The old adage says it’s grim up North, but I’m not sure anything north of the M25 is as grim as Ubisoft’s devastating vision of a broken, near-future London.
Watch Dogs Legion reviewDeveloper: Ubisoft TorontoPublishers: UbisoftPlatform: Played on Xbox One XAvailability: Out now on Xbox One, PS4 and PC, Xbox Series S/X and PS5 versions available on console launch
As a fairly dark and twisty person myself, I figured I’d embrace DedSec London’s tale a little more greedily than the sunshine and sea lions of Watch Dogs 2’s San Francisco, but Legion is too terrifyingly real, and just a tad too grim. I doubt the very real climate in the UK is helping much – which clearly isn’t Ubisoft’s fault – but I usually play games to escape the ills of Westminster, not to be smacked over the head by them. I appreciate that terrorist attacks and food banks and too many homeless people add a frosty layer of authenticity to this fictional vision of the capital, and I know this isn’t Ubisoft’s fault, either, but good grief, it’s depressing to recognise so many signs of a fictional dystopia from your local real-life news reports.
Anyway. A devastating terrorist attack rips the capital apart, and DedSec – the hacktivist organisation we’ve known since the start of the franchise – sets to right the wrongs and uncover who was responsible for the attacks and hold them to account. No, it’s not an especially new or engaging conceit, but it’s fit for purpose – just about.
Unlike the games before it that boasted both a sullen facsimile of a human being – that’s Aiden Pierce, in case you forgot him (and most of us have, let’s face it) – and his very antithesis, Marcus Holloway, a man stuffed with charm and good humour – there is no central character in Watch Dogs: Legion. Instead, you play as… well, anyone you fancy, really. Want to be a living statue clad in a golden spacesuit? Fill your boots. Fancy living life as a football eff-wit who lives to smash things up? Off you pop. The world is full of potential recruits, and you can play as any one of them. It’s an astonishing feat.