KOCHI: The gaming world is stoked with the announcement and trailer preview of Watch Dogs 2, third person sci-fi action-adventure to be back better than before. Ubisoft, within two years of releasing the series’ first game, will now cater to the larger PC audience (cheers), along with the PS4 and Xbox One (just like it does with Far Cry and Assassins Creed).
The game presupposes a tech-savvy universe (not unrealistically) sometime in the future. It embraces the internet culture, and portrays a ‘hyper realistic’ world wherein you interact (read hack) into people’s personal lives. You (the protagonist) are an unassuming man wearing a hoodie, gifted with friends in the right places, and a powerful smartphone that can hack into EVERYTHING. Traffic signals, bank accounts, bomb detonators, mobile phones (to listen in on phone calls) and manipulate CCTVs. Even though you may not have heard of Watch Dogs, you are sure to be acquainted with memes on the game that surfaced around the time of release. In the open-world format, you can explore the alleys of the city, and hack to learn that the man crossing the street is in fact, a dishwasher who moonlights as a bassist in a garage band.
Of course, if we look deeper into the game, it is more than just individual and increasingly complex hacking and stealth missions. The protagonist Aiden, uses phones as a medium of profiling/identifying people. It questions the sanctity of personal data, and the interconnectedness of a fully electronic infrastructure system. Watch Dogs ruffles on the idea of a Big Brother — and a society based on surveillance and media manipulation. In the game, a few corporations have access to Chicago’s information system — CTOS. Aiden uses this to his advantage to seek revenge.
The new game’s trailer, rectifying the dreariness of the first game, promises a more fun hacking climate in sunny San Francisco and received a huge positive response within hours of its airing. The fans though, raise concerns over it releasing early — we’d rather wait than receive a game that is a step-down from the old one. Though the changes don’t seem too promising on a first glance, the developers discussed some major improvements — the first, being the protagonist. Marcus Holloway is a brilliant and expressive young hacker — which bodes as a welcome shift from the sullen and boring Aiden in Chicago. His melee weapon is an interesting choice — a billiards ball attached to chord lanyards, resembling a light ball-and-chain. As if this wasn’t urban enough, like Assassins Creed with the climbing, Watch Dogs 2 has the parkour. That’s right! Rooftop jumping and the entire package. If you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon do so now, the time is right, and it is a crazy ride!
Anusha Ganapathi @quaffle_waffle
(This economics graduate spends her leisure time preparing for the zombie apocalypse)