Games You Might Have Missed: Watch Dogs 2 Review

Welcome back to Games You Might Have Missed. The review collection that shines some light on overlooked games that deserve its flowers. This month’s game was almost to the top of my list. It was one of three games that inspired this series. Between a few deals going on for the game and a new entry coming out this month, I thought it was time to talk about Watch Dogs 2.

What’re Talking About

Watch_Dogs 2 is a game developed and published by Ubisoft. In the first game, it focused on a revenge plot starring Aiden Pierce. It had a ton of hype but fell short. On the franchise’s second entry, you play Marcus Holloway, a black man in his 20’s who was wrongfully convicted for a crime he didn’t do. Eventually, he teams up with other hackers to try and free people who are oppressed. (I’m trying with all my might not to make this political, I swear).

What’s Good

The first good is customization. There are several things in Watch Dogs that can give many variations to the player. I can mention the cars and clothing I used throughout the game, but the best example of this ideal has to be the skill tree. The skill tree in this game is one of the best. At first, I was a little intimidated, but once I dove in, it became one of my favorite parts of the game. I added several upgrades that change the gameplay. Whether I went loud, stupid, or stealth-like, the skill tree helps by adding upgrades to improve the approaches. As a side mention, I liked how the skill tree was progressing at a comfortable rate.

The second good is the Bay Area. This city is beautiful. I won’t lie, Watch_Dogs 2 has to be one of the most intuitive worlds I’ve seen in the Xbox One/PS4 generation (That’s even including Breath of the Wild). The Bay area feels lived in from the people to the side mission and everything in-between. It didn’t matter if I was riding cycles in Oakland, sneaking through Alcatraz, or on top of the Golden Gate Bridge. Overall, the city felt incredible to venture into my 37 hours of play.

This last good point was just gonna be for Marcus’s main character, but I’ll throw the main cast in here. Instead of focusing on a dark revenge plot, Watch_Dogs 2 has more of an upbeat, colorful design. The characters are the main focal point. I talked a little about Marcus, but I never mentioned his other hacker friends. All of whom quickly bounce off each other in different dynamics. Whenever I had a mission with these guys, I looked forward to their involvement. It felt like the relationship was real and kept me playing to see how the relationships would develop.

So, What’s Bad

There are only two minor issues. The first bad is here because this can be installed in the game in 1-2 weeks. The button layout in the game feels. The most noticeable part would be whenever I’m driving somewhere. Because of the button layout, I can’t steer while changing music or anything else. I know this is a small thing some players might not even notice. But considering that GTA V did it better three years prior, it had to be said.

The other bad is a very small nitpick, but I gotta bring up the multiplayer. Multiplayer in Watch Dogs 2 is more intuitive, but it cannot be delightful when playing during a mission. There would be times I would be doing a story task, looking for an item. Then, out of nowhere, I’m being hacked by another online player and gotta find them. Bright side, you can turn the multiplayer off, and if you do want to play online, there are designated locations all over the map.

Final Thoughts

So here’s the TL;DR:

Pros	Cons (Nitpick)
The customization is flawless	The controls need some tweaking
San Francisco and Oakland look beautiful	Multiplayer can be annoying
Characters are enjoyable

I gotta say. This game was fun to play. Again, I put close to 40 hours into this game. I even played every non-online activity in the game at least once. That should tell you how much fun I had even though sales numbers say otherwise. Even though this game has the franchise some color, the first game still impacted the copies sold. However, it’s nice to see Ubisoft sees potential in this IP, and I’m willing to show my support.

Release Date: November 15th, 2016

Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, Switch, PC

Price: USD 19.99 (Console Price based on Target and Best Buy) / USD 49.99 (Steam)

Recommendation: Worth A Buy at Full Price

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