Watch Dogs: Legion’s upcoming multiplayer mode is clearly a big deal for Ubisoft, considering the pomp and circumstance around its release date, and the fact that those of us in the media even got to give the multiplayer a shot well in advance of the reveal. There’s a reason, however, why I focused my hands-on first impressions on what is ostensibly a minor game mode in what is supposed to be a large ongoing multiplayer game-as-a-service. Looking at the meat of Watch Dogs: Legion’s multiplayer, it’s quite clear that Ubisoft looked to Grand Theft Auto 5’s GTA Online.
Before we actually get to talking about it, however, it's important to know what exactly makes up Watch Dogs: Legion's multiplayer update. It features an open-world where players can do typical Watch Dogs: Legions things like getting new recruits for their cause, just with the added ability to do it with a friend. It also has co-op missions in two varieties: a more casual co-op experience for two to four players, and Tactical Ops, which need four players and, as Ubisoft puts it, a lot of communication. The only form of PvP Legion will have at launch is Spiderbot Arena.
What Made GTA Online So Popular
The popularity of GTA Online is strange, but quite understandable. We’ve been asking for a way to play GTA with or against our friends since the release of the seminal Grand Theft Auto 3, after all. It’s only natural that, once its launch-period kinks were worked out, GTA Online would be a massive success with fans of Grand Theft Auto – a franchise that’s quite easily one of the biggest, most popular one in gaming.
Ubisoft’s approach to co-op in its open world games has really lacked any real consistency. Far Cry as a franchise employs multiplayer quite differently from something like Ghost Recon: Breakpoint. And this trend continues with Watch Dogs: Legion. Ubisoft has opted to give the multiplayer its own bespoke missions, an open world that’s largely empty with little to do, and PvP cordoned off into its own little section of the multiplayer menu.
Watch Dogs: Legion Multiplayer Versus GTA Online
At its core, Legion’s multiplayer isn’t too dissimilar from GTA Online; you and your buddies can mess around in the open-world or take on co-op missions. The only thing really missing is the ability to kill other players in the open-world (for the better, might I add). Ubisoft promises further content down the line, expanding on the series of casual and serious co-op missions Legion’s multiplayer already has. But really, therein lies the problem. I don’t think Watch Dogs: Legion is doing enough to differentiate itself from the competition here.
Like I said in my hands-on preview of Watch Dogs: Legion’s PvP mode, Spiderbot Arena, the core gameplay loop of Watch Dogs: Legion can get exhausting at times. Doubling down on this through more missions in multiplayer may not be the best thing for the game, especially since there isn’t a particularly large number of things to do after you’re done with the co-op missions at launch. Legion perhaps suffers from being too complex to make sense for multiplayer, honestly, with all the different gadgets and abilities players can have. Add on top the fact that it lacks quite a bit of charm that made Watch Dogs 2 so engrossing since just about every character – with the exception of a few here and there – is procedurally generated.
As it stands right now, Rockstar doesn’t have much to worry about from Watch Dogs: Legion. While it’s trying to do a lot of the same things as GTA Online, it is severely lacking when it comes to actual content. There’s simply a lot more to do in GTA Online that’s a lot more fun.
The Longevity of Watch Dogs: Legion’s Multiplayer Could Be in Invasions Mode
GTA Online’s core gameplay is simple; you steal vehicles, drive, run around, and shoot things. GTA 5’s central premise – heists – were wonderfully converted into co-op adventures in GTA Online. For GTA5, it makes sense that multiplayer would be its own cordoned off things. Watch Dogs: Legion, on the other hand, would have benefited considerably by just adding some drop-in/drop-out co-op multiplayer.
The closest thing Watch Dogs: Legion is getting to a drop-in multiplayer mode will be the Invasions mode, which won’t be coming alongside the release of the multiplayer. Rather, it’s scheduled for some time down the line.
Despite the extra time in the oven, Watch Dogs: Legion’s multiplayer gives off the impression that it was maybe rushed out. Conceptually, it doesn’t do anything exciting if I’m being honest; co-op missions are alright, but the ability to play through the campaign in co-op would’ve been even better. Spiderbot Arena is fantastic, but to say that it would be enough to keep Legion’s multiplayer audience placated as they wait for more content would be an over-exaggeration at best.
Honestly, considering Ubisoft’s recent history, I have no doubt that Watch Dogs: Legion will be yet another release by the company that will eventually become a behemoth in terms of playerbase. That day, I’ll happily eat my words and call Watch Dogs: Legion’s multiplayer a success.
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