When Watch Dogs first released, it was largely taken as a surface-level disappointment. Due in no small part to the radical promises that Ubisoft made of what next-gen could do, the game never fully delivered on its promise. However, under the surface, there is quite a bit to appreciate about the final product; from the John Wick-style gunplay, to the mini-games hidden deep in the menus as “Digital Trips.”
Among these Digital Trips, one titled Alone might be among the best experiences that Watch Dogs as a series has produced, even compared to the sequels’ innovations. Similar to what Ubisoft is currently doing with expanding Assassin’s Creed‘s naval battles in Skull and Bones, the developer should expand Alone into its own standalone title.
It’s entirely possible that some players could have made it all the way through the original Watch Dogs and its sequels having no idea what Alone or Digital Trips are. These minigames were little additions made onto the first entry that allowed the player to explore four hacking-infused drug trips, with a fifth trip added in DLC. The Alone Digital Trip in particular takes Aiden Pierce into a nearly abandoned version of Chicago referred to as “The Loop,” occupied by robots with cameras for heads.
Throughout the minigame, players have to sneak into darkened areas to find the generators creating the darkness, while also avoiding the camera-headed robots. It’s one of the best stealth sections in the game, playing out like an old-school Metal Gear title: Complete with enemy vision cones, emphasis on staying hidden, and performing silent takedowns to infiltrate a new area. Even though the whole experience is only a few hours long, it also has its own skill tree and level progression, with enough depth and a skill window that goes above and beyond a simple minigame.
When it comes to minigames and side features, Ubisoft goes the extra mile with activities that could be considered an annoyance in any other game. The development of Skull and Bones is proof of that; a pseudo Assassin’s Creed spin-off that takes Black Flag‘s naval combat, and makes that the central gameplay loop. It’s an incredible feat to look at a system, that had been moderately successful in its first outing and astoundingly successful when reworked, and design its own title around those mechanics.
While it’s been a while since Ubisoft gave an update on Skull and Bones, fans of the Assassin’s Creed naval battles are still excited to see what this small section of the series looks like as a full game. The whole situation is unusual as well, because there wasn’t massive fan outcry for an extended naval game, but the developer was inspired by it anyway. Had Watch Dogs been given the deeper dive beyond the surface drama that plagued the first game and its promises for next-gen, it’s entirely possible the same could have happened for Alone.
Looking at what Ubisoft has already made, and what it would take for Alone to branch into its own title, there’s quite a bit of work that would need to go into breaking its minigame status. However, this type of work is what the developer is already doing to make sure that Skull and Bones isn’t a simple spin-off. The key isn’t about adding more levels, or making the game take longer to get through, but pushing the existing features to new heights would justify Alone as a standalone title.
Enhanced versions of AI are already present in Watch Dogs: Legion, ranging from new recruitable characters, to smarter enemies that require unique ways for the player to work around. Including some of the features present in Legion, the camera-head robots could be one way add depth, or alternatively introducing a wider variety of enemies like different sized spider drones and tanks. The framework is there, and the methods for ramping up the difficulty as the player progresses through Alone is already in place, with more aggressive robots appearing the further the player advances.
One top of improving AI and giving enemies new ways to hunt down and capture the player, players should have access to the depth of gunplay found in Watch Dogs. Most players might not exactly remember what Aiden Pierce was actually capable of. The John Wick-style action gameplay is surprisingly complex, something YouTubers like Visceral Carnage have made popular in recent years. However, the “elite hacker game” had a level of combat that some third-person shooters never managed to replicate, at least for players who dove all the way into the original Watch Dogs‘ combat.
Releasing a standalone version of Alone that emphasized that combat, against dystopian nightmare robots where players aren’t penalized for slaughtering them, could take the series in an interesting new direction. With players still finding issues with Watch Dogs: Legion, as it arguably fails to live up to other Ubisoft titles, the developer should consider reminding players that there is a level of depth under the game’s surface. Not only can Alone express the true depth of the stealth systems by expanding on what the minigame already offers, it can bring new players into the fold of what Watch Dogs already offers as well.
Beyond giving the franchise another chance at its established formula, the nature of Alone‘s dark atmosphere makes it a strong candidate for developing new multiplayer for Watch Dogs. Introducing multiple player-run factions, warring over the same stretch of Ubisoft-flavored virtual city the game takes place in, could be the ultimate sandbox for testing out multiplayer functionality. Players can be given covert hacking assignments, assassinations, or plunge enemy factions into the darkness by restarting generators, could make a living, breathing city under Alone‘s dark atmosphere.
Watch Dogs: Legion is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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