Watch Dogs

 PC
User Score
6.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 5182 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,662 out of 5182
  2. Mixed: 913 out of 5182
  3. Negative: 1,607 out of 5182
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  1. Pier
    Jun 8, 2014
    4
    I can play this game at ultra, but the controls are simply horrible, even after semi fixing the mouse modifying a config file. It doesn't matter how good is the story if you can't play it or the games crashes.
  2. kartana
    May 27, 2014
    4
    Overrated and badly optimized console port. There is nothing new here. The hacking is mostly a gimmick. It's the standard "go here, go there, click that and now escape the bad boys chasing you".
  3. Vasot
    May 28, 2014
    4
    1) Graphics are not as good as they promised
    2) At Ultra graphics it stutters a lot even if you have a super powerful PC
    3) UPLAY is garbage it really makes the game run worse and is one of the most awful services out there and as a DRM solution it does not stop the pirates... 4) Gameplay becomes repetitive really fast 5) Car physics are very arcade and unrealistic almost worse from    1) Graphics are not as good as they promised
    2) At Ultra graphics it stutters a lot even if you have a super powerful PC
    3) UPLAY is garbage it really makes the game run worse and is one of the most awful services out there and as a DRM solution it does not stop the pirates...
    4) Gameplay becomes repetitive really fast
    5) Car physics are very arcade and unrealistic almost worse from the Need for Speed series    … Expand
  4. TitaniumDragon
    Jan 3, 2017
    4
    Sadly, the game doesn’t live up to expectations, though not for the reasons that many of the people who complained about the graphical downgrade (the game, frankly, still looks pretty decent) seemed to think was the cause.

    The game starts off well enough – the protagonist, Aiden Pearce, is confronting the man who caused a car accident that ultimately killed his niece. It was a hit on    Sadly, the game doesn’t live up to expectations, though not for the reasons that many of the people who complained about the graphical downgrade (the game, frankly, still looks pretty decent) seemed to think was the cause.

    The game starts off well enough – the protagonist, Aiden Pearce, is confronting the man who caused a car accident that ultimately killed his niece. It was a hit on Pearce in revenge for Pearce doing a job at the Merlaut hotel, where he walked in and hacked into the system along with his partner, the shady Maurice. After beating up the man in search of the men who sent him on the job, Aiden still doesn’t get the answer he wants. He is forced to sneak out of the stadium and create a distraction while his new partner, Jordi, smuggles the man out.

    Aiden is forced to cause a blackout, turning out the lights in the stadium and creating distractions so he can get past the cops unseen. When he gets out, the police chase him in an exciting car chase, and after Aiden finally escapes, he goes back to his hotel to talk with a mysterious hacker who might be able to get him some more information.

    This sequence is really great and does a great job of selling the game to the audience – we see a number of characters, we get a revenge plot going, we have a central mystery to solve (both who ordered the hit on Pearce, and why), we see the comedy relief in the form of Jordi, and we see… okay, Pearce himself sucks, but whatever. How can all of this not come together into something awesome?

    Ubisoft found a way.

    The trouble, in the end, is that the game is very scattered. The central premise of the game is that you are a reformed “fixer”, a hacker/thug, but a great deal of what you do in the game is not only blatantly criminal, but the main sidequests are taking out hits on other people and stealing information. For a supposed vigilante, you’re pretty much just blatantly a criminal, possibly even worse than the people you’re facing off with given your body count and reckless use of various military grade weapons, including the game-breaking grenade launcher that one-shots almost all enemies and vehicles.

    The phone spying only rarely really ends up mattering – while looking at people’s private lives seems cool, in the end it is just random stuff that pops up and frankly has little weight after a while. I just started tuning it out by the end of the game, and while some of the ideas – like sending people distracting text messages or phone calls based on the snippets of their personal lives – was neat, there was very little of it that was actually used directly in the plot.

    Indeed, for an uber-hacker, you really just feel like a thug with a gun and a magic smart phone that various real hackers soup up for you – which would be fine if the game actually called you out for that, but it really doesn’t do much to do so.

    About three quarters of the scattered plot is driven by Pearce himself being blackmailed rather than Pearce’s own quest for revenge. The identity of the people behind the hit ends up being a letdown – built up to be a scary organization that cannot be beaten, you instead find out you’ve been fighting (and handily beating them) the whole game. And for a game about hacking, the game seems to focus an awful lot on shootouts with people, with only the odd bit where you guide someone to safety through cameras – a neat idea that only gets used a few times, and feels much more cerebral than just mowing people down with your grenade launcher and sniper rifle. Most of the time it is easier to just kill the bad guys than use stealth, which feels wrong in a game about a sneaky hacker, and in the end, the hacking mechanic feels more like a gimmick stuck into a cover-based shooter than the central aspect of the game.

    The only thing that the game really does well is the multiplayer. While several of the modes are not so great, there are two modes – tailing and hacking – which are really amazing. The reason why? These modes are fully integrated into normal gameplay. According to the game, you have “fixers” out after you – people trying to hack you, steal your data, and identify you. But the brilliant part is that this is *other players*, who from their point of view, are going after bad guy “fixers” on behalf of the citizenry. You have no idea whether or not someone is after you – your first and only warning of being hacked is that you’re told that someone is hacking you, and you need to track them down within a location. You’re never even told that you’re being tailed – unless you notice someone following you around and looking suspicious, you’ll have no idea that you’re being tailed. It creates a real sense of paranoia.

    Sadly, the rest of the game isn't so brilliant. In the end, it is a mediocre cover-based shooter.    … Expand
  5. TUHD
    Aug 23, 2014
    4
    Do not come ANYWHERE near this game yet.
    As of 23/8/2014, the game is still about unplayable with medium-end AMD systems. The GPU use is horrendous, even at the lowest settings possible. Try to launch at 1920x1080, and chances are high your system will just crash due to an infinite memory crash loop. I doubt even an 4GB GPU will handle that with ease.
    As of now, Watch Dogs is an far cry    Do not come ANYWHERE near this game yet.
    As of 23/8/2014, the game is still about unplayable with medium-end AMD systems. The GPU use is horrendous, even at the lowest settings possible. Try to launch at 1920x1080, and chances are high your system will just crash due to an infinite memory crash loop. I doubt even an 4GB GPU will handle that with ease.
    As of now, Watch Dogs is an far cry from optimized - it's still as bugged as it can be. Optimisation isn't there, and still feels like béta-state.    … Expand
  6. kryator
    May 27, 2014
    4
    No feeling in this game, its doesn't pull you, everything around you feels detached, the driving is bad, mini-games are boring and after a couple of hours you're really bored. For example AC 4 was much more fun that this. This game is only worth with a discont of 75% or more.
  7. Ignatius_Reilly
    Jun 2, 2014
    4
    Reviews from major sites are dictated by how much money the publisher has. These sites solely rely on the games they review to subsist, and without that advertising money, cannot survive. So that this game would receive such high reviews isn't a reflection of the game's quality, but of how much advertising money Ubisoft offers, in this case, they offer enough money for their broken mess ofReviews from major sites are dictated by how much money the publisher has. These sites solely rely on the games they review to subsist, and without that advertising money, cannot survive. So that this game would receive such high reviews isn't a reflection of the game's quality, but of how much advertising money Ubisoft offers, in this case, they offer enough money for their broken mess of a game to receive an 8/10. The best thing you can do is to continue to trash these games and to simply not visit these sites, read these magazines, because video game journalism is a total farce.… Expand
  8. mwak
    Jul 15, 2014
    4
    This is not a very bad game. It's just like if the developers tried to make something and then switched to make something else. There are plenty of things to do but nothing feels like it's completed. For example the cars physics are terrible but the crs acceleration feelings are great. The background story seems deep but the campaign scenario and the characters are so B-movie like ... InThis is not a very bad game. It's just like if the developers tried to make something and then switched to make something else. There are plenty of things to do but nothing feels like it's completed. For example the cars physics are terrible but the crs acceleration feelings are great. The background story seems deep but the campaign scenario and the characters are so B-movie like ... In fact nothing intends you to stay in the game, it's not serious, it's not funny, it's repetitive. Passed the 3 first hours of fun and discovery you will be bored.
    The most impressive is the city, it's big, but yet you don't fell atracted to play in it. The game felt a little like "infamous" for me but really more boring.
    There are some good ideas (the prison for example) but yet ... it's only some minutes of fun in hours of game ...
    Moreover if you want to play an ethical hacker forget about it, you will take gun and shoot people ... ho and the police doesn't care, so ...
    This game is a good concept, had a very impressive commercial team and finally is disappointing.
    Buy it when it will be around 20/30$ else is too much expensive.    … Expand
  9. ogower
    Jul 13, 2014
    4
    This game looks pretty good but that is about where the positives end for me. I wanted to like this but after playing the Saints Row and GTA games I found this lacking. The cut scenes are long and dull, the back story daft and out of context with a lot of things the character does and the missions and core game concepts are poorly explained, poorly executed and ultimately just pureThis game looks pretty good but that is about where the positives end for me. I wanted to like this but after playing the Saints Row and GTA games I found this lacking. The cut scenes are long and dull, the back story daft and out of context with a lot of things the character does and the missions and core game concepts are poorly explained, poorly executed and ultimately just pure frustrating. Nothing is fun, not driving, shooting, stealth, any part. I find myself playing this because it looks amazing before quitting in annoyance. As a last point, U-Play...why? Just go with Steam and make it so much easier.… Expand
  10. boompow
    May 29, 2014
    4
    Such a disappointment. I was really expecting a level of interaction with the whole hack your surroundings that allows for different forms of game play but what we have is a magic button to simply hack everything. The problem is that with the "hacking mode" turned on you get spammed and just run around pressing Q in rapid-fire and when its off the hacking element disappears almostSuch a disappointment. I was really expecting a level of interaction with the whole hack your surroundings that allows for different forms of game play but what we have is a magic button to simply hack everything. The problem is that with the "hacking mode" turned on you get spammed and just run around pressing Q in rapid-fire and when its off the hacking element disappears almost completely. What is left is GTA 4 with worse driving and physics and lackluster repetitive quests. I really had high hopes for this and regret going pre-order. Bargain bin stuff… Expand
  11. TheGhost001
    May 29, 2014
    4
    Bad GTA clone that does very few things right.

    -Super bad optimization (2500 dollar pc, cant get above 40fps maxed out) -Insane amount of bugs and glitches, youtube it I dare you -Cars feel like they are toys with 0 character -Hacking is fun for about 10 minutes -No rewards what so ever for playing stealth and non lethal (in fact you get no exp at all compared to just mowing down    Bad GTA clone that does very few things right.

