Watch Dogs Legion, made by, fucking, Ubisoft, threw away everyting that the previous Watch Dogs games has established, that Watchdogs are fucking menaces to be feared. The power over ‘truth’ itself, is in the hands of a bunch of hacker groups with twisted views about themselves.
Digital profiling, blackmailing, invasive systems, engineering social uprising, media manipulation, consumerisms… To roughly quote, “People, are no longer individuals, but data clusters, bound to a global network, to be sold, bought, and stolen. You are now less valuable than the data you produce. Someone has to put these establishments on watch, but will they be threats themselves, or will they be freedom’s last line of defense.”
Games after games, no matter the fights, Big Brother still stands as tall as ever, the characters are reverted to their status quo and there are no meaningful impacts on their lives and the world they live in despite all the efforts. Deprived of any substantial consequences, what is left of the narratives?
Watch Dogs seems to want to tell a societal message. Where the games’ worlds are directly reflective of our today’s world, of real companies and their very real actions. Only thing missing is the believability of the characters relative to that world, to land an amazing narrative. But instead, Watch Dogs chose to serve their tones and their focuses. One has a generic revenge plot, Two has its light upbeat vibe killed its theme, and Legion didn’t learn from Two. The ideological clashes, buried, the dark gritty themes, conveyable only through rhetoric. DedSec is a murderous terrorist group but you wouldn’t bat an eye because they are your favorite clowns in your favorite sitcoms. And Blume is your big bad big tech corp company with a big lust for power and zero philosophical justification for their actions. The franchise’s delusional black and white moral dichotomy is a desperation to escape the fog. And what’s left is nothing short of Propaganda.
“Watch Dogs always tries to talk about the real world, but it’s not willing to admit that people like Aiden and Marcus are genuine paths to change. The fact that things will get worse regardless of the player’s actions in previous games is a mature theme and makes Watch Dogs retain its popularity. Never giving in even when losing is something everyone can sympathize with. It’s nothing new or clever, but it’s still worth mentioning.”