By Vanessa Hague
We all remember when Watch_Dogs was first showcased to the world at E3 back in 2012 and completely took everyone by surprise. The standards were set inexplicably high during that first reveal, with so many hoping that the promised game was truly going to herald the next gaming generation. Two years later and the game has finally been released, so the question is - does Watch_Dogs live up to hype?
We all remember when Watch_Dogs was first showcased to the world at E3 back in 2012 and completely took everyone by surprise. The standards were set inexplicably high during that first reveal, with so many hoping that the promised game was truly going to herald the next gaming generation. Two years later and the game has finally been released, so the question is - does Watch_Dogs live up to hype?
The fictional Chicago setting is a vast open-world playground for the main hacker-protagonist, Aiden Pearce. We are first introduced to Aiden on a hacking job that goes wrong, resulting in the death of a family a member and thus spring-boarding the rest of the story, as Aiden goes on a quest of revenge. Whilst the story and the characters are nothing new, the further I progressed the more they both grew on me. Aiden came into his own as character and story-wise, whilst mainly generic, he manages to hit his greatest potential towards the climax and nicely hints towards what might be in store in future installments.
Gameplay wise, Watch_Dogs is presented as a sandbox and draws heavily upon other games within that genre. Making comparisons to Grand Theft Auto and Saints Row are unavoidable but Ubisoft use their open-world to it's utmost, lifting it from simple imitation to a setting with it's own unique, lively personality. This Chicago is vast and full of detail, and the depth that Ubisoft have managed to give the city really shows. You can check into city hotspots through use of your in-game phone, and even the NPC inhabitants have been given a taste of authenticity thanks to being able to hack into their cells, gaining snippets of fictional information about their lives. The amount on offer within Chicago which isn't a vital part of the main campaign is also astounding, and lack of gameplay diversity isn't something to worry about. You can play a host of mini-games across the city from Chess to various drinking games, to the slightly absurd digital trips. There is also a wealth of side-missions to engage in, from intercepting street crimes to dismantling a human-trafficking ring.
Gameplay wise, Watch_Dogs is presented as a sandbox and draws heavily upon other games within that genre. Making comparisons to Grand Theft Auto and Saints Row are unavoidable but Ubisoft use their open-world to it's utmost, lifting it from simple imitation to a setting with it's own unique, lively personality. This Chicago is vast and full of detail, and the depth that Ubisoft have managed to give the city really shows. You can check into city hotspots through use of your in-game phone, and even the NPC inhabitants have been given a taste of authenticity thanks to being able to hack into their cells, gaining snippets of fictional information about their lives. The amount on offer within Chicago which isn't a vital part of the main campaign is also astounding, and lack of gameplay diversity isn't something to worry about. You can play a host of mini-games across the city from Chess to various drinking games, to the slightly absurd digital trips. There is also a wealth of side-missions to engage in, from intercepting street crimes to dismantling a human-trafficking ring.
However, what really lifts Watch_Dogs from just being an imitation is the hacking element. Most things in the game are hackable and so a greater degree of variety is brought into the gameplay. Hacking can be utilised both in and out of combat such as hacking cameras to scout out enemy strongholds and locations, hacking traffic lights to cause mayhem and aid in your escapes, hacking various things to make them explode - All done with a single button. Hacking in general gives the environments a greater sense of interactivity, enhancing the overall experience.
As this is also a third-person shooter, the combat and cover mechanics have also been implemented to a solid level. There is an arsenal of different weapons to choose from, giving you a range of alternate play styles to experiment with and find a preference. There are silenced weapons to aid in the more stealth-based gameplay, and there are loud assault rifles and (even a grenade launcher) if you want to run into situations with guns blazing. Ubisoft have catered to a range of different play styles largely due to the length of the game's campaign and the frequency with which you can engage in combat, which adds a small sense of variety to something that can become very monotonous when executed in other games.
Watch_Dogs also comes with several online modes, the most of interesting of which are the 1v1 matches. The game is designed to be played whilst online anyway as other players can "invade" your game during your campaign playthrough. Even though this can be disabled in the options, it's an interesting concept and one that I wouldn't mind seeing explored and expanded upon in later titles. It really would allow Watch_Dogs to carve a greater identity for itself as an online franchise as well as a single-player one, further distinguishing it from its free-running cousin - Assassin's Creed.
