After several hours of play, here we are talking, in this review, of Watch Dogs Legion, the new effort by Ubisoft; let's find out all the details
When you tell a story, when you make a work, when you try to immerse a spectator, reader or gamer in a certain context, one of the most important elements on which the creator of that same work must focus is involvement. Being able to involve and completely immerse the user in a certain "world" produces a series of positive effects which will ensure that the user is able to fully enjoy the potentiality of that world itself.
Ubisoft, with this new chapter of the Watch Dogs saga it has focused on a typology of world and context of which, over time, different variations and facets have been seen, thus risking a sort of "effect already seen". The reality is that, with Watch Dogs: Legion, the Canadian software house has managed to package a product fun, engaging and with very interesting ideas, obviously (and unfortunately) not without problems; let's find out all the details in this review.
An innovative saga
Our review of Watch Dogs Legion will start from a simple but impactful assumption: in our opinion this third chapter is the best of the saga Ubisoft license plate. Watch Dogs and Watch Dogs 2 (mostly the two) had been able to offer the videogame world some interesting news, which mostly concerned the management of a gameplay and structure of game which risked, over the years, to become stagnant.
In our opinion, a free roaming always needs some particular element that makes it different from the others. Sleeping Dogs, for example, became the spokesperson for news related to the combat system. GTA V, with the division of the 3 characters added, in turn, further lymph to the genre e Watch Dogs e Watch Dogs 2, with the mechanics tied up all’hacking introduced a new way of interpreting free roaming. Watch Dogs: Legion tries to draw all the good things that have been included in the previous chapters and try to push even slightly more on the accelerator obtaining a very positive even if not perfect result.
London, year 2026 - Watch Dogs: Legion review
In this Watch Dogs: Legion review we are not going to make you spoiler as for the main plot, you just need to know that you will be catapulted into the London of 2026 (post brexit?). Your main objective will be, through different missions and tasks to perform, to fight and hinder a new one authoritarian state which has taken possession of the city thanks, also, to an advanced surveillance system known as ctOS and to do so you will have to put together a team of revolutionaries, recruiting as many people believe they are necessary in DedSec (your group of hackers) to carry out your battle victoriously.
As said in the opening words of this review, the creation of a similar world, Orwellian in some ways, it could produce an already seen or trite feeling. The reality is that Ubisoft has managed to make the dystopia of this context different from others, offering the player the opportunity to feel an integral part of this same dystopia through the use of a series of structural and gameplay choices. The plot proceeds smoothly reaching, in some cases, peaks of interest. The heart of the title, however, is neither the plot nor the narrative component which, in this case, represent something more managed in a certainly sufficient but not excellent.
We Are The Resistance - Watch Dogs: Legion Review
Behind the concept of revolution various shadows are hidden, from the most positive and enlightened to the darkest and most terrifying. Revolutionizing can be extremely noble and moral but at the same time it risks being destructive and not constructive. They are two sides of the same coin that history has handed over to humanity. It is up to humanity itself to measure and take responsibility for the responsibilities that a revolution entails. This concept, take charge, lead and organize a revolution is what Ubisoft has attempted to deliver with Watch Dogs: Legion. Let's be honest, the choice not to have a main character (as happened in the previous two episodes of the saga) had given us more than a few doubts given the excellent narrative potential of the title.
The attempt that is made in this case, however, is precisely that of elevating to the nth degree the concept of involvement making us gamers the real stars of the game; protagonists who have the moral obligation to carry on a rebellion and it is for this reason that we will have the possibility to choose the members of our team in total autonomy. Invisible and silent protagonists who will move the threads of their revolutionary action.
Any human being that we happen to meet on the streets of London will be a possible affiliate of DedSec. To recruit someone, just talk to them and carry out a mission for them. However, there will also be people to whom the DedSec he will not be particularly nice and the commitment to show, towards them, to make him change his mind will certainly be greater.
Each person will have different characteristics and abilities based on the elements that characterize their lives. From the old woman to the spy, from the homeless to the worker, each of them can be useful in different situations, thus offering game situations always different. Furthermore, recruitment can be carried out in a "random" way, that is: choosing any passerby or in a targeted manner suggested by the title itself. In fact, it will happen that the game signals you there presence of a potential skilled affiliate who will be touring London for a limited time, it will be up to you to choose whether to recruit him or not.
Don't expect, however, to be confronted with as many personalities and as many predispositions for as many people on the map. In fact, it will happen to find people with similar or identical characteristics. We do not feel like condemning this element as a real defect. Although in some ways limiting, we consider it physiological as well as “anthropological”, taking into account how many similar personalities exist in real life.
