It seems that aside from having a different protagonist, "Watch Dogs 2" will also feature a markedly contrasting tone compared to its predecessor, with the sequel's director saying that the game hopes to offer a different perspective to players and fans of open world action games.
When "Watch Dogs 2" was finally unveiled after much speculation and rumors, many were surprised to find out that the game will not only be set in a new city, it will also feature a brand new main playable protagonist. Compared to the drab and grey streets of an Orwellian-esque Chicago, "Watch Dogs 2" will be set in the more colorful San Francisco.
"Watch Dogs 2" will also likewise replace the first game's protagonist, Aiden Pierce, with Marcus Holloway; and whereas Aiden was an older man full of grit and grump, Marcus is much younger is more sociable. Speaking in an interview with Gamespot, "Watch Dogs 2" director Danny Belanger explained the change in tone by saying that the game's development team wanted to "give something new and fresh."
With regards to having "Watch Dogs 2" set in San Franciso, Belanger said the locale's "culture and counterculture" being "colorful" allowed them more to work with alongside the fact that it also has the country's tech center; Silicon Valley. Meanwhile, for the new protagonist, the developers specifically wanted Marcus to contrast Aiden in personality.
Whereas Aiden was a lone wolf who disliked getting close to people, Marcus is a young man who is also an avid social media user. Because of Marcus' more sociable nature, "Watch Dogs 2" now has a much better explanation for its cooperative multiplayer aspect; "Marcus is a part of a group so it makes sense for him to work with people, which was not necessarily the case with Aiden Pierce."
Marcus' use of social media also comes into play in a certain gameplay aspect, with the experience system in "Watch Dogs 2" taking the form of Marcus' social media followers. As Techno Buffalo reports, "Watch Dogs 2" also has side-content that take the form of taking pictures of landmarks or other interesting sites which, just as is sometimes the case in real life, can cause more people to follow him on social media and therefore provide more experience.
