you have to sneak into the hospital? If you play on the toilet, it’s easier for you to go unnoticed. Will the mission take place in the construction area? In a shop? You already have an idea who you can turn to for acceptance. Or not! Because you also have the ability to shoot and wreak havoc all around you, or use a hacker who doesn’t even have to set foot on the action field, or fly over the place and storm it from above, using the verticality of the scenarios to your advantage.
The Watch Dogs series has always gambled on what gives us the freedom to hit each of their missions, but this new video game from Ubisoft goes a step further by perfecting the formula and improving the design level, so you can always find new ways to hit targets and get an explosive hit. And what I did in almost 40 hours cost me a journey that also surprised me, and many, in a story, with a darker story than you can imagine, when you see so many colourful, crazy and tyrannical followers, like the Legion of Watchdogs used to advertise for themselves. If all this has caught your attention, stay with me, because the rest of this overview is even better.
London is depressed: the revolution has begun.
Far from the colorful and gangster-like style of Watch Dogs 2, The Legion takes us to a gray and brutal scene where the enemy is the state itself, which has given in to the safety of its citizens to a large military corporation called Albion, which … Well, to say the least, he’s lost his touch. Haphazardly beaten and arrested, London-wide checkpoints and the promise to expand their power with more and more security measures; to expand their power with new ways to appease terrorism, even if this means a total invasion of the privacy of all citizens. This is where DedSec comes into the picture, although it does so at least with public opinion, and hardly with agents capable of fighting this enormous threat. We have to start from scratch, from the ground, and look at the thousands of ordinary heroes that every Londoner is oppressed by the system.
This is the perfect excuse to understand that it is possible to involve any citizen, but what impact does it have on the game itself? In fact, all characters can possess weapons, hack and penetrate everywhere, but not all will do so with the same efficiency, and that’s where the nuances begin to shine. If you control a former soldier, and you know this because every citizen of London has his own life in the Legion of Watchdogs, it’s very likely that if you use firearms, you’re deadly, that you even have an exclusive weapon! My team had hackers who could steal data without being close to the targets, and other agents with the ability to walk quietly, making them the best option for penetrating the tail of the enemy.
There are many unique features, exclusive skills and attributes that change the way DedSec agents work and make the action more exciting and varied than ever before. As I said, nuances are everything until there are characters who can take out their opponents in seconds, while others are not in a hurry for some reason: They’re not trained in close combat, they suffer from some kind of injury, or maybe you lead grandma’s legion of guard dogs, which is already known, and you can’t run with them, you can’t park, you can’t even use blankets. Then why do you want her on your team? As a joke? Of course, but it can also work ruthlessly with drones or an experienced pilot or hacking into high-speed planes. That’s why I liked the new Ubisoft so much, even though at the moment of truth I used the same agents just to get to know their virtues.
However, I’ve seen other people do crazy things that can provoke them with reason and bad spit, and I can only praise the work of the authors of Watch Dogs Legion. All citizens have something to offer, they’ve said it more than once, and it’s true, if only for a few laughs, that’s all. Because it’s hard not to laugh at some of the situations you can experience in London, such as a man with a meteorite problem that makes it almost impossible to go unnoticed, or a drunk who has to drink a lot of alcohol to hit harder. There are so many interesting things to do and discover that it is easy to say that the story and tone of adventure are in the spirit of Watch Dogs 2, with lots of humor and jokes; nothing could be further from the truth.
The story is gloomy, to some extent realistic, with a gloomy society almost powerless against the power of the state. She begins in style, with a brutal threat, and although it takes a little time for her to become interesting after this shocking prologue of the game, the plot wins as soon as she begins to reveal her themes, introducing her great enemies, and grows in popularity until she catches you and drops you a few dozen hours later. There’s a lot of dark humour, a lot of English irony, and this taste for spy films shows how well it can be played; but there are also disturbing scenes, moral dilemmas, a strong political charge and even a few surprises that will make you appreciate the hectic pace of Watch Dogs Legion even more.
