WEBVTT

00:00:00.553 --> 00:00:02.234
"Your face is too dark

00:00:02.234 --> 00:00:03.954
for my sensors to --"

00:00:04.604 --> 00:00:06.672
"Bitch, I'm black and I'm proud."

00:00:06.672 --> 00:00:08.464
"Tell your sensors to calibrate that."

00:00:08.464 --> 00:00:10.782
"I have no reference for "black."

00:00:11.518 --> 00:00:13.228
"No. Of course you don't."

00:00:22.026 --> 00:00:23.211
In our hyper-connected world,

00:00:23.261 --> 00:00:25.931
where most of us carry around handheld devices

00:00:25.931 --> 00:00:27.299
that keep us linked to the

00:00:27.299 --> 00:00:28.847
internet at all times

00:00:28.847 --> 00:00:31.215
and tech companies monitor our behavior

00:00:31.215 --> 00:00:32.467
and purchasing habits constantly,

00:00:32.757 --> 00:00:34.368
a game in which you harness that

00:00:34.368 --> 00:00:36.686
technological web to disrupt

00:00:36.686 --> 00:00:38.460
the schemes of powerful corporations~

00:00:38.460 --> 00:00:40.065
makes perfect sense.

00:00:40.065 --> 00:00:42.271
But with 2014's Watch Dogs,

00:00:42.271 --> 00:00:44.254
Ubisoft failed to turn this premise

00:00:44.254 --> 00:00:46.372
into a compelling game.

00:00:46.372 --> 00:00:47.674
Watch Dogs 2 makes some meaningful

00:00:47.674 --> 00:00:49.354
improvements on its predecessor.

00:00:49.354 --> 00:00:51.584
It gives us a more memorable hero

00:00:51.584 --> 00:00:52.715
and supporting cast,

00:00:52.715 --> 00:00:54.433
and a San Francisco that exudes a

00:00:54.433 --> 00:00:55.700
bit more more personality

00:00:55.700 --> 00:00:57.816
than the first games' setting did.

00:00:57.816 --> 00:01:00.264
Unfortunately, Watch Dogs 2 still fails

00:01:00.264 --> 00:01:01.672
where it matters most:

00:01:01.672 --> 00:01:04.401
trotting out a series of crushingly-repetitive

00:01:04.401 --> 00:01:06.970
missions that never come close to making you feel

00:01:06.970 --> 00:01:08.652
like a hacker extraordinaire.

00:01:08.922 --> 00:01:11.027
Nearly every main story mission

00:01:11.027 --> 00:01:13.980
has you infiltrating some heavily-guarded facility

00:01:13.980 --> 00:01:16.320
or another, in order to steal something,

00:01:16.320 --> 00:01:17.514
or hack something,

00:01:17.514 --> 00:01:19.810
and once you find a strategy that works for you,

00:01:19.810 --> 00:01:22.533
it's very easy to fall into a pattern of approaching

00:01:22.533 --> 00:01:25.688
all of these missions in more or less the same way.

00:01:25.688 --> 00:01:27.231
Your character, Marcus Holloway,

00:01:27.231 --> 00:01:29.154
can't take much punishment,

00:01:29.154 --> 00:01:31.349
and the environments are filled with enemies

00:01:31.349 --> 00:01:33.660
who will immediately call for more reinforcements

00:01:33.660 --> 00:01:35.311
at any sign of trouble --

00:01:35.311 --> 00:01:37.061
so you're discouraged from relying on the

00:01:37.061 --> 00:01:39.688
all-out, guns-blazing approach.

00:01:39.688 --> 00:01:41.458
This makes sense in a game that wants you

00:01:41.458 --> 00:01:43.111
to use your hacker abilities to tackle

00:01:43.111 --> 00:01:44.844
the situations you're faced with,

00:01:44.844 --> 00:01:46.751
but because failure in this game can be

00:01:46.751 --> 00:01:47.915
so punishing,

00:01:47.915 --> 00:01:49.449
and send you back so far,

00:01:49.449 --> 00:01:51.045
I tended to complete most missions

00:01:51.045 --> 00:01:52.890
using the same tactic;

00:01:52.890 --> 00:01:55.721
the core of my strategy was hanging back,

00:01:55.721 --> 00:01:57.980
hacking into the building's security systems,

00:01:57.980 --> 00:01:59.884
and picking off the enemies who could call

00:01:59.884 --> 00:02:02.254
for reinforcements one-by-one,

00:02:02.254 --> 00:02:04.774
by forging criminal records and having the police

00:02:04.774 --> 00:02:07.150
come in and arrest or kill them.

00:02:07.150 --> 00:02:09.542
It was passive and often tedious,

00:02:09.542 --> 00:02:11.441
but it got the job done.

