Watch Dogs: Legion

The English love freedom — and, oddly enough, dystopias. It was in Foggy Albion that the most powerful representatives of the genre were born: from Orwell’s harsh satire and Huxley’s philosophical experiments to the dark comic book classic “V for Vendetta” by Alan Moore. So it’s surprising that Ubisoft decided to send players to London only for the third part of Watch Dogs. And it must be said that the change of scenery was, perhaps, Legion’s main trump card.

But there were bugs: the game crashed a couple of times, once it froze completely, sometimes it refused to recognize the gamepad in the menu, shadows and blur were glitchy. But overall, everything was bearable. Even serious glitches did not interfere with enjoying the game.

Watch Dogs: Legion Free Steam Account

The Watch Dogs series has never stood still — and Ubisoft deserves a round of applause for that. It’s not just about the development of technology or gameplay mechanics. The very essence, the atmosphere, the mood have changed. The first part was a dark, harsh, almost noir story about revenge. The second part seemed to have burst out of the head of a teenager hanging out on Reddit and loving Internet memes: bright, noisy, wild. And the third? The third is a compromise. Without the previous heavy-handed seriousness, but also without the clowning of the TikTok level.

The atmosphere is also greatly affected by the new location — the near future London. It’s a separate character: drones flying over the roofs; double-decker buses with neon; cabs with electronic banners; holography wrapping around historical buildings; street pubs where they still pour ale and throw darts… And everything would be fine, if not for the mercenaries chasing ordinary citizens around every corner.

It all starts with a very British introduction: explosions in parliament, like from “V for Vendetta”, and a stylish agent in a suit – almost James Bond, only his own, local. In this dark future, a private army called “Albion” under the leadership of the cunning Nigel Cass receives complete carte blanche from the authorities. In theory – to fight crime. In practice – to establish a digital dictatorship. London is turning into a sterile, frighteningly digital cage, where ctOS 3.0 watches every step. Yes, the good old Blume corporation is still in business – and seems to be feeling better than ever. Their surveillance system is now smarter, more cunning and capable of tricks that could only be guessed at before.

But that’s not all. New players enter the scene: the hacker group “Zero Day”, leaving behind digital ruins, and the Kelly family – high-tech criminals who don’t care about morality. They are not satisfied with arms trading – they sell organs, people and even those who already have “upgrades” under their skin. DedSec has a lot of enemies. And only one ally – the common people, who, no matter what, do not give up. All city transport is under the control of ctOS. Even cars can now drive without a driver. Just get in, press a button – and roll to the right place. Fast? Not very. But convenient and stylish, like in a futuristic advertisement.

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Watch Dogs: Legion is a game where the main character is everything and no one

In the first Watch Dogs, we followed the gloomy loner Aiden Pearce. In the second part, a group of young rebels with drones and hipster stickers entered the scene. But Legion immediately rolls out a whole swarm of agents – invisible, omnipresent and completely interchangeable. Previously, when scanning passers-by, you could just laugh: “Sneaker designer. Counterfeits coupons” – and forget about it. Fun, but useless. Now, every passer-by is a potential hero, and this is not a figure of speech: you are that very crowd.

You are given your first character at the very beginning. And then it’s a matter of technique. You approach anyone on the street and say: “Listen, you seem okay. Do you want to help restore freedom to the city?” The person, of course, will first turn up his nose, set some conditions – usually hacking something or saving someone – but then happily joins the ranks of the digital resistance.

In theory, you should recruit useful fighters: someone who can drive, someone who can hack, someone who can fight. But in fact, nothing prevents you from assembling a team of British grannies, migrant workers with broken English, guys who distract security… well, let’s say, using unconventional methods. The team’s composition can be the most unexpected:

• An old lady in a tweed coat, but with stealth hacking skills
• A taxi driver with his own car and connections in criminal circles
• A punk with piercings who throws molotovs with precision
• A student hacker who can hack cameras from the couch
• A medic who can quickly revive allies after a failure

Except that the plot sometimes requires characters of a certain profile – but otherwise, complete freedom.

Sounds fun, right? Want to act in the shadows – take a hacker. Need an assault – lure a fighter from “Albion”. Each of them is useful in their own way, each tries to be an individual. While you play one, the others live their own lives: a lawyer can bail out a friend from prison, a gambler – accidentally spend a little of the common budget in a casino. They are all different – in appearance, style, manner of speaking and fighting. It is clear that the developers tried: they gave them some characteristic features, wrote a background, set a routine.

