Completed Watch Dogs 2
There is a widespread belief that it is only in the second part of their series that Ubisoft releases the product that it should have been originally. That it is with the sequel that the series begins to breathe deeply and that it does everything that was done in the first part - better. Unfortunately, in my eyes, everything is almost the opposite.
The original WD was a game ruined by Ubisoft's marketing and script ignoramuses, but I still love this game. Even though a lot of things are nondescript, as soon as I went out into the street in the rain, slowly walked past passers-by going about their business, took out my phone to find out their profile... I was hooked. Despite the empty plot, the atmosphere of this game cannot be taken away. I will say even more, the game had a very interesting pace of gameplay, making you more like an old soldier who only when necessary will use an effective, but alien device. If the target was in the middle of a hornet's nest, you always went there personally, planning exactly how you would clear your path. I understand that only a few will share my opinion, but I really love the first part for this. It was atmospheric, it provided one single element, allowing you to feel the advantage in any shootout and play the hunter.
What did WD2 do? Added more hacking modes. Now you can just set the “mine” mode everywhere so that everyone knocks themselves out. You can simply get everything you need by driving literally between the enemy’s legs. You can even fly around with a quadcopter and clear the territory, making as many mistakes as you like, but never getting your life in danger. The mechanics are broken. Let Ubisoft talk at least a hundred times about the diversity of the path. Any sane person will try to choose the most optimal path, which gives him quick elimination of obstacles, less risks or fun. The first 2 points are a car and a quadcopter. The latter is purely individual, but if it is tied to hacking, he will certainly use them in the same way. No challenge, no interesting situations, no risk. How is this supposed to generate any interest? It would be one thing if only some of the tasks could be completed this way, but practically all of them? If you please...
I understand perfectly well that it is stupid to challenge better work with the characters. That the city is much more colorful and that there is much more content in the game... However, I will not ignore that the plot has not made much progress. If in part 1 “ahh, fuck, I’ll take revenge! I’ll look for someone, and then I’ll find and take revenge!”, then here “we’ll take revenge on everyone connected with the ctOS fraud.” And while it has social commentary, the plot lacks any coherence. They just take revenge on everyone. As a player, I am not interested in what happens next. Were some punished? They will find someone else to punish. Amazing! It's a shame that, as in the original, interesting situations and moves emerged that returned interest in the story... But everything went to zero.
Ubisoft doesn't need good stories. Ubisoft doesn't need a gameplay overhaul. Ubisoft needs content. More, but fatter. To make the atmosphere as light as possible, the plot as simple as possible, and the options for action to be richer. So people will trample on it, and they will have to do a minimum of redoing.
2 out of 5
If I literally grew up with the AC series, easily accepting its metamorphoses and even going through these content simulators in a historical wrapper, then the second such metamorphosis is already difficult for me to accept. The game is good, but Ubisoft again breaks what made me personally love the original. I believe that they can try to trick their ears and change the atmosphere again and make the plot even better, since the expansion of DedSek to other cities and even countries promises interesting moves to change this organization. However, I no longer want to believe in any product from this company. Moreover, they clearly will not give up those stupid decisions that they introduced into the gameplay, breaking it for me.