Watch Dogs 2 is all about player freedom as you set out to take down the criminal overlords behind ctOS 2.0, the invasive operating system that monitors and manipulates citizens on a massive scale. Now, what enhances player freedom as much as mods?
While Watch Dogs 2 does not boast a modding community as massive as those of Skyrim or Fallout 4, it still offers a decent variety of nifty mods that might give you a refreshing new take on the sprawling open-world. Ranging from small visual enhancements to quality-of-life tweaks and large gameplay mechanic overhauls, these are the best mods for Watch Dogs 2.
Updated June 18, 2023, By John Wildermuth: Although Watch Dogs 2 may not have the most active modding scene on the market, there are still many fantastic player-made additions to the game. We have decided to update this list in an effort to showcase some of the top-notch mods that are all available for the game. With these modifications, you will be freeing San Francisco and becoming an expert hacker in little to no time.
10 No Intro
- No Intro By Doze
It gets tiring looking at the same splash screens every time you boot up the game. The No Intro mod functions exactly as its name suggests.
It lets you jump straight into the action, saving yourself some hassle of sitting through the splash screens and the epileptic seizure disclaimer.
For any game developers taking note, please let players have the option to skip the intro movies after the first time. Small quality-of-life features like these go a long way to ensure an enjoyable player experience.
9 Less Intrusive GPS Markers
- Less Intrusive GPS Markers by Obelix
If you have played even a bit of Watch Dogs 2, chances are that you are already looking for a way to get rid of the large in-your-face GPS markers on the roads. The Less Intrusive GPS Markers mod is a small quality-of-life tweak that allows you to get fully immersed into the world.
While the mod does not get rid of the GPS road markers wholly, it just hits the sweet spot between them being visible and being immersion-breaking. Now, you can actually see the texture of the roads while driving around San Francisco Bay.
8 Watch Dogs 2 Autowalker
- Watch Dogs 2 Autowalker by Obelix
Watch Dogs 2, much like every other open-world game, requires a lot of walking around, and it's not a whole lot of fun mashing the W key constantly over the course of a lengthy playthrough.
The Autowalker mod lets you keep walking and running at the press of a hotkey, which you can customize by going into a configuration file that comes with the mod. This is an indubitably convenient feature that should be present by default in all open-world games.
7 Natural San Francisco
- Natural San Francisco by HeySlickThatsMe
Watch Dogs 2 is not an old game, especially regarding its graphical features. So you might ask, what is the need for a mod that puts more load on the GPU? While it is true that the Natural San Francisco mod is a bit taxing in terms of frame rate, if you have got the headroom to spare, this mod livens up the atmosphere of the game unlike anything else.
The orange color grading and the new skybox textures are some things that you’d think would be included with the base game. Besides, the mod also features many other smaller visual tweaks, like new fire, muzzle flash, and water FX textures.
6 Unlock All Abilities
- Unlock All Abilities by YO_YO and freshminds
While this may not be the most extensive mod on this list, it still certainly earns its place, especially if you are returning to the game and starting a fresh playthrough. While we recommend completing the game at least once without this mod installed, you may find yourself getting annoyed with the massive amount of abilities in the game.
If you are someone who wants to have every ability at your fingertips, then this mod is the perfect choice for you because it allows you to start a fresh game with everything unlocked. While you will still have to collect crafting components and money, you'll be prancing through every mission with your high-class abilities.
5 Wrench Mod
- Wrench Mod by dnn00
Wrench is arguably the most entertaining character out of all the DeadSec members of the game. If you wanted to play the game as this punk rock-looking fella, this mod lets you do just that.
Giving you a choice between four versions, the mod lets you play as Wrench with or without his iconic mask. You can also choose the version you like, depending on whether you would like to override Marcus’ voice lines with Wrench’s or keep them as is.
There are a few caveats to replacing Marcus’ voice lines which are explained in detail on the mod description page.
4 First Person Camera
- First Person Camera by HeySlickThatsMe
There's no denying that some of us can’t be truly immersed in a game without the first-person perspective. While GTA 5, a game most often compared to when talking about Watch Dogs, implemented a first-person mode when its enhanced editions came out on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, it is all but evident that there is a demand for it.
The First Person Camera mod for this game is not perfect. In fact, expect lots of janky behavior as the mod author already puts a disclaimer for those on the description page.
However, if you really want to experience the game in this new mode, you absolutely can, as none of those issues are known to cause crashes or other game-breaking bugs.
3 Enhanced Parkour
- Enhanced Parkour by k0v3rt
One of the core gameplay mechanics of Watchdogs is the ability to parkour across the city, thus opening new pathways for exploration and combat. While the base game parkour is certainly serviceable, the Enhanced Parkour mod makes this feature much more enjoyable.
Specifically, this mod allows Marcus to jump across farther gaps, vault more objects, chain his parkour together much easier, and climb higher walls. Overall, this is a must-have mod, since you will be using parkour during every level of Watch Dogs 2.
2 Police And Faction Overhaul
- Police and Faction Overhaul by Yorpie
When the game came out, one of the major criticisms surrounding it was the lackluster police mechanics. The chases of the base game feel really unnatural as the police spawns are erratic.
It often becomes the case that you beat the heat without really making any real effort to evade them, and sometimes it is the opposite with a bunch of police vehicles spawning on top of you.
The Police and Faction Overhaul mod not only fixes the awkward police mechanics but also makes some thoughtful addition and changes. If you keep retaliating at the highest heat level, now FBI units will show up.
Moreover, female cops will now spawn as part of patrols as well.
1 Ultimate Overhaul Mod
- Ultimate Overhaul Mod by TheDuckyOne and HeySlickThatsMe
This mod is an amalgamation of many smaller mods (some of which are already on this list) carefully curated to take your Watch Dogs 2 experience to the next level. Introducing some cut content, new enemies, and an array of quality-of-life improvements, the Ultimate Overhaul Mod is something you would pick up after you have completed the main story missions.
In fact, the mod author specifically advises against installing this mod before completing them as it can “ruin the game's pacing and glitch out certain missions.”