Do you have a lot of feelings about the stupid cyberpunk dystopia we're actively in? Do you like a massive tonal shift between games that means there's a version for everyone, even if every version doesn't work for the same people? Have a five-minutes-into-the-future urban crime sim that looked at the rise of smart city technology and went 'I bet I can write some really interesting stories using that.'
Watch Dogs is the first entry into the series, a crime noir story following an enraged former criminal that's turned his attention (and his violence) towards the circles he used to occupy. It has: - a seedy underbelly of crime - a completely amoral villain protagonist - actual consequences for that villain protagonist's actions - frankly the funniest amoral villain sidekick alive - no really, Jordi Chin makes everything worth it - surprisingly robust third person shooting and stealth mechanics, even if the hacking mechanics are all contextual and a little weak
But maybe edgy manpain isn't your thing. Maybe you're looking at that and going 'jesus, not another one'. Maybe you want your hacking game to, like, actually revolve around hacker culture.
Watch Dogs 2 is the lighter, funnier, more poignant little brother to the first game. When hackers went 'hey, that's stupid' about some of the key plot points in the first game, the devs listened and actually did their homework for the second. If WD1 is a cold and rainy Chicago night, then WD2 is a sunny breath of fresh West Coast air. It has: - a black male main character and - racism, both overt and more insidious in the tech industry, acknowledged and combatted - a canonically autistic side character who's treated with respect - literally an entire mission revolving around kink and porn shoots - found family/nakama - genuinely some of the best third person freeroam shooting and parkour in an urban crime sim - much more nuanced and useful hacking mechanics - the ability to do a full stealth/no death run that's supported by the level design - a long, hard look at what it means to be a product in the social media tech giant future we live in now
Both games have a full playtime of roughly 18 hours including side missions (but not all side content, since WD1 is chock full of things to bullshit around with for hours without achieving much plotwise.) If picking up a new game isn't something you're up to, WD1's cutscenes movie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWlKjw3LBDk) runs about five hours including the dialogue between missions, while WD2's cutscenes move (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNyn4Hg8Yyo) runs about the same, with between missions dialogue and not including DLC content.
Aiden is a depressed mess that fucks up his own life and never quite digs himself out of that hole he deservedly put himself in.
Marcus is an empathetic darling who always gets back up after getting knocked down and is going to make the world a better place, no matter who tries to stop him.
Both of them are really really good games in their own way, with a taste of variety to boot!
Content Warnings: Both games feature privacy invasions where the player is functionally a voyeur and those include references to suicide, eating disorders, abuse, and drug use, and both games have human trafficking subplots. WD1 has onscreen torture and objectification/dehumanization of women. Both games feature a sudden and abrupt main cast member death. Also, y'know, guns.
Watch Dogs
Watch Dogs is the first entry into the series, a crime noir story following an enraged former criminal that's turned his attention (and his violence) towards the circles he used to occupy. It has:
- a seedy underbelly of crime
- a completely amoral villain protagonist
- actual consequences for that villain protagonist's actions
- frankly the funniest amoral villain sidekick alive
- no really, Jordi Chin makes everything worth it
- surprisingly robust third person shooting and stealth mechanics, even if the hacking mechanics are all contextual and a little weak
But maybe edgy manpain isn't your thing. Maybe you're looking at that and going 'jesus, not another one'. Maybe you want your hacking game to, like, actually revolve around hacker culture.
Watch Dogs 2 is the lighter, funnier, more poignant little brother to the first game. When hackers went 'hey, that's stupid' about some of the key plot points in the first game, the devs listened and actually did their homework for the second. If WD1 is a cold and rainy Chicago night, then WD2 is a sunny breath of fresh West Coast air. It has:
- a black male main character and
- racism, both overt and more insidious in the tech industry, acknowledged and combatted
- a canonically autistic side character who's treated with respect
- literally an entire mission revolving around kink and porn shoots
- found family/nakama
- genuinely some of the best third person freeroam shooting and parkour in an urban crime sim
- much more nuanced and useful hacking mechanics
- the ability to do a full stealth/no death run that's supported by the level design
- a long, hard look at what it means to be a product in the social media tech giant future we live in now
Both games have a full playtime of roughly 18 hours including side missions (but not all side content, since WD1 is chock full of things to bullshit around with for hours without achieving much plotwise.) If picking up a new game isn't something you're up to, WD1's cutscenes movie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWlKjw3LBDk) runs about five hours including the dialogue between missions, while WD2's cutscenes move (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNyn4Hg8Yyo) runs about the same, with between missions dialogue and not including DLC content.
Aiden is a depressed mess that fucks up his own life and never quite digs himself out of that hole he deservedly put himself in.
Marcus is an empathetic darling who always gets back up after getting knocked down and is going to make the world a better place, no matter who tries to stop him.
Both of them are really really good games in their own way, with a taste of variety to boot!
Content Warnings: Both games feature privacy invasions where the player is functionally a voyeur and those include references to suicide, eating disorders, abuse, and drug use, and both games have human trafficking subplots. WD1 has onscreen torture and objectification/dehumanization of women. Both games feature a sudden and abrupt main cast member death. Also, y'know, guns.