Watch Dogs: Legion | Xbox One X Review

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While we're not quite living in the dystopian future that Watch Dogs: Legion predicts, Ubisoft Toronto couldn't possibly have imagined the world it was releasing its latest game into. 

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​by ​James Michael Parry

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@james_parry

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Developer: Ubisoft Toronto
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC, Stadia
Players: 1+

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Besides the impact on personal freedoms in response to global catastrophe, Ubisoft itself is reeling from substantial accusations of abuse, mistreatment and corruption along with a series of resulting dismissals. Perhaps that explains why coming into Legion's version of London doesn't have quite the same sense of wonder and escapism we might be used to – it's all a little close to home.

Ironically, the game's London setting is one of its most captivating features. Fairly comprehensive, if obviously condensed and altered, the entire map is open from the word go, and, though obscured by a shroud, navigating it is fairly straightforward thanks to plentiful fast travel points. Of course, there’s also a plethora of vehicles to forcibly commandeer and recklessly drive with little consequence.

In fact, the game as a whole feels almost bereft of consequences. Completing borough missions will turn the area defiant, supposedly signaling a public uprising against the government, oppression and surveillance, but the in-game impact is minimal. Tech upgrade points get marked on the map, in true Ubisoft open-world fashion, but NPCs still go about their usual routines and the city feels exactly the same.

Building up a team is a key element of Watch Dogs: Legion, since you'll need certain outfits and occupations to access different areas and complete specific missions. The main conceit we heard about when the game was announced is true – you really can recruit anyone just walking around on the street, or even the guards that oppose you – though characters won't be fans of you and returning hacker outfit, DedSec, if you choose to beat them up beforehand.

Fortunately, the aptitude of average Londoners seems to be exceptional. It’s straightforward to wander into a restricted area, like Buckingham Palace, and take down trained police and security officers as any old amateur.

Firearms are sparse, as you'd expect in England, which favours the tech-orientated culture this series is known for. Drones of all shapes and sizes are everywhere and vehicles, as in previous titles, can be diverted with a quick hack. Environments are so interactive, in fact, that it's often difficult to focus on the small keypad in front of you as opposed to items in the surrounding area.

An option which helps to set Legion apart from the swathe of similar Ubisoft games is permadeath; if operatives die with this setting enabled, they're gone for good. Problem is, recruitable characters lack personality, so rather than hitting on a personal level it’s just annoying to lose whichever special skills or items they had access to.

Connections between characters raise questions like "Why is that construction worker being targeted by a hitman?"

One nice feature, which admittedly has the potential to get out of hand, is a HUD element that displays connections between existing recruits and recruitable characters. It raises questions like "Why is that construction worker being targeted by a hitman?" and encourages you to start to build out a wider team, members of which are connected by emergent stories. When you get into recruitment itself, however, the variety of missions is fairly limited.

​Characters in general have a few shortcomings. Animation transitions are abrupt and occasionally wonky, while speech seems very skewed towards British stereotypes. That isn't necessarily a surprise, but, since you're hearing the same voice line or two whenever you get into a conversation, it gets old quickly. ​

While cosmetic customisation is possible via numerous shops, some of the initial character designs clash with their intended roles. It isn’t a major issue, but it is another thing that highlights the shortcomings of procedural generation in Watch Dogs: Legion. It’s much harder to care about these characters than it would be a lovingly hand-crafted cast.

Watch Dogs: Legion’s core gameplay is good fun for the most part, but its procedural cast of soulless characters don’t lend themselves to helping players be absorbed by alternate London. Still, the sights and sounds of Blighty’s capital are exciting to explore - especially in lieu of being able to amble around the city in person at present!

Pros

• Satisfactory hacking mechanics still shine
• Exploring near-future London is great, especially as a local
• Spiderbot and drone side missions are a nice change of pace

Cons

• Bugs are fairly commonplace
• Mission variety is sparse, plus flying around on a delivery drone makes most tasks trivial
• Characters feel disposable and your actions have little impact

7/10