Every time I boot up Watch Dogs: Legion, a timer begins ticking. At some level the game will crash. It’s inevitable, and one thing I’ve come to simply accept as the worth for taking part in the game near its October 29 launch (fairly than holding off till patches resolve the problems). Sometimes it occurs shortly, different occasions it takes a number of hours. A crash may spoil my open world enjoyable or derail a important story mission. On a very good day it occurs as soon as. At worse, the game falls aside a number of occasions a session. Either method, for the reason that day I began taking part in Legion, I’ve needed to be taught to cope with the game crashing whereas I’m attempting to get pleasure from it.
But now, a game-breaking bug has successfully barred me from ending the game. Every time I attempt to play the late-game mission “Justice4Claire,” my game freezes, crashes, and kicks me again to my Xbox One’s homepage.
Since its launch, Legion has been a technical mess for a lot of gamers, particularly these taking part in on the bottom variations of each the PlayStation four and Xbox One (I’m taking part in on the latter). Texture pop-in, crashes, and poor framerate are among the many extra widespread points, which I can independently confirm for every. Some of those have been ironed out (considerably) within the week or so since Legion launched, however the game remains to be underperforming on the {hardware} for which it was initially launched.
Developer Ubisoft Toronto is releasing patches and updates attempting to type out these points. The game’s most up-to-date patch, TU 2.00, fixes a bunch of particular person crashes throughout the console and PC variations of the game. But as Ubisoft pointed out on the game’s official Twitter, on Xbox One, the place the patch was delayed for a day, TU 2.00 has solely brought about extra crashes. Stated in a follow-up tweet, the developer says it plans to launch particulars and a schedule for future patches early this week. The staff can also be asking for particular use-cases from individuals replying on Twitter with their very own examples of the game crashing. A peek on the game’s official forum reveals a bevy of gamers experiencing myriad points. Other press members, equivalent to Kotaku’s Nathan Grayson, are reporting corrupted save recordsdata, barring the game from being performed. Ubisoft didn’t reply to our request for remark.
No matter what number of occasions I attempt to get by way of Justice4Claire, the game will crash, leaving me unable to complete the mission and progress within the game. I haven’t got an actual quantity, however I’ve seemingly tried it greater than a dozen occasions over the previous few days. I’ve additionally encountered new issues the place the game would take upwards of 5 minutes to load; generally the all the pieces would crash throughout the load display screen. Ubisoft has acknowledged this specific problem as a launch difficulty, but it surely’s unclear when it’s going to be fastened, leaving me unable to progress in my very own game till a future patch. It’s value declaring, Justice4Claire is the fifth-to-last mission of the game, which means I’m seemingly solely an hour or two from wrapping the principle marketing campaign.
It’s a disgrace Watch Dogs: Legion has so many points. It’s a extremely enjoyable game, and its play-as-anyone tech will be fairly magical when a plan comes collectively. It’s additionally vital to notice that many gamers appear unaffected and in a position to full the game. Our personal reviewer had one crash however a comparatively easy expertise general in his playthrough on Xbox One X, and appreciated the game fairly a bit. But it does appear clear that Legion, which got here out two weeks earlier than next-gen consoles and shall be out there at-launch for each, is pushing some PS4 and Xbox One consoles to their breaking factors. If you’re one of many people affected by these technical issues, it turns an in any other case thrilling game into one thing a lot much less pleasing.
For extra on Watch Dogs: Legion, make certain to examine out our review. To see the wildest characters we discovered strolling round its open world London, take a look at our photo essay. We even have spoiler-free tips for anybody simply beginning the game.