As this is also a third-person shooter, the combat and cover mechanics have also been implemented to a solid level. There is an arsenal of different weapons to choose from, giving you a range of alternate play styles to experiment with and find a preference. There are silenced weapons to aid in the more stealth-based gameplay, and there are loud assault rifles and (even a grenade launcher) if you want to run into situations with guns blazing. Ubisoft have catered to a range of different play styles largely due to the length of the game's campaign and the frequency with which you can engage in combat, which adds a small sense of variety to something that can become very monotonous when executed in other games.
Watch_Dogs also comes with several online modes, the most of interesting of which are the 1v1 matches. The game is designed to be played whilst online anyway as other players can "invade" your game during your campaign playthrough. Even though this can be disabled in the options, it's an interesting concept and one that I wouldn't mind seeing explored and expanded upon in later titles. It really would allow Watch_Dogs to carve a greater identity for itself as an online franchise as well as a single-player one, further distinguishing it from its free-running cousin - Assassin's Creed.
Overall, Watch_Dogs is a highly enjoyable game that touches upon areas that hold promise, with solid gameplay and highly rich and interactive open-world. However, that does not mean that the game is without its flaws.
Whilst eventually interesting, the story and the characters offer nothing particularly new as far as storytelling in gaming is concerned. Ubisoft decided to go with a pretty generic story and familiar characters with familiar drives and motives - all of which has been seen before. This game could have been so much more if the developers had taken more risks with these elements. Since the story is very run-of-the-mill, coupled with the game's large playtime (it took me a solid three days to complete the story) and the ability to mix and match campaign quests with side-missions, the story becomes quite forgettable quite quickly. That said, its climax does actually raise some interesting plot devices for possible future installments.
Whilst eventually interesting, the story and the characters offer nothing particularly new as far as storytelling in gaming is concerned. Ubisoft decided to go with a pretty generic story and familiar characters with familiar drives and motives - all of which has been seen before. This game could have been so much more if the developers had taken more risks with these elements. Since the story is very run-of-the-mill, coupled with the game's large playtime (it took me a solid three days to complete the story) and the ability to mix and match campaign quests with side-missions, the story becomes quite forgettable quite quickly. That said, its climax does actually raise some interesting plot devices for possible future installments.
Combat also suffers again due to game's length, whilst there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the mechanics, the amount of times you have to engage in combat and lack of any real variety within enemy types or the combat itself makes for some quite monotonous missions. Having to storm an enemy strong hold for millionth time or having to hack into a computer system and find the person of interest, whilst certainly exciting for the first few times, do lose their charm as you progress. Also, whilst the visuals are generally great there are times when they do feel a little subpar - a dodgy render here and an awful texture there, are only little things but do ultimately add up. I played the game on the PS4 and it is for this very reason I bring this up. Playing on a "next-gen" console I did expect more graphic-wise and although I understand that graphics aren't the most important thing in defining a solid gaming experience, they can make a solid gaming experience into a much greater one. In other words, whilst Chicago is pretty, Ubisoft could have made it utterly breathtaking.
Something that could use a complete overhaul however are the driving mechanics. Driving is central to any sandbox game and in Watch_Dogs, the integrated driving system is downright awful. Driving in a straight line is fine but god help you if you change direction slightly because you'll be either drifting into the nearest wall or will spin out completely. This is a very frustrating thing when driving is both the focus of several missions and the main means of in-game travel around the setting.
But still despite all of its faults, Ubisoft have their hands on a good new IP here with great potential. The world that they have built is interactive, rich, fun and full of detail, and they touch on some very interesting concepts such as their integration of the online features. However if they took more risks with the story and taken the driving mechanics back to the drawing board, Watch_Dogs could have been a real spectacle. Here's hoping that Ubisoft learn from these errors and improve upon them for the sequels, allowing Watch_Dogs to reach it's potential and become the defining franchise that it was promised to be back in 2012.
Something that could use a complete overhaul however are the driving mechanics. Driving is central to any sandbox game and in Watch_Dogs, the integrated driving system is downright awful. Driving in a straight line is fine but god help you if you change direction slightly because you'll be either drifting into the nearest wall or will spin out completely. This is a very frustrating thing when driving is both the focus of several missions and the main means of in-game travel around the setting.
But still despite all of its faults, Ubisoft have their hands on a good new IP here with great potential. The world that they have built is interactive, rich, fun and full of detail, and they touch on some very interesting concepts such as their integration of the online features. However if they took more risks with the story and taken the driving mechanics back to the drawing board, Watch_Dogs could have been a real spectacle. Here's hoping that Ubisoft learn from these errors and improve upon them for the sequels, allowing Watch_Dogs to reach it's potential and become the defining franchise that it was promised to be back in 2012.
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