'Watch Dogs 2' release date, news: San Fransisco setting seen in new trailer

A promotional image for "Watch Dogs 2" Ubisoft

Getting closer to its release, Ubisoft reveals more details about its upcoming sequel, "Watch Dogs 2." A new trailer video was released, showcasing the game's next real-world location, San Francisco.

The new trailer video is now live, and it highlights some of the improvements that the developer featured in the game. It was already revealed that Ubisoft ditched the "tower lock" gameplay for "Watch Dogs 2," and the video footage showcases that. Even if the in-game locations are quite similar to its real-world counterparts, the in-game San Francisco looks more open-world, as the map-clearing template for the franchise has been replaced with an improved progression system. This means that players are likely to explore more of the map than concentrate on finding towers to hack and areas to unlock.

Senior Producer Dominic Guay believes that the fresh approach greatly improves "Watch Dogs 2." The studio executive tells Eurogamer: "In Far Cry, in Watch Dogs, in Assassin's... it works - but we felt we wanted a structure which rewarded players for exploring the world instead of a structure where you got the feeling you needed to scrub the icons from the map. You feel like that's your only job, and yet humans don't work that way."

There are also new features for the players to explore. One noted improvement is the addition of new co-op gameplay, where players can team up to complete side or main missions or go out against each other in a revamped PvP campaign.

However, even if there are design changes, some of the gameplay mechanics remain similar. In the sequel, players take on the role of another hacker, Marcus Holloway. The story closely follows the events of the first game, as Holloway is booted out of Blume and hired by hack group DedSec.

"Watch Dogs 2" will roll out on Nov. 15 for the Xbox One and PS4. The PC version launch has been delayed to Nov. 29.

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