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Watch Dogs: Legion from Ubisoft arrives on Steam, playable on Steam Deck

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Here's yet another Steam release from Ubisoft, as they continue dumping their older titles on Steam. Watch Dogs: Legion is here and playable on Steam Deck. We've already had Ghost Recon BreakpointThe Division 2Immortals Fenyx Rising and Assassin's Creed Valhalla along with Trackmania on the way soon too. Clearly, Ubisoft want the Steam monies.

The good news with Watch Dogs: Legion is that it doesn't put up much of a fuss on Steam Deck. Much like previous Ubisoft release there's no real Steam integration so no Steam Achievements, and once again it has Denuvo Anti-Tamper so if you keep changing Proton versions for testing and / or keep swapping between machines, it might eventually lock you out for 24 hours if you've done it too much (very annoying).

Apart from that, it's pretty smooth sailing in terms of how stable it is but performance like a lot of open-world games needs you locking it to 30FPS because it cannot keep a stable 40. I tested between DirectX 11 and DirectX 12, with DirectX 12 clearly being a lot smoother overall.

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You can buy it on Steam.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Klaas Jan 28, 2023
It's a shame that Denuvo isn't removed from every game after some time.
Termy Jan 28, 2023
QuoteClearly, Ubisoft want the Steam monies

That doesn't sound like it to me. Well, they want the money, sure - but they really don't put in anywhere close the effort needed to be worth it. No integration into steam, but instead another annoying launcher that offers nothing but trouble? Nah, i'll direct my money towards publishers/devs that have earned it.
MisterPaytwick Jan 28, 2023
Quoting: TermyThat doesn't sound like it to me. Well, they want the money, sure - but they really don't put in anywhere close the effort needed to be worth it.

Allow me to quote someone with the one true line about companies going away from steam to their own client without working on some kind of interoperability: They don't want the money, they want _all_ the money.

Shame it's a ubisoft type of game, I'd have tried Watchdogs if it was someone's else game. I'm definitely done with those open-world games with the whole liberation district-by-district system which was such a staple of ubisoft.

Good that it run on deck tho, hope it is fun still.
Beamboom Jan 28, 2023
Oh wow! I thought I'd never come, this is fantastic news for me. I LOVED watch Dogs 2.

Instabuy. The next good handful of weeks gaming content is settled.


Last edited by Beamboom on 28 January 2023 at 3:49 pm UTC
elmapul Jan 28, 2023
im already at the point that i read news like this and think:
of course it does, why wouldnt it?
Liam Dawe Jan 28, 2023
Quoting: elmapulim already at the point that i read news like this and think:
of course it does, why wouldnt it?
Because many...don't or have serious issues. I've blogged about quite a lot of issues over the last year.
JustinWood Jan 29, 2023
Quoting: BeamboomOh wow! I thought I'd never come, this is fantastic news for me. I LOVED watch Dogs 2.

Instabuy. The next good handful of weeks gaming content is settled.

Hopefully this reaches you before it's too late: This is quite possibly the worst entry in the entire series. There is very little retained from the first game, much less the second. Play as anyone sounds good on paper but ultimately results in a story that relies on the antagonist(s) and supporting cast of defined characters since trying to create depth in characters that could be anyone is close to impossible. Mass hacks, calling in hits or forging an APB to create chaos between rival gangs or the police and gang factions are next to non-existent. The useable phone and the minigames, music player, on demand car deliver, etc. are gone completely. There's a pretty large chunk of lore and such to hear in the audio logs, but you can't play them while playing, you have to listen to them in a menu, or on the dedicated audio log channel in cars (can't choose which one you want, so hopefully you get one that you haven't heard before).

The long and short of it is this: Replay Watch Dogs, Bad Blood, or 2. You'll have a more enjoyable experience than you would playing this hot mess.
Beamboom Jan 30, 2023
Quoting: JustinWoodHopefully this reaches you before it's too late: This is quite possibly the worst entry in the entire series. There is very little retained from the first game, much less the second. Play as anyone sounds good on paper but ultimately results in a story that relies on the antagonist(s) and supporting cast of defined characters since trying to create depth in characters that could be anyone is close to impossible.


Too late bro', but thanks for your feedback!
My impressions after just an introductory couple of hours: I was a bit surprised on how different it was from Watch Dogs 2. I really loved the crew in WD2 (although I could have wished for character DEVELOPMENT during the game), and I see your point about building a more generic crew like here.

Still, I have to say that I at least in PRINCIPLE applaud attempts of trying something NEW. I like that. This recruitment part is very similar to what we find in strategic games like Xcom, and I dig those games.
And I LOVE the British accents, regardless of how exaggerated they are!

What I don't like (thus far) is how it seems there's no skill trees anymore, very little character development/customisation (as far as I can tell thus short into the game), it's all about finding the character with the skill sets we want. But again - I can adapt to that, I totally can. It's great fun to scan and check out potential recruitment, so I think I might grow into liking this.

Another thing I don't like is that this is set a bit too far into the future, and in a quite corny way. Like that AI that has all those one-liners and "funny" attitude while everyone are looking at a animated... Logo? It's just silly. I also dislike how simple it is to hack ANYTHING, I wish it was just one tiny step closer to realism, but oh well. Plus the "superpowers" of at least one of the special characters... This is not a superhero game, ffs...

All in all, this depends heavily on the story evolving, and how much of a story and personality they've been able to insert into the characters.

First impressions are overall good, but then again it usually is like that with Ubisoft games - then around mid-game they tend to fall apart in repetitions.
We'll see how this fares. :)


Last edited by Beamboom on 30 January 2023 at 1:33 pm UTC
Dribbleondo Jan 30, 2023
Quoting: MisterPaytwickAllow me to quote someone with the one true line about companies going away from steam to their own client without working on some kind of interoperability: They don't want the money, they want _all_ the money.

That is a misquote and a half, mate. You literally just took JSS's words and applied them to the situation we're in. The actual context for the quote is that this is a general "AAA" mindset and how "all the money in the world" is the only success goal in business, which is, of course, an unattainable goal. That quote has nothing to do with steam or interoperability.


Last edited by Dribbleondo on 30 January 2023 at 1:19 pm UTC
JustinWood Jan 30, 2023
Quoting: Beamboom*Snip*

Understandable. Ultimately this is my own opinion on the game, and one that was formed due to a number of factors not just with the game itself, but outside of it with how Ubisoft was changing their launcher, so if you can enjoy it, more power to you. It was just a very big letdown for me and wanted to express that. I've at least heard positive things about the DLC campaign, given that you actually have defined player characters there (what a concept).
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