Watch Dogs 2: 10 Massive Improvements Over The First Game

9. A Better Story

Watch Dogs 2
Ubisoft

The original Watch Dogs was about a grief-stricken man with an inability to learn life lessons. Ever.

The sequel is about a gutsy group of hackers trying to topple an infuriatingly trendy Zuckerberg douchebag, and prevent him from controlling the world's communications networks. Even the elevator pitch is more appealing, and the final product even more so.

Watch Dogs 2 takes the time to flesh out its characters, but it also shines a light on its secondary players in a way that you rarely see. The goofy extrovert with a flashing, studded mask is actually a deeply troubled individual who uses (in addition to his actual mask) humour to disguise himself.

The autistic character is actually well written and charming, without stepping over into tokenism or nastiness. There's even a subplot about a hard-talking transgender councillor that plays out really nicely, all with the same deft hand and solid dialogue that's afforded to the rest of the game.

I can't remember the last time I powered through a Ubisoft game because I was genuinely interested in the story's conclusion. It certainly wasn't the original Watch Dogs.

Contributor
Contributor

Liam is a writer and cranberry juice drinker from Lincolnshire. When he's not wearing his eyes away in front of a computer, he plays the melodica for a semi wrestling-themed folk-punk band called School Trips.