Back in 2014, Ubisoft released the first title in its Watch Dogs franchise. After years of Assassin's Creed games, Ubisoft brought its open-world formula to a more modern setting. The series puts players in control of various hackers in fictional versions of Chicago, San Francisco, and London, fighting against corruption. Each title has been received decently, but Ubisoft never figured out what it wants the series to be, and rumors have begun circulating that Watch Dogs may be shelved.
Unlike a lot of video game series, each title in the Watch Dogs franchise is different from the last. Watch Dogs had a darker tone than later installments, Watch Dogs 2 decided to make the series more light-hearted, and Watch Dogs: Legion took a huge step by letting players control everyone in the world. Ubisoft has used Watch Dogs to experiment with different gameplay systems. Even if the series never found its identity, each title was a lot of fun, and the franchise does not deserve to be pushed aside.
Each Watch Dogs Game Has Its Own Charm
.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=500&dpr=1.5)
Although Watch Dogs seems to have an identity crisis throughout all three entires, it is still fun to play. It had all the usual tropes of an Ubisoft game, but with interesting protagonists and the hacking mechanic to help set it apart from other open-world titles. It let players control almost everything remotely and cause a lot of chaos. They could turn off traffic lights, remote control cars, take over drones, and even explode sewer grates.
Each Watch Dogs title also had an interesting story. Watch Dogs followed Aiden Pearce across Chicago on his quest for revenge against the people who killed his niece. Watch Dogs 2 took the series to San Francisco, and told the story of Marcus Holloway and his hacking group DedSec's mission to take down the surveillance system known as ctOS. Watch Dogs: Legion then put players in the shoes of the entire London branch of DedSec with a story followed their mission to liberate London from a private military company.
The sandbox playgrounds that Ubisoft makes for the Watch Dogs series are a lot of fun to cause havoc in. The hacking mechanic let players cause even more mayhem than in games like Grand Theft Auto. Each city felt unique from one another, and it's one of the few video game franchises that has been set in Chicago. While their stories were heavily critiqued, the game worlds were usually well-constructed.
The series also offered a unique take on multiplayer. Players could take on missions and explore the game world cooperatively, or they could participate in modes like invasions. Players could choose to invade another person's single-player game and try to remain undetected while installing a backdoor into their network. The other player would have to hunt them down and stop them.
Watch Dogs Deserves a Place in Ubisoft's Lineup
Rumors have begun circulating that Ubisoft is planning on quietly shelving the entire Watch Dogs franchise, but that would be a mistake. While the Watch Dogs franchise was never perfect, and Ubisoft could never quite figure out what it wanted to do with it, the series did offer up unique gameplay and settings. Other large modern open-world franchises like Grand Theft Auto and Saints Row do not offer a mechanic similar to hacking, and neither franchise has visited a fictional version of Chicago or London in their mainline titles. On top of that, there has not been an open-world title quite like Watch Dogs: Legion.
The Watch Dogs franchise has seen a lot of succes s both financially and with fans, and some tie-in novels that have further built out its lore with an animated series currently in development. Fans are clearly interested in more Watch Dogs lore, so it would be a shame just to cancel the franchise and move onto something else.
It seems Ubisoft is becoming increasingly interested in live-service titles, and has begun exploring that option with its largest franchises like Assassin's Creed. Even with this new direction, Watch Dogs deserves a place in the lineup. The franchise has been fun for fans and innovating its formula every new entry, so a fourth Watch Dogs game could be the best one yet.