The soldiers patrolled as usual one clear evening. Then, all of a sudden, one of the guard's explosives malfunctioned, killing him and another guard. Another explosive malfunction killed another guard, and a transformer blows up, killing another. The remaining guards became fearful. One by one they fell, picked off by an malfunction in a generator or a transformer. One poor soul was attracted by a cell phone going off, only to fall victim to another explosion malfunction. As the last guard fell, I pressed the circle button on my DualShock 4 controller, retook control of the main character, and walked into the complex. I did all this without once stepping foot into the area, and simply hacked via security cameras from a distance. This is something Watch Dogs brings that is truly unique.
For those who don't know about Watch Dogs, let me fill you in. Watch Dogs is an open world action game from Ubisoft, specifically Ubisoft Montreal. The development team behind Watch Dogs is made up of many of the brilliant minds behind Assassin's Creed II, which I hold as the best in the Assassin's Creed franchise. So there's already some big expectations with Watch Dogs already, but the expectations didn't stop there. Watch Dogs was first shown at E3 2012 and blew away everyone with it's excellent hacking gameplay and impressive graphics. The hype for this game has been mounting ever since then, so does it live up to the hype? Yes and No. Watch Dogs is not the ultimate next-gen experience we were led to believe, but it is still a fantastic game.
Watch Dogs is set in Chicago, and the entire city is being controlled by a central software called ctOS. Since the implementation of ctOS, the crime rate has dropped and people get to work faster. However, someone who is able to infiltrate this system could become extremely powerful. Fortunately for you in Watch Dogs, you have. You play as Aiden Pearce, a brilliant hacker who saw something he was never meant to see. A hit was ordered on him and it ended up killing his six year old niece. So now, 11 months later, Aiden is after those responsible. While Aiden is a more likable protagonist than say Connor from Assassin's Creed III, he still isn't really all that likeable. Especially when he puts his loved ones in danger even though he knows it would put them in danger. Along the way you will meet a much more interesting cast of characters. There's Clara Lille, a tattoo artist who also a close ally to Aiden. You'll also meet T-Bone, another hacker who has quite the booby trapped hide out. And then there's the most interesting character in the game Jordi Chin, who is a fixer and is extremely entertaining. There are also the villains Iraq, a former soldier who now runs the Viceroy gang, and Lucky Quinn, a creepy old guy who runs the Chicago South Club. The plot itself is overall pretty good and the supporting cast helps to drive this home, but unfortunately the emotional moments in the game don't really hit as Ubisoft probably would have liked to. And the ending, while it does give a satisfying conclusion to the main plot, it then comes right back after the credits and immediately sets up Watch Dogs to become a long-lasting franchise. I think they could have done that a little bit better. The dialogue is very well written, save for a few touchy lines here and there. So overall the story isn't as memorable or emotional as Ubisoft would have liked it to be, but it is still enjoyable nonetheless.
In terms of Sound Design, Watch Dogs excels here. The voice acting is well done across the board, even from Aiden, and the game's score is epic. However, the radio songs are absolutely garbage, so there needs to be some major improvement there. Of course the most talked about thing about Watch Dogs over the last few months has been the graphics and their supposed downgrade from what we were shown earlier in Watch Dogs' development. I can confirm that yes there is a downgrade, but honestly the game still looks pretty good especially at night in the rain. The animations are very impressive also. The more important aspect in my opinion is performance. Watch Dogs runs really well and maintains a good 30 FPS consistently except occasionally in multiplayer matches. There was one bug during a mission that forced me to quit the game and restart it, but that's basically it. Sure the graphics may not look as good back in 2012, but as long as the game runs well that's really all that matters, and in that aspect Watch Dogs succeeds.
