In this play session, I start out with a fun side mission to spread DedSec graffiti around the city and wrap it up with completing the Watch Dogs 2 Haum set of missions. Haum is basically an Amazon Alexa/Google Home hybrid. Spoilers ahead.
Playing at Graffiti Art
To start, I met up with Sitara on a roof top that required me to first find an electronic lift to get up that high. This was a skill I would reuse throughout the mission. She gave me the run thru on how she got into street art and let me know she would send me some hot spots to tag with DedSec graffiti. It seemed like the simple side mission from so many other games, but the puzzles kept it exciting and unique
The locations were scattered around the city, so I used some fast travel to get around quicker. Each location was a different platforming/jump puzzle that required the use of various hackable items to get me up where I needed to go. I especially like using the mobile lifts. You first have to find one, then ride it or take remote control to bring it to you before you I used it to get up higher.
One of the tag locations required using an actual big crane which was fun swiveling it around, then raising/lowering the cage. There were others where I would use a combination of painter or window washer cranes to go up and down. There were even a few times I had to bring out the jumper drone to get into locations where I could not fit. Each location ended with me adding DedSec graffiti to a billboard or side of a building.
The last part of the mission had me taking the platforming to the literal next level, to the golden gate bridge. I went up each level of the tall support structure and added the DedSec graffiti to each. The mission ended with a nice wide shot of that graffiti and the follower count jumping up based on that artwork as the local news reported it.
A funny side note to the end of this mission, is I had an online invader (another real player) who was looking to hack me as I came down the last crane to the ground. I got down right as he was making his way over and caught him by surprise with a melee attack right to the head. I got an easy score for stopping the intrusion. Those little invasions can be annoying sometimes, but they are rare enough to make for a fun distraction and bit of competition.
Haum is Where the Heart is
After my hour or so distraction spreading graffiti, I went back to the hacker garage to talk to Wrench about what’s next. The cutscene that came next pointed out how the Watch Dogs Haum CEO challenged DedSec to hack the new 2.0 version of their software. It also pointed out the weird relationship Wrench has with electronics.
The plan was to steal a preorder shipment of a Haum 2.0 device to find a way to hack into the rest. With that info, I made my way to the distribution center and found the building hiding the distribution list. I just needed to open a vent to send my jumper through to open the door to where the distribution list pc was. Once the list was hacked, I had to make my way over to where the truck was being guarded.
Using the cameras to scout the area, I found the key data I needed to open the doors to let the truck out was with a person inside the warehouse. I set some distractions and hacked a van to drive forward (this is an unlockable skill I highly recommend) to get all the guards to come out. This worked and I hacked the guard with the key, then opened the gates. Using that same hack I moved the truck I need to steal through the gate and closer to me.
From there it was just a matter of knocking out 2 guards on my way to steal the truck. I unlocked the car boost hack, so I was easily able to get away from the guards and they had no chance of pursuing.
Once I was safe, I ended up back at the hacker garage where Wrench got into the truck. He found a Haum 2.0 robot he could use to find a hack for the new OS. It ended with him telling Marcus to get coffees.
Testing the Haum 2.0 Zero Day Exploit
I started to actually go find coffee when it gave me the next waypoint to head to hacker HQ. The cutscene cued with coffees already in hand and it was followed by a montage of the crew working on hacking the robot. Once they found a way to exploit the new version, it was time to test it on the Haum 2.0 demo house.
I made my way to the demo house and hacked into the network box at the edge of the property. Once I got closer, I used my hacking skills to disable the perimeter laser and then set the patrolling robot to love mode (it searches for other NPCs) which got it out of my way for a bit.
I hacked the lift for the car port to get into the house. There were more robots patrolling that I had to disable along with disabling the motion sensors. This allowed me to get to the router to physically connect to open the door to the server. I originally misread the location of the server and ended up outside of the house, so I used the jumper to go back in to get to the server.
With the data downloaded, I snuck back to the car lift and left with the stolen car. The bad news was the data was not what we were looking for and the server was just a relay point. I had to go to the main Haum office to get any farther.
Hacking into the Haum Office
At the perimiter of the office, I hacked into the ctOS access point to see the type of data they were streaming in. At this point I had 3D printed the quadcopter drone, so I used that to get up to the office window of Haum to hack into the terminal.
This initiated a another pipe puzzle that spanned the height of the building, making the drone even more useful. Once I solved the puzzle, it gave me access to cameras inside the Haum server room. I activated the hack which scared people in the server room when they saw the DedSec middle finger on the screens. It was supposed to initiate a download, but I was out of range AND it alerted security to the intrusion.
I had to physically sneak Marcus past a few guards and robots to hide behind a planter near the ground floor of the office. This allowed me to start downloading while security search, so I just had to use some cover changes and distractions to run out the clock. Upon download completion, I just ran straight out to the street and jumped on the motorcyle I had waiting. Mission complete.
Sutro Tower
Josh found that the data I stole shows Haum was sending user feeds to insurance companies, so order too much pizza and your premiums go up. Obviously, we were going to make them pay.
I met up with Wrench and we took a news van to Sutro Tower with the plan of using the radio tower to broadcast the truth. He, of course, was not going to help, so I had to infiltrate the facility, which had Umeni security guards.
Using my routine of camera hacking to scout and electronic distractions, I made my way to the roof to hack the key data. Even though the pattern is pretty routine, the variations make it fun to complete each time. With the key data hacked, I snuck into the office and made my way to the router for the tower. With that hacked, the system restarted and I just needed to make my way to the tower lift. Using some of the usual distractions and hacking cars to move, I was able to easily slip over to the radio tower lift.
When at the top, there was another network bypass puzzle ranging up the tower. It was pretty easy to solve using my quad copter drone. The only tricky part was the very top the signal would start to go out, so I had to hack quick. With that complete, I just need to realign the tower and we were in business.
This cued a cutscene of the DedSec crew gathering on top of the tower with beers to enjoy the show. Sitara pulled out a tablet to show the CEO of Haum on TV showing off Haum 2.0 right before DedSec took over the feed and aired their dirty laundry. It ended with the CEO confronting man bun guy about being embarrassed, when he catches a karate chop to the throat. Man bun guy guarantees he will take care of things.