Players quickly discover a larger conspiracy going on through a well-coordinated attack on London by a mysterious shadow group called Zero-Day, framing the hacktivist group as the organization behind the plot. This point is driven home in the game’s prologue mission, which puts players in the shoes of operative Dalton Wolfe, a member of MI5 and DedSec who's investigating reports of a terrorist threat. Those events are mentioned directly through various in-game collectibles, indicating that the system isn’t safeguarding as well as Blume wants people to believe. Familiar names like the Blume Corporation have taken up residence and installed a brand-new version of the ctOS surveillance system that players utilized in the past two games. Not only are iconic tourist locations and historic buildings all where one would expect them to be, but the city is fun to drive around in even though the arcade-style controls can feel a little loose. Ubisoft has truly managed to turn London into a virtual playground for the player. In Watch Dogs Legion, players hop the pond and step into a near-future version of London, England. The new location also adds a lot to the game as well. Thankfully, Bagley never crosses the line into becoming tiresome. from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a moody teen who knows that they're better than everyone else. Of all the characters in the game, it’s Bagley who is best able to keep players tethered to this world, being a snarky mix of Tony Stark’s A.I. is a consistent voice in the player’s ear, along with the leader of the DedSec London branch. Thankfully, some of that protagonist void is covered up by DeadSec's rogue A.I., Bagley. It’s an interesting trade-off that the franchise has never seen before and one that will likely be divisive among players. It’s much less personal this time around but the goals are still similar. The game’s overarching story is centered around the populace rising up and taking back control away from an oppressive government force called Albion, a terrible gang in Clan Kelly, and a mysterious new hacker collective called Zero-Day. Add in the fact that players are strongly encouraged to switch characters often, and it doesn’t leave much room for growing attached to any of them outside of customizing their wardrobe.Įven with this shortcoming, the "be anyone" feature surprisingly continues to work over the course of the game. In addition, none of the playable characters have a standout personality or a memorable presence that a true lead protagonist would likely have. While each character is fully voiced, has a persona, and a schedule, it's harder to form a bond with any of them. On the flip side of that, it does hurt the narrative side of the game. Switching characters also freshens the experience, helping to reduce character fatigue or boredom since each character offers something new. Instead, players have the freedom and choice to make each mission easier or harder, just based on the characters they select. Players are no longer boxed into being a single personality like Aiden or Marcus and the gadgets or weapons they have unlocked are less restrictive. For those who care only about gameplay, this feature really elevates the game. Whether the system truly works or not is largely dependent on the kind of person playing and what they want out of the experience. RELATED: Watch Dogs Legion Trophies and Achievement List Revealed
It’s a unique solution to a gameplay-centric problem. Naturally, questions began to arise from fans as to how this would work, especially from a franchise that is known for attempting to tell a story through its leads and strong support characters. To correct this potential issue going forward, Ubisoft has instead completely removed dedicated lead characters in favor of completely opening the sandbox and letting players be who they want, when they want.
With Watch Dogs Legion, certain game mechanics have seemingly been targeted in response to concerns that the fun clashed with the tone of the game's story. Each release sees a major component of the game completely changed based on the shortcomings of its predecessors, such as moving away from the serious nature of Watch Dogs’ Aiden Pierce in favor of a more carefree protagonist with Marcus Holloway in the sequel. Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs franchise is known for evolving after each iteration.