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[DeathSparks]

Watch Dogs 2 looks to be a fun and exciting game, one that will take the flawed original title and build on its potential. It appears as though it shall be achieving this by focusing on everything that is necessary to sell the game’s story and setting, while cutting away the unnecessary, tedium inducing fat that otherwise plagues so many modern open world games.

Take, for instance, the AR games of the original title. Speaking to GamingBolt, Danny Belanger, Watch Dog 2‘s Game Director, confirmed that these would not be returning in the upcoming sequel.

“AR games from Watch Dogs are not returning,” he said. “We are offering more city exploration. So as you’re walking around the city, you’ll open Nethack and you’ll discover operations and secrets that will unlock side quests if you want,” he said, also hinting at how progression in the new game might change from Ubisoft’s usual norm, given that their trademark ‘towers’ are not going to be in this game.

He also described the multiplayer mode for this game, pointing out that the priority was to achieve ‘seamless co-op.’ “What I can say today is we’re bringing seamless co-op; we’re going to have seamless hacking so someone can come in your game and hack,” he said. “Now you’re part of DedSec, so you’re part of a hacker group, so we wanted those hackers to work together. So you can be in your single player game but there’s a DedSec ally that’s walking around the street, and if you want you can just go and press a button and go in co-op. We created operations meant for co-op because they’re challenging, so it’s good to have a buddy.”

I’d probably ignore the co-op features entirely, but that’s because of my own playing habits- for most people, co-op being this seamless and integrated is probably going to be a boon, and good on Ubisoft for achieving this.

Source: http://gamingbolt.com/watch_dogs-2-new-details-ar-games-not-returning-multiplayer-detailed

 

[N° 2048]

I am so damn stoked for this game.
I loved the first one so much.

 

[Karspankey]

YES. I literally said to a few friends that one of the main improvements I wanted over the first game would be to 'cut away the tedium inducing fat'. The core gameplay of Watch Dogs was cool, but the wealth of things always on the screen and map really made me feel somewhat encumbered.

 

[T.O.P]

Shame, i kinda liked the AR games

Still insanely hyped for this

 

[rhandino]

I am OK as long as the Digital Trips returns because those were great!

Alone was downright chilling.

 

[Psychoward]

DOES THIS MEAN NO SPIDER MECH? BOO

 

[DeathSparks]

DOES THIS MEAN NO SPIDER MECH? BOO

RIP Spider Tank 2014-2016

 

[Akai__]

No Spider Tank? WTF

 

[Alx]

I won't miss those, I think I only played each of them once to see what it was about, and that's all.
I hope QR-code hunting is still there, though.

 

[funkystudent]

So...... AR games are part of the season pass then?

 

[Ashtar]

At first I was worried it AR == digital trips right? I still want my spider tank!

 

[Blam]

I honestly cannot wait to play Watch_Dogs 2, and I'm sure ubisoft is going to nail it.

 

[benzopil]

WD1 was great, can't wait for WD2.

 

[RoboPlato]

Damn

AR games were the best part of the first. I really enjoyed those. Alone and the Spider Tank were fantastic

 

[Slammin_Hammon]

The AR games were lame, but the digital trips were surprisingly fun, though I'm not sure how many people played them. Spider tank was tons of fun.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

Wasn't a fan of the AR games or the digital trips (though Alone had great atmosphere) so this doesn't bother me. The QR puzzles were fun though. All that being said, I'd rather they can all of that in favor of more substantial side missions.

 

[Hamster Plugin]

Damn

AR games were the best part of the first. I really enjoyed those. Alone and the Spider Tank were fantastic

Alone and Spider-Tank were digital trips, not AR games. With AR games they mean the alien shooting game and the coin collecting game where you are still controlling Aiden in the real city.

 

[Sojgat]

Digital trips are still in though, right?

Madness, Alone, and Spider-Tank were all awesome.

 

[ODDI]

Aw man no AR games is a big blow imo really loved those such a great escape.

Digital trips are still in though, right?

Madness, Alone, and Spider-Tank were all awesome.

Alone was amazing!

 

[ryseing]

Alone was so freaking good. I hope it returns in some form.

 

[bobbychalkers]

I was actually ok with the AR games, it makes more sense within context than the random criminal convoy and gang hideout missions.

 

[Bam Chowder]

So is the co-op going to be based around missions (like AC Unity) or can you just free roam in co-op?

 

[BaronMonstro]

Eh, I don't mind much as I didn't feel the AR games were exactly a strong aspect of the game, but some of them were kind of fun, especially the spider tank one.

 

[ezekial45]

I'm OK with the AR games not coming back. They were kinda neat, but it felt more like novelties and they were shallow too.

If they're focusing more on city explorations and mini-activities, then I'm totally fine with that.

 

[The Argus]

Weird that GAF is so excited for this. First one was pretty much hated here, and this looks more of the same with GTA V filter. If it reviews well I may buy it , but I've been burned by UBIHype before.

