It's pretty rare for a game outside of a tactical title to include an Ironman mode, or in other words, permadeath. However, Watch Dogs: Legion decided to up the ante and added this niche mode to its open world gameplay. This mode is for those who can live with the consequences of their actions, as some items such as reloading a saved game are unavailable; what must happen will happen. But what is permadeath and should you use it?
Should I play with permadeath?
In Watch Dogs: Legion, you should play with permadeath enabled, but only if you can handle a loss. When you start the game, you have a choice whether or not to enable this permadeath feature, as it can greatly affect how you play and enjoy the game. If you use permadeath, it means that if an agent dies somehow, shape or form, it is forever dead – there is no way to revive it; all of their unique abilities and weapons are gone. This makes players progress cautiously and adds that layer of anxiety to every deadly encounter. It's a punishing mode but very rewarding to play.
Watch Dogs: Legion was designed with permadeath in mind due to the sheer number of Agents you can play as. Reducing these numbers to zero will cause the game to end and you will not be able to reload an old save to recoup your losses. Luckily, even if you activate permadeath, it doesn't activate until you complete the Reporting for Duty mission. This allows you to familiarize yourself with the game, with all the mechanics before the risk of losing someone hits the house.
If you've tried trying permadeath, but decided it's not for you and want to remove it, you can; however, it is a one-time thing. Once it's been disabled, you can't re-enable it, which means you can't abuse the game using this strategy - there's no disabling Ironman mode before an intense firefight, then turn it back on. If you choose to disable it, it is permanently disabled. To do this, pause the game, select Gameplay, then turn off Permadeath mode. You don't have to live with your agents dying for good anymore.