    -Super bad optimization (2500 dollar pc, cant get above 40fps maxed out)
    -Insane amount of bugs and glitches, youtube it I dare you
    -Cars feel like they are toys with 0 character
    -Hacking is fun for about 10 minutes
    -No rewards what so ever for playing stealth and non lethal (in fact you get no exp at all compared to just mowing down everything with an assault rifle and raking in massive exp)
    -Cover system is very poorly presented and if you hack the enemies cameras you can even see that 50% of your body is sticking out but they just walk by.
    -All in all poorly programmed Ai
    Massive letdown and got bored playing it after just 3 hours.    … Expand
  12. Lysh
    May 30, 2014
    4
    Basically GTA: Near Future Edition, with a some ideas borrowed from AssCreed and Dark Souls series. Unfortunately the much hyped 'hacking' is basically an afterthought. Not an entirely bad game, but disappointing.
  13. Shahzaky
    Jun 16, 2014
    4
    As a port, the fact that they have all the common graphic options is good, but unfortunately the actual gameplay functionality is very "consolified". The wheel which selects gadgets are anything but good and the controls feels sluggish. The story is weak, The glitchy presentation becomes annoying really fast, the missions are boring and a lot of ideas are directly taken from the gtaAs a port, the fact that they have all the common graphic options is good, but unfortunately the actual gameplay functionality is very "consolified". The wheel which selects gadgets are anything but good and the controls feels sluggish. The story is weak, The glitchy presentation becomes annoying really fast, the missions are boring and a lot of ideas are directly taken from the gta series but most of them are not as well implemented as its rival. Police are non existent until someone gives them a call then the all appear from nowhere and start shooting headless. As others have mentioned, theres nothing to do in the city and I would much rather have the city size cut by half and make the remaining half come to life. I have nothing bad to say bout the graphics, I think its rather good though as we all know, its nothing like when the game was firstly announced. Watch Dogs is probably more likable on the console but its still a mishmash of mediocre stuff.… Expand
  14. MooseSpoon
    Aug 15, 2014
    4
    I'm generally a fan of Ubisoft. Splinter cell and Assassin's creed have recently wowed me so I decided to give this game a try. I saw the reveal and demo for this and it looked amazing. I liked the idea of a vigilante character dishing out his own justice because of some vendetta. Enter Aiden Pearce.

    The graphics, though less than I expected were good. The open landscape and    I'm generally a fan of Ubisoft. Splinter cell and Assassin's creed have recently wowed me so I decided to give this game a try. I saw the reveal and demo for this and it looked amazing. I liked the idea of a vigilante character dishing out his own justice because of some vendetta. Enter Aiden Pearce.

    The graphics, though less than I expected were good. The open landscape and architecture gave me enough of a feeling of chicago although it is quite hard to compare to the real thing. The cars, though unlicensed nonsense names, were neat. The weapons were interesting enough. People having real conversations was great. The idea of hyper connectivity and the flaws of technology was a great idea. Hacking though oversimplified was mild fun.

    However, I found some things rather disturbing...

    Driving. An open world game like this has driving. Great. I hate driving. In watch dogs I often found myself choosing to run or take a train rather than drive. If I did drive, I often found myself drinking myself to blackout because it was dreadful. Every vehicle has three speeds: stop, go, and reverse. That is all. There is no driving like a normal person. Tap the accelerator and the tires squeal. I like that for when I have to get going quickly for chases, but that is it. Vehicle handling was so bad I felt like it was a government concept. Turning was often difficult unless you came to a dead stop at each intersection. You can't do that when someone is driving away from you and has a two hundred meter head start.

    Stealth. Considering I'm a big fan of Splinter Cell and Assassin's creed, I figured there would be an element of stealth and I was not wrong. However, stealth is limited to sitting in a corner while you step away from the PC to take care of something. Very few weapons are silenced. Enemies often found ways to walk on top of you and call for help. This frustrated me deeply as going loud and proud generally lead to death.

    Survival. I never noticed an actual health bar, but that is fine. I felt you were often gunned down way to quickly. An enemy with a basic bullet resistant vest can somehow live through a full magazine without being knocked down but being shot at for three seconds was the end for me. I understand the character doesn't wear armor but this is ludicrous. Even more so on missions where your target is in the middle of a five vehicle motorcade with heavily armed guards.

    Online. Dreadful. Annoying. Not balanced.

    Citizens. I cannot count the times citizens actually ran in front of my vehicle or stood in the middle of the road when I was driving. Even more bothersome was how some people would see my weapon from the next city block and call the police on me.

    Character development. More of it or any development at all would have been nice. Aiden's past and present felt disconnected. His contacts often made no sense. A romance with Clara would have been nice.

    I could go on for a while. Instead, I will leave it at the game had amazing potential. Sadly, that potential was not reached or even glanced at. I will finish the game as I tend to dislike not finishing things I start. I'm disappointed in Ubisoft. Instead of a dynamic story with thrilling action, we got a flat story with a shaky plot. This is not the quality I expect from Ubisoft. If I were them, I would be ashamed my name was on this.    … Expand
  15. user82
    May 27, 2014
    4
    Story: Actually the best thing about the game. Complex enough to be a little unpredictable, simple enough to follow
    Controls: Walking and going into cover works well, Aiming is unprecise
    Graphics: Medium at best, nothing fancy Free Roam: Very Repetitive Other: Buggy and laggy, not enjoyable at all on a system better than recommended specs Total: While the concept of hacking and the    Story: Actually the best thing about the game. Complex enough to be a little unpredictable, simple enough to follow
    Controls: Walking and going into cover works well, Aiming is unprecise
    Graphics: Medium at best, nothing fancy
    Free Roam: Very Repetitive
    Other: Buggy and laggy, not enjoyable at all on a system better than recommended specs
    Total: While the concept of hacking and the story are ok, the experience diminishes due to the poor performance and the poor graphics in daylight.    … Expand
  16. xTobyMc
    Jun 27, 2014
    4
    The game is okay, but the poor optimisation has ruined it for so many people. Running a GTX 780 the game barely keeps a stable frame rate on the lowest settings. There's also frame stutter at all times when driving and the game keeps crashing. In fact, I'm about 10 hours into the game and I can't continue the main storyline because it crashes every time. I'm thoroughly disappointed withThe game is okay, but the poor optimisation has ruined it for so many people. Running a GTX 780 the game barely keeps a stable frame rate on the lowest settings. There's also frame stutter at all times when driving and the game keeps crashing. In fact, I'm about 10 hours into the game and I can't continue the main storyline because it crashes every time. I'm thoroughly disappointed with Watch Dogs as it was looking to be one of the best games of the year. The game isn't even that exciting either. The story gets fairly boring, enemies are extremely weak, whilst the police are ridiculously hard to get away from. The whole idea of hacking everything around you isn't that much fun either. I'll be honest, I'm not even that annoyed that the game crashes so much that I can't play it any more. I'd probably stop playing it anyway, it doesn't excite me at all. I look forward to GTA V coming to PC, it will be much better than this for the genre.… Expand
  17. Jonathan117
    Jun 5, 2014
    4
    Honestly; The biggest waste of money so far this year, also an awful disapointment.
    Pros:
    -Voice Actors are fairly good, although a bit stiff at times. -Hacking works fairly well, even though it is fairly limited to the press of a button and really requires no skill what so ever. -Story is ok, although a bit hard to get into. -Fairly cool mechanism where you can see everyones    Honestly; The biggest waste of money so far this year, also an awful disapointment.
    Pros:
    -Voice Actors are fairly good, although a bit stiff at times.
    -Hacking works fairly well, even though it is fairly limited to the press of a button and really requires no skill what so ever.
    -Story is ok, although a bit hard to get into.
    -Fairly cool mechanism where you can see everyones background by hacking their phone.
    Cons:
    -Performance wise this is the worst I have seen in years (a patch is incoming so this might be addressed)
    -Boring side missions, ''shoot this'', ''identify that'', ''catch that car''. Not. Fun. At. All.
    -Way, way worse graphics than what we originally saw at E3
    -Only a few types of enemies, doesn't help that they are extremely easy to deal with.
    -Lack of customization in every aspect.
    -Skills you can unlock are extremely limited in scope and rarely does anything epic.
    Summary:
    The game seeks to be an original, hacking game. This however failed miserably, the hacking is decent but far from what we expected, pressing a button and ♥♥♥♥ exploding everywhere is only enjoyable for a short time. Other than the hacking this game is pretty much a scaled down version of GTA, Mafia, Saints Row. No customization, few enjoyable weapons, boring vehicles, no interesting character interaction. Want realism, great action, a decent story? Play GTA (Once, if ever, it comes out on PC #RockstarHatesPCgamers. Want fun, a great story and loads of weapons, customization, funny dialogue etc... Play Saints Row. Want a great story, great atmosphere and extremely enjoyable albeit linear gameplay? Play Mafia 2!
    This game is not recommended, waste of 70€, regretting the purchase more every second I think of it.    … Expand
  18. AngusMacAskill
    Nov 18, 2014
    4
    Such high expectations for this game, for it to have fallen so low is a disgrace. Ubisoft has never had qualms to leave their PC consumers hanging but to actively sabotage the PC versions of their games is inexcusable.

    Yet, that is the least of the problems with Watch_Dogs. Very bad AI. Some NPCs will not even react to you throwing a grenade or even shooting at them. Very sloppily done    Such high expectations for this game, for it to have fallen so low is a disgrace. Ubisoft has never had qualms to leave their PC consumers hanging but to actively sabotage the PC versions of their games is inexcusable.

    Yet, that is the least of the problems with Watch_Dogs. Very bad AI. Some NPCs will not even react to you throwing a grenade or even shooting at them. Very sloppily done collision and texture mapping. The sheer amount of bugs is one of the only constants in Ubisoft games left. The story is virtually non-existent. Dialogues are abominable.

    The only redeeming factor, if it can be called as such, is the freedom to shoot anyone in the face, which has resulted in quite a few amusing youtube videos.

