Ubisoft Watch Dogs 2

Last updated: November 3, 2023

Ubisoft Watch Dogs 2
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We looked at the top Video Games and dug through the reviews from some of the most popular review sites. Through this analysis, we've determined the best Video Game you should buy.

Overall Take

You play a street-savvy hacker in "Watch Dogs 2," and your ability to influence the tech around you is a highlight in this open-world adventure. The imaginative missions and side activities are an improvement from the game's predecessor. Exploring the lush San Francisco setting is a blast. Online player-vs-player action also makes for a welcome enhancement.

In our analysis of 160 expert reviews, the Ubisoft Watch Dogs 2 placed 11th when we looked at the top 14 products in the category. For the full ranking, see below.

From The Manufacturer

Explore the birthplace of the tech revolution as Marcus Holloway, a brilliant young hacker who has fallen victim to ctOS 2.0’s predictive algorithms and accused of a crime he did not commit. In Marcus’ quest to shut down ctOS 2.0 for good, hacking is the ultimate weapon. Players can not only hack into the San Francisco Bay Area’s infrastructure but also every person and any connected device they possess to trigger unpredictable chains of events in this vast open world.

Expert Reviews


What experts liked

Watch Dogs 2 is a solid, satisfying sequel that successfully addresses the weaknesses of its predecessor.
The San Francisco Bay Area looks great and is a blast to explore
Watch Dogs 2 makes good on the premise of its predecessor. It’s an open world action game where the focus on hacking makes it feel unique, instead of yet another third-person shooter.
The other mode, Bounty Hunt, is an excellent spin on the typical police chase. When you max out your wanted meter (which you can do voluntarily by activating a mission instead of mowing down civilians), instead of calling in the military the police call in something far more lethal to stop your rampage: other players.
Great setting and fun side-activities
Because you have hacker smarts, you’re able to use drones, security cameras, or Marcus to interface with CTOS, an operating system embedded into city infrastructure, which means you can remotely influence anything connected to the system, like traffic lights, robots, and those handy explosive pipes, just by looking at them and pressing a button.
Huge vibrant city ripe for exploration
Watch Dogs 2 now supports seamless player-versus-player hacking online. You are free to turn this off if you wish, but knowing that you may have to stop what you're doing at the drop of a hat to find the nearby stranger tapping into your phone adds a small but appreciable layer to the experience
The game’s best missions are its most open, using your hacking abilities – environmental manipulation being the main one – as well as your two most useful tools; an RC hopper car that’s capable of remote hacking and sneaking through vents, and a quadcopter drone, useful for scouting environments from above.

What experts didn't like

Hooking up with a friend in the first place isn’t so straightforward right now, however; I experienced several erroneous error messages whilst trying to connect, and then a handful of server-side lost connections mid-mission, too.
Movement doesn't always feel under full control
The game can be frustrating at times. There are a few moments where missions feel too rigid, or where your goal is unclear. And the lack of any sort of manual save functionality means that if you fail partway through a mission, you often have to replay it from scratch.
Watch Dogs 2 can get pretty chuggy. It’s playable, but if you’re sensitive to frame rate issues you will probably not be happy with that performance. The PS4 Pro handles the frame rate much better, though other than that the visual differences aren’t striking.
Movement doesn’t always feel under full control
Huge sections of the city are missing, and as such feels a bit misrepresentative for someone that lives there, but as a big mashup of the wealthy and tourist-heavy bits it works as satirical backdrop for an endless stream of Silicon Valley jabs and dick jokes (some pretty good ones, too).
The main gripes levelled at it included a central character who was impossible to warm to, dreadful vehicle handling compounded by an overabundance of vehicular missions and that in general, despite its subject matter, it managed to be rather dull to play.
Ubisoft does a great job of presenting the Bay Area in an attractive way that feeds intrepid tourists an impressive variety of sights. However, something’s definitely missing. You won't see a lot of pedestrians or cars on the street compared to similar games
Ubisoft games have often lacked good scripts, regularly resulting in cringe-inducing one-liners, but Watch Dogs 2 frequently delivers moments of heartwarming charm and sharp comedic satire.
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