There’s something special about wandering through a world filled with smartphone-wielding hipsters, high-tech government agencies, and mindless AI, isn’t there? Set in a fictionalized version of San Francisco, Watch Dogs 2 lets some players live out their dreams of being a trendy hipster with sunglasses and a flat-brimmed baseball cap. Marcus Holloway, a hacker working for the infamous DedSec, manages to land himself in all kinds of trouble through a series of single-player and co-op multiplayer missions in last year’s Ubisoft release. Many players are just there for the joyride.
With all the side quests, trinkets to find, and emergent gameplay, it’s safe to say that anyone casually playing through the game was missing out. There are so many incredible things to do, and here we’re just going to highlight a few!
Updated by Gabrielle Huston on October 25, 2022: Still enjoying Watch Dogs 2? You might want to check to make sure you haven’t missed out on something awesome you could have done! We’ve spruced up this article for your reading pleasure.
10/10 Exfiltrate a vehicle without actually driving
As you progress through Watch Dogs 2, you’ll slowly unlock new perks to take advantage of. Such an advantage allows the player to take control of vehicles using their hacking abilities. Using the forward, backward and left/right commands, you can literally drive your target without sitting in the front seat. This ability is best paired with a stealth mission, where your detected presence means failure.
First, get into a position where you can see your target. To accomplish this task, either use a camera or run up to an overhead vantage point. You can either take direct control of the vehicle – if you’re close enough – or send your drone in as a proxy. Anyway, you can take control of an exclusive vehicle, drive it out of enemy territory, and take control of it yourself for later use. If you use the drone method, watch out for enemy spotters!
9/10 “Social Engineering” at its best – avoid notification phases
Once you have managed to achieve the “Social Engineering” perk, you can hack into people’s phones and cause a distraction. Of course, to create this momentary distraction, you’ll need to match the “hack lines,” whether it’s from the player character, a drone, or maybe even a camera feed. Yes, it will take some stars to adjust to use the feature, but it’s worth the trouble sometimes.
Luckily, your engineered distraction supersedes any alert level, so if a nearby guard spots you, you can send a distraction in their direction and cause some confusion. Take advantage of timing, as some strategy is required. Also, be aware of that you cannot send a distraction when the guard’s official status has turned yellow or red. If you’re quick, however, you can prevent alerting an entire enemy formation. Just be aware of the dangers around you!
8/10 Custom party playlists
The hallmark of any good open-world game is the ability to create your own custom playlists and bump your favorite songs into the game. Watch Dogs 2 manages to pack in this feature, but many players completely forgot it existed!
First, open your smartphone in the game, then go to the storefront. Download the ‘Media Player’ application, which is where you can access all your music via the SongSneak application. From here you will notice that every song added is from the in-game radio. You can select your favorite songs and load them into a single playlist from there. Once you have an excellent selection, choose a genre or play them all together for easy listening. You can even enjoy the new music during missions or general gameplay, like running around town.
7/10 Use the Quadcopter to reach new heights
Thanks to Reddit user RaidenIsDead, we learned how using a quadcopter to soar to new heights is an in-game feature. It’s certainly something we would have missed on our own.
Once you get the quadcopter – and maybe have some experience piloting the little drone – you can Use the machine as an extra foothold when jumping from great heights. In his gameplay footage, RaidenIsDead uses the quadcopter to jump from a steam vent to a higher ledge by stepping on the drone and then working his way up to the last ledge.
This little trick relies on the game’s parkour animation, which is automatic, to give Marcus the ability to climb the quadcopter. It may take a few tries to get it right, but the result is really cool. We like to think that the designers had something like this in mind for the little drone copter.
6/10 Secrets, Ubisoft?
You must deliver it to Ubisoft; they sure know how to market their games. While these games may be missing in some cases, the community always knows about a major release well in advance of launch day. But this time the studio managed to cram a small secret gameplay trailer into Watch Dogs 2. But few players have discovered the secret.
To find the trailer, first head towards Stanford University and find the side quest titled “The Ubistolen.” You’ll notice a few pseudo-Ubisoft developers complaining about someone leaking their early Assassin’s Creed gameplay trailers. Continue along the path until you reach the top of the Ubisoft offices, then hack their servers to reveal a secret game trailer. It’s a bit like No Man’s Sky. In reality, it was a project called Pioneer, which was eventually cancelled.
5/10 Roaming IEDs
Okay, so now you already know that you can control a vehicle using nothing but your drone. Did you know you could pack the same van with explosives and then drive it into a facility? First of all, steal a large vehicle, preferably a van, and throw some explosive devices in the very back – literally anywhere.
Once that is done, switch to the drone and take control of your new mega bomb. Drive it straight into a group of enemies, immediately switch back to Marcus, and light the fuse. Once you hit the trigger, the van should explode in a mess of fiery brilliance. You will of course be at a safe distance from the explosion; otherwise, the explosion may damage you as well. This little trick is best used on large groups, but have fun blowing up solo enemies or vehicles too!
4/10 Climbing to new heights
The developers of Watch Dogs 2 planted invisible walls to prevent the player from scale the Golden Gate Bridge. Thanks to a little trick (read: mistake) with your smartphone, you can climb to the highest point for an incredible view of the city.
First you will get into position. Plant Marcus near one of the bridge’s large support cables. Using the in-game phone selfie option, go into camera mode and slowly walk the length of the cable until you have reached the top. At the top, hold down the corresponding buttons to activate automatic scaling animations so that Marcus jumps between the bridge struts. And voila, you’re at the top!
3/10 Turn on the smartphone
As the most prominent hacker in the gaming world, Marcus always has his trusty smartphone in hand. Of course, a smartphone is nothing more than a communication device without the right applications and programs available. Watch Dogs 2 lets you power up your phone by downloading items from the in-game app store.
First of all, grasp Noodle Maps app, which activates a map on your HUD. Next, download Driver SF, which is similar to the real Uber app, except you are the driver. You can pick up and ferry passengers for a little extra money. Finally, take hold SongSnik from the app store. There is an in-game version of Shazam, which as you may know recognizes music played on the radio. There are other apps available in the store, but these three have proven to be the most useful for gamers.
2/10 Virtual Theft Auto
Once you get far enough into the game, you will receive the ability to hack an NPC controlled vehicle while they are still driving it. However, this option removes the ability to hack the original driver, so think carefully, as you cannot switch back and forth between the two.
Personally, hacking a moving vehicle is far more tempting than the sole driver and his bank account. If you’re quick enough, you can take control of your car, truck, or what have you and cause some mayhem. If used correctly, you can even take out some enemies using the running vehicle, then leave the scene without tipping anyone off. Of course, the driver will be completely confused, but he’s an NPC, so who cares!
1/10 Ruin someone’s day by planting digital evidence
Say you meet a random criminal on the street. Someone who is really cruel, like they steal money from the elderly and use it to gamble in high-stakes poker games. What are you going to do? In Watch Dogs 2, the answer to that question is yet to come plant incriminating evidence on their digital devices using your hacking skills. This is arguably the most entertaining feature of the game.
Once you get the ability to hack digital devices stealthily, you can falsify evidence and flag someone in the police database. Shortly after, a squad car will pull up with the person and arrest them once and for all. More often than not, the responding police officers will try to subdue the person. Wow, the police have a fast response time!