00:02:11.441 --> 00:02:12.930
Of course, sometimes it's a strength

00:02:12.930 --> 00:02:15.002
when a game punishes you for failure.

00:02:15.002 --> 00:02:16.751
In games with precise combat,

00:02:16.751 --> 00:02:18.750
the prospect of a significant setback

00:02:18.750 --> 00:02:20.145
can raise the stakes,

00:02:20.145 --> 00:02:22.072
encouraging you to master the mechanics,

00:02:22.072 --> 00:02:25.171
and making your victories all the more rewarding.

00:02:25.171 --> 00:02:27.583
But Watch Dogs 2 is no such game.

00:02:27.583 --> 00:02:29.231
This is no Dark Souls.

00:02:29.231 --> 00:02:31.621
This is a by-the-numbers, open world game

00:02:31.621 --> 00:02:34.346
with mediocre gun play and systems that interact

00:02:34.346 --> 00:02:37.419
so erratically, that all you can do is try to

00:02:37.419 --> 00:02:38.902
manage them well enough to complete

00:02:38.902 --> 00:02:42.086
your objective and get out alive.

00:02:42.086 --> 00:02:43.519
As shabby as the mission design is,

00:02:43.519 --> 00:02:45.213
the game deserves some credit for its

00:02:45.213 --> 00:02:47.570
obviously well-intentioned efforts to acknowledge

00:02:47.570 --> 00:02:50.225
the existence of structural racism.

00:02:50.225 --> 00:02:52.571
At one point, the young black protagonist, Marcus,

00:02:52.571 --> 00:02:55.323
discusses the racial profiling tactics that

00:02:55.323 --> 00:02:57.270
tagged him as a criminal risk.

00:02:57.270 --> 00:02:58.792
And his brother-in-arms, Horatio,

00:02:58.792 --> 00:03:01.902
whose day job is at the Google stand-in, "Nudle,"

00:03:01.902 --> 00:03:04.061
comments frankly on the racism and

00:03:04.061 --> 00:03:07.013
condencension he experiences as one of the only

00:03:07.013 --> 00:03:08.202
people of color in an

00:03:08.202 --> 00:03:09.966
overwhelmingly-white company.

00:03:09.966 --> 00:03:10.946
"You haven't experienced

00:03:10.946 --> 00:03:13.082
corporate life until you're the only brother

00:03:13.082 --> 00:03:14.744
in a meeting and have to represent

00:03:14.744 --> 00:03:16.585
all of blackdom."

00:03:16.585 --> 00:03:17.598
"Jesus!"

00:03:17.598 --> 00:03:18.752
The presence of Miranda

00:03:18.752 --> 00:03:20.266
a black trans councilwoman

00:03:20.266 --> 00:03:21.601
who does what she can

00:03:21.601 --> 00:03:23.233
to help Marcus and his colleagues

00:03:23.233 --> 00:03:25.311
in the hacker collective known as "DedSec"

00:03:25.311 --> 00:03:26.955
is also welcome.

00:03:26.955 --> 00:03:27.982
On the other hand,

00:03:27.982 --> 00:03:29.950
Latinx people in Watch Dogs 2 are

00:03:29.950 --> 00:03:32.313
primarily represented as the most clichéd

00:03:32.313 --> 00:03:34.372
kinds of gang members imaginable.

00:03:34.372 --> 00:03:36.764
As important as it is that games give us heroes

00:03:36.764 --> 00:03:39.071
and supporting characters who break from

00:03:39.071 --> 00:03:40.605
the long-established molds,

00:03:40.605 --> 00:03:42.803
there's more to great characterization than

00:03:42.803 --> 00:03:44.573
simply ticking off a few boxes

00:03:44.573 --> 00:03:46.311
on a diversity checklist.

00:03:46.311 --> 00:03:48.632
And Watch Dogs 2 falls short here.

00:03:48.632 --> 00:03:50.849
Its characters relate to each other more in

00:03:50.849 --> 00:03:53.961
geek, sci-fi references and cheesy one-liners,

00:03:53.961 --> 00:03:56.197
than in anything that actually reveals to us

00:03:56.197 --> 00:03:57.372
who they are,

00:03:57.372 --> 00:03:59.132
and what makes them tick.

00:03:59.132 --> 00:04:01.004
So it's hard to get invested in their struggle

00:04:01.004 --> 00:04:03.233
and their relationships with each other.

00:04:03.233 --> 00:04:05.473
"Come on, Wesley Crusher! Launch waits!"

00:04:05.473 --> 00:04:07.565
"Bitch, please. I'm clearly Sisko."

00:04:07.565 --> 00:04:09.294
"Jake Sisko?"

