During the Xbox Games Showcase pre-show, Watch Dogs Legion unveiled a brand new gameplay trailer highlighting its resistance mechanics and ability to control many playable characters to combat the corrupt authoritarian powers.
The Watch Dogs series has always focused on technology-based mechanics implemented by hacker-based playable characters involved with the syndicate DedSec, combined with an open-world design. While both of the first two installments in the series followed a single protagonist for their playable characters, as the title might suggest, Watch Dogs Legion will utilize the ability to control multiple characters that can be recruited across the fictionalized London, all of who have differing abilities and skillsets.
London will be a technological playground for the members the player chooses to recruit, and they're fighting against the corrupt authoritarians that are running the city. The new trailer shows an agent, seemingly Dalton Wolfe, being shot by a controlled military group, an enemy featured in Watch Dogs Legion' s story. Crooked private armies have taken to the streets to suppress the people while organized crime stays prevalent. To take back London, the player will recruit the likes of "everyday people with something to fight for."
Each one of these members will have something unique to offer, whether it's manipulating medical equipment as weaponry, heavy hand-to-hand and martial arts combat, or utilizing construction equipment to best enemies. Even a granny is a recruitable character in Watch Dogs Legion, and among the many options for recruits to the resistance, an Assassin's Creed protagonist's relative has been confirmed as one of the playable characters.
While Watch Dogs Legion presents a unique opportunity for widespread styles of gameplay, it also may provoke the problem of risking a compelling character-driven story. Because it looks like there won't be just one main character, this means there may not be an opportunity for players to get attached to or empathize with anyone for too long. While the game will feature many characters with their own backstories, so far there's been no indication that these characters will each see through their own story arc within Watch Dog Legion's plot.
Still, who the player chooses to recruit will likely have an effect on the story's narrative, and Watch Dogs Legion is sure to innovate on the groundwork that past installments have put in place.
Watch Dogs Legion will be available on October 29, 2020, for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X versions to follow.