Should You Wait For Next-Gen To Play Watch Dogs: Legion?

Thomas Morgan of Digital Foundry writes, "Have we reached that time in the console generation where the machines start to show their limits - when developers are eagerly looking forward to the next generation? Back in 2013, prior to the release of Xbox One and PlayStation 4, titles emerged that clearly pushed too far, often resulting in poor performance. There's a decent argument that this is the case for Watch Dogs - at least on the standard vanilla Xbox One S. It's a technologically ambitious game that clearly has some performance issues, even with the arrival of a new patch. So, to what extent does the PlayStation 4 improve matters and can the enhanced machines clear up the issues? Or is this game so ambitious, we should wait to play it on PS5 and Xbox Series X?"

[ziggurcat]

I was about to buy this game last night, but stopped myself because I wasn't sure whether it'd be better to wait until my PS5 is in my hands.

[phoenixwing]

I have a pc but the average review scores are making me want to wait on a sale

[RazzerRedux]

Glad I'm playing it via Ubisoft+ myself. Not a great Watch Dogs game. It is just ok but not worth $60.

[phoenixwing]

@razzer
Yeah I think I'll just play watchdogs one and two instead then. I never played them yet.

[RazzerRedux]

I think most consider Watch Dogs 2 to be better than the first. Frankly, I agree with that opinion. Legions is the worst of the three. It isn't a bad game, per se. Just needs a better story. And I don't like the "play as anyone" thing. Seems like a shortcut from having to making an interesting main character by letting you play as any uninteresting character you want.

[angelsx]

Every Ubisoft game is 7-8 max score

[sighberpunk]

You should wait. I got it for free because it came with the 3080 and performance is really bad. 1080p and 4K both give 60-70fps with frequent dips to 40fps.

[neutralgamer1992]

RazzerRedux

I am in the minority but I like WD1 more than 2nd. 2nd was trying to hard to be hip and cool and first was gritty

On topic

Absolutely no interest in this game or series. Maybe will try when it's $10-15 or under. It's another UBI open world game with micro transactions

We all hate on EA and Activision atleast they have them in online game where as ubi has MT in single player games

Ubi open world if you have played one of their open world games you have played them all

[ziggurcat]

@razzer:

"Just needs a better story. And I don't like the "play as anyone" thing. Seems like a shortcut from having to making an interesting main character by letting you play as any uninteresting character you want."

Regarding the actual game, that's the exact thing I'm apprehensive about. Seems as though the actual story wouldn't be very cohesive when you can play as anyone.

[RedDevils]

I heard the story is bad, but the gameplay is fun.

[Fil101]

Id say yes if ur running on a day 1 ps4 as i am. The frame rare is that bad sometimes that it freezes plas every time i quit through the mens the whole game crashes not sure bout the pro ps4 but i will say it is very gd looking game

[CornholioX]

I always wait for next gen when those games comes out, even it's released on current gen.
I did the same when i bought ps4 at launch and bought games on ps4 instead of ps3.

[BioShockGX]

Even next gen won't help you. 30fps eww

[Mr Pumblechook]

Because of embargoes, the reviewers cannot discuss the performance on next-gen consoles. So until they can we don't know if the experience will be better.

[philm87]

Ray tracing though. And I'm sure there'll be a "performance" patch later on to have 60fps and no ray tracing. You're forgetting most console players are already used to 30 fps.

[MadLad]

I'm waiting until it's under $10 lol

[RedDevils]

That what I do with Ubi and Activision games lol

[Thunder_G0d_Bane]

Wait til this game is free with ps plus or xbox live gold lol it aint worth a penny

[Thundercat77]

Not a fan of Watch Dogs. I will not buy it even on PS5.

[Blastoise]

Its a Ubisoft game, its entirely skippable.

[Battlestar23]

With both PS5 and XSX versions at 1440p with 30FPS and not native i say no.

[i3eyond the Circle]

Lol. XsX renders native 4k and utilizes direct x hardware accelerated ray tracing for 30fps.

PlayStation ray tracing just like AC resolution has been giving baseless wording left for interviews to expose or digital foundry to detail... $5 says the Ps5 uses cheaper SRS and still can’t hit the XSX target.

[jukins]

*Cough*marketing*cough*

[Obscure_Observer]

Xbox Series X version for me. Looks glorious.

[i3eyond the Circle]

Yeah picking up both systems but if native 4k and fully utilizing direct x ray tracing is the difference so early in the gen. These sentiments may be shared for a majority of 3rd party games.

[airshiraz]

yes u must wait because ray tracing makes a huge differrence in this game
games with lots of buildings and windows change so dramatically with ray traced reflections and that makes them truly next gen games .spiderman and watch dogs are differnet games with ray tracing .

[WillyC009]

I won’t be buying this at all. Was incredibly underwhelmed by the original and watch dogs 2. I may grab Valhalla on a sale though. Most Ubisoft games get boring rather quick.

Edit: I got Watch Dogs 2 for 15 bucks and wish I hadn’t bothered.

[tontontam0]

Yup, PC version performance sucks so much even on the latest gpu rtx 3080. pc gamers will have to wait for the 4080, and console gamers will have to wait for the ps6 and next gen xbox to enjoy the game.

