We had the opportunity to try out the upcoming Watch Dogs: Legion's Online Mode in a closed Early Access last month.
Watch Dogs: Legion will be available on March 9 for all owners of the game via a free update.
Ubisoft announced that the online mode for Watch Dogs: Legion (review) will be available on March 9 for all owners of the game via a free update for Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S, PlayStation4, PlayStation5, the Epic Games Store and Ubisoft Store on Windows PC, Stadia, and Ubisoft+, Ubisoft’s subscription service.
We had the opportunity to try out the upcoming Watch Dogs: Legion's Online Mode in a closed Early Access last month. Here are our first impressions.
Watch Dogs: Legion Online didn't feature much in the way of a narrative expansion when we first played it about a month ago. However, it definitely comes with a lot more chaos added to the equation, thanks to the addition of (duh) coop online gameplay. Now, depending on how you enjoy playing Watch Dogs: Legion, this could be taken as either a pro or a con.
First steps
When we first stepped into the online mode, we had a short tutorial to go through, essentially a refresher course to re-learn the game’s mechanics, which we’d imagine a lot of people will need if they’re picking the game up again since its launch last year. Once you’re through the tutorial, you’re free to do as you please in Watch Dogs: Legion’s open-world London. At this point, you’ll be put into a random online session, or you have the option to start your own session if you’re planning on playing with friends. For the Online mode early access, the games were hosted on a peer to peer basis, so ideally, you want the friend with the best Internet connection hosting the game.
Watch Dogs: Legion Online: Gameplay
Coming to Online gameplay, like we mentioned above, you've got the open-world to explore. You can free roam with your group now, and participate in events and side activities as a group. Or, if you're in a random session, you're free to do your own thing. Of course, during all of this you’re free to continue and recruit people into DeadSec, just like you could in single-player. Each player will have access to their own individual pool of recruits. However, you can’t just keep recruiting willy nilly, recruiting is expensive, and the same resource (influence points) is required for upgrades as well, so choose carefully. As you play more online content, you’ll gain experience and gain ranks which in turn will reward you with more influence points.
Watch Dogs: Legion Online: Co-op missions
We had the opportunity to go through a gauntlet of the new co-op missions Watch Dogs: Legion Online has to offer. For the most part, you have a lot of the single-player missions that have been adapted for co-op gameplay. Here's where recruitment can play a huge role. You can have the perfect team setup to handle every situation, with each member of the group filling a role. However, the end result largely depends on your group. If you're the patient sort who likes to plan missions and find just the right team for the job, well that's great. If one of your group is trigger-happy, well, then your planning is all for naught. This is the chaos we were talking about earlier in the intro. There was variety between the missions that we played, which is always a good thing. Variety also means plenty of different approaches. Construction Drone approach still #1. There are missions which are more strict about teamwork and coordination, while others can be finished by simply running in and shooting up the place.
Watch Dogs: Legion Online: Tactical Ops
Watch Dogs: Legion Online Mode will also be featuring the game's first co-op Tactical Operation, called "Leader of the Pack". We didn't actually get to try this out during the Early Access; if we did we'd probably lose on round one. The Tactical Op consists of five interconnected narrative missions which are essentially Watch Dogs: Legion Online's endgame content. In order to succeed at these players will need to strategize and communicate effectively with their teammates and ensure they have upgraded gadgets and recruited a strong cast of characters.
Watch Dogs: Legion Online: Spiderbot Arena
Finally, Watch Dogs: Legion Online also features the game's first PvP mode, the Spiderbot Arena. It's a free-for-all between four players, who are each controlling an armed spiderbot. It's a fast-paced, high intensity deathmatch, and we thoroughly enjoyed this mode. It reminded us a lot of playing Quake, back in the day.
Additionally, as part of Watch Dogs: Legion’s post-launch plan for the year, players will get access to free future updates, including an Invasion PvP mode, new co-op missions and free characters.
Verdict
Overall, we found Watch Dogs: Legion to be a lot more fun with a group of friends, as opposed to the single-player mode. In terms of narrative content, there isn’t much here. Season Pass holders will unlock two new single-player missions. There is however, quite a bit of co-op content for returning or newer players to get through. And with a group of friends, there’s no telling how any two missions will go. Playing Watch Dogs: Legion Online can very well be compared to playing GTA Online, with hacking. And GTA Online can be pretty fun, especially if you’re messing around with friends.
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Manish Rajesh
Manish can usually be found fervently playing video games of all kinds or… no wait he’s pretty much always playing games View Full Profile
