Possible unironic best Ubisoft game they've made in recent memory.

I never understood the hate for Watch_Dogs. I mean, I remember hearing reviews of the original, and I was perplexed by the hate. A lot of people expected the hacking to be way more intricate instead of "press button, gates pop up, dead cops!", and I get that, but I'm glad that WD1 and WD2 kept up the arcade feel. It just makes the game flow better, even if it's not this huge puzzle-oriented enigma the whole time.

Regardless, Watch Dogs 2 really just does everything better than 1. It's less ultra-serious and has a lot more cohesive themes than whatever the people were thinking when they made WD1. It's this fun little romp in which you go around stealthily killing enemies, and if they catch you, you unload on their faces with a variety of weapons. If you're really talented, you can combine both for a hell of a playthrough, or you can play true pacifist and let the machine just malfunction on everyone's dead body.

The story is really the runaway here, with something from Ubisoft that doesn't take itself too seriously, but focuses on fun themes and plots centered on rebelling against corporate overlords and basically sending them calling cards while you raid their facilities with a team. It's uh...eerily similar to some other game people love on this site. Which, makes it pretty awesome to play through and enjoy bonding as you break San Francisco (a wonderful location choice) with your elite hacks, I guess.

I think the only place this game falls apart is some lame sidequests like tiny collectible puzzles and "races", Ubi's favorite ways to pad out their games. The combat just feels okay too, almost like Ubi's other third-person games that I'm not sold on, like The Division.

Overall, a great game that shows what Ubisoft can do when they're not focused on making 9 sequels to their successful franchises. A shame WD might be dead thanks to their latest endeavor, because this game was truly underrated and one of my favorite games they've made.