![]() ![]() It will rain more in virtual San Francisco in an hour of gameplay than it did in the three years I lived there. The worst part is that it seems to rain all the time. It was cool to see the inclusion of Sausalito and Oakland, but they don’t feel used enough to really warrant being there. Neighborhoods like Sunset and Richmond are gone, Alamo Square is south of Golden Gate Park, and even Ubisoft’s office building on Third Street is on the wrong side of South Park. I understand that Ubisoft could never make a 1:1 scale of San Francisco in Watch Dogs 2, but there are still some minor things about the city that feel off. Driving across the Golden Gate Bridge is stunning, and walking the streets of San Francisco feels pretty darn authentic. There was little reason to take the time to explore, and every major landmark is already mapped out for you.įor what it is, the Bay Area is still a sight to see in game form. When playing, I found myself wanting to simply go from mission to mission as fast as possible. The true test of a game’s open world lies in how you use it. While the original Watch Dogs probably received harsher criticism for its take on Chicago because it was released closely to GTA V, Watch Dogs 2 is an improvement over the original but still can’t match the quality of Rockstar’s Los Santos. ![]() The San Francisco Setting Isn’t Perfect But It’s Close Also, making the characters all massive Ubisoft fanboys was just cringe-icing on the cringe-cake. Nor do we need people exclusively talking to each other in YouTube Poop-style videos. Seeing Marcus do the same just doesn’t feel right.Īnd can we cut it with “hacker” characters needing to talk nerdy all the time? We get it, these people are smart and good with computers, we don’t need constant cringey, forced pop-culture references all the time to get who these characters are. If he were to pull out a grenade launcher and start blowing up cops, it would make sense. This works in GTA V because the three protagonists aren’t necessarily “good guys.” Trevor especially is shown time and time again being an outright monster, and Michael certainly is no saint. Not a killer, running around with an assault rifle strapped to his back. Marcus is also supposed to be this goofy, smart guy. It would have been much cooler to see Marcus not use any lethal weapons, instead only relying on his stealth and hacking abilities to expose corruption. In a country where gun violence continues to be a major concern, it feels like Ubisoft included them simply because “it’s what you do” in video games. Are these hackers really trying to win people over by murdering countless security guards and other innocents to complete their goals? Who’s really supposed to be the hero here? What’s worse is that the guns are 3D printed, often coming in “wacky” colors like purple and orange. While they are entirely optional if you don’t want to use them, Marcus can still mow down as many people as he wants to complete these missions. The biggest narrative problem comes down to Watch Dogs 2’s relationship with guns. To gain more followers, DedSec goes after high-profile targets (like Church of Scientology and Martin Shkreli parodies) and releases videos to the public once the targets have been humiliated. Marcus gleefully goes along on every mission looking to sabotage lives without trial, simply because it’s the “right thing to do” and scratches that “justice porn” itch we all have.Īdditionally, there’s an overarching story of DedSec having its followers download an app, which allows the hackers to use the processing power of millions to help fight tyranny and corporate greed. This, in Watch Dogs logic, means the CEO needs to be robbed blind and have his or her life ruined. In Watch Dogs 2, it seems every CEO is evil and willing to do anything to increase profits. While this certainly is more interesting than Aiden Pearce and his “I messed up and thugs killed my niece” story, it doesn’t really feel right all the time. Marcus joins up with the hacking collective DedSec, a group that relies on using its vast social media following as a basis for power. In Watch Dogs 2, players take on the role of Marcus Holloway, a brilliant hacker looking to create social change using his technical abilities. Watch Dogs 2 is a big improvement over everything that came before it, but it’s not big enough. The original Watch Dogs won many fans over before it was even released with flashy graphics and the promise of “hacking everything.” Once released, it was a major disappointment, made worse by an uncharismatic and uninteresting main character. ![]()
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