Watch Dogs 2

It's refreshing to not be forced into acts of violence in an M-rated open-world action game. Unlike most adult-oriented open-world adventures, which tend to turn characters who are normal and likable in story sequences into rampaging killers once they hit the streets to take on missions, Watch Dogs 2 gives players freedom of choice to maintain a character who acts more or less as one would hope someone in his position would. Or not. It's admittedly a lot easier to just shoot your way through earlier missions rather than try to be stealthy. But once players unlock some of Marcus' more powerful hacker abilities -- like taking remote control of pursuing vehicles, using aerial- and ground-based drones to surveil secured areas, or even hacking people's ctOS profiles to make it seem as though they're wanted by the police, creating a distraction -- it becomes a lot more enjoyable to try to complete missions without causing a ruckus.

The biggest obstacle to enjoying Watch Dogs 2 is simply having the patience to keep playing until it gets really fun. The DedSec hackers are a funny and likable bunch, but the intrigue they're embroiled in takes a good five or six hours to really pick up. And while Marcus can hack phones and cameras right from the start, you'll need to wait for some time before he can begin doing some of the cool hacker stuff mentioned above. This makes early missions a bit uncreative and perhaps harder than they need to be if you try to play them without killing anyone. Stick with it, though, and Watch Dogs 2 eventually proves itself one of the more innovative and memorable open-world action games to come along in years.