Hacker's hymn

Most people use their youth to ruin their old age.

Jean de La Bruyère, 17th century

The old philosopher and moralist de La Bruyère would probably have made the same judgment about the protagonists of Watch Dogs 2 if he had understood the concept of hacking or electricity as such. Because in the 2016 sequel to Ubisoft's open-world adventure, we no longer embody protagonist Aiden Pearce, who commits all kinds of cyber crimes in a vendetta through the fictional and super-connected city of Chicago to find his wife's murderers. Instead, we play Marcus Holloway, who joins the hacker gang DedSec in the equally networked city of San Francisco. They want to take out the security company Blume, whose ctOS surveillance system is turning the city into a George Orwell-esque dystopia ... or at least is well on the way to doing so. However, Watch Dogs 2 Watch Dogs 2 is not gloomy, but the exact, funky fresh opposite thanks to its rebellious, youthful cast.

Other entries in the Watch Dogs -series

Soundtrack

Watch Dogs (2014)

Soundtrack

Watch Dogs 2 (2016)

Where the adventure about Aiden still focused on a thriller-like detective atmosphere and Chicago came across in a desaturated autumn palette of colors, the sequel is the exact antithesis: bright neon sprays and radically cool characters in the sunny heat of the West Coast give the game exactly the cringe factor that older people create when they try to communicate with the youth in their language. The game wasn't for me at the time, which is why I left the series behind after the first Watch Dogs.

The score

Meanwhile, the soundtrack has also been adapted and the departure from its predecessor could not be clearer. Instead of a veteran of the soundtrack genre like Brian Reitzell in the predecessor, Ross Matthew Birchard, better known as Hudson Mohawke, was hired. The Scottish composer and DJ from Glasgow immediately delivers two OSTs that make it clear: Hacking means electro, so you get electro.

The scores are the Official Soundtrack entitled DedSec – Watch Dogs 2 (16 tracks) and the Extended Edition with 22 tracks. Extended is to be taken literally in this case, because even though five identical songs from the OST appear in this version with BalanceHudson Mohawke, Ross Matthew Birchard3, CitrusHudson Mohawke, Ross Matthew Birchard3, Cyber Driver (Opera)Hudson Mohawke, Ross Matthew Birchard2, Eye for an Eye (Reprise)Hudson Mohawke, Ross Matthew Birchard2 and W4tched (Cinema)Hudson Mohawke, Ross Matthew Birchard2 there are four additional tracks (Play’N’GoHudson Mohawke, Ross Matthew Birchard4, Haum Sweet HaumHudson Mohawke, Ross Matthew Birchard3, Burning DesireHudson Mohawke, Ross Matthew Birchard5, ShanghaiedHudson Mohawke, Ross Matthew Birchard4) that simply last 20-37 minutes instead of three to four minutes.

In general, the Extended Edition contains 13 songs that are over ten minutes long - and these are not simply looped versions, but in my opinion the background music for individual missions. The highlights from these pieces were pressed onto DedSec – Watch Dogs 2 in typical OST fashion, whereas the extended score is the unabridged version.

It quickly becomes clear that a real DJ was at work here, who put his set on the record - and the result is definitely worth listening to, provided you are into this kind of music. Conversely, every listener should be aware that we are not in for a 'classic' video game composition with narrative highs and lows. We apparently get that in the extended score, but it's just one piece. And tracks such as Main MenuHudson Mohawke, Ross Matthew Birchard3, Research MenuHudson Mohawke, Ross Matthew Birchard1 and Nudle MapsHudson Mohawke, Ross Matthew Birchard2 are primarily characterized by their spherical, wafting irrelevance.

However, the album does not impress with particularly moving or 'creative' sounds. As usual for the genre, the music shines where it appeals to our primitive feel-good centers and the blunt basses are, simply put, 'fun'. Personally, I like Birchard's combination of massive electro beats, strings and unconventional sounds such as organs - something that is probably rarely heard in the underground venues of this world. Not that I know any better. But the Scotsman brings to light a soundscape that fits in well with the setting and even I enjoy it.

Anders als beispielsweise der Score zu Furi, zeichnet sich die Musik des Komponisten durch ihren repetitiven Aufbau auf, dem im Verlauf des Tracks immer neue Facetten hinzugefügt werden, bevor es kurz vor Ende die Klimax erreicht. Besonders gut gelingt das meiner Meinung nach in Burning DesireHudson Mohawke, Ross Matthew Birchard5, dessen Jahrmarktstyle im Verlauf des Stücks aufgebrochen wird und in Richtung von Genre-Cousins wie Rocket League oder dem Saints Row-Reboot driftet.

As always, however, this is absolutely a matter of taste and my rating scale is not optimally calibrated to expertly rate time-intensive songs, because 37 minutes is simply far too long for me personally. Other people, on the other hand, may listen spellbound to the build-up of a track for over half an hour, and that's okay too. So it's best to judge for yourself. For my part, I was surprised at how well I liked the composition for this game, which I remember as being less loved.