Watch Dogs: Legion’s new zombie update available now

By Andrew Zucosky Published June 1, 2021

Watch Dogs: Legion’s 4.5 update introduces the Legion of the Dead game mode for PC players. Legion of the Dead is a multiplayer rogue-lite that pits players against a massive horde of zombies and enemy humans.

The mode is currently only available for the PC version of the game, and it is still in Alpha with Ubisoft promising more updates with player feedback. The update is currently live as of June 1.

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Title Update 4.5 is now live on all platforms!
– New Online mode content
– Watch Dogs: Legion of the Dead PC Alpha
– Helen is coming on June 15!

Full patch notes: https://t.co/2IcMNMMWdP
Watch Dogs: Legion of the Dead info: https://t.co/fPUwrMCTz4 pic.twitter.com/yMOQMamwDM

— Watch Dogs: Legion (@watchdogsgame) June 1, 2021

In the new DLC, players travel across the undead infested London to the extraction point with scarce resources and abilities. The game mode can be played solo, however up to four players can play together.

Players start off by picking weapons and abilities from a small selection before setting off to the extraction point somewhere on the map of London. Weapons and abilities are randomized and there is a chance to find more on the map itself. However, it does seem that hacking is not as important as it is in the main game.

Besides shambling undead horrors, players can run across human encampments that will be difficult to infiltrate but there is a higher chance to find new supplies in them. Fortunately, hacking abilities will be more important when fighting humans, but a trusty pistol is all players really need when going against the undead horde. The zombies are not bunched up together like the undead in games like Left 4 Dead, stealth is still the main way of traversing the map.

The 4.5 update for Watch Dogs: Legion is available now for PC and all consoles with the Legion of the Dead update available for only PC players.

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Entertainment

Now that The Last of Us is over, you should watch these TV shows and movies

Pedro Pascal stands in front of Bella Ramsey in The Last of Us.

It had to end sometime. Season 1 and episode 9 of The Last of Us just finished, and a lot of people are probably bummed they can't get more postapocalyptic drama. Starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, the show chronicles a lonely man who guides a traumatized teenage girl across an unrecognizable America in the hopes of finding a cure for a fungal virus that has turned most of the world's population into flesh-eating zombies.

With an impressive 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and a steadily increasing viewership week after week, The Last of Us has already become the greatest video game adaptation ever made and now ranks among some of HBO's biggest shows. In case anyone is anxious to see more of the series, here are some shows/films similar to The Last of Us that will make the wait for season 2 easier.
A Quiet Place

Gaming

Gotham Knights’ great story suffers from this video game writing trend

Gotham Knights has a "we" problem.
WB Games Montreal's latest follows four of Batman's former sidekicks as they defend Gotham City and try to solve a case the caped crusader never could after Batman is killed. It's a bold narrative hook, and by far the best part of this newly released superhero game. Unfortunately, Gotham Knights' writing has one flaw that's become more prevalent in games as of late. Some game scripts, especially in multiplayer games or titles with more than one playable character, can feel impersonal, or even clinical, because they can't attribute any actions to a single character.
Gotham Knights is simply the latest game to encounter this issue. What should be a personal tale about four heroes coming into their own sometimes feels like it's following one conglomerate meant to replace Batman. The scripts of Watch Dogs Legion and multiplayer games like Destiny 2 and Marvel's Avengers also suffer from this issue, as they require story moments to be as general and widely applicable to all players as possible. That approach has created a challenge for modern video games, which struggle to balance mass experience with narrative ambition.
There is no I in team
"There is no I in team" is an old cliché, but it's something that the video game industry might want to give thought to. With an increased emphasis on both multiplayer and storytelling across the industry, more and more video game scripts find themselves having to account for multiple players doing the same things as different characters. Gotham Knights is an especially clear example of that. Players can tackle its missions as Nightwing, Red Hood, Batgirl, or Robin -- four entirely different characters with distinct personalities. As a result, the script must find a way to bridge those differences and find a way to treat every experience across all of the story's events equally.