What everyone has been really excited to know is how good is the gameplay. I can happily report that Watch Dogs succeeds in this aspect for the most part. The hacking gameplay is very fun and entertaining. It adds a new dynamic to the traditional open world gameplay. Hacking traffic lights to cause a massive car crash is entertaining, as well as blowing a steam pipe or causing a city-wide blackout. And even though I do wish we could have done melee combat outside of contextual takedowns, gunplay is very fun. Slow motion shooting with Focus is awesome, and the cover system is also really good. There is also a cool crafting system where you can craft bombs and devices to lure guards, similar to the way The Last of Us did it. This all combines to make incredibly diverse combat sections I mentioned at the start of the review. You can go in guns blazing, hack from a distance, or silently sneak around taking out enemies or avoiding them. It's all up to you, and I wish you could replay missions because I would love to replay some of those. However not all missions are great. The auto-fail stealth missions can become annoying, and it seems like half of the levels were designed by a different team. However, perhaps the worst aspect of the gameplay is the driving. It's not the worst driving I've ever had in an open world game, but it just seems far too boat-like compared to Grand Theft Auto V's more controlled driving. This makes the car chases and stealth driving sections the worst types of missions, and the final mission has a big car chase in it that will frustrate the heck out of you. This is a shame because Ubisoft really hyped up the driving preceding Watch Dogs' release.
Chicago is a massive world and while not exactly diverse (save for the countryside town of Pawnee), is still packed with things to do. Solve several investigations, infiltrate gang hideouts, ambush criminal convoys, perform fixer contracts, stop crimes, play poker, drink, and more. There is so much packed into this game that it will take you a long time to get to 100%. Using the profiler, you can also see into the lives of the NPC's walking the streets and steal bank accounts, songs, cars, or even get hints on potential crimes and items of interest. There is a strong sense of characterization with the people roaming the streets, and it makes you wonder if you should steal a rich bank account from someone whose best friend was recently killed. Eventually, you will run into the law, and you can chase through the city trying to hack blockers, traffic lights, steam pipes, bridges, and more to try to get them off of you. However there is one glaring flaw with this, you can get away VERY easily by hopping on a boat, even a slow speed taxi boat. The only thing that will follow you is a helicopter, but you can unlock a skill that disables it long enough for you to get away! Did they forget to add in police boats? This makes chases have a very similar outcome as you will find yourself almost always getting away by boat. This should be addressed.
There is a much-touted multiplayer mode, and this is the thing that will probably keep you coming back to Watch Dogs long after the credits roll. There is a fun capture-the-flag style Decryption mode, as well as online races, free roam, and a mode competing against mobile players on the ctOS app, but the one mode that stands out is online hacking. This is the one thing that truly exceeds any expectations for the game. You're essentially tailing another player, and they don't know you're there. Then, you install a backdoor virus into their game and the other player needs to find you while you try to blend in with the crowd or maneuvering around them. Whether if you're hunting another player or hiding, it is very tense. And if the hacker is spotted, the ensuing chase is also exciting as both players try to use their hacking skills to best the other. It is a very unique experience, and I have made some very awesome memories playing this mode. I only wish you could hack your friends, because that would make victory even sweeter.
The Verdict______________________________
Watch Dogs is a fantastic start to a new IP. It is not exactly what it was hyped up to be, and it isn't the game that dethrones Rockstar from the Open World Throne. Red Dead Redemption is still the best open world game ever made in my opinion, and Grand Theft Auto V is a better game than this. But Watch Dogs is a legitimate competitor to games like Grand Theft Auto, and I can't wait to see what's next. If you are a fan of open world games I highly recommend you check this one out. Don't believe the dishonest 0/10 user scores on Metacritic and give it a go for yourself. The first game in a new IP always isn't as strong as its sequels, and if this is what we get for the first game, I can't wait to see what we get with the inevitable Watch Dogs 2.Rating:
9/10
Amazing
Have you played Watch Dogs yet? If so, what do you think? What would you like to see in a sequel? Please let me know. And, as always, thanks for visiting 8-Bit Ape.
Watch Dogs is out now for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC, and is due out later this year for Wii U. This review was of the PlayStation 4 version of the game. Experience may vary from platform to platform.
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