Repeated Variety - Watch Dogs: Legion Review
This Watch Dogs: Legion review revolves around two fundamental concepts: involvement, which we have extensively talked about and the concept of variety. A variety that the gameplay tries to offer in each game situation through the use of different gadgets and skills, which can be purchased, unlocked and upgraded in game using the technology points that you will find scattered in certain areas of the map
This gameplay diversification is achieved thanks to the many opportunities offered by the characters that will involve different approaches to missions. The different characters will present different moral but also physical elements, underlined and highlighted by the animations and other game situations. An elderly character will move much slower, just as a gambling-inclined character will make you gain or lose eTo (your in-game currency) and so on. The missions, however, basically all have one similar structure.
We will have to infiltrate certain forbidden areas going unnoticed, hack the security systems of that area to obtain data and information and start the AR reconstruction, or a sort of reconstruction of events through holograms that risk slowing down the pace of the game. Let's be clear, this is not something too heavy but given the excellent rhythm of the title, even a slight drop in it is noticed and could be excessive or tedious to the player.
Furthermore, the missions take on an interesting lymph also thanks to the construction of the areas that develop very well both vertically and horizontally allowing you to choose which skills and gadgets to use. Among the most interesting we certainly point out the possibility of using both ground drones and flying or even cargo drones. On board the latter it will be possible fly over London's most famous skyscrapers and buildings. In the long run, however, also given the poor AI of the enemies some of these gadgets (especially the Spiderbot) may be slightly OP.
The AI of the enemies, as just mentioned, he does not shine for wit or cunning, an element that the saga also brings with it from previous chapters. This, however, can turn out negative during a game without the active permadeathon the contrary, with permadeath active, the whole results as one greater possibility for the player to keep his character alive. It should be noted that permanent death represents a highly appreciated feature that offers the possibility of grow fond of particularly to your team members as well as additional tension in the most dangerous phases.
I Love London – Recensione Watch Dogs: Legion
The Watch Dogs saga has never been a benchmark in terms of technique or graphics. The titles of the series have been able to defend themselves and have always presented graphics in line, not exceptional, with the current and respective generations. Watch Dogs: Legion also ranks in the wake of the previous chapters, offering a good glance but nothing that makes you speechless. The 30 FPS, on PS4 Base (console on which our test took place) remains stable for most of the time and drops (not drastically) in the most hectic situations and during "rainy days".
The rain made us focus on a negative element, namely environmental physics. In Watch Dogs: Legion all that is anthropic, human beings but also drones, cars, various objects etc ... They are definitely alive and enjoy good physics and destructibility, less positive are the facial animations, practically absent in most of the characters. This is a real shame given that they could have given that something extra to some key characters, such as certain particularly temperamentally inspired enemies.
It is also less alive the surrounding natural environment. Walking on puddles will not produce any effect, just as it will not produce it when crossing lawns, plants or flower beds. Greater attention to these details would certainly have made the title heavier, but also capable of placing itself on a next step from a technical point of view with respect to the trends of the series. Precisely in the wake of the "heaviness" we must mention the uploads, quite slow, especially to get into the game.
On the other hand, the music is excellent, perfectly fitting with every phase of the game and which give back a characteristic that is also clearly visible at the sound level: style. Watch Dogs: Legion has its own style, appreciable or not but certainly recognizable. In addition, some should be noted crash and bug that we have encountered. The title was given to us a preview of a few days compared to the official release and for this reason we believe and hope that a patch on a day one or so will solve certain problems.
We are the DedSec!
Our Watch Dogs: Legion review is now running out and we are ready to sum it up. We are facing an interesting title in several respects. The possibility of leading a rebellion will bring out some revolutionary dream that some of us have hidden in some drawer too and that, through a varied, fun and paced gameplay, it will make our fight more exciting than ever. The game has some flaws as it is normal but we feel of promote it with flying colors and to recommend its purchase, especially for those who have been pleasantly impressed by the previous episodes of the saga (especially the second one). To signal the presence of one Multiplayer which will only be available from December 2020.
Let us know what you think of this title which will be available starting in October 29, 2020 on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Google Stadia and soon also on next-gen consoles, leaving a comment in the dedicated section. To be constantly updated on all the news from the videogame world and not only stay tuned to techigames.
8 It's time for the revolution!Points in favor
- Varied and fun gameplay
- An engaging dystopia
- Interesting recruiting mechanics
- Permadeath is a feature that makes a difference
- Excellent music
- Technically sufficient ...
Points against
- ... But no more
- No environmental physics
- Facial animations barely mentioned
- AR rebuilds and slow uploads block the pace of play