    All in all, cannot recommend this game but if you're partial to mindless violence you may enjoy the game.    … Expand
  19. WickedAlmond
    May 27, 2014
    4
    Talks the talk, but can't walk the walk. The game just feels flaccid compared to its peers, mostly in the open world department. Mini games like poker and chess feel detached from the theme of the game, and are thrown in to up play-time. Most things that tie an open world game together are quite lacking in Watch_Dogs. Technology and world interactions are shallow and sometimes completelyTalks the talk, but can't walk the walk. The game just feels flaccid compared to its peers, mostly in the open world department. Mini games like poker and chess feel detached from the theme of the game, and are thrown in to up play-time. Most things that tie an open world game together are quite lacking in Watch_Dogs. Technology and world interactions are shallow and sometimes completely absent. Driving, a huge part of open world sandbox games, feels terrible and floaty, with minimal car damage making this game look like there was no effort put in from the developers. Hacking is "Press X to Hack", but I can forgive Ubisoft for that since it's a new mechanic, and when it works it's interesting. The game is mostly centered around stealth, which actually works quite well, with enemies shooting at the last spot they saw you, rather than being all-knowing beings. However, when you are forced into combat, be prepared for the most generic TPS on the market. Soundtrack is pretty garbage... prepare to hear the same handful of alright songs over and over again, until you decide to turn the playlist off. The game doesn't look like it should, this is a next gen game, and while it struggles to perform on most PCs, it looks like a decent 7th gen game. Story is pretty garbage, a huge waste of potential, with characters that really are just handled at a weird angle. Watch_Dogs is a strange case of a hugely anticipated game being handled seemingly without care by its developers, and it's a damn shame it turned out that way. There are better open world games that deserve your attention more than Watch_Dogs... looking at you Sleeping Dogs.… Expand
  20. Vayra
    Aug 26, 2014
    4
    Watch Dogs in its current state, with post-release patch, is playable and runs fine on PC. This review is written based on a modded and patched Watch_Dogs, which eliminates the poor performance and lackluster graphics of the original release. However, the game itself and its core mechanics still suffer from a simplicity that destroys the game's (re-) play value.

    When you first start    Watch Dogs in its current state, with post-release patch, is playable and runs fine on PC. This review is written based on a modded and patched Watch_Dogs, which eliminates the poor performance and lackluster graphics of the original release. However, the game itself and its core mechanics still suffer from a simplicity that destroys the game's (re-) play value.

    When you first start playing this game and the possibilities of hacking open up to you, it all seems very promising and fun. The city of Chicago is quite large, the setting is interesting, the game looks great (with E3 graphics mod, that is) and runs smooth. An absolutely *massive* amount of mini-games, collectibles and other small events becomes available quite fast, and before finishing the first Act of five of the games' story, it is very likely you will have explored all of these options. It is also very likely that you will hack everything and everyone you come across (simply because there is no effort involved) which will quickly fill your bank account and allows you to unlock every single weapon in the game.

    And then... then you've played 4-5 story missions, done some random events, and you stumble upon the fact that this is it. The game won't get any more interesting. The game won't surprise you at any time. The difficulty of missions is only ramped up by linking a number of repetitive objectives together. The best moments of creativity consist of walking around looking for cameras to hack a ctOS tower, or a QR code. All of the side missions are just variations on the same objective set, which is extremely limited: kill or knock down a target, drive a time trial, avoid cops, hit Q to hack something.

    At its core, Watch Dogs is an open-world cover-based shooter with some gimmicks added to it that make the game far too easy and straightforward. Within the first three hours of play, the endless rinse-and-repeat of objectives and collectibles makes the otherwise well detailed city a boring place. The story itself is not bad, but the protagonist is a lifeless shell with zero personality that directly detracts from the great setting and potential of the narrative.

    For those who approach games like these with a sandbox- attitude, here is what your gripes with the game will likely be:

    - Every single thing in this game is a recap of things you have done in other Ubisoft free roamers like AC and Far Cry. Capturing watchtowers, taking camps, time trial races, and a crapload of collectibles that have no impact on the game in any way.

    - Every bit of creativity that could go into hacking is lost due to the incredible lack of skill needed to do so. Hit Q to hack world, really.

    - With hacking being repetitive and overly simplified, all this game has going for it is cover-based gunplay and driving vehicles.

    - Driving vehicles is not too bad, but even on PC will work far better with a gamepad. I played this game with a dualshock PS3 gamepad, and it felt like the way it should be played. Keyboard/mouse driving is horrible, overly responsive and poorly implemented.

    - Shootouts are only challenging if you choose to use the cheapest weaponry and stay off the 'Focus' button. What 'Q' is for hacking, 'Focus' is the shortcut to facerolling every encounter in combat.

    At its core, Watch Dogs feels like a complete rinse-and-repeat of other Ubisoft titles and game concepts. Lazy, boring, repetitive and an utter waste of such a promising setting and game world.

    Watch Dogs could have been, should have been so much more than this.    … Expand
  21. Dareviewer12
    Jul 22, 2014
    4
    this game is dumb and not next gen AT ALL
    -it is completely downgraded form GTA 4
    -worst physics ever
    -stupid reputation system
    -no encrypted data mode on 360/PS3
    -hacks get boring
    - missions are so repetitive
    - and graphics have been downgraded from the e3 2012
    EVEN GTA SA IS BETTER THAN THIS. DONT BUY IT
  22. estoufarto
    May 30, 2014
    4
    Worst pre-order ive ever spent money on i was truly disappointed, i could not believe that this much hype and 4 or 5 years of development plus 8 months delay would end up in this unpolished, unfinished and sub-par game. But i want to be fair so it gets 4/10 it pissed me off more then i enjoyed it.
  23. Perigorn
    Aug 19, 2014
    4
    I suppose at this point I dont really need to "Pile on" the bad reviews, BUT this game was very disappointing. It has such potential on the PC but fails with all the graphics issues and bugs.
  24. Xevon
    Jun 3, 2014
    4
    Runs fine on my hardware, but the game looks like something straight out of 2005 and is just plain average-at-best all round. Droll plot, bad driving mechanics, dated combat... 95% hype, 5% game
  25. thegameon1
    May 28, 2014
    4
    for its requirements for the game to enjoy it are way too high for it looks or even functionality, i got i5 4.0ghz quadcore and gtx 670 sli so 2 graphcs cardsand running with texture set to high cuz ultra need 3 gb vram and i have 2 the most so its garbage to be honest its been hyped up and it looks nothin special for sure its no different then any other if its worse ac4 looked so crispfor its requirements for the game to enjoy it are way too high for it looks or even functionality, i got i5 4.0ghz quadcore and gtx 670 sli so 2 graphcs cardsand running with texture set to high cuz ultra need 3 gb vram and i have 2 the most so its garbage to be honest its been hyped up and it looks nothin special for sure its no different then any other if its worse ac4 looked so crisp and nice or crysis 3 where this game looks ok and it lags soo much to enjoy fps goes up 70 drops to 8 sometimes usually at 50 to 60 range but not smooth at all u never know when its gona lag and ruin the game so i dont know if its nvidia or ubisoft needs to patch their ****… Expand
  26. TheAlgerian
    Jul 18, 2014
    4
    I really have a hard time understanding how anyone could think this game is anywhere near good.
    I gave it a try twice, one or two months appart. One after intensively playing "Volgarr The Viking", a magnificient old school arcade game, and one after beating "Max Payne 3" several times.
    Watch dogs looked already pretty bad the first time, but after "Max Payne 3", wow. If the driving    I really have a hard time understanding how anyone could think this game is anywhere near good.
    I gave it a try twice, one or two months appart. One after intensively playing "Volgarr The Viking", a magnificient old school arcade game, and one after beating "Max Payne 3" several times.
    Watch dogs looked already pretty bad the first time, but after "Max Payne 3", wow.
    If the driving looks horrendous by itself, the gunplay is really put to shame by this game. And it really didn't even need MP3 for that.

    Ubisoft should stop with the lazyness and the re-branding of their Assassin's Creed games.
    They should, will they though? No. Why would they? They still manage somehow to trick a lot of people into thinking their game is good and still manage to make money out of it.    … Expand
  27. Horridus
    May 30, 2014
    4
    The most boring and over hyped game next to call of duty Ghost. Its not the graphics they show on the E3 or the trailers. Sleeping dogs have better graphics, the cars drive like saints row, this is nothing more than a bad attemp for assasins creed to play GTA , gets very boring after a hour or 2 of gameplay. bargain bin materiel... Save your money !!
  28. netol19
    May 27, 2014
    4
    Watch_Dogs is just overhyped game. Hacking is fun for first 10 min, then it's kinda boring. Driving (full speed on bike into wall - just casual shake off and let's do it again = seems legit) and physics are done horribly. Story line is okay, but nothing I would freak about. AI? Sometimes they are sneaky bastards trying to flank you, but in 90% of time you can just camp and wait for them toWatch_Dogs is just overhyped game. Hacking is fun for first 10 min, then it's kinda boring. Driving (full speed on bike into wall - just casual shake off and let's do it again = seems legit) and physics are done horribly. Story line is okay, but nothing I would freak about. AI? Sometimes they are sneaky bastards trying to flank you, but in 90% of time you can just camp and wait for them to come into your scope. Police can be pain in the bottom sometimes, kinda similar to GTA V (citizens are going to be using their phones to call emergency because of every little misbehavior). Only think I like about it is how they did Chicago (PC - max settings). But how people are going to enjoy it in this buggy and unfinished piece of nonsense, I don't know. I also don't know how much people will must pay if they want to play all DLC's...… Expand
  29. Frost_
    Jun 1, 2014
    4
    Ahh remember that one time ,we got so hyped with this game that we waited for 1 year just to hear about ubisoft delaying watch_dogs another year and we wait,wait wait until the time has come for the release and BOOM:poorly optimized game,repetitive gameplay,Driving Sucks (really sucks),BAD car physics.rmember the 2012 E3 demo?well that gameplay looks absolutely AMAZING,the car crash,theAhh remember that one time ,we got so hyped with this game that we waited for 1 year just to hear about ubisoft delaying watch_dogs another year and we wait,wait wait until the time has come for the release and BOOM:poorly optimized game,repetitive gameplay,Driving Sucks (really sucks),BAD car physics.rmember the 2012 E3 demo?well that gameplay looks absolutely AMAZING,the car crash,the A.I helps the victim to get out of the car,blowing the gas station and boom,looks like someone just detonated a C4.UNTIL i tried the game myself,when there's a car crash accident,the A.I is just standing there ,shocked and then either run or walk like nothing happens.The Graphics isn't that impressive either,it's not bad but it's not really good either.You will find yourself enjoying the game for 1-3 hours until you played for a long time and get bored immediately.I actually finished the game and now i don't know what to do so i left the game.The Open world in this game is not really "Open World" for this kind of next gen game.Skyrim did a good job on doing open world,you start with empty maps but you can explore the area to reveal hidden quest,side quest,activities but in watch_dogs ,you feel like they point those things for you,i know that some of the "Side Activity" is hidden as well,but they're just basically the same with just different locations and all.I want to know why the hell do i get bad reputation by exploding stuff near the civ and no one knows about it?like seriously ,if this supposed to be realistic,no one will knows who exploded that stuff.There's no Drive and shoot in this game which is disappointing,i got myself needing to shoot the cars behind me.but you do can hack stuff to destroy the cars.Police chase is super easy,you can just drive with a car,get to the nearest train station,distrupt communication with the chopper to distract it for a few seconds,hack the train to stop,and then get in and just stand there,or the easy way,you can just get to a boat and drive away because FOR NO REASON,THE POLICE CANNOT SEND A FREAKIN BOAT TO CHASE ME.i bought the season pass (Which is a bad move)Don't like the "digital trip" mini games,looks weird IMO.This game is poorly optimised for PC ,especially AMD,but some players can play it smoothly (including me).now to the driving,driving sucks,looks taken from Saints Row 4 Physics.now to the UPLAY part,UPLAY SUCKS,why can't ubisoft hear our suggestion and remove the uplay requirement to play the game.Keep your money but if you really want to play this game,wait for ubisoft to release a patch to fix the optimisation issues(which i really doubt ,it will fix the issue).I hope they don't ruin the division… Expand
  30. Jonno_scout
    Jun 19, 2014
    4
    I absolutely refuse to support this game after the way ubisoft sold everyone on the games graphics last year, only to fail to deliver them. On top of which, it was recently discovered that the graphics for PC were limited on purpose - this is completely unacceptable, and I will not support a company that abuses its fan base so readily.
  31. Ihuarraquax
    Jun 2, 2014
    4
    Watch Dogs looks pretty nice only when in the game is rainy night. Reflections of lights and buildings are really awesome. Everything else is awful. Unplayable type of driving cars and cars are indestructible. AI is extremely stupid. This game is full of bugs. I don't recommend Watch Dogs.
  32. hayungs
    Jun 4, 2014
    4
    Such a nice game concept so poorly executed. The graphics are nice, but not optimized and laggy. The Gameplay is repetive and over simplified. After a few hours of gameplay you are just frustrated with all the lost potential.
  33. mpelley92
    Jun 7, 2014
    4
    The developers had some good ideas for Watch_Dogs. The only thing stopping them is releasing this game in this condition... It's unfinished. The lighting is all wrong, the shadows are all wrong and the physics feel like physics from DRIV3R, except that was actually a decent game. Ubisoft Montreal needs to prioritize releases and make sure they finish every part of the game and work onThe developers had some good ideas for Watch_Dogs. The only thing stopping them is releasing this game in this condition... It's unfinished. The lighting is all wrong, the shadows are all wrong and the physics feel like physics from DRIV3R, except that was actually a decent game. Ubisoft Montreal needs to prioritize releases and make sure they finish every part of the game and work on polishing.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm going to play the crap out of the campaign in this game, but once that's over it will have nothing to offer me and I will move on.

