Updated 7/15 with release date, gameplay from Ubisoft Forward, and new information about permadeath.
Watch Dogs: Legion is the third and upcoming entry to Ubisoft's hacking-filled series. Set in the near future in a fictional version of London where the UK has withdrawn from the EU, the authoritarian government is now using ctOS and a private security company to spy on its citizens and violently enforce the law. Players are tasked with recruiting DedSec members to form a resistance against the corrupt regime using a new mechanic introduced in Watch Dogs: Legion that allows players to assume control and play as anyone in the game. Watch Dogs: Legion is an ambitious game, to say the least, and we've put together everything we know so far, including more about the gameplay.
Release Date
The
release date for Watch Dogs: Legion is October 29 and will be available on PS4, Xbox One, Google Stadia, and PC (on Epic Games Store and Uplay).
Watch Dogs: Legion will be a cross-generation game meaning it will eventually have Xbox Series X and PS5 versions, and both are confirmed to be free upgrades for those who purchase it for the PS4 and Xbox One.
Story and Gameplay
Watch Dogs: Legion is an open world action-adventure game that takes place in a fictional post-Brexit version of London. The city has been taken over by a private security group called Albion, who have used the Blume Corporation's central operating system, or ctOS, to turn London into a surveillance state. It'll be up to you to recruit a group of Operatives to join DedSec and regain control of the city.
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Operatives in Watch Dogs: Legion can be assigned to one of three classes:
- Enforcer: Specializes in guns and dealing damage. Unique equipment is the sticky mine.
- Hacker: Specializes in remote control. Unique equipment is a spider drone.
- Infiltrator: Specializes in stealth and melee combat. Unique equipment is AR camo.
Each class has special perks that can be unlocked at levels 5, 10, and 15. For example, Hackers can unlock a perk called "Attract" that gives their spiderbot the ability to distract nearby enemies.
Before recruiting an operative, you can check your phone and see what kind of traits they have. Traits can be beneficial to your team although some can come with potential risks. The trait "Bareknuckly Boxer" gives an operative 30+ melee damage but it also means they will never surrender if caught, putting them at a higher risk of being killed (if you turn on permadeath), arrested, or hospitalized.
This is important to note since Watch Dogs: Legion has the option to turn on permadeath — meaning if you enable this feature and a character dies, they're gone for good. If you don't enable permadeath, they are instead hospitalized or arrested and unavailable for a certain amount of time. Recruiting operatives who are police officers, EMTs, or guards can help with getting back a timed-out operative sooner.
Every single person in Watch Dogs: Legion is procedurally generated and recruitable. Recruiting them means convincing them to support Dedsec and this can be done by completing favors for that person. These actions can have a ripple effect, however.
Each potential operative has their own backstory which includes their profession, the kind of demographics they are part of, and the relationships they have to other characters. If you do wrong by one character to get in another's good graces, this can impact who your opposition (and enemies) are further down the line.
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IGN's Janet Garcia said in her
Watch Dogs: Legion hands on, "Making every character playable is a narrative risk, but it’s one Watch Dogs: Legion seems to pull off based on what I’ve played so far. Those who felt Marcus Holloway’s cutscene persona didn’t match his mid-mission murders may have a hard time buying into the idea of convincing anyone on the street to join what’s publicly viewed as a terrorist organization — favors aside."
Watch Dogs: Legion will have both a single-player mode and an online co-op mode where players can play online with up to three friends to "take on entirely new co-op missions and challenging end-game content."
For more on Legion's focus on personal privacy, take a look at our feature on
how social media has shaped the Watch Dogs series. Oh, and unlike Watch Dogs 2,
Legion will not actually have any dogs.
Editions
There are currently four different Watch Dogs: Legion editions available for preorder — the Standard Edition, Gold Steelbook Edition, Ultimate Edition, Collector's Edition.
The Standard Edition is available for $60 and includes the base game and the Golden King Pack, which is a set of three skins. On the other hand, the Gold Steel Book Edition will cost $109 and comes with a steelbook case, the Golden King Pack, a season pass, and three days of early access before launch.
Players can also preorder the Ultimate Edition which comes with everything the Gold Steelbook edition has, plus an Urban Jungle Pack and four weeks of VIP Status.
The Watch Dogs: Legion Collector's Edition can be purchased for $189 and includes everything from the other editions, plus an in-game mask and some cool physical items like an exclusive steelbook, a double-sided propaganda poster, a mask, stickers, and a special Collector's Edition box.
Check out our
Watch Dogs: Legion preorder guide for more on the different editions and where you can get them.
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Andrew Smith is a freelance contributor with IGN. Follow him on Twitter @_andrewtsmith.