But here’s the problem: despite all the diligence, the idea does not work to the end. Everything looks cool, but does not grab. The characters remain flat. In GTA V, each hero had his own ambitions, his own demons. Franklin is a kid from the neighborhood, dreaming of a better life. Michael is a retired mobster stuck in a family drama. Trevor… well, he’s just Trevor. Each of them is alive. And in Legion, you switch between people-functions. Faceless, like mannequins, they don’t think, don’t feel, don’t stick in your mind.

Even Marcus from Watch Dogs 2, although he was slightly annoying, at least had a character. Here, the most you can say is: “This one is a tough rugby player,” “And this one is a former paratrooper with a machine gun.” They have no opinions, no inner world. Just a set of skills. The only one who really sticks in your mind is Bagley, the sparkling AI assistant. A kind of British Jarvis who can still make you smile.

Watch Dogs: Legion – a step forward or marking time?

Okay, let’s be honest: good gameplay can carry a game on its own without any wow graphics and cinematic plots. Look, Alexey Pajitnov with his Tetris will confirm this. In this regard, Watch Dogs: Legion seems to be staying afloat – but with reservations. As before, if you are a pumped-up hacker, you can complete the mission without even stepping into the high-risk zone. Cameras, traps, remote hacks – all this is available right from the car. In extreme cases, there is always a spider-drone. There are plenty of tools, although most of them are familiar from previous parts – hacking surveillance, playing with elevators, etc.

But the radio in the previous game was much more soulful. Here the soundtrack is somehow sterile. Seriously, how can you run around London without the Sex Pistols, The Clash or Buzzcocks? But the gameplay gives you complete freedom: if you want, you can sneak in the shadows, or if you want, you can have a shootout. Although, personally, it seemed to me that the level design and the arsenal of spy gadgets push you towards stealth. Especially at the beginning, when the agents have non-lethal weapons at most. Sometimes, however, it is easier and more fun to storm the place. Fortunately, the shooting remains lively – provided that you manage to get a normal weapon, and this, frankly, is not so easy. With cars, everything is the same as before: arcade and a little monotonous. Yes, you can tell the Albion armored car from an ordinary passenger car. But two cars of the same category are almost twins.

Visually, Legion is not striking, but London itself is well detailed in the game. Something is constantly happening there – you can take part in street fights, deliver parcels or hunt for collectible masks. Compared to Watch Dogs 2, Legion differs about as much as the original GTA differs from GTA: London 1969: left-hand traffic, a different vibe, a slightly different atmosphere. But overall, it’s the same game. Even the new “agent” system, which was presented as almost a revolution before the release, turned out to be just a gimmick in practice.

The same topics are raised, by the way, and some of them sound frighteningly relevant. Among them:

• control and the essence of power;
• the limits of personal freedom in the digital age;
• privacy and its vulnerability;
• the conflict of society with the system;
• illegal migration and social pressure;
• the impact of artificial intelligence on humanity;
• and, of course, cyberterrorism, including sanctioned terrorism.

Yes, it sounds pompous, but Legion manages to present all this without excessive morality. Maybe it’s because the game doesn’t impose an opinion, or maybe it’s because the picture of the future described is already quite real. And this makes it truly alarming.

Ubisoft deserves credit: albeit slowly, in tiny steps, but it still tries to bring something new to the genre. It’s just a pity that these innovations do not always work as they should. Watch Dogs: Legion is big, ambitious, diverse… but almost the same as the second part. It’s not a revolution, but rather an experiment. Not the most successful, but even a failure is also an experience.

Watch Dogs: Legion System Requirements

How to play Watch Dogs: Legion for free on Steam via VpeSports

Do you dream of being in the heart of the digital resistance, wandering the dark streets of London, hacking drones, cameras and even the consciousness of the system – but don’t want to spend money? There is a great way to experience all this for free. Thanks to shared accounts on VpeSports, you can play Watch Dogs: Legion without spending a penny. Yes, no joke – real access to the game, without hassles and gray schemes.

Just go to the VpeSports website, register and look in the section with free steam account. Among them, you will easily find Legion – a game where you can become anyone: a hacker, a former agent, a street performer or a granny who seems harmless, but can actually hack half the city. On the game page, there is a button that will open detailed activation steps – everything is as clear as possible, no dancing with tambourines.

When you complete the first missions, stop for a second and tell us how it was. Leave a review on the page — share your impressions, advice, fails and victories. Even if moderation is delayed, it’s not a problem — just correct a couple of lines, and everything will be fine. After approval, you will receive a login with access by email, and you will be back in action.

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