Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs franchise has always occupied a peculiar space in the gaming landscape, straddling the line between ambitious innovation and formulaic open-world design. With Watch Dogs: Legion, released initially in 2020 and arriving on Steam in 2022, the developers at Ubisoft Toronto attempted something genuinely unprecedented in the action-adventure genre: eliminating the traditional protagonist entirely in favor of a revolutionary “play as anyone” recruitment system. After spending over sixty hours exploring a dystopian near-future London, the verdict is clear—this ambitious experiment largely succeeds in delivering novelty and entertainment, even as it stumbles with narrative cohesion and the persistent open-world clutter that has become synonymous with the Ubisoft brand.
The premise drops players into a nightmarish vision of London where civil liberties have been systematically dismantled following a devastating terrorist attack. DedSec, the hacktivist collective that serves as the series’ recurring protagonists, has been framed for the bombing and nearly destroyed in the aftermath. A sinister private military corporation called Albion has seized control of the city’s security apparatus, implementing authoritarian surveillance measures while secretly collaborating with organized crime syndicates. This dystopian setup borrows heavily from contemporary anxieties about privatized policing, mass surveillance, and the erosion of democratic institutions—themes that feel increasingly relevant in today’s political climate.
A Revolutionary Recruitment System That Mostly Delivers
The star attraction of Watch Dogs: Legion is undoubtedly its procedural character generation system, and it’s genuinely impressive how well Ubisoft pulled off this technically demanding feat. Rather than following a single predetermined hero, players build a resistance movement by recruiting ordinary Londoners to the DedSec cause. That elderly woman feeding pigeons in the park? She might be a retired paramedic capable of infiltrating hospitals, summoning ambulances, and reviving fallen teammates with defibrillators. The intimidating figure lurking outside a pub could be a professional boxer whose devastating melee combos make him invaluable for both stealth takedowns and open combat. Each potential recruit comes with a surprisingly detailed background—criminal records, medical histories, personal achievements, and sometimes hilariously mundane trivia that helps forge genuine attachment to these algorithmically generated characters.
The technical achievement behind this system deserves recognition. Every character in London’s streets is theoretically recruitable, each with their own voice acting, animations, abilities, and backstory elements. Unlockable skills allow players to scan pedestrians for their capabilities and weaknesses before committing to recruitment missions. The system creates emergent storytelling opportunities that no scripted narrative could match—discovering that your most reliable operative has a complicated family history with an Albion officer, or realizing that two of your recruits were formerly romantic partners, adds layers of personality to what could have been a sterile mechanical exercise.
Where the Cracks Begin to Show
Unfortunately, the recruit system suffers from severe balancing issues that undermine its potential. Power creep sets in almost immediately, with elite operatives like former MI6 agents and professional hitmen becoming available far too early in the campaign. These specialists render the vast majority of recruitable citizens essentially obsolete—why bother with a construction worker when you can have a spy equipped with a cloaking device and rocket-launching sports car? The issue is exacerbated by downloadable content that includes legacy characters like Aiden Pearce from the original Watch Dogs and Wrench from the sequel, alongside crossover content featuring an actual Assassin from Ubisoft’s other flagship franchise. These premium additions further trivialize the core gameplay loop for anyone willing to spend extra.
The narrative struggles to compensate for the absence of a traditional protagonist. Bagley, the sarcastic AI assistant who serves as mission control and comedic relief, does admirable work threading the procedural cast together with his Stephen Merchant-inspired delivery. Major NPCs like Sabine, DedSec’s informal leader, provide necessary dramatic weight. But without a central character whose personal journey drives investment, the story plateaus at merely serviceable. Individual mission highlights exist—investigating the creepy abandoned mansion of a suspicious tech billionaire stands out as genuinely memorable—but these peaks are scattered too sparsely across the lengthy campaign.
London as a Living Playground
Where Legion truly excels is in its recreation of London itself. The city feels lovingly realized, from iconic landmarks like Big Ben and the Tower of London to grimy back alleys and trendy borough markets. The graphical fidelity is impressive given the game’s massive scale, and the atmosphere of a city under technological oppression is consistently maintained through environmental storytelling. Propaganda drones buzz overhead, facial recognition checkpoints dot major thoroughfares, and armored Albion patrols remind players of the stakes involved in their resistance activities.
The core gameplay loop mixing hacking, melee combat, and occasional gunplay remains distinctive in the gaming landscape. Few titles offer the same blend of technological puzzle-solving and action that Watch Dogs pioneered. Hijacking security cameras to scout enemy positions, remotely controlling drones to access restricted areas, and manipulating traffic systems to create chaos during pursuits all feel satisfying and unique. The variety of specialist abilities adds tactical depth—playing as a drone expert requires completely different strategies than infiltrating as a uniformed Albion contractor.
The Weight of Ubisoft’s Formula
However, Legion cannot escape the gravitational pull of Ubisoft’s increasingly tiresome open-world template. The map is cluttered with collectibles, side activities, and repetitive liberation missions that pad the experience without adding meaningful content. Borough liberation—freeing different London districts by completing sets of activities—provides useful recruits but feels like busywork after the first few iterations. The game’s length would benefit from trimming, as the same mission structures repeat with diminishing returns over dozens of hours. This has been a persistent criticism of Ubisoft’s output across franchises, and Legion unfortunately does nothing to address it.
Technical performance proved solid on PC, though the game’s demanding nature requires capable hardware to fully appreciate its visual accomplishments. The Steam release benefited from patches and optimizations implemented since the original launch, resulting in a more polished experience than early adopters received. The various DLC additions, while problematic from a balance perspective, do add substantial content for players who want even more time in this dystopian London—including a zombie-themed roguelike mode that radically transforms the gameplay.
In conclusion, Watch Dogs: Legion represents both the best and worst tendencies of modern Ubisoft development. Its central innovation—the procedural recruitment system—is genuinely impressive and creates memorable emergent moments that justify the experimental approach. The recreation of London is gorgeous and atmospheric. But the narrative fails to find adequate footing without a true protagonist, the balancing undermines strategic depth, and the open-world padding tests player patience. For those who approach it as a sandbox for creative rebellion rather than a tightly crafted story experience, Legion offers plenty of entertainment. Three stars feels appropriate: this is a game worth experiencing despite its considerable flaws, particularly when purchased at a discount.
Expert Opinion: Watch Dogs: Legion represents an important experiment in game design that future titles will likely iterate upon and improve. The technical foundation for procedural protagonist systems has been established, and while Ubisoft’s implementation suffers from balancing issues and narrative weaknesses, the core concept demonstrates genuine potential for revolutionizing how players connect with open-world experiences. Expect to see similar systems refined in upcoming titles across the industry.