00:04:09.294 --> 00:04:10.899
"CAPTAIN Sisko."

00:04:10.899 --> 00:04:13.314
The San Francisco setting of Watch Dogs 2

00:04:13.314 --> 00:04:16.055
is recognizable but doesn't feel authentic --

00:04:16.055 --> 00:04:17.993
despite being packed with landmarks

00:04:17.993 --> 00:04:19.412
and familiar locations,

00:04:19.412 --> 00:04:22.092
including San Francisco's greatest treasure

00:04:22.092 --> 00:04:24.803
the sea lions down at Pier 39.

00:04:24.803 --> 00:04:26.767
It's great to see Pride flags flying in

00:04:26.767 --> 00:04:28.232
certain spots around the city,

00:04:28.232 --> 00:04:30.066
and Watch Dogs 2 makes no effort

00:04:30.066 --> 00:04:31.486
to minimize or deny the existence of

00:04:31.486 --> 00:04:33.326
SF's queer community.

00:04:33.326 --> 00:04:35.730
But for all that, the game's concerns

00:04:35.730 --> 00:04:38.136
feel oddly detached from the real issues

00:04:38.136 --> 00:04:40.364
that face San Francisco today.

00:04:40.364 --> 00:04:41.038
Graffiti that reads

00:04:41.038 --> 00:04:42.693
"ARTISTS USED TO LIVE HERE"

00:04:42.693 --> 00:04:44.943
poignantly speaks to the fact that

00:04:44.943 --> 00:04:47.218
entire communities are being driven out of the city

00:04:47.218 --> 00:04:50.344
as tech companies make life here unsustainable

00:04:50.344 --> 00:04:51.593
for so many.

00:04:51.593 --> 00:04:53.595
And the occasional passerby may make mention

00:04:53.595 --> 00:04:55.705
of the gentrification that's taking place:

00:04:55.705 --> 00:04:58.664
"Super gentrification! It's wretched!"

00:04:58.664 --> 00:05:00.269
So why isn't DedSec using its power

00:05:00.269 --> 00:05:02.701
to stand up for marginalized communities?

00:05:02.701 --> 00:05:05.535
Why isn't DedSec fighting for affordable housing,

00:05:05.535 --> 00:05:07.975
and fighting against the police injustice

00:05:07.975 --> 00:05:10.996
that specifically targets people of color?

00:05:10.996 --> 00:05:11.996
Why not confront the things

00:05:11.996 --> 00:05:13.934
that are really happening here?

00:05:13.934 --> 00:05:15.575
The things that really matter to

00:05:15.575 --> 00:05:18.633
the people who call San Francisco home?

00:05:18.633 --> 00:05:20.244
Perhaps the strangest thing of all

00:05:20.244 --> 00:05:21.681
about Watch Dogs 2, though,

00:05:21.681 --> 00:05:24.525
is its uneasy relationship with power.

00:05:24.525 --> 00:05:26.554
Ostensibly, DedSec is all about

00:05:26.554 --> 00:05:28.124
waking up the populace,

00:05:28.124 --> 00:05:29.495
getting them to understand

00:05:29.495 --> 00:05:32.010
how power is abused by politicians,

00:05:32.010 --> 00:05:34.403
tech companies, and government agencies

00:05:34.403 --> 00:05:35.614
to limit people's freedom

00:05:35.614 --> 00:05:38.043
to think and act for themselves.

00:05:38.043 --> 00:05:40.041
But what DedSec never does,

00:05:40.041 --> 00:05:42.659
is turn that questioning lens on its own use

00:05:42.659 --> 00:05:44.332
and abuse, of power.

00:05:44.332 --> 00:05:46.571
It was never lost on me that,

00:05:46.571 --> 00:05:48.031
playing as a young black man

00:05:48.031 --> 00:05:50.087
who had been profiled as a likely criminal

00:05:50.087 --> 00:05:51.059
because of his race,

00:05:51.059 --> 00:05:53.582
I then harnessed the power of techonology

00:05:53.582 --> 00:05:57.303
to forge criminal records for dozens and dozens

00:05:57.303 --> 00:05:58.434
of innocent people,

00:05:58.434 --> 00:06:00.372
and watched them get marched off

00:06:00.372 --> 00:06:01.949
by the cops themselves.

00:06:01.949 --> 00:06:03.782
But hey, what was I gonna do?

00:06:03.782 --> 00:06:05.663
I had a mission to complete.

00:06:05.663 --> 00:06:08.302
"We will not stand idle while that happens."

00:06:08.302 --> 00:06:10.410
"DedSec has given you the truth."

00:06:10.410 --> 00:06:12.178
"Do what you will."