One of the first things you’ll do in Watch Dogs 2 is buy some new clothes. As both a fan of fashion and a judgemental person, I was ready to roll my eyes. Little did I know that the clothes in this game are all fantastic.
To be frank, a lot of clothing in video games just plain suck, especially menswear. Even in other open world games, men’s clothing is treated like a joke. You’ll get a few generic “punk” items, a few “urban” ones, and from there it’s typically just recolors. Having a few over the top or funny clothing items is nice, but sometimes I want my characters to dress in a way that doesn’t take me out of the game. Spare me the animal costumes and clown shoes, please.
Watch Dogs 2, against all odds, has treated menswear with a modicum of respect. Not only are there 6 different brands in the game, each with a discrete style, but these styles have clearly identifiable counterparts in the real world. Stop in Axle Boardshop, and you’ll see styles that would look right at home on the members of Odd Future.
The kinds of clothes you get at Stache and Vine are all the kinds of bespoke heritage wear that Urban Outfitters rips off from smaller boutiques.
If you stop by Streetfix, however, you’ll see things like drop crotch leather joggers, a type of pant reportedly invented by Kanye West.
Even more specific than that—don’t these shoes look just a little bit like a low top version of the Yeezy Boost 750s?
What I like most about these clothes is that they all feel at home on Marcus Holloway, who has a really defined, strong personality. This isn’t Aiden Pierce in his “iconic” leather duster and baseball cap, looking like a drawing a ten year old might make of a serious crime fighting man. This is a young black kid from Oakland, who’s a little arrogant, a little flashy, but has the skills to back it up. And no matter how you dress him, it’s going to reflect that character.