Gil Scott-Heron once said, “The revolution will not be televised.” In the world of “Watch Dogs: Legion.” he was correct—it’s getting streamed. Would “Watch Dogs: Legion” make you want to answer the call to arms or send it to voicemail?

“Watch Dogs: Legion” is a free-roam action-adventure game from Ubisoft. The game was released for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on Oct. 29, 2020; it will also be featured as a release title for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. It is the third installment in the “Watch Dogs” series and the first to not feature a designated main character.

Story

Dedsec, is a hacker group that clashes with connections all over the world. London’s Dedsec branch detected an armed militia planting explosives in the Houses of Parliament. Dalton Wolfe, an operative of Dedsec, infiltrates the House of Parliament and defuses the explosives in a last-second effort; but he was bamboozled. While Dalton was away on his mission, the militia infiltrated Dedsec and killed most of their staff. Sabine Brandt and her AI, Bagley, were all that was left after the attack. 

The Militia were part of a rogue hacker group called, “Zero Day.”  Zero Day’s leader appears before Dalton as a hologram and detonates three more bombs across London before killing him on Parliament’s roof. 

The next day, London experiences major casualties and Dedsec is framed as the terrorist group responsible for the bombings. Now Dedsec is slowly returning back to commision, led by Sabine Brandt, to clear their name and find the people responsible for the bombing. Rising from the ashes, Dedsec is aligning themselves with the best allies they could ask for—the citizens of London. 

Gameplay

The previous installments in the “Watch Dogs” franchise featured only one playable character; this time, the entire city of London is at the player’s beck and call. Each character specializes in different phases of the game. Some characters specialize in hacking speed, drone control, fighting, driving and even distracting. Characters develop these skills according to their professions. Mimes can be distracting, hackers work in IT, fighters can be reformed criminals and more.

The city’s electronic equipment can be manipulated by a character’s phone. A lot of the equipment can be hijacked or hacked in order to accomplish mission objectives. The game has activities that are centered around liberating the boroughs of London from corporate dictators and corrupt politicians involving murder, extortion, organ trafficing, and more. Missions include sabotage, retrieving corrupt evidence, disrupting human-trafficking operations, and more.

The combat system is a bit mediocre. It revolves around punches, counters and guard breaks. There are characters that specialize in combat, however every character can fight. The only difference with characters that excel in physical combat is the additional animations.

Graphics

Did you notice anything weird about the screenshot above? The motor scooter is breaching layers like a hibachi chef doing table tricks with an onion. There were many moments where it was impossible to progress through the game because the layers were overlapping. In a game where espionage is a primordial element, it makes it difficult to accomplish anything.  The only thing more disturbing than the graphics are the game’s physics.

The physical mechanics are completely atrocious. Random NPCs (non-playable characters) would fly into the air when barely touched. The animations would also make random things crash. It is almost as if the game is running on its own without the players’ actions or influences. In summary, the game has more bugs than the locust plague of Egypt.

Verdict

The game was fun, but it still needs to be polished. The concept of not having a designated main character is intriguing, but all the best elements of the game are overshadowed by the game’s horrible physics. The story is amazing but the combat system is also lacking. Even with all of the activities to do in London, frustration still follows whenever the map looks like players are getting thrown around like loose change in a sock. Spinnaker gives “Watch Dogs: Legion.”

The Spinnaker rates this game 2 out of 5 sails.

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