Watch Dogs: Legion arrives in Q1 2020, will let you play as any NPC in post-Brexit London

[Polycount]

In context: Earlier this month, leaks started to hit the web that suggested Ubisoft has been working on the next entry in the dystopian, hacking-focused Watch Dogs action game franchise. According to the leaks, the game -- called "Watch Dogs: Legion" would take place in a fictional, post-Brexit London world.

Though that might sound like an interesting game concept by itself, what truly grabbed the attention of many players was Legion's central mechanic: the ability to control any NPC in the game's world.

Now, at its official pre-E3 press conference, Ubisoft has confirmed those rumors and more. Watch Dogs: Legion does indeed exist, and you can recruit and play as "literally anyone" you see. And yes, the game takes place in post-Brexit London.

However, to fill in the gaps with important contextual information, Ubisoft has given us a pretty beefy gameplay video to chew on. Through the video, we've learned that London is in turmoil.

The government has turned totalitarian, freedom is a thing of the past, and killer, state-controlled "riot control" drones prowl the streets looking for anyone who might be stepping out of line. If that wasn't bad enough, organized crime families rule London's underground with an iron fist.

You play as the Resistance, an organization composed of not just one main character, but many. You'll roam the streets while interfering with government plans, fighting gangsters, hacking the city's "cTOS," and recruiting any NPC in the game to your cause. Each of these NPCs have their own origin stories, statistics, voice actors, animation sets, and special skills.

Play as an elderly grandma with an ex-assassin's combat abilities, a fast-talking hacker, or any number of other character archetypes. From what we've seen, each playable character seems to blend seamlessly into the over-arching story, and perhaps most importantly, they can die -- permanently.

How exactly Ubisoft is accomplishing this extremely ambitious idea from a technical perspective is unknown, but the concept is certainly exciting. If you want to grab the game for yourself, you have a bit of a wait ahead of you. Like Cyberpunk 2077, it seems Ubisoft will need quite a bit of extra time with Legion before it's polished enough for launch.

Legion arrives on March 6, 2020, with digital and physical pre-orders open now. The Collector's Edition, which includes 3-day early access, a usable "Ded Coronet Mask," a steelbook, Collector's Box, stickers, poster, and more, will run you $189.

The standard edition comes in at $59.99 without any special goodies (unless you pre-order), and the Gold Edition gives you a unique steelbook, access to the season pass, and the same 3-day headstart that Collector's Edition buyers get.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/80455-watch-dogs-legion-arrives-q1-2020-you-play.html

 

[Uncle Al]

Bought this one and played it a few times but just couldn't get into it. Something about the different style of play just didn't sit right. I'm sure there were plenty that loved it but I just was not one of them ...... sigh .....

 

[BSim500]

"According to the leaks, the game -- called "Watch Dogs: Legion" would take place in a fictional, post-Brexit London world. Though that might sound like an interesting game concept by itself..."

As a Brit, I can say it really doesn't. I'm fairly neutral to Brexit, but "Post-Brexit" games ("Not Tonight", etc) usually involves some ridiculous hyper-exaggerated political doomsday scenario as if to suggest the history of the UK "began on 1st January 1973 and ended with Armageddon" (Brexit). Truth is most real-life "big brother" stuff probably related to the style of the Watch Dogs games (CCTV on every London street, digital ID theft, online surveillance & censorship, etc) sprung up since the late 80's as an EU member, so...

As for "play as any NPC", surely they then won't be NPC's? It sounds about as shallow as the original Watch Dogs game where as soon as you recognized the random generation algorithm behind "view details of any text / listen to any conversation via hacking!", etc, it became about as boring as watching someone else throw dice. Maybe the protagonist will have some personality this time at least 1% more fleshed out than Mr. Cardboard (Aiden Pearce) of the original. Maybe it'll still include the usual Ubisoft cheap padding BS of placing lengthy unskippable cutscenes before checkpoints too far apart, sprinkled with a little game-save corruption or even saving in a single-slot, checkpoint-only game just after you fall through the world? Or at least improve on the cr*p "10 tonne truck on a well buttered ice-rink" driving controls, minus the lame rubber banding that causes the police to literally teleport in front of you this time? Or more involved than simply an urban retexture of the usual "Ubisoft Tower Climbing and Map Unlocking Simulator Gameplay (tm)"?

Regardless of where it's set, I found WD boring as hell and about 100x less interesting than The Saboteur. Or for driving around London, the simple fun of going on a rampage in a double decker bus in Midtown Madness 2. Now there's one of the few games that actually needs a remake.

 

[stewi0001]

I want to be able to play as Paddington bear who saves London non-violently by finding the good in everyone and with marmalade.