Gotham Knights does try to account for that, as cutscenes and the dialogue in cutscenes change depending on which hero you're playing. But that only works on a moment-to-moment level; on a grander scale, everything happens to everyone. When a hero out on patrol calls others after a mission, they'll typically speak as a collective group of individuals rather than a single character. And when referencing past events, the heroes will use pronouns like "we" or "us" rather than naming the specific character who thwarted a supervillain's plan or resolved a crime.
This issue reared its head for me at one point in Gotham Knights when a character gets kidnapped by the Court of Owls. In my case, it happened to Robin, and the following segment in the Court of Owls' Labyrinth was one of the most emotional levels of the game. That's why I was thoroughly disappointed when the Bat Family spoke as if everyone got kidnapped in any conversations that brought the event up afterward, using pronouns like "we" or "us." It made a personal moment feel clinical as this vaguer dialogue exposed how the game was solving for any possible experience, solo or multiplayer, in a machine-like manner rather than a narratively satisfying one. I began to feel like it didn't matter what happened to specific characters because it would have happened to any character I chose, regardless.
That choice solves one problem but creates another by making some of Gotham Knights' more intimate moments feel notably less personal -- and that's not a problem that's unique to the Bat Family. Watch Dogs Legion allows players to recruit and control any old character off the street and turn them into a member of the hacking collective DeadSec. Due to that gameplay hook, the group itself was treated like the main character in and of itself, as the game references the actions of the group rather than those of individual characters. That setup will also be familiar to players of live service games with ongoing narratives like Destiny 2 and Marvel's Avengers, as the writing treats each individual character as a member of a larger idea in service of a shared narrative. It feels like the plot is simply happening to the player, not that they are actively influencing and affecting it.
We, the players
Writing games this way is the clearest way to ensure that all players get the same experience, but more personalization can go a long way. I'm a fan of Gotham Knights' story, but I wish I could have seen stronger character arcs from chapter to chapter, as opposed to a few lines of special dialogue within specific scenes. Watch Dogs Legion's gameplay innovations would've been even more impressive had the game's script built upon those foundations. Destiny 2's lore would be even better if more players left a lasting impact on it.

Gaming

Ubisoft and more offer ways to play purchased Google Stadia games elsewhere

The protagonist of Assassin's Creed: Valhalla shouting in battle and wielding two axes.

Google recently announced that it plans to shutter its cloud gaming service Stadia in early 2023, leaving players who used it as one of their primary platforms in an awkward situation. Google already promised to refund people for their Google Stadia hardware and software purchases, but people are still losing access to games they enjoyed and save files they possibly dumped hours into. Thankfully, some developers are working on ways to help Stadia players.
The most notable studio to help Stadia players is Ubisoft, which was Google's earliest partner for the technology via an Assassin's Creed Odyssey demo. "While Stadia will shut down on January 18, 2023, we're happy to share that we're working to bring the games you own on Stadia to PC through Ubisoft Connect," Ubisoft tweeted. "We'll have more to share regarding specific details, as well as the impact for Ubisoft+ subscribers, at a later date." Thankfully, the Stadia versions of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Far Cry 6, Immortals Fenyx Rising, Tom Clancy’s The Division 2, and Watch Dogs: Legion support cross-progression, so players won't lose their save files.
https://twitter.com/UbisoftSupport/status/1575922767593078793
Ubisoft isn't the only developer to help. Developer Muse Games is giving Embr Steam codes to those who played its comedic co-op firefighting game on Stadia if they email the developer with screenshots of Embr in their Stadia library. Meanwhile, IO Interactive confirmed that it is "looking into ways for you to continue your Hitman experience on other platforms," as the World of Assassination trilogy was available on Google Stadia.
There's still the matter of the five Google Stadia exclusives: Gylt, Hello Engineer, Outcasters, Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle, and PixelJunk Raiders. So far, only one of those games seems like it will be saved. PixelJunk Raiders developer Q-Games said in a blog post that "we hope to find a way to continue to share the vibrant worlds of Planet Tantal in the future, and we’re open to discussing opportunities to find the right publishing partner to make it happen.. Tequila Works, tinyBuild, Splash Damage, and Bandai Namco Entertainment did not respond to requests for comment from Digital Trends.
While the shutdown of Google Stadia is disappointing for players like myself who enjoy cloud gaming, at least players will be get refunds, and in some cases get the game for a new platform.