How do our characters fit into this story? These are all the main characters, and we will all see how they intervene in the film and in the conversations, and the one we control at that moment has more weight; and although they are not particularly charismatic, on the contrary, they are not at all charismatic, they fit well into the plot and the message it conveys. Society as a whole is the protagonist of the adventure, but he ignores the interesting characters that exist, and uses Bagley’s intelligence to draw all the attention to himself. He is the one who, with his jokes, with his subtle irony, with his way of speaking, is the best narrator of a sometimes very interesting story, who never forgets this great feature; this collective hero. What would happen if one of our characters died? Once you’ve activated permanent death, as in my case, it’s over. There are no more second chances. This citizen disappears, you never get him back, and you see his companions mourn his loss while Bagley himself devotes a few words to him or even to anonymous citizens who have suffered this and other losses.
An open world, so you can enjoy
For years, open world games seemed to focus more on presenting square kilometers than offering fun and memorable experiences, but from the beginning Watch Dogs Legion has emphasized the density and diversity of the open world, and that’s what makes it fun … Exploring the streets of London is a real pleasure, wherever you look there is something to do, something to collect, a mini game to hang around, a new agent to recruit, side missions to decide whether a valuable monument to visit. And you don’t get tired of walking, shooting, driving from here to there and breaking everything that crosses your path, no stopping, no annoying trips from one side of the map to the other. You can sit in the middle of the main mission and with a small detour you can carry out the subversive missions needed to free areas of London from the oppression of the Albion, or perhaps with a few extra minutes you can get all the additions scattered across the map. And that’s why I hardly ever use a little trip.
I wanted to put my ingenuity to the test by solving puzzles, which in themselves are many scenarios we go through. And although the game repeats the same models over and over again, I did not feel that the scenario became boring or repeated too often, which speaks volumes about the high level of design presented in this new work by Ubisoft Toronto. It’s incredible to have the freedom to do whatever you want, whether you shoot like crazy or defeat a mission without betraying your presence. You also have a good handful of gadgets and weapons that all Watch Dogs fans already know, and the main new feature – in the style of a Watch Dogs 2 stroller – is a spider, but I insist that in the end your imagination will prevail.
Wherever you look, there are electronic devices, traps, vehicles and obstacles everywhere that you can use to your advantage in many different ways. And if all goes well… it’s unbelievable. It’s hard not to be happy and laugh angrily when you’ve destroyed multiple enemies by dropping a drone controlled explosive charge, or destroy your enemies in a car chase, using barriers on the stage itself, or better yet, hacking your car to turn towards the bus. And then there’s an accident and an explosion and you start doing your business and you feel like the King of London. I can spend hours telling jokes, bragging about my penetration tactics, but I’m sure soon after that you’ll be cheating on me and talking about even more spectacular and incredible situations. Because even if you feel like you’re always doing the same thing, and the mission design doesn’t offer much variety, there are so many alternatives to achieve each goal, so many ways to follow the same scenario, that it’s hard not to have fun with Watch Dogs Legion.
It’s also a game that allows you to quickly adapt to new combat situations without feeling that everything is lost. Your penetration plan failed? Find shelter, think fast and trade with the unique abilities of your characters. There’s a lot of them! I have seen civilians resisting gas, used by some opponents to stun, while others can call at any time an armed drone to protect them, or of course spies who have a special vehicle with missiles and even a watch capable of blocking enemy weapons. The nuances are important, as I said, and they don’t always have to be related to the battle or be completely positive. Some citizens get money by knocking out their opponent, while others spend it constantly on betting and other games. And all this is increasingly associated with video games, which is, yes, conservative in the conception of missions. I responded to that in my answer.
In general, Watch Dogs Legion always sets itself the same tasks, with the same problems, although the scenario and the dangers they face naturally vary. So you will always have to rescue someone, hack into a computer or eliminate a certain target. And it is a pity that it does not go beyond that, because if it does, if the story takes over or if you have problems, such as driving at full speed because the car is about to explode, the game becomes even more exciting. But even the recruitment assignments they carry out don’t bring more diversity, which sometimes makes me wonder whether it’s worth it or not. Then a few minutes; a few visits and walks in the streets of London to learn more about the lives of these characters, but if you’re a few hours late … You’re looking for something to get out of your routine.
That’s why I liked the missions to conquer the province so much. They are all different from each other and offer new ways to play with the gadgets at your disposal. More of these games would help make Watch Dogs Legion a more complete and varied video game, although I never get tired of repeating it, although it’s incredibly fun, and even if you’re one of those people who hate open worlds, I think you could find a really good action and stealth game that you could have a good time with. This is no small thing.
