Watch Dogs: Legion Review

Now, you may be asking does the gameplay differ in anyway from Watch Dogs 2? Yes. Each unique facet of its predecessor has been improved on, plus additional features such as the ability to manoeuvre vehicles, parkour across city skylines, and various dialogue options that dictate your campaign’s respective outset. The monotony of espionage action does tend to wear thin with some missions seeming to have the exact same goal in mind, but the action that elevates each scenario does help with complete engagement. While the narrative will progress part-in-part of DedSec’s restructure, the combat and gameplay will stay mostly the same with some minor differences between each respective representative of the hacker group.

Collecting an assortment of ranged weaponry, in hopes of attacking enemies from a distance, covertly sneaking behind an Albion agent and taking them down, or creating havoc in the streets to cause a distraction, all this is part of manic that is Legion. I would compare it almost to how Saints Row became. From its serious roots, to almost becoming an outrageous demonstration of its former self. Be weary of enemies that may come in swarms, this only sets off alarms for you to escape as quick as possible using self-taught methods, but also some of the most innovative and unique ones that I’ve seen in the series thus far. Using a mixture of your hacking abilities and parkour, you can easily escape on foot.

But of course, there’s always car theft. Jumping into a car and zooming off into the distance may also elevate your wanted status. The higher your status, the more Albion begins to give chase. Legion uses a level system, almost akin to an RPG that ranks your player from spy to adrenaline junkie. These labels are handed respectively given your experience within each encounter. Physical to ranged attacks will develop strength attributes while spy will allow you to enhance your technical abilities for faster hacking skills. Lethal ranged attacks, such as guns and arms stay pretty much the same throughout the title, but can be utilised in various ways, depending on which model you use. While you may not recruit every member, you will grow relations to certain members of the public in hopes of them gaining intel.

Appreciated is the choice of Permadeath, or non-permadeath. If the character is defeated but has permadeath disabled, they will only be arrested. But if permadeath is enabled then you lose that member of your party. Legion’s attention to detail is astonishing, with the bustling town’s terrain mirroring that exact same feeling as if you were traversing through the busy streets of the English capital. My only gripe has been its lack of depth in detail for its characters. You do get a sense of stock lines and cheap designs, but this is all part of a title that has limitless variations to run through, so I can appreciate the effort that has been put in. Some cinematics do deliver their intended suspense, while others aim for the jocular and light hearted moments to break the ice.

All-in-all, Watch Dogs Legion is an incredible follow-up to its predecessor. Watch Dogs 2 remains my personal favourite within the franchise, but Legion has shown promise. It’s a steady growth period while we transition to the next generation of gaming, and with the hardware capable of delivering lofty experiences, we’re sure in for another exciting entry into this franchise. The potential it has to enamour audiences with Legion only scrapes the surface of everything we could come to expect upon its next entry. However, Legion is exceptional. The free range flow of this foray into the world of London, the power you have to control every piece of tech, the hilarity of controlling a Police car at your fingertips, and the engaging scenarios that elevate the tension given in its campaign all deliver one of the best title’s of 2020, and a fantastic way to end out our current generation.