After the French publisher Ubisoft announced the third part last year of his Watch Dogs franchise not as planned in March 2020 it was published on 29. October is finally ready and Watch Dogs: Legion can be purchased in stores. In the run-up to the event, there was already a lot of advertising and the second part of Watch Dogs was available free of charge in both the Ubisoft store and the Epic Games Store. With part three, the gamers in Legion are now heading to London. Hardwareluxx has also gone to the British capital and, with the help of the underground organization DedSec, set out on the trail of hackers Zero-Day. You can find out what we experienced in this allusion.

Meanwhile, the release of Watch Dogs 2 is around four years in the past and many fans have been waiting for a new sign of life at least since the first announcement of the third part the Watch Dogs series. Already at gamescom 2019 Ubisoft granted all fans of the franchise an insight into the open world action adventure. Even if it should take a while until the release, it was already clear then that Watch Dogs: Legion would stand out from its predecessors. The announcement that the British musician Stormzy will play a role in the new part also gives an idea of ​​the effort the French publisher has put into making Watch Dogs: Legion a success.

Also for the future, Ubisoft announced some free updates. From December 3rd 2020 a multiplayer will be available, which among other things introduces a co-op mode, in which the hobby hackers can join together to form a group of up to four players. There will also be new co-op missions that can be completed in pairs or with up to four team members. Another update will also expand the single player mode and introduce new characters in addition to a game + mode. With the paid season pass, the storyline “Bloodline” finds its way into the action adventure. Additional DedSec missions are also part of the pass.

For all future owners of a next-gen console, Watch Dogs: Legion can be played on both Sony’s PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series at no extra charge. Thus, gamers can immerse themselves in the world of Watch Dogs: Legion even though they do not expect their new console to be delivered until next year.

Gameplay

In addition to hacking drones, vehicles and much more, Watch Dogs: Legion can now also hack people or convince them to join the resistance group DedSec. This is also the biggest innovation in the gameplay of the third part of the series. Whether educators, car mechanics or musicians, all residents of digital London can be recruited. For this, it is necessary to complete so-called recruitment missions, such as that of the educator Gabriel Singh. This is about the educator’s friend who was recently killed on a demonstration in Albion. In order to win Gabriel over to his own cause, it is necessary to access the autopsy report in Guy’s Hospital and to find out more information about the fatal circumstances. The recruits also differ. Depending on their experience, they have skills or weapons that can prove extremely useful as the game progresses. In addition, an experienced recruit joins your own team as soon as a district “rebels”.

The main missions and various side missions are also available. When and which tasks are completed by the players is up to them in the open world. However, it should be noted that the larger the resistance group, the easier it is to find the perfect candidate for a mission.

Depending on the chosen task, gamers end up in so-called restricted areas. Here it is particularly important to be careful, because intruders are attacked immediately if they come into sight. So you should try to avoid enemies as much as possible or to kill them from ambush without causing too much attention. Otherwise, more reinforcements will arrive within a very short time to make life difficult for you. With the appropriate equipment, however, you can shoot wildly around you in typical cowboy fashion in order to reach your target.

In addition to firearms and your own fists, Watch Dogs: Legion can also control or hijack drones or spider-bots, among other things. For the latter, however, your own devices must be upgraded under the Technology tab. At first, however, gamers will only be able to deactivate hunting drones for a short time. The required technology points can be found all over the city. As soon as a district “revolted”, the location of said points is also shown on the map. In addition, technology once purchased is available to all agents.

Furthermore, one should not overdo it with the chopping. If you take over an Albion drone, the law enforcement officers may notice this and go in search of the hacker. Here it is then to look for the distance and escape the forces of law. The same applies, of course, to attacking passers-by in the street or stealing a patrol car.

There are three levels of difficulty to choose from in the single player mode. This can also be adjusted at any time during the game. In multiplayer, the difficulty is automatically set to normal. The “Permanent Death” mode can also be activated. If this is switched on, the agents die and disappear forever from the game if they are fatally injured. The game ends when there are no more agents available. It is possible to deactivate “Permanent Death” in the course of the game, but then it cannot be reactivated in the course of the game. In addition, the mode only comes into play when the mission “Report me for duty” has been successfully completed.

Story

The story of Watch Dogs: Legion begins with the fact that we find ourselves in the role of the agent Dalton, who reminds us a bit of James Bond. After this has gained access to the catacombs of the Palace of Westminster, we take control. After we have penetrated further into the catacombs, we meet the first opponents, but they are not a great challenge. Once in a large room, we can hack various objects with the help of our smartphone and ensure that they are either blown up immediately or explode as soon as someone is in the immediate vicinity. This is followed by a scavenger hunt in which switch boxes have to be manipulated so that the way to the next section is free. Here, too, we meet enemy guards again, whom we can easily eliminate with a few targeted punches.

Then we come to a large room where there are countless explosive charges and a few guards. It seems that the terrorists are trying to blow up the entire House of Commons. Since we cannot locate the detonator, we leave the catacombs and go to the House of Commons as quickly as possible. Once there, we discover the detonator and try to defuse it. With the support of the Bagley artificial intelligence, we can do this too. However, we note that this is not the only explosive device that has been placed in the city. So we open the heavy artillery and work our way up to the roof of the palace. Once at the top, we encounter Zero-Day for the first time in the form of a huge hologram that is projected into the sky by drones. We can only watch as the other explosive devices explode in London and Agent Dalton is killed by Zero-Day.

Various cutscenes follow that show how the resistance group DedSec was responsible for the attacks is held responsible. After the resistance has been crushed, our task is to breathe new life into it again. To do this, we have to hack the Blume data center in the form of a spider-bot. Since this is only possible through physical access, we maneuver our metallic spider to the servers and download the required data. With the help of the said data set we select 00 people from the first agent and then take over his control . You can choose between a photographer, a large entrepreneur or a game developer.

We choose the investor Percy Trench and then find ourselves in the middle of London. Our first task is to find the secret hiding place of DedSec and to give the resistance group a new shine.

Conclusion

Even if the franchise is meanwhile is already around six years old, Ubisoft is not reinventing the wheel at Watch Dogs: Legion. The topic of hacking remains in the foreground and has been expanded further. In addition, the publisher succeeded in introducing the recruitment function, for more variety in the course of the game to care. The usable gadgets do not kill the players right at the beginning, but are gradually unlocked. Which is particularly advantageous for newcomers to the watchdog world.

We were also impressed by the gameplay. Both in terms of controlling the various characters and the physics of the individual vehicles. You can’t compare this to a Need For Speed, but in contrast to the horrific driving behavior of the first part, Watch Dogs: Legion can shine here. In addition, the hacking function always ensures funny moments. With a simple push of a button it is possible, for example, to let a car in front that is in the way simply drive it against a wall or to steer it into oncoming traffic.

The different missions in which you can not only fall back on suitable recruited members, but also use drones or spider-bots to obtain information, provide variety and, thanks to fluid controls, are simply fun.

Finally, it can be said that with Watch Dogs: Legion all fans of the series will definitely get their money’s worth. But gamers who have not yet immersed themselves in the world of the franchise should also take a closer look at the third part. Thanks to the intuitive gameplay, even beginners can quickly find their way around here.

Furthermore, the upcoming free updates and the Season Pass should ensure numerous more hours of play in digital London. If you still haven’t had enough of Watch Dogs: Legion, you can compete or work with other players in multiplayer in the future.