As an open world game, one of the many, many things Watch Dogs: Legion has to get just right is its map, not just in terms of size, but also in terms of how densely packed it is, how alive and diverse it feels, and how fun the activities populating it are. That is something that its predecessors had to do, of course, but how much more successful if Legion going to be in those areas when compared to its predecessors?
The developers have spoken about the setting of London in recent weeks, from its fleshed out interiors to design that promotes replayability. Recently, while speaking with The Gamer, lead narrative designer Kaitlin Tremblay spoke about the setting. According to Tremblay though the map in Legion is roughly the same size as the previous two games, it feels a lot more alive and diverse.
“For me they feel, its hard to compare, they feel roughly the same, but London is so bursting with life, we have so many playable boroughs from actual London that feel is distinct from each other that every area of the map actually feels like its own place,” Tremblay said.
“Travelling from Westminster to Camden, you feel that transition, so the map feels very alive, real, and big, because there is so much love put into each borough and making sure that that borough feels representative of what it is in the world,” she continued. “And then you see that reflected in the people, so people in Westminster are more likely to be tourists and kind more business versus Camden which has alternative flair to it and so its not only the map has all of these different boroughs that are unique and distinct from each other, the people within them themselves also add to that play. So, to the map and the world feel so full to me because it is.”
Watch Dogs: Legion was due out in March, but was recently delayed, though it’s still scheduled to launch in 2020. Ubisoft is promising that it’ll be embracing the extra time afforded to it thanks to the delay, while it’s also been confirmed that the game is being optimized for next-gen consoles as well.