I've just finished Watch_Dogs 2 and I'm impressed with the fixes they did to gameplay and making an awesome open world that's fun to just run around, but as a hater of the original as a whole, the characters were the biggest turnaround and I think that makes it a bigger improvement than AC1 -> AC2 in general. The main cast is filled with highlights that I just enjoyed. Aiden Pearce was horrible and I wish he died in the end and I wanted to just piss on Claras grave, that's how much I hated the original, but this just had so much warmth that I cared so much. Austin Walker over at Waypoint Games turned me onto this as he talked on his podcast about the characters and after the two times he talked about playing it and what he experienced, I decided to give this a punt despite swearing it off after the first game.
Marcus as a protagonist is great. The very first mission has you install a backdoor into ctOS as a new member of Dedsec and straight after that, you're drunk as shit celebrating it. It was just nice to have someone that wasn't so serious to start with, just trying to make the world a better place and thinks he's just done it so parties hard. His interaction with the other characters is great and as an African American character, they don't play into that unless the situation calls for it. Him and Horatio going into Nudle (their Google clone) and being the only black guys there led to some great moments between them as the only two black guys in the company. "They can't see us together, they'll think we're plotting something" stuck out for me. Also, an interaction with Wrench where Marcus calls him a highway man for stealing something and Wrench runs with it saying he's the highway man and calls Marcus his sidekick as the dark something... Marcus just says "I'm keeping the highwayman thing for myself, you're the masked cracker".
Wrench was the character I was most worried about from the trailer, he's the masked dude who opens a door in the initial trailer and does a gesture to let people in. It turns out, that is a part of him. He goes renaissance fair in the way he talks quite a bit and it's endearing. He flirts with a waitress and winders if she finds the mask creepy or hot and it turns out to be both. The FBI takes his mask and shows the scars that makes him wear it. He has a weird relationship with technology and he's open with it, but it just adds up to a well rounded character. He's a dork for 80's action stars, Alcatraz and doesn't trust animals. He even warns Marcus who wants to swim with Stingrays not to as that's what got the Crocodile Hunter. He also has the chance when alone to work with the FBI and make himself free and turns that down.
Sitara cares about the brand. She's the most straight character that keeps everything on track so she's nothing to write home about, but she's passionate about her art and logos and she's much needed throughout the plot. As the anchor, she doesn't have too much about her (other than in the final mission where you control her and she turns the tables on Marcus asking for something fresh), but she really gives a fuck and it helps.
T-Bone returns from the first game, but he''s much more restrained (bar giving guys acid laced weed at a festival) and it suits it. The aged hacker with a foul mouth, without the stupid bunker with flames and shit. He's only in the second half of the game, but he's the guy that creates tension in the group. But I'm happy to see he never caused any issues and any tension that he had with Sitara or Wrench were sitcom level. The group never has any stupid major issues which is one thing that makes it great, even if they occasionally tease that he might be working for the FBI or something.
Josh is probably the best autistic character in most media. Having some autistic friends, it really brings out that he operates at a high level, but he can sometimes see the joke that everyone else misses due to operating at a high level. During the final mission, you take control of other characters in the group and I was thinking "Oh god, they're going to give me control of Josh, they best not fuck it up" and they didn't. They gave me Wrench with a grenade launcher, so I'm happy with that. I love how he gets fixated on the term 'cornhole' as well, once he learns what it means.
Miranda is outside the group and is a councilwoman and a proud trans woman that the Church of the New Dawn (the Scientology equivalent) released videos of her surgery to try and shame her, but she's strong. Her being trans is a character trait rather than being a focus which is a great thing and her and Marcus do oppose each other on how to bring about change, but agree on what change needs to happen.
I left Horatio until last, because I think he's the biggest missed opportunity. I did enjoy the interaction I had with him as mentioned about the Nudle mission above, but I wish he was explored more because, and this is why spoilers are in the title more than anything, he gets killed. I wish they went more in with the only two black dudes in Silicon Valley and brought more of him about, both because it would have been enjoyable, but also would have made his death mean more. As it is, because of the order of the missions, he's barely even talking on the phone because he'll die at some point. More Horatio development would have made it mean more and the little I saw of him as a Nudle employee was entertaining as hell.
