Earlier this week, Ubisoft revealed that Watch Dogs 2 will be released worldwide later this year for both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles, as well as Windows PCs.
Credit: Ubisoft
But what is it?
Two years of development by the original creative team behind the Watch Dogs brand has culminated in what the company are to offer. With topics of data security and privacy as well as hacking more current than ever in modern-day society, the Watch Dogs brand explores those themes and has done so since the first opus release in 2014.
Offering a fictional environment, players will allegedly be able to relate to the challenges posed, with "high-quality entertainment" promised as gamers explore the San Francisco Bay Area with their character Marcus Holloway.
As the birthplace of tech revolution ctOS 2.0, the San Francisco Bay Area has adopted the advanced operating system which networks the city infrastructure. In the wrong hands, the system could be used to invasively control and manipulate members of the general public.
Gamers explore the area as Marcus Holloway, described as "a brilliant young hacker who has fallen victim to ctOS 2.0's predictive algorithms and is accused of a crime he did not commit."
Hoping to shut down ctOS 2.0 for good, Marcus uses hacking as his weapon, with players able to hack into the city's infrastructure as well as any person and connected device they possess to trigger unpredictable chains of events.
Abilities include taking control of cars, cranes, drones, robots and more, with a wealth of choices as to how to complete missions.
What are the big names saying?
Senior producer at Ubisoft Montreal, Dominic Guay comments: "Our creative team is working hard to deliver an outstanding Watch Dogs experience.
"In Watch Dogs 2, we're excited to give players a captivating storyline with engaging characters that offers deeper, more meaningful hacking options, a greater variety of gadgets and weapons, and a brand new seamless multiplayer experience that will appeal to fans of the original Watch Dogs as well as players new to the brand."
Tell me about the game's different editions and bonuses...
In addition to the standard game, various editions of the title are available now for pre-order, including:
- Deluxe Edition - The game, an exclusive sleeve, a San Francisco Map, lithographs and the Deluxe pack of customisation items
- Gold Edition - The game, the Deluxe pack and the Season Pass
- San Francisco Edition - The game, Collector's box, extra digital content: The Deluxe pack and Zodiac Killer mission, the Marcus Figurine, San Francisco themed laptop stickers, lithographs, and a San Francisco Map
- Exclusively on the Uplay shop, fans of the franchise can pre-order Wrench Junior Robot Collector's Pack and The return of DedSec Collector's Case. The return of DedSec Collector's Case contains the Gold Edition and DedSec themed memorabilia including among other collector items, the DedSec art Marcus figurine, Marcus' scarf and cap replica and an exclusive 64 page artbook.
- Wrench Junior Robot Collector's Pack - Gold Edition, 20cm replica of the ingame Wrench Junior robot (controlled by app on iPhone or Android)
Any player who pre-orders gets the extra mission Zodiac Killer - "a copycat of the Zodiac Killer is murdering people and taunting the police with coded messages. Players have to decrypt the codes and hunt down the killer to complete the mission and get an additional exclusive outfit."
Where are the trailers?
When's the official release date?
Watch Dogs 2 will launch across the world on Tuesday, November 15.