Watch Dogs 2 Won't Have Ubisoft's Formulaic Tower Climbing Mechanic

Tower synchronization, a key gameplay element of Ubisoft's recent games, will not be part of Watch Dogs 2, creative director Jonathan Morin has revealed.

"It's not a game where you open your map and everything's there. There are no towers. You just explore the world," he said, speaking to Eurogamer.

Introduced in Assassin's Creed, tower synchronizations involve players scaling large structures to get a lay of the land. From the very top, the player is able to see the surrounding area, which unlocks missions and landmarks on the map, allowing further progression through the game's story.

Variations of this design have been used in multiple Assassin's Creed and Far Cry titles since, as well as racing game The Crew and the first Watch Dogs.

Unlike in these games, progression in Watch Dogs 2 is not tied to moving through set locations and completing story missions within them. Instead, the game focuses on how many virtual followers protagonist Marcus Holloway, a vigilante and hacker, has accrued.

"Players start with a few followers in [hacking group] DedSec, but pretty soon you realise you're going to need more if you want to pull off big operations. So you start free-roaming," Morin explained.

"Every time you get followers, it's like you're unlocking the DedSec hivemind. You're also unlocking new knowledge, new operations, new co-op missions. And then organically you hit those end-game milestones."

Watch Dogs 2's release date has been confirmed as November 15. The game will be available on Xbox One, PC, and PS4. During E3 2016, Ubisoft announced all post-launch Watch Dogs 2 DLC will ship first on PlayStation 4 and will be exclusive for 30 days.