    I borrowed the game from a friend and that's how I'm able to write this review. Otherwise, I will not be paying the $60 they are asking for it. I give it 6 months to be in the wally world $18 bin.    … Expand
  34. truesam
    May 27, 2014
    4
    Where to start... Completely crusty around the edges. Waited all day to get into the game just to find it stuttering down to 28 FPS with a 3770k and 770. Apparently you need 3GB of Vram to max the game out, but for me, I can't even play on medium or high settings without trouble. Optimization is no where to be found. Ubisoft deceived us with the E3 trailer, they set the bar for graphicsWhere to start... Completely crusty around the edges. Waited all day to get into the game just to find it stuttering down to 28 FPS with a 3770k and 770. Apparently you need 3GB of Vram to max the game out, but for me, I can't even play on medium or high settings without trouble. Optimization is no where to be found. Ubisoft deceived us with the E3 trailer, they set the bar for graphics and didn't meet it, so even if I could play on ultra it wouldn't be what I paid for. Not that I even care about graphics, but they did say they did set their own bar.

    Looking past graphics, the physics engine is absolutely atrocious. You can't make it from one street corner to the next without encountering a bug. Try putting a motorcycle in the back of a pickup or smashing your vehicle under a drawbridge. The craziest of things happen, you get smashed through the ground, or your motorcycle gets launched into orbit. The hacking system (which at one point was supposed to be the main feature of the game) has been gutted post launch. At no point in the game will the hacking involve more than a press of the action button, or at best multiple presses of the action button. The police officers in the game have the most atrocious and shallow AI. They know how to do two things, chase and shoot. Police officers at no point attempt to apprehend you or detain you in any non-lethal way so prepare to die when you bump that police car in traffic. The rest of the pedestrian AI is just as bad. Hacking street lights causes every civilian driver in the vicinity plus a few more to press their accelerators through the floorboard and cause a 15 car pileup at the intersection. I don't know what it is about hacking a streetlight, but be prepared when you do it or you might wind up killing yourself.

    Vehicle physics are bad, apparently you can drive any vehicle you wish on any piece of terrain. Even the rain isn't going to stop the supertraction each vehicle in the game gets. You will remain glued to the road/aspault/gravel/dirt rain or shine. Collision is shallow, sure you can knock your hood off and burst your windscreen, but actual deformation is nearly nonexistent. Explosions are weak, even on the highest difficulty they rarely kill you. You can stand next to your car while it explodes and come out of the accident with a few minor scratches. When you get in an accident with another vehicle the AI doesn't even acknowledge it. The NPC will do its best to just continue driving in any valid direction until their car catches fire.

    The shooting mechanics are mediocre at best, on armored enemies like police officers or gang members shots to the knee seem to disable the NPC while a headshot will instantly kill them. However, any random pedestrian in the game can be instantly killed by a shot to the foot. They are also deceptively vulnerable to cars, throughout the game I was visited by the "pedestrian killed" message far too often. You can tell the game has a hard time discerning high and low levels of momentum, this issue goes back to vehicle collision as well. Oh, and what happens when you die? Well you respawn 15 feet away with refilled ammunition. There is absolutely zero death penalty.

    The Karma system proves to be mostly irrelevant through the game. I haven't made it far enough into the story myself but a friend claims it affects a whopping ONE situation throughout the plot. There appears to be no reason to do a non-lethal play-through. The main attraction is a irrelevant slider and clean conscience I guess.

    The story thus far is completely forgettable, even worse the main character seems indifferent to the whole situation. People are after my family and I'm out just hacking street signs to post memes. Just about every element of the story is forced and shallow, story missions in particular hold the player's hand at every step as far as I have seen. The hacking system is heavily implemented into every situation so you can lure enemies into explosive traps or hack the grenades they are holding(however that works). From the beginning the game handholds the player in every way, you find yourself in shooting gallery after shooting gallery(actually I should say hacking gallery) mushed together by a bunch of cut-scenes.

    All in all the game is just forgettable, no one will be talking about it a month from now because it's just another crummy title in between the launch of the triple A's everyone looks forward to. I fear that far too much budget went into hyping this game rather than developing it. This industry standard needs to stop, the game is rough around every edge imaginable and it's just not acceptable given the development time and release delays. Ubisoft had a chance to carve a titan into gaming history with sequels we would look forward to every year, instead they pump and dumped us with expectations and day one DLC. You guys aren't even near what you promised to deliver, I hope you learn a valuable lesson from this    … Expand
  35. neviem
    May 27, 2014
    4
    I was really looking towards this game, mainly due to rockstar don't giving a crap about PCs, so maybe that's also why I'm so disappointed with it. (This is about the PC version)
    Like the story is ok, but the rest just screams CONSOLE-PORT. I mean, if I want to play with a controller, I will play on my console, but when I play a PC game I expect it to be playable with keyboard and mouse.    I was really looking towards this game, mainly due to rockstar don't giving a crap about PCs, so maybe that's also why I'm so disappointed with it. (This is about the PC version)
    Like the story is ok, but the rest just screams CONSOLE-PORT. I mean, if I want to play with a controller, I will play on my console, but when I play a PC game I expect it to be playable with keyboard and mouse. In this case, it's a pain. There is some really weird mouse acceleration that is different in menu's (too fast) and in the game (too slow) and it seems that is not possible to turn it off. But the major pain is driving a car which is unfortunately a major part of this game and therefore it's ruining it from my perspective - driving a car feels like you are driving on an ice. Not to mention that if you adjust the view while driving the game will change it back again after few seconds (another obvious console inheritance). Fighting is mediocre at best - again strange control - you have to press c to get in cover, but you have to press v to get out of it.
    The major gimmick of this game is hacking - this should have had made this game special. Well, to be honest it stopped in the middle again, some parts are ok (but those are mostly prescripted), rest feels like you don't even have to use it. Not to mention that hacking while driving (eg. traffic lights) is again a pain on keyboard (well, until you will remap the keys) - you drive with aswd and to hack you have to HOLD q - that means that you either won't be able to turn left or accelerate for the time needed to hack - add to that above mentioned crappy driving model and you have the image.
    The graphics is okish, nothing spectacular on the PC, but not bad. What IS bad is optimalization - there is almost none, just just the web and you will see cry of the users playing it. For a game that requires 3GB VRAM, 6GB RAM and Core I7 to run on full I would expect something spectacular, but this is not the case.
    Overall I rate this at 4, as there is nothing else for the PC at the moment, otherwise it would be a 3. If they manage (but I'm skeptical about this) to improve the controls and mainly driving model in the following patches (there is already a day 0 patch but it's fixing only AI and something else - oh, this reminds me about AI - it SUCKS. Like enemies don't care that you are killing them with unsilenced weapons or explosions as long as they won't see you. Like guy will walk to the dead body, look at it and after a while he will walk away. Really? in 2014?) it may be 6-7, but in current state it's a nobuy advice from me.    … Expand
  36. Bleuzarro
    May 27, 2014
    4
    So here's the thing, the game is simply horrifically optimized. They said the 2012 e3 version everyone saw was actually running on a gtx Titan. So it looked great, but clearly not everybody has a Titan. Even if you can run all other games these days on ultra, you prob will barely get by on medium unless you have a 3k$+ rig. It's sad. And AMD users are horrifically screwed over.

    Anywho.    So here's the thing, the game is simply horrifically optimized. They said the 2012 e3 version everyone saw was actually running on a gtx Titan. So it looked great, but clearly not everybody has a Titan. Even if you can run all other games these days on ultra, you prob will barely get by on medium unless you have a 3k$+ rig. It's sad. And AMD users are horrifically screwed over.