VR missions were pretty bad in the first (shoot these neon alien things, jump around on stuff through the city) so I won't miss them here.

 

[Vex_]

Alone was my goty..

Spoiler

Im kidding. But it was p good tho.

 

[PreFire]

Gonna have to Youtube what the hell AR games are, I don't remember them.

Will there still be invasions? By far my favorite part of the game until asshole cheaters found some exploits to find you or just fucking disconnect before you caught them.

 

[bobbychalkers]

Weird that GAF is so excited for this. First one was pretty much hated here, and this looks more of the same with GTA V filter. If it reviews well I may buy it , but I've been burned by UBIHype before.
.

From what we've seen, it just looks like a much better game all around. I imagine most people are hoping for an Assassin's Creed 1 to 2 turnaround for Watch Dogs.

 

[dex3108]

Well we will have drone races and other mini-games so it is ok i guess.

 

[recklesscognition]

I just platinumed the OG and I really enjoyed it. I am beyond hyped for #2. There was so much stuff to do in the original, I'm sure even cutting a lot of it would still leave a ton of things to do.

 

[Some Nobody]

Should've ditched that wack-ass multiplayer and kept this. But losing this is okay if the side quests are better integrated.

 

[Sojgat]

Gonna have to Youtube what the hell AR games are, I don't remember them.

Will there still be invasions? By far my favorite part of the game until asshole cheaters found some exploits to find you or just fucking disconnect before you caught them.

NVZN and Cash Run were the AR games.

They won't be missed, but Digital Trips would be.

 

[PreFire]

NVZN and Cash Run were the AR games.

They won't be missed, but Digital Trips would be.

Ah lmao yeah I hated it. Good riddance

 

[Disxo]

Noooo ;_;

 

[DonMigs85]

Yeah I'm rather excited for this too. Should hopefully be much better optimized on PC too.

 

[Vuze]

Nooo, I want my coin rush game back ;_;

E: Cash Run. Playing through the game currently and can't even get the name right lol

 

[Disxo]

Nooo, I want my coin rush game back ;_;

E: Cash Run. Playing through the game currently and can't even get the name right lol

Coin rush is the word ;p

 

[TVexperto]

Never played the AR games in watch dogs, so thats good and I loved the seamless multiplayer - I enjoyed hiding while somebody was trying and panicking to find me

 

[MiamiWesker]

They better have digital trips, it's part of why watch dogs was fantastic. I am dumb founded at how people don't like WD, one of the best GTA clones and the stuff like digital trips made it special, also how great online was incorporated.

 

[Johndoey]

Weird that GAF is so excited for this. First one was pretty much hated here, and this looks more of the same with GTA V filter. If it reviews well I may buy it , but I've been burned by UBIHype before.

VR missions were pretty bad in the first (shoot these neon alien things, jump around on stuff through the city) so I won't miss them here.

Ubisoft has a good track record of learning from past mistakes. This will almost certainly be a big improvement in the first.

 

[Marvel]

Good.

 

[I Wanna Be The Guy]

No digital trips no buy.

Ok I'll buy it anyway, but I still want my digital trips.

 

[Jedi2016]

Did they get rid of those annoying pop-ups that kept telling you about such-and-such a challenge or MP opportunity or whatever the fuck? Those things were pissing me off, one of the reasons I didn't get far in the first game.

And give me some UI options this time. The overscan compensation on the last game was beyond stupid, and zero options to change it.

They've got a LOT to fix if they want to interest me, and not all of it has to do with gameplay.

 

[Falchion]

Everything keeps sounding great about this game!

 

[w0s]

Damn I liked the 3D barcode ones finding the right perspective was cool.

 

[vpance]

They better have digital trips, it's part of why watch dogs was fantastic. I am dumb founded at how people don't like WD, one of the best GTA clones and the stuff like digital trips made it special, also how great online was incorporated.

If the budget and resources of GTA and WD were swapped I wouldn't mind that at all.

 

[hemo memo]

They better have digital trips, it's part of why watch dogs was fantastic. I am dumb founded at how people don't like WD, one of the best GTA clones and the stuff like digital trips made it special, also how great online was incorporated.

If only GTA can clone the movement (on-foot gameplay) and shooting mechanics from Watch Dogs. Yeah both can improve from each other.

 

[The Lone Courier]

Damn I actually liked the digital trips.

 

[Sterok]

AR games were annoying bloat, so it's nice to see them gone. Hopefully more interesting side activities will replace them.

 

[Bizzquik]

I have very little interest in co-op. Assassin's Creed: Unity failed partly due to its gimmicky inclusion.

Tell me about your multi-player that isn't co-op. Tell me how you are improving Player Invasions and Player Tailing - you know, the multiplayer component in the first game that was truly unique. That was Watch Dogs. Dude changing a red stoplight to green was the window-dressing.