The Watch Dogs 2 World Premier has just finished, and with it came plenty of news for the next installment of the Watch Dogs franchise.
Setting
The new game is to be set in San Francisco. Within this city will be multiple areas of different life styles, much like in real life, which allow interaction in completely different ways. An important part of Watch Dogs 2 is making sure the city feels alive, which means that not only will characters have an impact on their surroundings, but the NPCs will also effect each other in big ways, such as calling the cops on each other, arguing, chatting, and much more. There will also be various criminal groups fighting for control of the underground, corporations taking control of citizens for money, and even other hacker groups.
Our new hero
The new main character we play as is named Marcus Holloway. The design behind his character is to be a blend between someone tech savvy, but someone who is also athletic and rebellious. He is described as being better at parkour and fighting than the previous game’s protagonist. Marcus is also very expressive and free, and this wanted to be shown in the weapons and gadgets he possesses too. He uses a billiard ball attached to rope for a fast and effective attack, and also uses an RC jumper, and Quad copter for scouting. Marcus has a reveal trailer that I will attach at the bottom of this article.
What’s different?
Watch Dogs 2 wants to focus more on being a member of a community, and the hacking having more of a social status. Your character, Marcus, is part of a hacking group named Dedsec. This hacking groups main focus is to fight to preserve freedom in the city. Their design takes inspiration from internet culture, and bright modern designs.
Hacking is also a different experience. There is a lot more depth, control and flexibliity to hacking in Watch Dogs 2. If there is a character or a car, you can hack into it. Every single one. Control drive systems into cars to take out enemies, or cause car crashes. Directly hack one person to gain information, or mass hack, hacking multiple people at once to cause a large scale distraction.
Gameplay has seen a different design and approach too. Firstly you’ll notice that the guns are made from 3D printers. This is to bring the game into more of a modern technology focused environment, but also to relate to Dedsec being up to date. Tazers also allow for a none lethal gameplay approach, allowing you to play through the game in different ways. You can go full guns blazing, taking out everyone as you go. Full stealth mode, completing missions and objectives without being spotted, or you can go full hack mode, not using any weapons, and using your environment to your advantage. The aim is to support the player no matter how they choose to play, and allow all of the different approaches to mix with each other seamlessly.
Speaking of seamless, the game will also feature a seamless online mode. This allows you to cross paths with friends, even when you’re both in single player mode, meaning you could then team up to forma coop team. Just look out for any fellow Dedsec members. They could be a new friend.
The main focus in Watch Dogs 2 is to allow the player to play how they choose to. They can take mission after mission, alone or with friends, and approach them in multiple ways, or they can play in a casual none serious manner, taking selfies with the local attractions, and just having fun in general.
This game shows a lot of promise and I certainly look forward to its release. The game will be available November 15th 2016 for Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC. A pre-order bonus is available that allows you to unlock the Zodiac Killer mission.
Watch Dogs 2 Reveal Trailer:
Watch Dogs 2 Marcus Introduction:
(All Images were taken by myself from the trailers linked above.)
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