I’m currently sat waiting for Watch Dogs Legion to install, and can’t wait for an hour shooting a nail gun at people around the Tower of London.
That’s what I’ve seen on the demo and I hope, dearly, that the game lives up to my hype. I do have some concerns, and will know by the time you read this if they are founded or not.
Part of my excitement is in knowing I’m finally going to get to play a game around London, and not one set in the past. yes, AC Syndicate did let you traverse the London skyline, but you have to go back, way back, for the last really good London game.
Released in 2002, I found The Getaway in 2003 and really enjoyed it, up to a point. 3D shooters weren’t the norm back then, and I saw this as revolutionary. I enjoyed GTA London, even though it wasn’t really London, and welcomed the adventure of Mark Hammond around a stereotypical cockney setting.
The game itself wasn’t actually that good, despite the then-ground-breaking graphics. It was tough to control, especially the driving elements which made up 50% of most missions. Despite this, the setting and plot held up, splitting at a half way point and putting you in the shoes of the cops, instead of the robbers.
It wasn’t just the plot and great (for the time) visuals that got me though, it was the ‘Lock Stock’ voice acting and Guy Ritchie plot. It felt like the start of something great for gaming, an idea that would progress with consoles to give British gamers something that was quintessentially ours. No more switching between Los Angeles and New York clones in GTA, it seemed like we were finally getting our franchise.
Instead, the Getaway, got away. The second instalment wasn’t as good and to be honest, I barely even gave it a glance after reading reviews. London, as a setting, kept on popping up over the years, but rarely in that immersive way I wanted and had been teased with. Sure, we had AC Syndicate, Call of Duty went there and others, but I’ve never seen London in the same was as I did through the eyes of Hammond or Carter.
I really hope that is about to change and in the next few hours, I get the same giddy feeling I got the first time I drove a car around the streets from my sofa, even it it was clunky and awkward. Maybe, with Watch Dogs Legion, there might even be smooth controls to complement the setting I’ve waited so long to enjoy.