Many other details surprised me at the legion of watchdogs. First of all, you can recruit any citizen of London, including Albion’s mercenaries, no matter how they think you’re their enemy. It won’t be easy, not fast, but there are persuasion methods that can perform a miracle. It is also incredible to see how every citizen lives his or her own life and has his or her own relationship, which in practice means that if you meet and kill someone, his or her family and friends will hate you. And vice versa, of course. When you save someone from certain death or prevent them from being wrongly locked up, you win a new supporter for your cause who will be happy to join your list of 20 active agents.
During the game you can watch everyone and add them to your contact list if you think they are the right person for your team, but Ubisoft doesn’t force you to take on a task as annoying as setting up the best group of hackers in London. Some missions reward special agents with more powerful capabilities; and then, on a regular basis and for a limited time. How many special agents with skills will appear on the map… is the least curious thing one can say. So it’s up to you to decide if you have a wizard with a top hat on the team who doesn’t serve much but makes you laugh, or if you have a retired person with heart problems under control who could die at any time. There are so many characters, so many unique and funny features, that one can sometimes laugh at these challenges.
When we take action, the transition from one figure to the other goes pretty fast, although we can only do that in the safe zone, not in the center of enemy territory. They can all equip any generic gadget and weapon, and then exclusive options and other gadgets unique to certain character classes. I mean, uh… I mean, uh… Your weapons specialist can use mechanical spiders, camouflage devices or electric bombs, but not spy watches or paint guns for street artists. There’s more. As I said before, there are characters who are more likely to fight in melee, those who beat faster, and even those who can be equipped with two weapons or devices at the same time. Freedom of action concerns the Legion of Watchdogs, and all these small details, these small differences between the two characters, help to strengthen these feelings. There is no character more powerful than the others, someone who can handle anything in any situation,
There’s also a classic skill tree with a good handful of passive upgrades and new gadgets to improve your combat and stealth skills, including mechanical spiders with firearms, new unmanned aircraft, increased resistance to damage, the ability to hack into enemy turrets for direct control, and more non-lethal weapons such as shotguns and machine guns. Among these advantages are improvements that allow camouflage, in some cases even double jump, for example spiders. However, it is important to note that all of these improvements apply to all of your characters. So, if one of them dies in battle, you only lose his specific skills, not those of the generals.
Outstanding debt: Driving, fighting and shooting
The watch has been piloted by the Legion of Watchdogs, but some details are not yet at the expected level. I’ve already told you about the small variety of missions, and now it’s time to leave, which is one of the weaknesses. It’s not that it’s bad, but the lack of realistic weight in the cars means you don’t feel comfortable, especially when it comes to chasing. Cars seem to fly through the streets of London and if you want to perform precise maneuvers, you end up hitting someone or destroying your street furniture. Moreover, the artificial intelligence of pedestrians is somewhat peculiar because they tend to commit suicide. I know how innocent I killed, because if they see the car without jumping on the sidewalk, they’ll jump to the car. Sometimes it’s funny because they make a very funny animation, but if someone you’ve run over is one of your best agents… the joke isn’t so funny anymore.
Moreover, the enemies behave rather erratically. It’s illogical to expect to at least find enemies. They must be a bit stupid to maintain the magic of penetration, but in the case of the Legion of Watchdogs they are sometimes too easy to fool. At least, yes, when things go wrong, they really scare you, because they are ready for anything, need reinforcements, and in a matter of seconds even the best of your shooters can’t handle that many drones and bats. At this point, I think it would be wise to play with constant death. It’s not a very complicated video game, but it really scares you. It still hurts me to lose my spy on his first mission! The poor thing didn’t have time to prove she was the best in her field. But that’s how fierce the fight against Albion is.
Shooting, aided by pirates and traps, is very exciting, and there are few problems, apart from the fact that until the end of the game, there are no new enemies to force you to adopt new combat tactics. I’m talking, for example, about invisible rivals or those armed with guns who kill you with a few shots. There aren’t many weapons to choose from, but I don’t think that’s necessary for a game that pays more attention to the tricks and the use of piracy than fighting itself. Anyway, since I feel like I’ve spread out a lot, the scrums aren’t bad at all. They are not very complicated, but there can be a lot of them, especially if there are several opponents at the same time and you have to combine punches and tricks. Even if you can’t control a character who defends himself well in such a confrontation, you’ll have a hard time facing a tough opponent. So, uh… why don’t you run away? Sometimes it’s the best tactic.
