Watch Dogs 2

As a proof of concept for a cyber-drama take on Assassin’s Creed, complete with all-encompassing hacking abilities, the original Watch Dogs really worked. The chief complaint being that its protagonist, Aiden Pearce, was a bland and unlikeable guy, someone that you never sympathised with despite his dark, guilt-ridden Max Payne-esque past. Indirectly responsible for the death of his niece and the comatose state of his sister, Aiden’s resolution was to go out for revenge. A lot of people had trouble getting on board with that.
In Watch Dogs 2, developer Ubisoft Montreal not only takes the foundations of the original to build a good, fun game around its core ideas, it also births a great lead character, Marcus Holloway. He’s the most likeable Ubisoft lead since Ezio Auditore of Assassin’s Creed II, Brotherhood and Revelations. This sequel also leaves the drab, rain-slicked streets of grey Chicago behind. In its place, we get a glorious rendition of San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area; the overpriced suburbs of Palo Alto and the warm city offshoots of Oakland – it’s all beautifully replicated in one of Ubisoft’s most colourful and vibrant open worlds.
The game’s greatest strength, however, is its writing. Ubisoft games have often lacked good scripts, regularly resulting in cringe-inducing one-liners, but Watch Dogs 2 frequently delivers moments of heartwarming charm and sharp comedic satire. While the original didn’t have a funny bone in its tech-savvy body, its sequel works as a humorously playful adventure, thanks in part to Marcus’ cheeky cockiness, as well as the varied personalities of his hacker mates, the group collectively known as DedSec. The organisation recruits our hero after he sneaks into the offices of tech surveillance company, Blume, to erase his personal data. He discovers that the naughty corp is harvesting information from everyone in the city, which DedSec naturally dislikes. The hacktivist group then begins targeting San Francisco’s largest corporations for all kinds of cyber attacks and corporate espionage.
From there you’ll take down a bunch of millionaires and mega-companies, most of clearly have a basis in reality. There’s a Martin Shkreli-type pharma bad boy who DedSec rips off for millions, sending the money to a medical research company. There’s an occult group known as New Dawn, a mysterious organisation that manipulates people and takes their money, in a stark allegory to the Church of Scientology. You’ll expose a paedophile selling indecent images, and teach the odd petty thief a lesson or two. There’s a social media network called !NViTE and a Google allegory called Nudle – one of the game’s missions sees you hijacking the Nudle Bus and carting all of its pretentious employees to work before you knuckle down to stealing stuff. Best of all, the game’s primary antagonist is a bearded, top-knot-wearing idiot in a tracksuit who you bump into while he’s night jogging along the water’s edge, then catch him doing sun salutations in a room alone.
It’s clear that Ubisoft has made a clear jump from the original Watch Dogs, siphoning off the dull protagonist, grey city and questionable moral compass that made it quite a dour experience. That’s not to say Watch Dogs 2 is free of eyebrow-raising moments. However, the detail in Watch Dogs 2’s world, the colour in its characters and the sheer fun you can have mucking around with its mechanics make for a great, albeit not all-time great, open-world adventure.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Watch Dogs 2

As a proof of concept for a cyber-drama take on Assassins Creed, complete with all-encompassing hacking abilities, the original Watch Dogs really worked. The chief complaint being that its protagonist, Aiden Pearce, was a bland and unlikeable guy, someone that you never sympathised with despite his dark, guilt-ridden Max Payne-esque past. Indirectly responsible for the death of his niece and the comatose state of his sister, Aidens resolution was to go out for revenge. A lot of people had trouble getting on board with that. In Watch Dogs 2, developer Ubisoft Montreal not only takes the foundations of the original to build a good, fun game around its core ideas, it also births a great lead character, Marcus Holloway. Hes the most likeable Ubisoft lead since Ezio Auditore of Assassins Creed II, Brotherhood and Revelations. This sequel also leaves the drab, rain-slicked streets of grey Chicago behind. In its place, we get a glorious rendition of San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area; the overpriced suburbs of Palo Alto and the warm city offshoots of Oakland its all beautifully replicated in one of Ubisofts most colourful and vibrant open worlds. The games greatest strength, however, is its writing. Ubisoft games have often lacked good scripts, regularly resulting in cringe-inducing one-liners, but Watch Dogs 2 frequently delivers moments of heartwarming charm and sharp comedic satire. While the original didnt have a funny bone in its tech-savvy body, its sequel works as a humorously playful adventure, thanks in part to Marcus cheeky cockiness, as well as the varied personalities of his hacker mates, the group collectively known as DedSec. The organisation recruits our hero after he sneaks into the offices of tech surveillance company, Blume, to erase his personal data. He discovers that the naughty corp is harvesting information from everyone in the city, which DedSec naturally dislikes. The hacktivist group then begins targeting San Franciscos largest corporations for all kinds of cyber attacks and corporate espionage. From there youll take down a bunch of millionaires and mega-companies, most of clearly have a basis in reality. Theres a Martin Shkreli-type pharma bad boy who DedSec rips off for millions, sending the money to a medical research company. Theres an occult group known as New Dawn, a mysterious organisation that manipulates people and takes their money, in a stark allegory to the Church of Scientology. Youll expose a paedophile selling indecent images, and teach the odd petty thief a lesson or two. Theres a social media network called !NViTE and a Google allegory called Nudle one of the games missions sees you hijacking the Nudle Bus and carting all of its pretentious employees to work before you knuckle down to stealing stuff. Best of all, the games primary antagonist is a bearded, top-knot-wearing idiot in a tracksuit who you bump into while hes night jogging along the waters edge, then catch him doing sun salutations in a room alone. Its clear that Ubisoft has made a clear jump from the original Watch Dogs, siphoning off the dull protagonist, grey city and questionable moral compass that made it quite a dour experience. Thats not to say Watch Dogs 2 is free of eyebrow-raising moments. However, the detail in Watch Dogs 2s world, the colour in its characters and the sheer fun you can have mucking around with its mechanics make for a great, albeit not all-time great, open-world adventure. Source: www.theguardian.com