Watch Dogs: Legion Probably Won't Say Anything About Brexit

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Watch Dogs Legion Probably Won t Say Anything About Brexit And That s A Problem For Ubisoft

Ubisoft is making a name for themselves as a political game company that won't talk about politics, and it's time for them to jump in or just stop. Via Ubisoft Politics and gaming definitely don't mix well, however, they can work off of one another in interesting ways, the same way certain books and films, such as A Tale of Two Cities and Vice, represent political issues with consistency and meaning. When it comes to video games, this idea tends to fall flat on its face and gets muddled in unwanted controversy, due to ill-representations or parodies of these real-world dilemmas. Look no further than the upcoming Ubisoft game, the third in a long line of somewhat average titles that have given us all-new ways of open-world interaction. THEGAMER VIDEO OF THE DAY Watch Dogs: Legion wants to amend the mistakes of its predecessors by going that extra mile with the ability to be anyone in-game (which pretty much means you . In addition to all-new weaponry and hacking abilities, the game will introduce us to a post-Brexit London, wherein the city has become overrun by an authoritative regime. It's up to DedSec, the 'Anonymous' of Watch Dogs, to "rise up" against the powers that be. With an inherently political setting, it's quite difficult to see how the developers expect to avoid politics, as VP of editorial Tommy François related on : "We want them to decide what they like, what they don't like, and if and how to change their minds or the way they play based on that information. It's about more freedom for the players." Ubisoft isn't necessarily the only one to blame when it comes to shortchanging players with a one-sided narrative set-piece embroiled in controversial ideas, but they are the most well-known. In the case of Legion's Brexit debate, though it may be after the fall of Brexit, will players be privy to both sides of the debate? Or, will the game simply cover the "Brexit's bad, it led to this" mantra? Titles like The Division 2, Far Cry 5, Watch Dogs 2, and Ghost Recon all share similar concerns, lacking a diverse narrative on the state of the issue at hand. Legion appears to suffer much in the same, by and ignoring both sides of the argument. It's not even about sending a political message, so much as it is about examining cultural phenomena in a truthful and concise manner. If Ubisoft wants to profit off the mess that Brexit was (and, to some degree, still is), they should probably give it some real-world light. They merely want to gaze at the edges of a complete picture, the frame will suffice, but that shouldn't be the case. While it may be a fictional story set in a real-world city, a level of truth and fact is necessary, much like how real scientific thought is necessary for science fiction. It's called immersion for a reason. It's more about the monetization of a real-world issue that causes concern, especially when Ubisoft has had countless other titles in which politics are inherently at the forefront of the narrative. There is still a chance Legion will not only blow us all away in fun gameplay but also in its striking narrative message. As creative director Clint Hocking said at E3: "The message of this game is, even in today's world we see people being divided, forces turning people against each other, turning the population against each other. The message of this game is a message of hope." Though political messages may not be in Ubisoft's resume, I think Hocking's themes for Legion will translate well in our current society, but will they be everlasting? It's interesting to see even BBC get into the mix with a . Politics aside, the upcoming Ubisoft iteration has been a long time coming. I'll never forget the first title, though it was lackluster at best, due to poor graphics and clunky design flaws, it still made us all rethink interactivity in open-world gaming. Especially when viewed in a society so ingrained with technological insight, it's rather an unfortunate setback that Ubisoft didn't take this type of route: parodying our society's way of life glued to TVs and cell phone screens. In any case, come March 6 of next year, I'll be one of plenty in the crowd, dissecting data, breaching firewalls, and altering coded algorithms to systematically bring down the ruling authority. It just won't be political.