Watch Dogs 2 has just been revealed! And surprisingly, the sequel to the third-person hacker action game looks VERY DIFFERENT to the first.

A new character and new setting of San Francisco packed with mad California Vibes are just the first changes to the series. This time the emphasis is on FUN and playfulness with the bants to match.

In this exclusive interview, Creative Director of Watch Dogs 1&2 Jonathan Morin reveals the biggest differences in the new game, ultimate ‘internet fuckery’ and whether Aiden Pearce will show up in the new game after all...

Your new character is Marcus Holloway

This time around the main character is a completely different. He’s smart young hacker Marcus Holloway, who also happens to be perfect at parkour. Having been pushed out of San Fran and growing up in Oakland, he's anti-gentrification and "on a mission to take back control from an establishment that uses technology to take away our freedom,” reveals Morin.

Bye bye dark alleys! It’s set in San Francisco for sweet California Vibes

“For me, the first big difference is the fresh tone that San Francisco and the Calfiornia vibe brings to the game,” Morin says on the big changes this time around. “The San Francisco Bay area is renowned for innovation. This place is full of open-minded, innovative people, it feels like everything’s possible, which we felt was very natural fit for the hacking culture - being able to see beyond the preconceived rules in order to solve a problem.”

There's way way way more hacking

“'Watch Dogs 1 'had a great introduction to what hacking is, but a lot of players were hoping for even more expression possibilities through the hacking mechanics,” says Morin, “This time, basically, it’s more of a tool the player can use to create their own solution. Every car around the city is a toy, you just have to point at it, lock to it and you can control from a distance what the car does... It has more of a sandbox type of feel.”

Like, sh*tloads more hacking

Not only can every car around you be used but every person as well. In 'WD1', we could hack people but it was more like trying to find the person that has the vulnerability for you to exploit. In 'WD2', like hacking a car, you can lock on anyone and turn them into a criminal, have the cops come and check them out, or use mess around with other hacker factions to come and attack them."

And lotsa mad weapons

Deadsec's guns are made on a 3D printer, or you can use a taser to play the whole game completely non-lethally. Our hero’s weapon of choice isn’t a gun, or a sword, or a bow and arrow. It’s, erm, a billard ball on a cord. It’s apparently creative, effective, and doesn’t involve any tech that can be hacked. Smart.

Toys toys toys

And then we have Marcus’s toys. Drones are just the start of the arsenal when it comes to the gadgets on offer - like hacking camera from the first game, but taken to a whole new level: "In 'WD2 'having a flying drone is a liberation - to be able to analyse the environment while being careful and not getting detected," says Morin. Meanwhile, Marcus also has a wheely RC bot he can steer around and use to investigate the world.

More lols

“I’ve seen a lot of crazy stuff happen,” says Morin, “the combination of hacking cars with different objects. So for example, when you realise ‘I can hack every car and go anywhere, and have this thing that can blow up, I can turn this bomb into a proximity trap,’ you start having ideas like ‘I’m going to stick one bomb to the front of the car, hack that car forward, then the proximity will detect a bunch of cars and they’re gonna blow up in mid-air.’ What makes people laugh is when they realise it’s possible. “

Internet fuckery

This first look stream revealed the phrase ‘internet fuckery’ over and over. So, what’s Morin’s fave example of internet fuckery in Watch Dogs 2? “It’s more of an extra game experience for me. I hope my favourite memes will be done by the players put back into the internet through Twitch and Youtube instead of the jokes we put in the game, that would be the dream.”

Your Very Own Hacker Sqaud

This time, you’ve got friends! “Hackers are not people who hang out by themselves. They’re very good at connecting with each other and sharing ideas and talking about what is happening in the world,” says Morin, “DeadSec is such a group, they’re actually a lot stronger when they start building a collective hivemind.

So, who dey?

Two more characters popped up in the WD2 first look reveal – Morin reveals who they are: “Cara is the artist of the group, doing their video graphics. She’s using her art skills to convey a message and inspire people to join in afterwards. As an artist, she’s pretty into her principles. She’s kind of the worst pissed off ex girlfriend you could ever think of.

“On the other side we have the guy with the mask, Ranch, who’s into punk rock . He’s more destructive person. He knows exactly how to win a debate just by crushing the other person.”

"Marcus is good at bringing the balance between these two types of personalities. Even though Deadsec doesn’t have a leader, Marcus brings them together to do something bigger and bigger as the game progresses,” reveals Morin.

An Aiden Pearce Crossover

This is all happening in the same universe as the first Watch Dogs game, Morin reveals, “Theres a lot of groups of DeadSec around the world just like there are other hacker groups in real life, so we’re able to just switch from people to people and explore different grounds, different tones, different ages. This time they’re a bit younger than Aiden Pearce was in the first game.”

So could Aiden Pearce, lead character of the first game crossover into the sequel?

“I don’t know, we’ll see about that!” says Morin.

Aiden, we’ll be expecting you to intercept our calls!

'- Watch Dogs 2 will be released November 16 2016'