0.0 hours played
Written 6 days ago
[h1] It's literally the same as the main game. Nothing has been fixed, except that you get to control a cool RC car sometimes, and the main character is a stoner who helps a homeless man instead of an emo kid who helps an autistic dude[/h1]
[h3]Background, Story, Optionals & Design[/h3]
About ten minutes into the expansion, it's clear that Raymond 'T-Bone' Kenney has a much stronger personality than Aiden Pearce, who was a blank autistic slate. Unlike the man with the iconic cap, our dreadlock-sporting hacker has no problem cracking jokes and delivering tongue-in-cheek one-liners while smashing thugs skulls with a large wrench. In other words, T-Bone has a sense of humour, which makes him a more relatable and likeable vigilante than the original Watch Dogs lead.
It's an unusual situation too, as T-Bone was originally written as a supporting character in the main game's storyline, but here he's suddenly put into the driving seat. Fortunately, this gamble pays off, as his somewhat offbeat attitude makes his interactions with the other characters all the more interesting. He isn't a particularly deep character, but he does seem well suited to the plot of the DLC, which would probably seem a little empty without our bearded hero and his grumpy yet enthusiastic outlook.
Much like the original title, the narrative itself falls flat in places, but it provides just enough context for your actions. The cast includes both old and new characters, but, as in the original game, none of them get enough screen time for you to really care about their individual plight. Most simply end up as quest givers at the other end of a phone call. However, as previously mentioned, T-Bone is usually on hand to ensure the dialogue remains somewhat entertaining with his sarcastic jokes.
Lets get to the story though: set after the events of the main game, T-Bone is preparing to leave the Windy City and go off the radar. However, as you might expect, things don't quite go as planned. The techie who loves rock music is forced to tie up a few loose ends, and, as you'd expect, he has to speed from location to location to do so in typical sandbox fashion.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3513981257
The story missions largely stick to the formula that worked well in the original game, and although there's nothing wrong with following a successful template, the familiarity means that the gameplay never really surprises. That said, a few tasks introduce new mechanics, but nothing is enough to get genuinely excited about, not even T-Bone's remote-control toy car that can taser enemies at close range will change anything about that.
Similarly, the skills and abilities on offer are largely the same as those in the main game. This gives you a decent sense of progression as you work your way through the skill trees and develop T-Bone into a formidable character once again, but having already seen and used these skills as Aiden makes upgrading feel like a chore rather than a reward. I wonder why the release couldn't simply have taken your progress from the original title and applied it to the DLC's protagonist instead of.. you know... "hihi you now lose everything again, happy grinding lolol".
Ironically, Bad Blood's most notable innovation is co-op. Optional missions are scattered around the map and, although they mostly comprise the types of objectives you'd expect, you can invite an online buddy to play through them with you. It's not a revolutionary concept, but it's a welcome addition, especially when you're well coordinated and tearing your foes to shreds with carefully planned offensives. The biggest problem, though, is that: All of the side content is mind-numbingly boring to play. Why do I have to complete 29 driving missions just to unlock an achievement? Why not 15? Or even less? Ubisoft started implementing the now well-known 'Ubisoft formula' and went overboard with it. Getting 100% in the DLC is literally just a chore, and unnecessarily long.
However, the fact that Bad Blood mostly refuses to stray too far from what it knows doesn't mean that it isn't worthy of your attention. This DLC offers around ten more hours of Watch Dogs decent mission design and combat. Everything on offer, including optional missions with the same open-ended gameplay as regular objectives, will entertain anyone who enjoyed the multi-layered, moment-to-moment gameplay that made Aiden's adventure engaging, its just the mind-numbingly boring side content that you should skip unless you're an achievement hunter then... yeah.. have fun because it sucks.
[h3]Conclusion[/h3]
While there's no doubt that T-Bone is a much more interesting lead than Aiden Pearce, Bad Blood's gameplay fails to reflect this. Fortunately, though, the combination of sneaking, hacking and shooting feels just as cohesive and enjoyable as in the main game. If you're looking for more Watch Dogs, you'll have a great time with this continuation – just don't expect any deviations from the original title's solid but predictable template and especially not from the new added side content that is basically the same as the main game, just... more.
[h2] 6.5/10 - The optional content is overly grindy and relies on the typical Ubisoft copy-and-paste formula rather than offering anything unique or inspiring, the story itself is decent though [/h2]