[Computersaysno]

RTX3080 can do native 4K, everything ultra, bells and whistles averaging 56FPS. Turn on DLSS and ray tracing which if anything looks better than native and it does 64FPS average.

Considering the current most powerful current console does 1440p, max 30FPS and often below, with roughly medium settings and no fancy effects. That's the gap. It's enormous.

I wouldn't say PC performance sucks, I would just say the game is demanding because of the high end effects that even next gen consoles are going to struggle to do.

Turn everything down a setting or two. PC games work fine without having to max everything....

[tontontam0]

Why are you defending this game?
watchdogs graphics sucks its just ps3 graphics at high resolution with raytracing slap into it.

considering that there are other games which looks better and runs better even without raytracing and dlss, 64 fps average on rtx 3080 with dlss on is a crappy performance.

[PurpHerbison]

Wait for the real REAL version on PS6.

[tontontam0]

without ray tracing this game looks like a ps3 game, with ray tracing on it runs worse than a ps3 game.

[Limitedtimestruggle]

I never got on board with the Watch Dogs games. Looks so "ubisoft" and boring to be honest. This one is no exception. It's a hard pass on this game overall. I hope everyone else will enjoy it though!

[RedDeadLB]

I am going to skip it completely because it does not look that fun to be honest.

I have the first and second one and honestly, none of the mechanics are done well enough - the sound mixing is horrible, driving is less than mediocre and the voice acting devolves the experience even further. I even like the first one more, but driving in that one is even worse.

[Stanjara]

Trash.

[sourOG]

I haven’t played it yet. It’s downloaded and ready to go but I figured it’s only a week and a half.

[DiRtY]

smart delivery on Xbox, so it doesn't really matter for gamers on Xbox.

[LoveSpuds]

It gets the free patch for PS5 too chum, so it doesn't really matter either way.

[RedDevils]

More like it doesn't matter for PC gamers. Who need xbox sx when everything on it available is on PC.

[Notsofast]

In my opinion this game is getting bad press on the review side by really doing the right thing by not spoiling any thing story wise. But not giving people the real feel of this game. This game is being reviewed for the character selection aspect when it has a serious story line.

Having recently played watch dogs 1 and 2 I can tell most people never played watch dogs 1 and just go off of their favorite streamers and reviewers that game came out and was going against grand theft auto 5 and was unfairly reviewed. People were looking for a Grand theft Auto again and didn't accept the game for what it was. Watch dogs 1 is a action based game that is very similar to Grand theft Auto 4. It's a game that stays on the serious side. And tells great revenge story just like ghost of tsushima.
On the other hand watch dogs 2 is more similar to a Grand theft Auto 5 and is more light and comical but left me feeling like the story needed more possibly because you have to buy the DLC content which I haven't gotten to as of yet.
Also watch dogs legion is coming out very closely to cyberpunk 2077 and will face very hard reviews due to being in the same area as that game.

Twitch.tv/techfly3 for more gaming information and gameplay

[Saviior95]

I've been playing now over the weekend and I must say that the game should not retail at $70 on next-gen.

[DOGSOLDIER1995]

The game is mediocre at best , cant imagine playing it at 30fps, surely ps5 and xbox should be able to handle more

[Valkron1]

I picked it up for $49.99 at Amazon. Looks okay on the One S, haven't loaded it up on the One X because of early reports. Going to wait for my Series X to really get into it. The hardware accelerated ray tracing, full RDNA 2, and extra horse power is definitely going to make it easy to choose which system will get all my multiplatform games. My PS5 will only be for the exclusives, just like my PS4 Pro

[Bigman4k]

Just wait and buy it on next generation consoles

[masterfox]

Will wait or pretending i'm waiting lol until is free in the ubisoft store, doesnt look that interesting after all, they need to reboot this series , the game visually looks good but the gameplay and characters look boring as hell imo, is having the same monotony issue as the AC series.

[hiawa23]

Bought it for the X1X. Looks pretty good to my eyes, but also has the free upgrade for Series X, so why wait when you can play now and just move over to the next gen version when it releases.

[QuePasa87]

I'l wait for pc optimization, hardware upgrades and sales after a year or something

[CrimsonWing69]

Trick question, you shouldn’t play it at all.

Sorry, couldn’t help myself.

[ocelot07]

Nope as it's just going to be fancier graphics. If it was 60FPS on the new consoles then sure. But it's 30FPS so no point waiting.

[Knightofelemia]

If you want to play it on last gen then buy it for last gen if you want it on next gen then buy it for next gen that is your choice. After the last game and the game before that I'll just wait for it to go on sale this game is not on my day one list.

[EverydayJoe]

Watchdogs.. meh bought day one
Watchdogs2.. meh+ borrowed a friends copy
WD legions.. wait til it is in the bargin bin if I make time to play it at all

[Emme]

Watchdogs looks terribly "artificial", the lighting, the shading, not very good looking.

[2ndhandcorn]

Let me guess lots of menu work no thanks.

[boing1]

Another one that lost its focus. The genericness of every character, dialog and mission starts to stand out after longer playtime. I commend them for what they were trying to achieve but because of this, the game is extremely bland. It feels more like a chore than fun.

[TheEroica]

Few open world franchises seem more pointless to me than watchdogz... It screams, "do we really need this?"