An absolutely refreshing game in the open-world genre.

Watch_Dogs 2 builds upon what worked well in the first game (hacking, stealth system),
and removes all the stuff that was annoying in the first entry (being forced to climb towers to advance the story, grumpy protagonist, wonky driving).

Higher up buildings now contain paint jobs for your weapons, vehicles, RC Jumper or RC Drone; Clothes or simply money. Nothing of which is required for progression. Some do hide Research Points which unlock skills, but there are plenty Research Points to obtain to get all the skills you want (I'm currently still missing 3 skills, none of which I am particularly interested in getting)
You can now also find special drivable lifts, that can help you reach higher spots more easily.

Marcus is a much more likeable protagonist than Aiden was, but more importantly, this game has an ensemble of characters. And while the 'internet lulz' aspect may seem too extreme to some, for me it works perfectly. The whole world of Watch_Dogs is a spoof of our own (arising from the simple fact they can't use real companies - besides Ubisoft themselves). After doing a few missions (main or side) I loved returning to the hackerspace to have a few conversations over recent events. It made everything feel very real. The story itself is nothing special, but the little moments made me grow very fond of all these characters.

And while I didn't particularly dislike the driving in the first Watch_Dogs, I still think this one presents an improvement.

And San Francisco is just beautiful and there's tons of stuff to discover. I prefer this much over the rendition of Chicago from the first Watch_Dogs. Firstly, WD San Francisco is actually bigger than WD Chicago and thus far much closer to the real life counterpart than Chicago was (Seeing as RL Chicago is actually larger than RL SF).
I hope they choose another similarly sized location for their next entry and not something that can't be made justice with current technology like New York (I'd like Boston please).


Thoughts on the PC Port: I had a single crash so far, but the game runs flawlessly otherwise.
With the settings recommended by GeForce Experience, I get 55+ FPS all the time, usually it hovers around 65. Sometimes during very fast driving it drops below 50 for a splitsecond. Game looks fantastic at these settings.

After roughly 52 hours I finished all main and as far as I know all side stories (these are not instantly marked on your map necessarily). This included me just messing around in the open world, collecting stuff or playing some multiplayer.
This doesn't mean I'm done playing, since I still have a few collectibles and ressource points to get. And then there is multiplayer, which is not something I usually enjoy, but the asymmetry makes it work for me. And so far I had no connection problems or any experience with cheaters.

Pay attention to my timer to see if the game holds me :)

An absolutely refreshing game in the open-world genre. Watch_Dogs 2 builds upon what worked well in the first game (hacking, stealth system), and removes all the stuff that was annoying in the first entry (being forced to climb towers to advance the story, grumpy protagonist, wonky driving). Higher up buildings now contain paint jobs for your weapons, vehicles, RC Jumper or RC Drone; Clothes or simply money. Nothing of which is required for progression. Some do hide Research Points which unlock skills, but there are plenty Research Points to obtain to get all the skills you want (I'm currently still missing 3 skills, none of which I am particularly interested in getting) You can now also find special drivable lifts, that can help you reach higher spots more easily. Marcus is a much more likeable protagonist than Aiden was, but more importantly, this game has an ensemble of characters. And while the 'internet lulz' aspect may seem too extreme to some, for me it works perfectly. The whole world of Watch_Dogs is a spoof of our own (arising from the simple fact they can't use real companies - besides Ubisoft themselves). After doing a few missions (main or side) I loved returning to the hackerspace to have a few conversations over recent events. It made everything feel very real. The story itself is nothing special, but the little moments made me grow very fond of all these characters. And while I didn't particularly dislike the driving in the first Watch_Dogs, I still think this one presents an improvement. And San Francisco is just beautiful and there's tons of stuff to discover. I prefer this much over the rendition of Chicago from the first Watch_Dogs. Firstly, WD San Francisco is actually bigger than WD Chicago and thus far much closer to the real life counterpart than Chicago was (Seeing as RL Chicago is actually larger than RL SF). I hope they choose another similarly sized location for their next entry and not something that can't be made justice with current technology like New York (I'd like Boston please). Thoughts on the PC Port: I had a single crash so far, but the game runs flawlessly otherwise. With the settings recommended by GeForce Experience, I get 55+ FPS all the time, usually it hovers around 65. Sometimes during very fast driving it drops below 50 for a splitsecond. Game looks fantastic at these settings. After roughly 52 hours I finished all main and as far as I know all side stories (these are not instantly marked on your map necessarily). This included me just messing around in the open world, collecting stuff or playing some multiplayer. This doesn't mean I'm done playing, since I still have a few collectibles and ressource points to get. And then there is multiplayer, which is not something I usually enjoy, but the asymmetry makes it work for me. And so far I had no connection problems or any experience with cheaters. Pay attention to my timer to see if the game holds me :)