    Anywho. Aside from that, which to me really ruins the experience. The controls are terrible. It was meant for a controller. If you use a mouse you get terrible lag until you manually change the settings in the file. Thank reddit users for that info.

    The driving made me so angry at first, because the game didn't seem to take into account anything I was telling it to do. Pretty much any game ever has better driving in it. Sleeping dogs, gta, saints row. The controls are just terrible. But I eventually got the hang of it several hours later, although it certainly isn't an enjoyable experience.

    The reason I started with these things is because sure, the story may not be great and hacking is cool sometimes, but ultimately if I can't even play the game and enjoy it, all the little things about gameplay don't even matter.

    TL:DR.
    Graphics are a huge let down. Most people wont be able to run it on max settings to get it to look good. Mouse settings are finicky and driving is horrendous. GTA V is a better game to me simply because all the controls and optimization were so polished that you didn't have to worry about it and could enjoy the game and story and characters for what it was.

    PS. the story was clearly an afterthought. The idea came first then they meshed splinter cell and infamous and whatever other story they could find and tacked it on. Also another disappointment.

    Oh one other thing, game looks great at night in the rain. Put on some cheats and run wild with a grenade launcher and destroy the cops. Most fun I've had in the game.    … Expand
  37. todders01
    May 27, 2014
    4
    Pretty disappointing.
    Mechanics are fine, the gameplay gets pretty boring after 2 hours. The main character lacks a personality and the story will not get you hooked. Graphics are OK if you have a powerful system. If you haven't got the game then I would consider getting it only if it is on sale.
  38. MidnightsFX
    May 27, 2014
    4
    Leading up to watch dogs I was very excited to see a hacking game which would allow you to interact with a huge portion of the world. After playing for four hours I am thoroughly disappointed. Here is a quick break down of what I noticed.

    Pros: - The world is generally very detailed, which is great for a feeling of immersion. - The Skill tree does open up a number of new options for    Leading up to watch dogs I was very excited to see a hacking game which would allow you to interact with a huge portion of the world. After playing for four hours I am thoroughly disappointed. Here is a quick break down of what I noticed.

    Pros:
    - The world is generally very detailed, which is great for a feeling of immersion.
    - The Skill tree does open up a number of new options for your approach.
    - There is a good amount of variety in the missions available to play, but mimics Saints or GTA.
    - There is a distinct lack of obnoxious mini-games, which for a hacking eccentric game, is nice.

    Cons:
    - Within the first 20 minutes, you will notice the driving is absolutely god-awful, it gets a little better, but every car feels like driving a tug-boat on wheels with balded tires and an super sensitive gas pedal.
    - The skill tree is pretty disappointing, it opens up new options, but nothing is going to make you go "Ohh! that is so cool!" Its more like, "whoooh I can open gates now..."
    - The side missions, are either super freaking easy, or uncontrollably hard and obnoxious, but not the challenging hard you would get from playing dark souls, no its the challenge you get by having dial-up when playing BF4.
    - The hacking is all press and hold, which is a little too simplistic, and excessively boring, there is no simulated or other 'hacking' in the game. Just a simple mini-game to build a hacking program or hack complex devices would of been nice.

    And the controversial one.
    - Its not optimized for **** My friends who have Nvidia cards are able to run the game fine, assuming 2G of Vram and 8G+ of ram. However, having an AMD card, I can't run the game past low, even though I can run all of the other recent games at high or very high... This would be due to Nividias 'Gameworks' Libraries. Personally, if Ubisoft chooses to use this library which employs some nasty tricks I will not be buying those games, even if I end up having an Nividia card. I would like to support a competitive market.    … Expand
  39. h4lfbak3d
    May 27, 2014
    4
    What can I say. Far from lives up to the hype that PC users were suppose to get. Its yet another frigging console port. Running an I7 4930k 6 core cpu, 16gb ram, 1300 watt G2 power supply, 2 x GTX 690's and game runs worse than BuggField 4 which says a LOT. Such a shame lied to again, would love a refund of my $$
  40. lars180
    May 29, 2014
    4
    May look simple but these points mainly bothered me:

    - There is an awful amount of lagg spikes - Im getting barely 30 fps on minimal settings on a fairly good PC - The driving is by far the worst I've seen in an open world game - Next to the main story, there isn't a whole lot to do that doesnt get boring after two times. - Because of the awful driving mechanics and lagg spikes it's    May look simple but these points mainly bothered me:

    - There is an awful amount of lagg spikes
    - Im getting barely 30 fps on minimal settings on a fairly good PC
    - The driving is by far the worst I've seen in an open world game
    - Next to the main story, there isn't a whole lot to do that doesnt get boring after two times.
    - Because of the awful driving mechanics and lagg spikes it's awfully hard to lose chasers (10/10 would hide under a bridge again).

    Some positive points:

    - The story is alright
    - Every npc has a hobby, a job etc.
    - The mechanics on foot are pretty good
    - The multiplayer 'hacking each other' feature is a nice idea.

    Conclusion:

    If it wasn't for the bad performance and driving i would've given this game a 7, but unfortunately this game disappointed me after waiting for it's release since the first trailer came out..    … Expand
  41. CallMeSerb
    May 29, 2014
    4
    Outstanding Marketing... Looks like all the developers are taking this all-out on marketing and half-assing the gameplay route these days.

    - Easily one of the worst car handling I have experienced in about the last 6 years of gaming -"Hacking" got repetitive after less then an hour of gameplay.. So happy I didn't blow my money on this, poor friend.. btw, **** you developers, I'm    Outstanding Marketing... Looks like all the developers are taking this all-out on marketing and half-assing the gameplay route these days.

    - Easily one of the worst car handling I have experienced in about the last 6 years of gaming
    -"Hacking" got repetitive after less then an hour of gameplay..

    So happy I didn't blow my money on this, poor friend.. btw, **** you developers, I'm happy people are pirating your piece of **** games more and more, lying and stealing money from honest hard working people, you deserve it.    … Expand
  42. Corocan
    May 31, 2014
    4
    The game itself has great graphics for computers THAT CAN HANDLE IT. My advice for the following reviews, if you notice they're complaining about choppy graphics, static shadows, frame rate drops, ect. ignore them. They're frustrated their PC can't handle it.

    Three things: Realism, Storyline, and Gameplay. Realism: Of course the game isn't realistic, it's a game what do you expect.    The game itself has great graphics for computers THAT CAN HANDLE IT. My advice for the following reviews, if you notice they're complaining about choppy graphics, static shadows, frame rate drops, ect. ignore them. They're frustrated their PC can't handle it.

    Three things: Realism, Storyline, and Gameplay.

    Realism: Of course the game isn't realistic, it's a game what do you expect. Of course I'm speaking of the whole hacking thing.

    Storyline: The storyline is extremely conventional. Dead family member causes hero to seek revenge and ultimately the bad guys use his family against him by kidnapping his sister so he has to spend over half the game doing jobs for them until he can save her. Pretty much bland characters, bland storyline, blandy bland bland.

    Gameplay: Forgive me as I split this into subsections.

    Driving - This took time to get used to. I couldn't get it at first but this game was originally designed to be a racing game so it was given much more realistic, difficult handling. It took a while but I learned just how to pull drifts and make those turns without plowing into the bus stop.

    AI - The AI was meh. It's not OMG TERRIBUL but it's not exactly great either. Of course there are some bugs to work out but it's within playable parameters.

    Online - Well you'd thing Ubisoft would learn that when you release a hyped up game you're gunna get a lot of online traffic. Needless to say uPlay servers are down...

    Hacking - I like it. I don't understand why people are pissed at the whole "one button to hack". What would you have done?

    TL;DR, game play kept me busy for a couple days but didn't leave me wanting more. Storyline was incredibly boring and original. Characters were very 2D. Online is currently down. Maybe if Online resurfaced and I can finally play it my score might've increased.    … Expand
  43. TheMaker
    Jun 1, 2014
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. So let me start with pointing out, that this was the game I was waiting to play for a very long time. I had my pre-order paid in early September. When the game came I out I was just.... disappointed. The game isn't bad, neither terrible, but it is just disappointing.

    STORY: 7/10
    The story didn't fail to deliver some interesting stuff, yet some things happen just out of the blue, sometimes happening too fast, making not-so-much sense at all. We also do not get some crucial dialagoues that would make the game more interesting and complete. The ending is, well, not really what i would like to see. It destroyed my only favourite character, Jordi. Iknow, Ubisoft tried to make him look like a gun for hire, that doesnt give a damn about anything except money. BUT, why would he warn us a few missions before that there is a big bounty on our head, and then go and do what he did in the end? Clara's story is OK. T-Bone, well I LOVE this guy, but unfortunatelly there wasn't much of him in the game, literally. We didnt get to know him. Aiden sometimes also takes some questionable choices, but well, you can live with that. Some stuff was also left off, like who Defalt was. They could most definitely develop that to make it more interesting.

    Graphics: 4/10
    So yea. I bought a new PC for this game.FX-8350 CPU, 8 GBs RAM 1866Mhz HyperX, and Radeon HD 7790. Back in 2012 the graphics were astounding. Yet they took a huge downfall since then. They said it is because they want to make it playable on last gen consoles. Yea well, I can sort-of live with that, cuz I dont buy the games for their visuals. Unfortunately, They game on PC is TERRIBLY optimized. With my Specs I am BARELY able to play it on LOW, withe EVERYTHING ( anti-alias and so) turned OFF. The CPU avarages on 90-100% usage and the game stutters all the time. Sometimes it gets random freezes, especially during cutscenes. It is nearly unplayable, the game looks like it works on about 10-20 FPS. It really takes away from the overall experience and enjoyement. Compare this to FarCry3 which runs on ultra on 30-40FPS

    PHISICS + GAMEPLAY 6/10
    Phiscs are just no. NO. There are no phisics, the cars bounce off each other like rubber, you can basically run through everyrything. When you ride a bike up on a staircase you skyrock into the air.
    Gamplay is ok. But there are not many weapons, most of which are unlocked in the beginning. You can basically solve any problem with a grenade launcher. Jordi does close to nothing when he's on his sniper rifle. There are some enjoyable puzzles, but taking ctOS towers has basically no point. You do not get any profits from it.

    Soundtrack 8/10
    The sounds are really good, encounting ambiance sounds and in game songs and music. Some times the voices go missing tho or are too silent to hear. Subtitles don't match the voices sometimes as well.

