Hi, Hello, Hey, this is Dre coming at you with why I believe Watch Dogs 2 is too lit to not be in your gaming collection. But first, for those of you have never heard of Watch Dogs 2, here’s a quick rundown:

Marcus Holloway aka Retr0, is wrongly accused of crime he didn’t commit based on a flawed system (sounds familiar, huh?). Wanting no one to ever experience this again, Marcus joins Dedsec, a hacktivist group based in San Francisco that regularly speaks out against social injustices such as profiling, rigged elections, and basically want more power to the people not the big corporations. As for the rest of the story, you pretty much do fun missions that expose evil companies of their wrong doings and give the general public the ability to make an informed choice in how they live, who they give their money and support too, etc.

So again, why should Watch Dogs 2 already be loading on your preferred gaming apparatus?

Actual Diversity, No Really!

Unlike the first game, with one Asian-American male and one assumingly Latinx male (both not so good guys), Watch Dogs 2 has pretty diverse and inclusive cast of characters.

• We have the aforementioned Marcus Holloway, a Black male from Oakland who isn’t afraid to be nerdy, affectionate or vulnerable with his friends.
• There’s Sitara Dhawan, Indian-American woman who acts as the artist, the voice, and the mom of the San Francisco Dedsec branch, she also serves as “co-leader” with Marcus in a refreshingly non-romantic friendship.
• Horatio, another Black male (who deserved better) who is an inside man in one of the companies Dedsec seeks to expose, and provides a much needed and appreciated moment with Marcus about being Black working in a predominately white career field. To be honest, I wouldn’t be mad if you never buy Watch Dogs 2, if only you check out the scene here.
• Anyways, we also have Wrench, the digital mask wearing cinnamon roll with punk spikes and grease stains, whose loud personality masks (see what I did there?) the deep insecurities and possible childhood trauma he struggles with.
• Last but indubitably not the least is Josh Sauchak, who has high functioning Autism, specifically Asperger’s Syndrome, and was treated unfairly by the same companies they fight against because of his condition, labeling him unemployable, emotionally challenged, and unstable, even going as far as cutting funding for necessary care programs. Josh’s story pulls on my heartstrings personally because I grew up having three family members with varying degrees of Autism, and to think that people with power would make their lives more difficult than it already is because they’re different or because it saves them money really pissses me dafuq off grinds my gears.

It’s a digital rebellion with guns blazing, fast cars, big explosions, sassy robots and hope because rebellions are built on hope.

The Story is Actually Interesting

For the most part, there’s no reason you have to play the first Watch Dogs to understand the story of the sequel. And if we’re being completely honest, I only played like ten minutes of the first game before moving on to something else. Watch Dogs 2 is a refreshing and relevant story of young people taking back control from those who wish to keep society numb to the world’s problems. It’s a digital rebellion with guns blazing, fast cars, big explosions, sassy robots and hope because rebellions are built on hope. What’s that? You want more Star Wars comparisons? Well, alright… Marcus is Luke Skywalker, Sitara is Princess Leia, Wrench is Han Solo, Horatio is Chewbacca, Josh is C-3PO, and a character who I have yet to mention that also comes from the first game, T-Bone is old man Obi-Wan. If that doesn’t make you want to buy this game, I don’t know what will.

The Gameplay isn’t Groundbreaking, but it is Enjoyable

As far as I know the dynamics of the game do not change much. Player runs around open city with a gun in one hand and a smartphone in the other. You can steal vehicles, harass the city folk, and get into fights with police and gangs.

What makes Watch Dogs 2 different than say Grand Theft Auto 5, is that you are able to not only steal cars but hack them from the outside (making them move forward/backward or turn while moving or parked), not only punch and shoot people but also hack their bank accounts, text messages, phone calls etc., and not only battle the police and gangs but also strategically take them out using various electrical items placed in the game (blowing up pipes and fuse boxes, locking doors, controlling the traffic signals during car chases among other booby traps). So like I said, for the most part it’s a common yet still fun gaming experience with added bonuses that make Watch Dogs 2 unique.

Still Not Convinced? Here’s Some Honorary Mentions That Might Add That Extra Umph!

• There’s a Trans Councilwoman character, Miranda Comay whose long time friends with Marcus from Oakland. In game, details of her operations were made public after butting heads with a religious cult (think Scientology, but 10x worse). Instead of folding in with the scandal, she stands tall and strives to do what’s right.
•  The villain is a total douche and it will be so satisfying beating him in the end.
•  The music selection is amazing! It’s definitely  reminiscent of game franchises like Grand Theft Auto and Saints Row that use music to enhance the story and make missions a lot more fun. There’s an obvious and understandable pull towards hip-hop and Dubstep/House Music being that it’s a hacking game set in San Francisco, but there’s also the common favorites of pop, rock, punk, 80s, etc. It also helps that in Watch Dogs 2, Sitara provides the music for Marcus on his missions.

Published by Dre

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