E3 2016 Impressions — Watch Dogs 2

Watch Dogs 2

While at E3 I was able to see Watch Dogs 2 in a more intimate setting than just a trailer. Here’s my take on Watch Dogs 2

One of the worst kept secrets of E3, Watch Dogs 2, was fully revealed and then shown off again on the show floor. Thankfully instead of trying to play cover up on all of it Ubisoft chose to embrace the reveal and gave us our first, second, third, and even fourth look at the game during their press conference and then when the door officially opened for the day. Watch Dogs 2 definitely was the talk of the show and thankfully I was able to sit down and get a closer look at the demos and gameplay offered up to us all. All in a nice little hidden room with the sounds of the booth bumping and drowning out the experience.

Just as with a bunch of the video games shown off at E3 Watch Dogs 2 is yet another that had the same gameplay shown to the world that was also shown behind closed doors. Again with the only difference being that the narration from the demonstrator being different and able to answer a few questions along the way. Just in case you missed out on all of the gameplay demos for Watch Dogs 2 I’ve included them here so you can get up to speed and then I’ll dig into my thoughts and extras that were shared during the demo behind the doors of the grand booth.

Just as with the last title I am a bit confused on the ability to hack anything in Watch Dogs 2; at least as it comes to true logistics. I always wondered in Watch Dogs how you could hack a steam pipe and now we are going to be able to hack and drive vehicles from our phones. Another instance of sacrificing realism for gameplay I guess but there could be a bit more of an explanation in the game’s world in my opinion. Maybe there will be but in the demos and gameplay so far it seems like we are just supposed to take it and accept it where all of the other gadgets and gizmos have solid explanations.

Another thing that doesn’t seem to sit well with me is the forced combat as it would seem in the game. Ubisoft has claimed that we can go at things in a full stealth way but even then there is some pretty hardcore combat with the billiard ball on a string. Even in the “hacking” attempt they took in the demo it still devolved into a free for all gun battle and not really feeling like Watch Dogs 2 is going to let us play without it. I’m sure they will be parts of the story where it will have to boil down to straight combat but even in the stealth mode here it goes to that too fast for my liking. Hopefully it is all to razzle and dazzle us and not the final experience.

I am enjoying the new drone and hopper bot we have added into our bag of tricks for Watch Dogs 2. In a world where hacking isn’t always a digital thing it makes full sense that they would craft something to get the job done. I’m glad to see something added in and I hope that they don’t end up being something clunky in terms of gameplay. Also I hope it doesn’t lower the difficulty of general hacking as we can use them as hubs to jump from electronics to electronics like the cameras from before. Please let it be a nice new addition and not a basic little gimmick to pretend to have something new.

We will all find out here soon though. Hopefully through new gameplay shown off for Watch Dogs 2 from Ubisoft but if nothing else when the game finally launches on November 15^th for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. It seems like a long wait but that time will fly right by I am sure. At least we know that the team will be able to replicate San Francisco just as well as they did Chicago in the prior title. We always have that to look forward too if none of the rest has sold you just yet.