An awkward moment with Watch Dogs: Legion's recruitment system has sparked controversy on the Internet after the game auto-generated a pediatrician who ended a "personal relationship with a patient." Despite dark implications, this mishap was likely unanticipated by Ubisoft, which has touted the ambitious mechanic as one of Legion's biggest selling points.Watch Dogs: Legion's recruitment system is a central aspect of gameplay. It allows players to enlist almost any non-player character to join DedSec, a hacker resistance group. Anyone can be a part of the cause regardless of qualifications. The goal is to gather civilians to fight the tyrannical organization, Albion, responsible for controlling a dystopian London.
The mechanic introduces a host of colorful characters that can include anyone from rebel-rousing grandmas to battle worthy beekeepers. Before pursuing a new recruit, players can view the NPC's randomly generated stats, brief backstory and gain access to their cell phone. As exciting as the system seems, the auto-generated nature of this feature does not come without risks.
In an unlucky combo, a randomized NPC, Shannon Dickey, is scandalously exposed as a pediatrician who recently "ended a personal relationship with a patient" as discovered by Twitter user Andy Borjas. One can only assume allowing the game to create a playable pedophile was an oversight and embarrassing mistake by devs. Nonetheless, it is not a good look for Ubisoft, which was the subject of controversy over the summer due to sexual misconduct allegations.
The Watch Dogs series has been criticized for reusing ideas. In Legion, Ubisoft introduced the game-changing recruitment system to break the mold. The feature became a huge selling point after teased in the 10-second trailer with the tagline: "Recruit Anyone. Play as Anyone." For the most part, Legion keeps its promise. After the opening missions, players can approach any NPC and recruit them to the DedSec team. However, most NPCs require players to complete a few loyalty missions before they are convinced.
The new mechanic is impressive but described by some as "one step forward, two steps back." Despite the flexibility the recruitment system provides, it also takes away from the narrative. Often, the NPC backstories are underdeveloped and dull, or in this particular instance, downright disturbing. Considering Ubisoft's commitment to the novel recruitment system, it's likely a patch will address future auto-generated mishaps. Despite its flaws, Watch Dogs: Legion has received generally favorable reviews, and its recruitment system is, at the very least, ambitious.