I think I’ve made it very clear in all this that I like it. Keep an eye on the dog legion, and much of the responsibility lies with London itself, a place to explore with pleasure. The streets are tastefully decorated and wherever you look, few details mark the care with which Ubisoft has brought this new open world to life. The beautiful monuments of the British capital, the streets, buildings and the design of the lampposts with a painful level of detail let you enjoy every step of the city, where you will of course find dozens of pedestrians living their own lives. Homeless people ask for money, street musicians perform in front of an audience that responds to their music, there are police checkpoints where you see people calling for help, and depending on the area you are in, you see very different clothing styles.
is an amazing number and variety of voices used to bring Londoners to life. Already in our impressions of the E3 2019 we highlight the titanic work of Ubisoft, and after the track we can only praise this sound work, which is accompanied by a varied and good repertoire of licensed songs for cars and many others, ideal for threatening actions. I don’t want to finish this text without telling you something about the new generation… I’m calling you specifically to let you know that we’ll be making a specific analysis of the Xbox X series and PlayStation 5 later. So far, Ubisoft has confirmed that we can transfer our PS4 and Xbox One games to the next generation, a platform where the game will be updated for free, so that those who are worried about the launch of the game now and unable to continue it later can sigh a sigh of relief.
The journey through the streets of London at the Watch Dogs Legion was the most entertaining experience, with lots of action, good camouflage, lots of secrets to discover and the feeling of being in front of a wide open world that makes the best of its design, so you can watch wherever you look. It’s a pity that the goals are always the same, and although you use your ingenuity and creativity to create diversity, it would be great to have more complex missions that push our agents to the limit. There are good words for them, because although they lack the charisma of the main character, their subtle differences contribute to the more cheerful and varied actions of Watch Dogs.
-Zardoz-
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Pro:
+ The city of London, which contains an open world, very beautiful, with lots of stress free work
+ The design of the map is exciting, with different alternatives to solve each of its missions
+ Be able to recruit any citizen and notice their subtle but sometimes very important differences
Whereas
– It needs more variety in the goals the
offers – riding is still the weakest part of the
watchdog experience – it could get more from its bad guys.
The publisher: Ubisoft
The promoter: Ubisoft
It’s just like: An outdoor action adventure
Date of exemption : 29. October 2020
ANALYSIS – In the latest Watch Dogs game, London has turned into a wide open world where it’s hard not to have fun. London obeys the power of a corrupt government hiding behind a cruel and ruthless police force that does not care about your rights or your privacy. That’s the darkness Ubisoft faces in another great open-world stealth action game, darker and more interesting than you expected in the story, and as you’ll see in this analysis of Watch Dogs Legion .
The Guard Legion of Dogs. I’m the London Legion.
The Guard Legion of Dogs. I’m the London Legion.
2020-11-09
The journey through the streets of London at the Watch Dogs Legion was the most entertaining experience, with lots of action, good camouflage, lots of secrets to discover and the feeling of being in front of a big open world that makes the best of its design, so you can watch wherever you look, there’s always something fun to do and no boring trips. It’s a pity that the goals are always the same, and although you use your ingenuity and creativity to create diversity, it would be great to have more complex missions that push our agents to the limit. There are good words for them, because although they lack the charisma of the main character, their subtle differences contribute to the more cheerful and varied actions of Watch Dogs.
Gambling – 9.4
Graphs – 8.4
History – 6.2
Music/Audio – 8.2
Environment – 8.2
8.1
EXCELLENT
The journey through the streets of London at the Watch Dogs Legion was the most entertaining experience, with lots of action, good camouflage, lots of secrets to discover and the feeling of being in front of a wide open world that makes the best of its design, so you can watch wherever you look. It’s a pity that the goals are always the same, and although you use your ingenuity and creativity to create diversity, it would be great to have more complex missions that push our agents to the limit. There are good words for them, because although they lack the charisma of the main character, their subtle differences contribute to the more cheerful and varied actions of Watch Dogs.
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Simon Leonard