Watch Dogs 2 Looks to Improve on It’s Predecessor in Every Way

Ubisoft showed off Watch Dogs 2 at their E3 press conference and it looks to improve on its predecessor in almost every single way. The conference opened up with a giraffe, panda, and lion dancing among a group of weirdly dressed individuals, this practice being standard for Ubisoft press conferences. After all of the shenanigans of dancing animals, which was to announce Just Dance 2017 by the way, some impressive games were shown, one of those being Watch Dogs 2. The game seems to improve on all the areas that hindered Watch Dogs 1 from success.

The first Watch Dogs is known for that graphical down-grade from the E3 presentation to what was on store shelf’s. It’s also known for trying to copy Grand Theft Auto but failing miserably because it lacked a certain energy and creativity. I’m here to say that I actually enjoyed Watch Dogs. It’s not the best game I played, but I don’t think its as bad as people made it out to be. It had an interesting concept of letting the player free roam around Chicago with the power to hack things with your phone, even if the hacking was limited. I can never forget how much fun I had hacking into other players games, then hiding as they frantically look for me. The game still had many problems, but it set a foundation that I can see Watch Dogs 2 using to craft a much more enjoyable playground for the player.

Watch Dog’s protagonist, Aiden Pearce, was off the charts boring with a voice that could put Batman to shame. Watch Dog 2’s protagonist is a young man named Marcus Holloway who is fighting against social upheaval with the help of Dedsec, a hacking group. Marcus shows more personality in the few gameplay videos then Aiden did in a whole game. Marcus brings a certain charm that is fueled by his humor and desire to right the wrongs of a corrupt system.

The gameplay of Watch Dogs 2 is similar to the first game, but many small improvements make a big difference. The first being a switch of setting from Chigaco to San Francisco. It seems like Ubisoft is adamant about adding more personality into Watch Dogs 2 after the critiques from the first game. Moving the game to San Francisco is an attempt to do this and it looks as though they succeeded. San Francisco offers a variety of drastically different regions from Silicon Valley to Marine county. It adds a sense of flavor and color that was never possibly with the first game. Getting around San Francisco is supposed to be much easier with improved driving that lets each vehicle fill different. Ubisoft is keen on making the area fill alive and drove home the fact that NPCs react to each other and not just you. This can be seen by two people arguing after they get in a wreck, or two dogs fighting as their owners try to stop them. It gets really fun when Marcus starts hacking into the environment around him with a wider range of skills and tools then Aiden ever had.

It’s likely that a wide variety of weapons will be available, because Marcus has excess to a 3D printer that can provide the guns needed for your play-style. Players can choose different avenues for their approach to the game. This involves guns blazing, a stealthy option, just relying on your hacking skills, or non-lethal with the new taser. A variety of tools are also available such as a drone that Marcus can fly around to get a better viewpoint, and a small robot that can help Marcus reach computers and other hack-able materials. There is a new melee weapon, which is a small rope with a billiards ball attached to the end. This offers brutal and fast melee that matches the type of weapon a character like Marcus would use. Lastly, new hacking techniques can bring more options to your gameplay style. Ubisoft promised that Marcus will be able to hack everything around him. The first Watch Dogs was supposed to be about hacking, but everything Aiden could do seemed so limited. This time around hacking is much more flexible with new abilities like controlling vehicles, and mass hacks that can effect everything around you. In the gameplay demo this was used to make the multitudes of NPCs get a phone call at the same time.

There will be side-content this time around but Ubisoft stated that everything you do will have an effect on the main story. It looks like they are trying to avoid the problem that most free roam games have of letting side-content distract you from the much more important main plot-line. You know like when Geralt from Witcher 3 is helping a old lady find a pan while you are supposed to be finding a long-lost Ciri. Speaking of RPGs, Watch Dogs 2 will let you pick from a variety of missions in the same way RPGs are usually laid out. It will be interesting to see if this approach will either hinder or strengthen the story.

One last major improvement is the online gameplay, which allows you to seamlessly find another player in your world without loading screens. The player can then play the game co-op with a friend. This is something the first Watch Dogs promised but it was burdened by long loading screens.

It looks like Ubisoft has learned their lesson and is listening to all their critiques to make Watch Dogs 2 even better. I’m hoping this will be another scenario, like from Assassins Creed 1 to Assassins Creed 2, where the first game sets the idea and the second game builds on that to make something special.

Watch Dogs 2 has a release date of November 15, 2016 and it will be available for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. The Ps4 version getting all DLC 30 days earlier then anyone else.