    Unfortunatelly Watch_Dogs is just a poor port from PS4 version. Smartphone menu is frustrating in its usage, as well as weapon choice wheel.
    Overall 4/10
    Watch_Dogs is not a BAD game. It is an mediocre OK game. It is terribly disappointing and this make me sad. I was just hoping for more. I was promised more.    … Expand
  44. digitaljeckyll
    Jun 1, 2014
    4
    Lackluster story and uninteresting main character aside, the biggest issue with this game is the enemy AI (be it the police or gang member). They seem to be able to teleport a small army to exactly where you are within seconds.
    The game-play is just not much fun... in addition to the sper human AI, the bugs just keep making it a chore to play this game. A shame as it had a lot of    Lackluster story and uninteresting main character aside, the biggest issue with this game is the enemy AI (be it the police or gang member). They seem to be able to teleport a small army to exactly where you are within seconds.
    The game-play is just not much fun... in addition to the sper human AI, the bugs just keep making it a chore to play this game. A shame as it had a lot of potential...
    They will probably patch it to improve matters but the damage has been done.    … Expand
  45. AlexTaranov
    Jul 2, 2014
    4
    Всё сделано слишком плохо.Всё,что есть интересного в этой игре - задумка.
    Не думаю,что перечислить все недостатки игры я смогу,а вот плюсы ещё уложусь.
    + На ультре игра выглядит красиво ; +Интересная задумка (но слишком кривой сюжет :( ) ; +Интересно исследовать Чикаго ; +Хорошая музыка :D .    Всё сделано слишком плохо.Всё,что есть интересного в этой игре - задумка.
    Не думаю,что перечислить все недостатки игры я смогу,а вот плюсы ещё уложусь.

    + На ультре игра выглядит красиво ;
    +Интересная задумка (но слишком кривой сюжет :( ) ;
    +Интересно исследовать Чикаго ;
    +Хорошая музыка :D .
  46. Ercuru
    Jun 5, 2014
    4
    Several things:
    - was fooled by Ubisoft promises about what i would have
    - not so interesting in long game
    - we have seen many of gameplay features in others games like GTA, Assassin's creed
    - bad realization of hacking (5 minutes run in city and several thousands dollars from NPC phones - are you joking?)
  47. Br4d
    Jun 6, 2014
    4
    Despite the abundant technical issues.. If you're a PC gamer, you might want to skip this one if you don't own a controller. Driving is almost impossible without it.. And you'll be driving from the mission icon, to the actual mission CONSTANTLY. This game defines 'mediocre at best' and has some of the silliest logic i've seen in a long time. One example of many. - Find someone with aDespite the abundant technical issues.. If you're a PC gamer, you might want to skip this one if you don't own a controller. Driving is almost impossible without it.. And you'll be driving from the mission icon, to the actual mission CONSTANTLY. This game defines 'mediocre at best' and has some of the silliest logic i've seen in a long time. One example of many. - Find someone with a $120,000 bank account.. Hack their pointless phone conversation.. Find someone with $32 in their account, rob them blind- ... One button Hacking is a gameplay mechanic they really let me down with.. Actually this whole game was a letdown for me. I would not recommend buying for full retail price. DONT BELIEVE THE HYPE and save your money .… Expand
  48. Vladius
    Jun 13, 2014
    4
    Watch Dogs is the only game I ever regretted buying.
    This overhyped title promised us an unforgettable experience; instead we got a bugged game with a storyline full of fillers and clichés and boring side missions.
    Although this game has some very few redeeming moments (some story missions, cop chases), but their number is very little compared to the whole picture.
  49. Amaerlyn
    Jun 21, 2014
    4
    Watch_dogs. A beatiful and detailed world with nothing interesting to do. The story is bad, the controls even worse, and missions lack proper design. I don't know what Ubisoft tried to pull with this one, but it wasn't anything that I liked, other than the graphics.
  50. tnarggrant
    Jun 22, 2014
    4
    I bought the game in hopes of having an amazing time like the trailers portrayed. I DRAGGED myself through the main missions. Everything became dreary and boring. The good vs. Evil in the game doesn't really matter because whenever someone would try to call the police, I'd end up just jamming coms. The vehicles try to mimic the Grand Theft Auto Series but fails miserably. They only haveI bought the game in hopes of having an amazing time like the trailers portrayed. I DRAGGED myself through the main missions. Everything became dreary and boring. The good vs. Evil in the game doesn't really matter because whenever someone would try to call the police, I'd end up just jamming coms. The vehicles try to mimic the Grand Theft Auto Series but fails miserably. They only have about 5 unique cars and 1 type of motorcycle. This game is almost like Infamous and GTA tried to have an abortion but instead just birthed the thing and threw it in the garbage. The only redeeming qualities of this game is the multiplayer. Hacking into each players data and trying to hide is fun and overall, it's almost seamless when transitioning into each other's game.… Expand
  51. grimdar00
    Jun 28, 2014
    4
    Firstly, I've been quite surprised at the favorable reviews from the "critics", I'm glad Metacritic exists so people can see the real reviews.
    This game is complete crap. I will be upfront and honest because Ubisoft sold this game as the "biggest next-gen title" ever. They basically created a sandbox city and threw in redundent quests here and there. A lot of people have already mentioned    Firstly, I've been quite surprised at the favorable reviews from the "critics", I'm glad Metacritic exists so people can see the real reviews.
    This game is complete crap. I will be upfront and honest because Ubisoft sold this game as the "biggest next-gen title" ever. They basically created a sandbox city and threw in redundent quests here and there. A lot of people have already mentioned sh** physics and and disappointing graphics so I will mention a few things a lot of people haven't said...

    There are so many inconsistencies with the story and the main character I don't know where to even begin. Clearly the game designers intended to create a "good guy", yet in many missions he's on a terrorist rampage. The side missions will drive you absolutely NUTS. You gather money and spend time acquiring guns, yet in many missions, you will fail unless you specifically just "knock out" the bad guy. Are you kidding me?
    In one mission, you can hide from the cops by simply ducking in your car, yet in the rest of the game the cops magically know your position when they're looking for you. Even though you appear completely anonymous by the CTOS system.
    The city itself feels like a clockwork machine rather than a real life city. The pedestrians are generic, the UI drivers are probably the worse coded drivers ever who don't react to anything. Oh an explosion? No problem, I'll just calmly driver around it.
    I could actually go on a lot more, but unfortunately I've wasted my time enough on this game. NOT RECOMMENDED.    … Expand
  52. safteygamerpro
    Jul 5, 2014
    4
    how did this game get such good ratings it was a terrible plot no fist fighting terrible driving way too easy hacking way to easy killing civilians (one shot anywhere) but i had a blast at the very beginning of the game running from cops hacking crap saving people from crimes but after a while its just way to repetitive
  53. deweee
    Jul 20, 2014
    4
    While first impression of the game makes it look like a rip-off of GTA IV, side missions an arcade games makes it a little bit fun. But that fun ends when game becomes unbelievably repetitive. Also story is not fun after couple missions, hacking is absurdly easy. AI is not fun to play with. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS GAME.
  54. SimpleGamer
    Aug 11, 2014
    4
    The game was supposed to be one of the best games of 2014 but the game disappointed me big time. The graphics were okay but it downgraded a lot from the e3 2012. For me the stealth part was really boring after a few hours. It just got repetitive. The voice of Aiden sounds like Batman and the main character doesn't have much of a personality. The storyline is pretty bad. It's just about aThe game was supposed to be one of the best games of 2014 but the game disappointed me big time. The graphics were okay but it downgraded a lot from the e3 2012. For me the stealth part was really boring after a few hours. It just got repetitive. The voice of Aiden sounds like Batman and the main character doesn't have much of a personality. The storyline is pretty bad. It's just about a guy named Aiden who's daughter was killed because of his hacking for money. But he decides to keep on hacking things and trying to get revenge on the guy who ordered a guy to kill Aiden's daughter. I mean, that's it. Also, when i decided to take a break from the story and decided to do some side missions and activities. The side missions were all just stealthing and hacking. (which got boring after a few times of doing the same thing) There weren't many good activities either. (Except for the phone games.) So I DON'T recommend this game. Just get gta 5.… Expand
  55. RinShibuya
    Aug 23, 2014
    4
    +Good graphics
    +Car dashboard camera view is cool
    -Terrible driving mechanics -AI is dumb -Hacking is dull and too simplified -Game world is dull looking and isn't really lively -Crashing to desktop too often -Combat isn't engaging Official game critics gave this game a very high score?? Seriously? I thought this game was for hardcore gamers...but sadly, its aimed towards    +Good graphics
    +Car dashboard camera view is cool

    -Terrible driving mechanics
    -AI is dumb
    -Hacking is dull and too simplified
    -Game world is dull looking and isn't really lively
    -Crashing to desktop too often
    -Combat isn't engaging

    Official game critics gave this game a very high score?? Seriously? I thought this game was for hardcore gamers...but sadly, its aimed towards casual gamers... Even the huge attraction of Watch Dogs which is the so called "hacking" is far TOO simple, dull and NOT even fun. The "big game of 2014" is a big fat disappointment.    … Expand
  56. Tobi_Whatever
    Nov 13, 2014
    4
    This game is a typical modern Ubisoft release.
    A lot of broken promises, E3 bullshots and graphical downgrades to increase console sales.

    The game is a bad, buggy mess of a GTA clone with "press x to awesome" feature.
    This game doesn't just feel unfinished, it actually is.
    4/10 since you can at least walk and shoot bug-free most of the time.
  57. r00n
    Feb 24, 2015
    4
    Good game, but not what I've expected. Played this for several hours. After a while, connecting from one camera to another is getting boring. The menu to upgrade skills is hard to understand in the beginnning. What made me upgrading skills in the wrong order, and there is not much to do that a few standard things. I like the graphics and the open world.
  58. Jacktes
    May 30, 2015
    4
    A poorly optimized mess of a game that disappoints on all levels. I genuinely put the game in my toilet and pissed on it to show how happy pre-ordering it made it.

    Hey, at least it managed to turn me off of pre-ordering entirely now, so that's a plus side.
  59. DKR
    Nov 24, 2018
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Dreadfully, painfully, inexcusably average.

    Ubi's marketing team hit a grand slam with this release. They tantalized us with impossibly-awesome trailers, then delayed the game for a year. The promises of graphics, depth, and the innovative idea of a free roam game with the ability to hack everything left the consumers drooling at the potential of limitless possibilities. After a year of waiting that left gamers tossing in their beds and squirming in their chairs, Ubi releases.....this.....this gimmicky, average, unfinished, simulacrum of what we expected.

    Well played, Ubi.

