To begin, I am someone who thoroughly enjoyed my time with the original Watch Dogs, which was knocked by a lot of critics. Where it's better: There is no doubt that the stealth option has become much more appealing in Watch Dogs 2. The addition of drones is what truly changes the hacker style of play. They were, without a doubt, my favorite part of the game. Other improvements include appearance customization (character, drones and weapons), nearly doubling the world size and the atmosphere of the world. As someone who has never been to the Bay Area, it was a joy to visit landmarks or see local street performers and receive in-game rewards for those actions. Where it's worse: While some critics praised the story for not being the dark and gritty journey that the original Watch Dogs was, this more lighthearted "eff you" to the system focus did not pull me in emotionally. Another aspect of the game that frustrated me at times ties in with a clear emphasis of the development team. In making a push to be a stealth/hack first game, even the best weapons are useless in a majority of the game's scenarios. Overall, I would say Watch Dogs 2 is better than its predecessor. In completing all of the side missions, I wound up playing for more than 35 hours and enjoying most of that time.

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