Little new, but total freedom: London is the star in "Watch Dogs: Legion"

The hacker adventure "Watch Dogs: Legion" makes it "very British". Cyber ​​criminals are up to mischief in London who must be stopped. Anyone of the city's nine million inhabitants can become a hero – regardless of whether they are construction workers or stockbrokers.

For game developer Ubisoft, sequels are kind of a passion. Game series like "Far Cry" or "Assassin's Creed" come almost every year with the same gameplay, but in a new, chic look. The new Watch Dogs: Legion is no exception. The third part of the hacker action adventure changes continent after the metropolises Chicago and San Francisco. London is the location of the open world title. And the British capital is the secret star of the game – a real pearl.

The starting point of the story is not that brilliant. Several bomb attacks shake the city. As part of the underground organization DedSec, the player tries to prevent this at the beginning – but in vain. Responsible for the explosions is the hacker "Zero-Day", who regularly appears as a mysterious hologram and blames DedSec for the attacks. The government hires the private security company Albion, which monitors the city with a heavy hand and almost wiped out DedSec. The player now has the task of recruiting new members for the resistance in order to take on these Albion, to reveal the secret behind "Zero-Day" and to free London.

Between sneaking and total chaos

In order to achieve this, whatever you can think of can be hacked again. Connect to surveillance cameras, control cars remotely, crawl into inaccessible areas with spider drones or suck up data with your smartphone: The possibilities and the game world in "Watch Dogs: Legion" are diverse and at the same time offer total freedom in how the missions are tackled. You can create total chaos and use firepower to try to turn off Albion guards or secretly and unseen to use the technical aids in the area.

There are also numerous side missions in which you try your hand at parcel delivery or underground fighters. With the earned currency, the operational technology can be upgraded or your own character can be equipped with new bizarre clothes. The whole thing is completed by mini-games – juggling football, darts or drinking games. Compared to its predecessors, the gameplay has basically remained the same.

The perfect tourist guide

In the chosen setting, it still makes you happy. The developers managed to capture an ingenious London vibe. Those who have already visited London will reminisce in many corners, others are curious about the successful cityscape. This is achieved through the representation of the metropolis. From Trafalgar Square to Piccadilly to Westminster Palace – the game could also be a virtual tourist guide.

Everything is full of beautiful details that futuristic London with its drones and holograms embeds perfectly into the story. But it's not just the sights that make up the cityscape. Even the residents of the city are stylish and shine – at least in the English language edition – with the finest London slang.

While London is totally convincing, you have to cut back on the widely touted feature "Play as Anyone". Indeed, it allows any resident of London to be recruited for his resistance movement. That's potentially nine million characters. From the homeless to the construction worker to the stockbroker – everything is included. The feature makes the game more diverse and increases the degree of freedom again, but the individual characters lack depth. Each of the possible protagonists has a little background story and special skills, but they don't really have a big effect. The online mode is also not yet playable in the test phase; it is scheduled to start on December 3rd.

In terms of size, Watch Dogs: Legion is an open world adventure with dozens of hours of gameplay. It's available for PS4, Xbox and PC – there is a free upgrade for the new generation of consoles. Critics would speak of another Ubisoft blueprint, but the loving setting around the British capital alone is worth it. In addition, given the incipient lockdown in Great Britain, the game is probably the only way to drink a few pints in a London pub – even if only virtually.