    Per EVERY F**ING VIDEO GAME AND MOVIE PLOT -EVER-....the point is our hero's (?) loved one is killed/captured, and now you're on a murderous rampage of vengence/rescue. Yaaaaawn. It's hard to pull for the hero when the game opens with him committing digital grand theft.

    While the voice acting is on par, the characters are so goddamn BORING. Tyrone "Bed Bug" and Jordi were likable, but get crowded out by the interchangeable good-ol-American, brown haired, white skinned, raspy-voiced, single minded vigilante.

    And just what did we get after all the hype and potential of being a hacker? A ranged, context-sensitive action button. Really. Instead of walking up to a door and pushing "open", I push "hack" from a distance. Ground breaking sh** we got goin here. Nothing you can hack is remarkable either. You can hack a few things to stop traffic, make explosions, or set off frags your enemies hold.

    Even if you DO make good hacks, the A.I. is the most un f**ing fun A.I. design I've ever seen. The police A.I. in particular is.....WTF UBI?? They are super over powered, almost impossible to shake off, and any random thing can "sick" them on you. Example: You're sitting on a bench, a bad guy walks by you, goes OMG PLAYER CHARACTER, then runs away shooting at you. The police show up, triangulate your exact location, then spray rifle fire at you, then call in back up so your screen is swarming with them. Example 2: You get a mission to stealth into a enemy-ridden area, you can't get caught/sound an alarm, OR kill the target. They must be MELEE KO'd, right? So you try to use that hack (you know, the whole f**ing selling point of the game) and you hack a guy's grenade, he throws it at the target, kills him, and you fail the mission. Example 3: if the police are p**ing you off, just run to a boat, drive away, and you'll fully lose aggro. If you're the hacker good-guy, why can't you use some strats to bring the police and direct them at the bad guys? So, so, so much wasted potential.

    And the driving.....JESUS HAVE MERCY, THIS DRIVING ABSOLUTELY SUCKS!! It's hard enough to control, but as you gain speed, your frames go down, so you're controlling a slippery dump truck with flip-book visuals. This game is a mess!

    What little it does get right is nothing you haven't seen a billion million gazillion times before. It seems that -tragically- all video games can offer us is more shooters with a gimmick here or there and slightly better/worse controls and/or optimization. WD baaarely stands above average with its hack gimmick and a few exciting moments.

    Perhaps most unforgivable of all is missions that have exciting build up or some remote form of tension have the most generic, unsatisfying endings. Par for the usual open-world tropes, you climb a tower, follow the dot on your map, kill everyone, then run from the police until a floating text goes "GJ! YOU DID THE SAME MISSION...BUT OVER THERE THIS TIME!" While that could be passable for most side missions, more dramatic missions like breaking up a human trafficking ring should have been faaaaar more satisfying than "GJ! YOU DID A DIFFERENT MISSION!" I couldn't even get a 15s cutscene of the police cracking it wide open and escorting the girls to their families or something? ANYTHING??

    The other one I can't forgive is when you bust the badass hacker Dfault (spelling). He's built up in the dialogue to be some mysterious, world-class hacker, enough to give Aiden a rival. He out hacks your team, and you have to go chase him personally. He hacks around you, plays weird mind games, I admit, it was exciting, but it ended like every other mission: hold W+Shift, and smash M2 until you catch him.......aaand end of mission. WTF?!?! WHO IS DFAULT? WHY DID HE HACK YOU? WHO IS HE WORKING FOR? HOW DID HE FIND THE HEROS?? This is like if Star Wars 4 5 and 6 ended with someone nonchalantly shooting Darth Vadar with a laser gun and CREDITS.

    If you can find it for 20ish bucks, you can run thru it, and never play it again. It has its moments and the combat CAN be satisfying, but after what Ubi did to us here and the trend of it (google e3 graphics vs real game graphics) this s** needs to stop. With all the ppl swearing off Ubi and their investors jumping the shark, how are they still getting so much money....?

    For the sake of gaming, plz let this company die.    … Expand
  60. Machiavelli_Esk
    Oct 7, 2016
    4
    Beautiful city with nice hacking tools but after reaching ca. 4 hours of gameplay the euphoria is gone and there is less that keeps you in game. Just classie ubisoft tasks, like capturing an outpost(CTOS Tower) or defeating some gangsters, very repetitive and uninspired. Story is just disastrous.
    Story 2/10
    Graphic 6/10 Gameplay 3/10, too easy, at an early story point you got already    Beautiful city with nice hacking tools but after reaching ca. 4 hours of gameplay the euphoria is gone and there is less that keeps you in game. Just classie ubisoft tasks, like capturing an outpost(CTOS Tower) or defeating some gangsters, very repetitive and uninspired. Story is just disastrous.
    Story 2/10
    Graphic 6/10
    Gameplay 3/10, too easy, at an early story point you got already overpowered skills and really repetitive
    Sound 7/10
    Driving 5/10
    Atmosphere 5/10
    In fact i didn't remember particular parts of the story or other missions, so it wasn't waste of time but i hardly recommend to hear some good music(or other things, to have some distraction) while playing watch dogs.
    So the only thing that motivates you to end the bad story, is the city of chicago. But this isn't enough for a AAA title so 4/10 is appropriate.    … Expand
  61. NronQsr
    Jan 5, 2019
    4
    At its launch, Ubisoft lied about the graphics, (downgrade) and had many bugs. There was even a file in the game that laughed at the PC players. The game was a simple port that did not deserve a purchase at all.

    However, to be fair, I have to say that personally I love the story very much, it has that rebellious and youthful touch that encourages you to reveal yourself against    At its launch, Ubisoft lied about the graphics, (downgrade) and had many bugs. There was even a file in the game that laughed at the PC players. The game was a simple port that did not deserve a purchase at all.

    However, to be fair, I have to say that personally I love the story very much, it has that rebellious and youthful touch that encourages you to reveal yourself against injustices while at the same time it deeply explains some of the problems of our society regarding cybervigilance and cybersecurity.

    I'm going to keep a low vote even though now the game is more fixed by the patches because I think the solution is not to fix it after lying to your users. If you want to play the game, buy it now and at a reduced price.    … Expand
  62. Samvvel
    Jun 1, 2021
    4
    If there's one redeeming quality about this game it's the gorgeously recreated Chicago. If you wanna just make a virtual trip to the city, it's probably your best chance. But the gameplay itself is just awful. Ubisoft took the worst aspects of GTA/Saints Row and turned them up to 11. Best believe that each and every activity in the game are there to annoy you. The only ones I at leastIf there's one redeeming quality about this game it's the gorgeously recreated Chicago. If you wanna just make a virtual trip to the city, it's probably your best chance. But the gameplay itself is just awful. Ubisoft took the worst aspects of GTA/Saints Row and turned them up to 11. Best believe that each and every activity in the game are there to annoy you. The only ones I at least mildly enjoyed were the optional CTOS system hacks. All of the rest either has a stupid-ass timer to artifically inflate the difficulty, or has a million other small things that will prohibit you in one way or another from even remotely enjoying the game. As far as GTA clones go, I'd much rather play Total Overdose or Just Cause 1 than touch this crap again.… Expand
  63. FredGner
    May 19, 2021
    4
    Repetitive gameplay, mediocre story, uninteresting characters, self-serious game. interesting concept though.
  64. justgamerman2
    Jun 8, 2021
    4
    The story and mission designs of this game are good, but the gameplay is the most disgusting gameplay mechanics I've seen among all games. The game does not officially aim at you. The character stands up by himself when in the trench. The aiming aid of the game is so disgusting that it officially won't let me use my mouse.
  65. StarkAgentos
    Apr 22, 2022
    4
    Геймплей неинтересный, с элементарными механиками. Стрельба вообще никак не ощущается, как и вождение. Графика так себе, даже для своего времени. Сюжет меня не цепляет.
  66. The_D4RknesS
    Oct 20, 2022
    4
    the game itself is good but the optimization is horrible and it doesn't have much of what was promised
  67. Critizen
    Sep 3, 2023
    4
    Rating: 4/10

    Watch Dogs, Ubisoft's creation, is a game that brings forth visually attractive urban aesthetics. However, despite its positive aspects, there are certain factors that I cannot overlook, influencing my rating of 4 out of 10. Attractive Aesthetics: Right from the outset, the portrayal of the city is good. The details of skyscrapers, urban life, and interaction with    Rating: 4/10

    Watch Dogs, Ubisoft's creation, is a game that brings forth visually attractive urban aesthetics. However, despite its positive aspects, there are certain factors that I cannot overlook, influencing my rating of 4 out of 10.

    Attractive Aesthetics: Right from the outset, the portrayal of the city is good. The details of skyscrapers, urban life, and interaction with electronic systems are crafted with great care and attention to detail. The concept of hacking in an urban world adds an intriguing twist.

    Repetitive Missions and Monotonous Gameplay: Unfortunately, as you progress through the game, it becomes evident that missions are surprisingly repetitive and lacking in the necessary variety. The hacking mechanic, though initially intriguing, becomes a predictable routine. Side missions fail to offer enough diversity and often feel like simple variations of the main missions.

    Forgettable Story and Characters: The main plot, centered around protagonist Aiden Pearce and his personal vendetta, fails to generate lasting interest. Aiden as a main character lacks depth and empathy, making it challenging to connect with his story. Secondary characters also lack development, negatively impacting the overall narrative.

    Conclusion: In summary, Watch Dogs presents visually attractive urban aesthetics that initially impress. However, the repetitive missions, monotonous gameplay, and lack of depth in both story and characters leave it falling short of its potential. Despite its strengths, the overall experience proves unsatisfying and fails to meet the expectations one might have.    … Expand
  68. The_Icon
    May 29, 2014
    3
    Worst decision ever made, it is horrendous on the PC. It took me entire day to download, only after coming back from work, I spent 3 hours trying to figure out how to launch without it constantly crashing. Then, just gave up. Next morning, it launched, but the game was nothing like e3 2012 with everything ultra. My system is decent enough to handle it:

    Core i5 4670 R9 290 16 GB RAM    Worst decision ever made, it is horrendous on the PC. It took me entire day to download, only after coming back from work, I spent 3 hours trying to figure out how to launch without it constantly crashing. Then, just gave up. Next morning, it launched, but the game was nothing like e3 2012 with everything ultra. My system is decent enough to handle it:

    Core i5 4670
    R9 290
    16 GB RAM

    Frames would go single digits when you drive too fast, stutters, graphical glitches, everything didn't seem fluid, I can go on. It is the most horrible port you can bring, I don't think ubisoft knows the word optimzation and many of the problems can be found first hand testing as the vast majority are getting them. Really, Ubisoft simply just ported the PS4 version and pushed to PC in a day, that is the only logical explanation.

