A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this game.
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Positive Messages
a lot
Serves as a warning about how personal data collected by government, private enterprises can be used against us. Suggests that people with knowledge, power have a duty to inform, defend those with neither. But consequences don't always accompany criminal acts. Also strong themes of friendship, loyalty, with additional threads touching on social issues including racism, transgenderism, systemic repression.
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Positive Role Models
very little
The hero, an African-American computer whiz, becomes a "hacktivist" after suffering racial profiling. He's likable, sympathetic, but him staying that way is up to player, who can make him a nonviolent force for change or a rampaging psychopath who kills anyone in his way.
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Ease of Play
some
Contextual controls for hacking takes time to understand, master. At beginning, easier to shoot through missions, but once you've mastered hacker abilities, easier to hack your objectives.
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Violence & Scariness
a lot
Players can choose whether or not to achieve objectives with violence. Combat involves pistols, automatic rifles, shotguns, grenade launchers. Players can swing a billiard ball on string to crush enemies' skulls, use vehicles as weapons, sending people spinning through air. Civilians, police can be killed as easily as enemies, by accident or on purpose. Blood frequently splashes from wounds, dying characters call out in pain. Noninteractive sequence shows slow, bloody death of a friend from stabbing.
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Sex, Romance & Nudity
a lot
Women, men shown nude, though not engaging in sex. Side mission focuses on bringing down a child p*rnographer, but nothing of his victims shown.
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Language
a lot
Frequent use of "f--k," "s--t," more.
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Drinking, Drugs & Smoking
a lot
Protagonist can order, drink alcohol at restaurants, bars with seemingly no ill effects. Some scenes show characters smoking marijuana, shooting up, eating magic mushrooms mixed with LCD. All heroes get high at a desert festival, causing them to hallucinate, black out.
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Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Watch Dogs 2 is an open-world hacker adventure with the potential for extreme violence. Players can brutally kill criminals, private security guards, police officers, and innocent civilians using a broad range of weapons or by running over them with cars. But players can also elect never to shoot a gun and to engage in activities no more forceful than stunning enemies to sneak past them. Players will encounter plenty of strong language, male and female nudity (though no sex), and drug and alcohol use. The adult-oriented narrative also touches on difficult social issues including racism, transgenderism, and systemic repression.
What’s It About?
Players become San Franciscan hacker Marcus Holloway in WATCH DOGS 2, a near-future open-world adventure that imagines the Bay Area has come under the control of an all-encompassing central operating system called ctOS 2.0. This high-tech infrastructure is connected to everything from cameras to traffic lights and collects personal data on citizens that nefarious companies purchase and use for personal gain, doing things like rigging elections and gaming the insurance industry. Disillusioned (Marcus was once racially profiled by the system), he hooks up with a group of "hacktivists" known as DedSec, and together they work to expose the misdeeds of some of San Francisco's biggest tech firms. Most of their missions involve infiltrating secure facilities, which can be done violently -- using guns and explosives -- or stealthily, by employing drones and a range of powerful hacker abilities to distract guards and gain access to locked rooms. It's up to the player to choose how to play and whether to engage in combat or remain peaceful; the entire game can be completed without ever aiming or shooting a gun. Beyond the main missions, players can freely explore San Francisco and the surrounding area, engaging in a wide range of side activities that include dirt bike races, driving for an Uber-like taxi service, and spraying DedSec graffiti on billboards.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the impact of violence in media. Watch Dogs 2 provides options for players to be as violent or as nonviolent as they like while carrying out most missions; did you feel as though you were better rewarded or more satisfied if you played one way or the other?
Talk about how minorities are represented in games. Why do you think so few big-budget games feature people of color as protagonists? Is Watch Dogs 2's hero defined more by the color of his skin or his actions?
