Everything we know about Watch Dogs Legion and why you should be excited.
There is still much to discover about Ubisoft’s upcoming game, Watch Dogs Legion. There are, however, still enough details floating around to get you hyped for its release.
The setting
Watch Dogs Legion is set in the UK, in a dystopian post-Brexit London that has been taken control of by CTOS. Neon lights and LED displays cover the landscape of futuristic London. This instils the fact that everything is connected and, most importantly, hackable.
This has made London a Big Brother state. We don’t mean everyone has been put into a large house together, where they all bicker about who ate the last of the biscuits – this an Orwellian scenario. Constant surveillance and digital monitoring is rife. Authorities track every move of its citizens. In Watch Dogs Legion, you are a part of Dedsec, a collective bent on resisting and dismantling the authoritarian regime.
From the given information and gameplay it appears that there is no one main protagonist. In Watch Dogs Legion you can play as any number of recruitable NPCs, from burly street thugs to diminutive grandmothers
NPC Recruitment
Ubisoft have spoken about this recruitment system and how in-depth it will be. Every person in the city can be recruited into the ranks of Dedsec, and each citizen has a fleshed-out background. This will supposedly affect how they are recruited. Every character will have a set of requirements or actions required to gain their loyalty to the cause.
In terms of gameplay, we do not have much to go on, bar what was revealed in a short trailer. However, we have already seen that the same formula from previous Watch Dogs iterations is present; Parkour-style movement and a heavy emphasis on using digital perks to achieve your missions.
Gameplay innovations
In the gameplay trailer, we got a small preview of a couple of new “Hacks”; one particularly innovative hack had the player shrouded in a sort of digital cloak, rendering them invisible to the surveillance drones. Later, you are seen riding one of the large surveillance drones themselves. Though there will inevitably be a few similarities to previous Watch Dogs games in terms of gameplay, there is a very apparent shift in power in Legion.
In Watch Dogs and Watch Dogs 2, most of the digital interaction of gameplay was limited to bypassing locked doors, accessing closed-circuit security and server hacking. Watch Dogs Legion appears to have a huge amount more potential for digital havoc, though. With guards seemingly wearing digitally augmented helmets, and the vast majority of surveillance now taken care of by drones (that we already know can be hacked), there should be far more opportunity to utilise different strategies with your hacking abilities.
Predictions
There is also a small prediction I have based on Watch Dogs 2. I’m sure that I’m one of very few who took the time to put up every poster Sitara asked in a side quest, but it was one of my favourite side missions. It gave the feeling of being part of a resistance, of being involved in a larger fight against the system. I can see this being a huge part of Watch Dogs Legion. With all the huge digital displays plastered on buildings and buses, I would love to see us able to hack them and plaster them with political satire.
That leads me to the next theme I can envision being prevalent in Watch Dogs Legion; Politics. This is not a huge stretch, given that we have seen a character in MP styled attire donning a big mask, as well as the anarchist-resistance vibe the promotional material has. To me, that is the perfect vibe for Watch Dogs Legion and I can not wait for it. There is so much potential for tongue-in-cheek humour. This will no doubt be appreciated given the more politically-aware zeitgeist of current times.
Next-Gen ready
A significant announcement is that Watch Dogs Legion will be playable on the next-generation of consoles. Whether they enable users to buy once and upgrade to the next-gen version for free has yet to be announced.
However, with the release date being pushed back, the closer it is to the release date of the new consoles the less likely it is gamers will want to purchase the current-gen version if they plan to charge separately for each version. With this in mind, hopefully, Ubisoft will make the consumer-friendly choice.
Special editions
On to the more tangible side of Watch Dogs Legion – the Special Editions. There are currently 4 editions of Watch Dogs Legion scheduled to be released:
- Standard will include just the base game, along with any retailer-specific pre-order bonuses.
- Gold comes packed with the season pass and 3 days early access.
- Ultimate comes with; the season pass; 3 days early access and specific Ultimate Edition content – the Urban jungle pack; 4 weeks of VIP status and the London dissident pack.
- And lastly, the edition I have snagged myself, the Collectors Edition. This comes with everything included with the previously mentioned editions, as well as the physical collectables, including a wicked, light-up Ded Coronet mask (that I can only dream is wearable, but I doubt it).
The collector’s edition comes with only one more digital extra than the Ultimate edition (instant access to the Ded Coronet mask in the game). It’s the Physical extras where the really exciting stuff is. You get the previously mentioned Ded Coronet mask, and although that’s the main collectable, the rest is still really awesome. You get a double-sided propaganda poster, a set of three stickers, an exclusive steel book and the collector’s box that is pretty sweet itself.
And did I mention the crown lights up?
Get your merch on
Beyond the game editions, there is a huge range of merch available. Unfortunately, a lot of it has either sold out or isn’t available in the UK. I still hold hope that it will come over here eventually, perhaps closer to release.
One of the most noteworthy items of merchandise is the “we will never surrender” hoody from the Ubi store. This will feature; the new Dedsec LDNs logo on the front; the dead coronet on the back and “we shall never surrender” on the side of the hood. You can bet I’ll be scouring the wide web for one! There’s also tees, wallets, hats and a host of other stuff. If you’re interested, it’s worth taking a look at the Ubi store and Merchoid.
Lastly, along with the game, there is an Ubi collectable figure releasing: the resistance of London figure – A character dressed in Politically themed attire. With a swappable mask, you can either choose to put the Winston mask on or don the King of Hearts mask. As an added bonus, the figure comes with a redeemable code. This unlocks the digital version of the King of Hearts mask for your in-game use. The figure looks amazing, and if I can manage to get one it will sit perfectly in the background of my stream with Aiden, Marcus and Wrench.
