WATCH DOGS: LEGION (Ubisoft, 2020)

In spite of repetitive missions, dodgy-at-best controls, and largely uninteresting protagonists (more on that in a second, particularly in how it relates to LEGION), I adore every game in the WATCH DOGS series – WATCH DOGS: LEGION in particular – because, if nothing else, Ubisoft knows that if you're going to make the missions repetitive, have dodgy-at-best controls, and uninteresting protagonists, you might as well make those missions fun to repeat.

While the ASSASSIN'S CREED games rarely hit that sweet spot (the only one I've made to the end of without giving up in boredom is ODYSSEY) and the FAR CRY series can be hit or miss (no matter how much I do love that series HURK BROS FOR LIFE), the WATCH DOGS series is endlessly – if, occasionally, mindlessly – entertaining; LEGION, in particular, throws every franchise Ubisoft's got - ASSASSIN'S CREED (literal assassins), FAR CRY (turn the borough defiant! – though it would've been fun to have to deal with Albion reasserting control as the evil factions do in FC) and WATCH DOGS together into a beautifully rendered near-future corpo-fascist police state London which, for the first time in the series, feels like it has the heft of some urgent, existential stakes to it though, as with almost all UbiSoft games, the ending didn't really stick the landing and the main story sort of just ended to leave you to explore the post-Zero Day, post-credits London in a BOTW-esque picture gathering mission, mission types which have yet to endear themselves to me.

But then again, it's all to help Bagley and Bagley is the best.

As for the most oft-discussed aspect of LEGION, the ability to play as nearly any NPC in London after requisite scratch-your-back-you-scratch-mine favormaking: while I was, more than once, thrown off by the wildly out-of body voiceovers (it sounds like they had three people doing the voices of all of London) and noticeably glassy-eyed visages of everyone in the game, I loved it. That being said, I don't think I took as much advantage of this feature as I could have because once I found characters I liked (the mercenary dude with the face tattoos and Kathy Green, the spy with the rocket-launching Aston Martin) and whose weaponry and gadgets aligned with my general playstyle (silent stealth / hackings and takedowns / bullets until I screw up and have everyone after me and resort to grenade launchers), I played most of the game as them.

Favorite non-mission oriented activity / way to amuse myself during the far-too-long drives to each mission: taking control of Albion vehicles while driving at breakneck speed on the wrong side of the road because, in spite of having played the game for more than a month, I never got the hang of driving on the left side of the road which led to much collateral damage.

Not a capital G-Great game, but great fun and highly recommended.