Ubisoft's Watch Dogs: Legion expands on the crazier tone set by Watch Dogs 2, this time transporting the action to London. Announced at E3 2019, Legion uses the same formula as the past two games while making its own improvements.
It's clear that Ubisoft is putting a lot of work into Watch Dogs: Legion as one of their big marquee releases. At the same time, it looks like a big departure for the series in terms of tone.
At E3 2019 Ubisoft had a huge blowout of information, and other details have slowly come out since. Here's everything we know about Watch Dogs: Legion.
Watch Dogs: Legion Release Date
Ubisoft had originally set Watch Dog: Legion's release date as March 6, 2020, but in late 2019 the game was delayed indefinitely. This is due, in part, to the lackluster reception and sales of both Ghost Recon Breakpoint and The Division 2. Ubisoft also delayed Rainbow Six: Quarantine and Gods & Monsters at the same time, showing a full-blown effort to re-evaluate their production.
Legion was reset for a release sometime in the fiscal year 2020-2021, which officially starts on April 1, 2020. While that's a fairly large window, it seems likely that Ubisoft would want to get Legion out before the launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X or to coincide with the new consoles and have it be a cross-gen title. Because of all these delays, Ubisoft doesn't have a confirmed title for Fall 2020, although rumors of a new Assassin's Creed are out there. Since it was announced in 2019, it's likely that Ubisoft will eye Watch Dogs: Legion as its big game of 2020, which would point to a Fall 2020 release date.
Watch Dogs: Legion Story
Watch Dogs: Legion takes place in the United Kingdom, primarily in London, after an authoritarian regime has claimed control of the country. As a member of the hacking group DEDSEC, players have to form a resistance force to take back the city and combat the surveillance system called ctOS.
There are a number of playable characters in Legion, who each come with their own backstory and skillset. Ubisoft is trying to make these characters have a more dynamic effect on the overall narrative. There's no main character in Legion, but Ubisoft has put an emphasis on the fact that you can, supposedly, recruit any NPC in the game. It's an ambitious design in any regard.
Watch Dogs: Legion Gameplay
Legion's gameplay, from what Ubisoft has shown, seems to revolve around the idea of being able to recruit any NPC in the game's world. These characters are procedurally generated and can be recruited by playing a mission, or series of missions. Characters are separated into three categories once they're recruited; combat, stealth, or hacking. Of course, their abilities are themed around those classes, and past that character's looks and equipment can be customized. This system has you playing everything from a grandma super-spy, to a rogue taxi driver.
Players will need to be careful with their characters, however, as permadeath is present and any playable character can die. When a character dies players will have the option of laying them to rest, meaning they're gone forever, or attempt to have another character rescue them. Legion will also feature up to four-player co-op, with progression shared between single-player and multiplayer.
Past all those new systems, Watch Dogs: Legion uses most of the same core mechanics as the past two games. It's still a third-person shooter that puts an emphasis on stealth or hacking technology to use in inventive ways. Ubisoft has gone to great lengths to recreate the city of London, and the massive open-world area can be explored by foot, vehicle, or via the subway system. More customization and gameplay details can be seen in the 30-minute demo shared by Ubisoft at E3 2019.