This is the first time in a long time I've felt like writing an essay on characters in a game, so if you're on the fence, check it out. If you hated the first like me, check out some LPs of the first part or see Waypoints article I Could Just Cuddle These Watch Dogs Characters or check out Waypoint Radio podcasts last few episodes for Austin Walkers thoughts. I've been very critical of Ubisofts AAA in the past few years while praising their mid-tier, but I really think they knocked it out of the park here.
Marcus as a protagonist is great. The very first mission has you install a backdoor into ctOS as a new member of Dedsec and straight after that, you're drunk as shit celebrating it. It was just nice to have someone that wasn't so serious to start with, just trying to make the world a better place and thinks he's just done it so parties hard. His interaction with the other characters is great and as an African American character, they don't play into that unless the situation calls for it. Him and Horatio going into Nudle (their Google clone) and being the only black guys there led to some great moments between them as the only two black guys in the company. "They can't see us together, they'll think we're plotting something" stuck out for me. Also, an interaction with Wrench where Marcus calls him a highway man for stealing something and Wrench runs with it saying he's the highway man and calls Marcus his sidekick as the dark something... Marcus just says "I'm keeping the highwayman thing for myself, you're the masked cracker".
Wrench was the character I was most worried about from the trailer, he's the masked dude who opens a door in the initial trailer and does a gesture to let people in. It turns out, that is a part of him. He goes renaissance fair in the way he talks quite a bit and it's endearing. He flirts with a waitress and winders if she finds the mask creepy or hot and it turns out to be both. The FBI takes his mask and shows the scars that makes him wear it. He has a weird relationship with technology and he's open with it, but it just adds up to a well rounded character. He's a dork for 80's action stars, Alcatraz and doesn't trust animals. He even warns Marcus who wants to swim with Stingrays not to as that's what got the Crocodile Hunter. He also has the chance when alone to work with the FBI and make himself free and turns that down.
Sitara cares about the brand. She's the most straight character that keeps everything on track so she's nothing to write home about, but she's passionate about her art and logos and she's much needed throughout the plot. As the anchor, she doesn't have too much about her (other than in the final mission where you control her and she turns the tables on Marcus asking for something fresh), but she really gives a fuck and it helps.
T-Bone returns from the first game, but he''s much more restrained (bar giving guys acid laced weed at a festival) and it suits it. The aged hacker with a foul mouth, without the stupid bunker with flames and shit. He's only in the second half of the game, but he's the guy that creates tension in the group. But I'm happy to see he never caused any issues and any tension that he had with Sitara or Wrench were sitcom level. The group never has any stupid major issues which is one thing that makes it great, even if they occasionally tease that he might be working for the FBI or something.
Josh is probably the best autistic character in most media. Having some autistic friends, it really brings out that he operates at a high level, but he can sometimes see the joke that everyone else misses due to operating at a high level. During the final mission, you take control of other characters in the group and I was thinking "Oh god, they're going to give me control of Josh, they best not fuck it up" and they didn't. They gave me Wrench with a grenade launcher, so I'm happy with that. I love how he gets fixated on the term 'cornhole' as well, once he learns what it means.
Miranda is outside the group and is a councilwoman and a proud trans woman that the Church of the New Dawn (the Scientology equivalent) released videos of her surgery to try and shame her, but she's strong. Her being trans is a character trait rather than being a focus which is a great thing and her and Marcus do oppose each other on how to bring about change, but agree on what change needs to happen.
I left Horatio until last, because I think he's the biggest missed opportunity. I did enjoy the interaction I had with him as mentioned about the Nudle mission above, but I wish he was explored more because, and this is why spoilers are in the title more than anything, he gets killed. I wish they went more in with the only two black dudes in Silicon Valley and brought more of him about, both because it would have been enjoyable, but also would have made his death mean more. As it is, because of the order of the missions, he's barely even talking on the phone because he'll die at some point. More Horatio development would have made it mean more and the little I saw of him as a Nudle employee was entertaining as hell.
This is the first time in a long time I've felt like writing an essay on characters in a game, so if you're on the fence, check it out. If you hated the first like me, check out some LPs of the first part or see Waypoints article I Could Just Cuddle These Watch Dogs Characters or check out Waypoint Radio podcasts last few episodes for Austin Walkers thoughts. I've been very critical of Ubisofts AAA in the past few years while praising their mid-tier, but I really think they knocked it out of the park here.
