Great gameplay, weak story and quirky vibe

Watch_Dogs 2 as a sequel met my expectations in a weird way though. I lean towards dark & gritty atmosphere and serious tone but Ubisoft did complete opposite which isn't a bad thing, actually it's a good thing given Ubisoft record of using same formula since FC3 & ACB this was unexpected and bold move by Ubisoft.

Gameplay where WD2 shines most. Hacking skills improved a lot you can do so many crazy and creative stuff using your abilities. For example you can call cop on a target and witness him/her getting arrested or call hit on a target observe gangs doing driveby you can even do gang shootout just call a hit on rival gangs and watch them doing gangbanging in middle of street call cops too for extra chaos and watch it like a movie. You think that's enough? hell no! summon your explosive equipped drone and rain bombs on them and watch vehicles getting explode and bodies flying away... Hacking is focus here there are so many creative ways to utilise and take out your enemies I didn't use guns much only for last resort I mostly went with stealth and hacking. Game incentives for that style too because you can die easily and lethal gun takedowns & slow mo focus absent here. They still using same takedown system from first game so that was let down for me. You can punch pedestrian but there's no proper melee system and your melee weapon called "Thunder Ball" looks & behaves very silly I didn't like it but fits the setting of the game I guess. Driving mechanics not improved much still feels same as WD1 but vehicle variety increased. Game have a radio now you can listen different radio stations with it's DJ which is a great improvement but don't expect GTA's Lazlow quality. Song selection on the other hand uninspiring this might be subjective but I didn't like most of the songs in this game it just didn't put me into game's mood. This time game based on San Francisco a colorful and cheerful atmosphere complete opposite of Chicago's dark and moody atmosphere. Map size is big so many great locations to explore and rural areas also expanded greatly. What really impressed me most how versatile map design is you can climb so many rooftops using your parkour ability. There's even a crane; you can hack it, hump on it, lift it, rotate it then reach very tall buildings or better squish any poor enemies with it...

But if we look at story well it's kinda falls apart. This time we are part of DedSec hacker collective, throughout the game we're doing operations to expose big corporations's shady practices and take down main villain's goals. Mission structure not linear we can do main missions in different order and replay it these are great improvements but why story is weak then? well because of characters. For example main villain I barely even remember his name he is very uninteresting and forgettable. Other big companies you expose through operations also not integrated well into main plot. Final mission also huge let down seems very rushed. WD1's final mission was very memorable and chaotic this ending isn't like that. You're companions not great either what's the point of "Horatio" he just appears at beginning of the game and few missions then gone, he felt last minute addition. Game also tries to create some tension between the crew but goes nowhere. Since I'm not really into hippie culture, silly jokes and constant pop culture references I just couldn't be attach to story nor it's characters. That doesn't mean they are terrible in fact "Wrench" by far the best one, out of all characters he stole the show I liked him a lot. T-Bone also returns as well he's still great just as WD1. What I really liked most on main missions though is level designs you can complete you're objectives in multiple ways for example you can complete your objective using your RC Jumper without even stepping a foot or you can enter from various types of entry points. Side missions are good improvement over first game. Crew gives nice context for each side missions and some of them really good and hilarious like ATM mission. There are tons of activities you can do as well such as racing, taking pictures etc.

From gameplay wise WD2 great improvement over WD1 but from story wise it's not. WD1 did it much better. I recommend it to any fan of this open world genre. As for WD1 fans be ready for drastic setting change. I also have to point out modding. This game uses Easy anti-cheat and it's not allowing to change game files you need to turn it off but turning off means you cannot play online. It's bummer but I didn't care because I really dislike camera in this game it's far from protagonist style over shoulder close camera mod to make my game enjoyable at the expense of online. After finishing 100% I tried online and it's fun they kept seamless solo/online experience intact they even added bounty hunter mode. If you planning modding this game keep that in mind.

Great gameplay, weak story and quirky vibe Watch_Dogs 2 as a sequel met my expectations in a weird way though. I lean towards dark & gritty atmosphere and serious tone but Ubisoft did complete opposite which isn't a bad thing, actually it's a good thing given Ubisoft record of using same formula since FC3 & ACB this was unexpected and bold move by Ubisoft. Gameplay where WD2 shines most. Hacking skills improved a lot you can do so many crazy and creative stuff using your abilities. For example you can call cop on a target and witness him/her getting arrested or call hit on a target observe gangs doing driveby you can even do gang shootout just call a hit on rival gangs and watch them doing gangbanging in middle of street call cops too for extra chaos and watch it like a movie. You think that's enough? hell no! summon your explosive equipped drone and rain bombs on them and watch vehicles getting explode and bodies flying away... Hacking is focus here there are so many creative ways to utilise and take out your enemies I didn't use guns much only for last resort I mostly went with stealth and hacking. Game incentives for that style too because you can die easily and lethal gun takedowns & slow mo focus absent here. They still using same takedown system from first game so that was let down for me. You can punch pedestrian but there's no proper melee system and your melee weapon called "Thunder Ball" looks & behaves very silly I didn't like it but fits the setting of the game I guess. Driving mechanics not improved much still feels same as WD1 but vehicle variety increased. Game have a radio now you can listen different radio stations with it's DJ which is a great improvement but don't expect GTA's Lazlow quality. Song selection on the other hand uninspiring this might be subjective but I didn't like most of the songs in this game it just didn't put me into game's mood. This time game based on San Francisco a colorful and cheerful atmosphere complete opposite of Chicago's dark and moody atmosphere. Map size is big so many great locations to explore and rural areas also expanded greatly. What really impressed me most how versatile map design is you can climb so many rooftops using your parkour ability. There's even a crane; you can hack it, hump on it, lift it, rotate it then reach very tall buildings or better squish any poor enemies with it... But if we look at story well it's kinda falls apart. This time we are part of DedSec hacker collective, throughout the game we're doing operations to expose big corporations's shady practices and take down main villain's goals. Mission structure not linear we can do main missions in different order and replay it these are great improvements but why story is weak then? well because of characters. For example main villain I barely even remember his name he is very uninteresting and forgettable. Other big companies you expose through operations also not integrated well into main plot. Final mission also huge let down seems very rushed. WD1's final mission was very memorable and chaotic this ending isn't like that. You're companions not great either what's the point of "Horatio" he just appears at beginning of the game and few missions then gone, he felt last minute addition. Game also tries to create some tension between the crew but goes nowhere. Since I'm not really into hippie culture, silly jokes and constant pop culture references I just couldn't be attach to story nor it's characters. That doesn't mean they are terrible in fact "Wrench" by far the best one, out of all characters he stole the show I liked him a lot. T-Bone also returns as well he's still great just as WD1. What I really liked most on main missions though is level designs you can complete you're objectives in multiple ways for example you can complete your objective using your RC Jumper without even stepping a foot or you can enter from various types of entry points. Side missions are good improvement over first game. Crew gives nice context for each side missions and some of them really good and hilarious like ATM mission. There are tons of activities you can do as well such as racing, taking pictures etc. From gameplay wise WD2 great improvement over WD1 but from story wise it's not. WD1 did it much better. I recommend it to any fan of this open world genre. As for WD1 fans be ready for drastic setting change. I also have to point out modding. This game uses Easy anti-cheat and it's not allowing to change game files you need to turn it off but turning off means you cannot play online. It's bummer but I didn't care because I really dislike camera in this game it's far from protagonist style over shoulder close camera mod to make my game enjoyable at the expense of online. After finishing 100% I tried online and it's fun they kept seamless solo/online experience intact they even added bounty hunter mode. If you planning modding this game keep that in mind.