This week, to celebrate the 4th of July in the U.S., Ubisoft introduced a new patch to Watch Dogs 2, that sets off fireworks every in-game night. That means every 24 minutes, fireworks go off in the distance. They last for eight minutes, so players are currently only faced with 16 minutes of fireworks-free play in the open world, hacking, action title.
That might not be so bad if they weren't horribly configured for surround sound. For some reason, Ubisoft's new Watch Dogs 2 fireworks aren't distance managed for the audio, so those with surround sound constantly hear the booming of the explosions as if it's right next to them. There are also only a handful of noises used for the fireworks, so it's the same booms and the same crackles over, and over again.
A lot of people see this as pretty obnoxious, especially those living in countries that don't celebrate the 4th July -- everywhere but the U.S.. It might not be so bad if Ubisoft at least made this a one-night affair, but for some reason these fireworks are set to continue through July 10.
Of course Ubisoft isn't the only company to ever run a holiday-themed event, but the way it's handled this one seems quite slapdash and rather obnoxious, especially for those who feel it's a detriment to the game's atmosphere. Perhaps adding an option to turn off the fireworks after a few in-game nights might be nice?