    With the gaming using Gameworks of nvidia, which uses horrific practices of reducing performance or further improvements from competitors of nvidia, is a further slap in the face for non nvidia gpu owners.

    Last ubisoft game I am buying, with no laws for piracy where I live, will pirate them only.    … Expand
  69. vash47
    May 27, 2014
    3
    If you're an AMD user you should know that the game has been programmed to run 40% slower on your computer thanks to the partnership (bribe) of ubisoft with nvidia.
  70. Loucetios
    May 31, 2014
    3
    Horrible game, amazing engine.

    I flat out refuse to believe they have been working on this game since 2009. The engine for the game? Sure. The entire game can be summarized in one sentence "Press Y to hack." The music is **** and the gameplay is like a dumbed down GTA5 with terrible controls. All vehicles handle like go-karts, and they all handle exactly the same. The    Horrible game, amazing engine.

    I flat out refuse to believe they have been working on this game since 2009. The engine for the game? Sure.

    The entire game can be summarized in one sentence "Press Y to hack."

    The music is **** and the gameplay is like a dumbed down GTA5 with terrible controls.

    All vehicles handle like go-karts, and they all handle exactly the same. The motorcycles are a complete joke.

    I appreciated the unix nods in the intro and stuff like that but ultimately the game has absolutely nothing to do with network security or "hacking". It may as well be magic.

    The story is garbage, complete and utter trite.

    The only redeeming feature of this game is the engines ability. There seems to be amazing A.I in the game, and bullet/particle/physics effects are all very cool. They slapped a very ****ty game onto a very cool engine by the looks of it.

    Wait for the sequel.    … Expand
  71. Avadon
    May 28, 2014
    3
    Graphics: I normally don't care that much, but I do care when developers make them the selling point. The game doesn't look even half as good as it should, considering how terribly it runs. We've seen better. I'd say Sleeping Dogs looks better at night (minus the shiny water puddles), Just Cause 2 looks better during the day. And these are ooooold games. If GTA V ever comes out on PC, withGraphics: I normally don't care that much, but I do care when developers make them the selling point. The game doesn't look even half as good as it should, considering how terribly it runs. We've seen better. I'd say Sleeping Dogs looks better at night (minus the shiny water puddles), Just Cause 2 looks better during the day. And these are ooooold games. If GTA V ever comes out on PC, with some added options and a proper AA filter, it will make this look like a joke. First CoD: Ghosts, now this. Is this what "next gen" is about? Games that look the same and run at half the framerate? Are any competent programmers even left in this industry?

    Soundtrack: Too short and uninteresting. No variety. Music for people who don't really like music, they just have it playing like noise in the background.

    Gameplay: Soul crushingly limited compared to what people expected and were led to believe. Profiling is random phrase generator placed on top of random face generator. Hacking is press Q when prompted and something cool happens. Driving is bad and hard to explain, cars slide at random times but still manage to feel like trucks somehow. No damage model. Shooting is generic 3rd person shooting, guns sound absolutely abysmal like peashooters, and all weapons that I've noticed 1 hit enemies on head which is really easy to do, so variety is pointless.

    Story is uninteresting and the protagonist is supposedly driven by personal tragedy and trauma but doesn't really show it. Missions brought back nightmarish flashbacks of all the AC4 "FOLLOW" and "STAY CLOSE" missions that everyone hated, because they ARE basically the same missions. Stealth system is forced on you because of those terrible missions, no reason that I've noticed to not kill people at every opportunity. UI is broken, cursor disappears randomly at certain screens and moves at triple the speed at others.

    I will stop here because I could write a book about this game. I just stop and think "Is there a single element of the game that was as good as I expected?", and the answer is no. Every single thing about it ranges from bad to meh. Huge disappointment.    … Expand
  72. reowner
    Oct 10, 2014
    3
    crappy PC optimizatiion, requires a 780ti or higher just to run this game on ultra settings and smooth as butter.
    bought this game expecting to run on ultra settiings with a 680...nope..get 10-10 fps tops. as crazy as it sounds, it's true. even when turning vsync off, have to play on lowest settings just to get decent FPS. story and gameplay is not all that great, played and beat gta v    crappy PC optimizatiion, requires a 780ti or higher just to run this game on ultra settings and smooth as butter.
    bought this game expecting to run on ultra settiings with a 680...nope..get 10-10 fps tops. as crazy as it sounds, it's true. even when turning vsync off, have to play on lowest settings just to get decent FPS. story and gameplay is not all that great, played and beat gta v and it feels too much like gta v, driving mechanics and everything else, seems just liike another rehash, hope ubisoft does not let me down with far cry 4 or tom clancy's highly anticipated the division.    … Expand
  73. elterifico
    Aug 18, 2014
    3
    I had hope whit AC Black Flag and Far Cry 3, but it seems Ubisoft needed to rape PC gamers one more time...

    Graphics optimization is **** PC version is not at all what we should expect from a PC game.
  74. flexy123
    Jan 8, 2015
    3
    It looks like a GTA game from 2004, except that in 2004 games looked already better than this crap. Gameplay is also boring and unrealistic. It's like a poor man's GTA. Deleting from HD.
  75. sowingsadness
    May 27, 2014
    3
    Facts about Watch Dogs:
    - Stupid NPC
    - Woods cars
    - Not interesting player's company.
    - Nothing to do in city
    - Static shadows
    It is game not about hacking. One button click is not hack. It is game not about freedom. You have only few opportunities which stay so boring after 2 hours.
  76. 4demon
    Jun 1, 2014
    3
    I hate this game. I'd love to rate it lower, but technically speaking, it's quite impressive.

    Pros • It's pretty looking • It's quick to load • The story is pretty good... thought admittedly, inconsistent. Cons • Randomly generated elements - This I only noticed when I died. So here's the breakdown. I get on a motorbike, ride over to a building, look around for a camera and    I hate this game. I'd love to rate it lower, but technically speaking, it's quite impressive.

    Pros

    • It's pretty looking
    • It's quick to load
    • The story is pretty good... thought admittedly, inconsistent.

    Cons

    • Randomly generated elements - This I only noticed when I died. So here's the breakdown. I get on a motorbike, ride over to a building, look around for a camera and start the hacking process. I eventually scan the entire mission area, picking up all of the enemies on my HUD. The man at the gate has explosives on him, so I hack that, he blows up, I move onto the next one. At some point, I am spotted, I get shot, and I die.

    So I reload. Suddenly, I'm in a completely different place. I turn around, and I'm stood next to a van. What happened to my bike?!?! Ok, so I hack into the camera, and... darn... I need to scout the area again, as they've all come off of my HUD. Doing this twice gets boring... let alone if you die a lot. So I have everyone in my HUD, hack into the guy by the gate again without paying much attention, only to find out that he no longer carries grenades, but is now distracted by a text message. So yeah, the game randomly chooses these characters. This means that you can't learn by your mistakes, and each mission isn't unique. You're just fighting a random array each time.

    I should point out that this also is the same for some boss fights. The boss will suddenly spawn behind you and kill you, so you reload and take cover somewhere else. Finally, after the boss has finished saying his long LONG monologue for the 5th time, he spawns in again, somewhere random, and all your planning is to waste. Rinse and repeat. DULL!!!

    • Controls - I'm using a gamepad on my PC, so this might be different for others. For me, run is Right Trigger. The thing is, shoot is also right trigger... this starts getting confusing. Also, your character cannot jump on command. He can climb over small obstacles, but that's about it. If you press A, your character will take cover by a wall. Now, this may be my fault, but I'm used to using A to run. So when I'm attacked, I instinctively press A, and my character sticks to a wall, gets shot, dies... and see the point above for what happens next.

    • Next Gen - This is NOT a next gen game. Nothing new is here. It looks worse than GTA5, in my opinion (which I also didn't care much for, I should add). I'm playing on Ultra settings on my PC, and I'm underwhelmed. When cars smash into things, whether they deform appears to be entirely random. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. You can't buy cars, as far as I can tell.

    I just feel as though this game is a poor man's GTA.

    I've just had to shelve it for a while, because I'm fed up with it. My current mission is to chase down a van... however, when I start the mission, it spawns in a random location. I should point out that this is a main campaign mission. I'm confused, because having a randomizing mission is more difficult to program than a pre-set mission. I can't see why on Earth they would do this intentionally. It means that I can't learn from my mistakes, and I can't plan a strategy. I just have to hope for the best each time.

    I've put quite a few hours into this... but I'm not going to waste my time for much longer. I only wish I bought it on a console rather than digitally, as I can't sell it anymore... and oh, how I wish to be rid of it!    … Expand
  77. Diablo92
    May 28, 2014
    3
    Why both to buy this? Can't even be played at ultra high settings on a high end pc gaming rig. 8GB of ram are recommended but 6 is needed just to run it. Not as expected, expected a little more fun and the driving feels like crap (its not the lag).

    Whoever pre ordered this and then found out they don't even have enough specs to run it and not as expected should feel bad.
  78. Potitoman
    Jun 21, 2014
    3
    Broken. Ubisoft releases another very broken game on PC. Surprise.
    Framerate issues abound, crashes while the game loads and stutter. Dear lord, the stutter.
    Once you get past that, you'll find a very, very average sandbox game with the novelty mechanic of 'hacking'. The main character is as bland as they come. He's the usual brooding, violent and morally empty anti-hero with the    Broken. Ubisoft releases another very broken game on PC. Surprise.
    Framerate issues abound, crashes while the game loads and stutter. Dear lord, the stutter.
    Once you get past that, you'll find a very, very average sandbox game with the novelty mechanic of 'hacking'.

    The main character is as bland as they come. He's the usual brooding, violent and morally empty anti-hero with the personality of a turnip that Ubisoft love creating. The hacking is laughable, simply press 'X' and you're a l33t h4ck3r. And don't get me started on the driving, it's like trying to control a watermelon while juggling fine china and having rats nibbling at your genitals while going at 100 km/h.
    That and the stutter makes it impossible.

    No. The game is a technical mess, the story and motivation of the main character are childish and considering it was released by Ubisoft, you know it will never get fixed.
    Avoid like the bubonic plague.    … Expand
  79. Waclaw
    May 31, 2014
    3
    The first thing you need to know, that this game is not optimized for AMD cores because they were not invited into the development process and the game design will probably prevent any driver updates or patching to make it any better - google it. I couldn't play on my own PC and had to use my wifes since she has Nvidia on board. You have been warned!

    And now to the game itself. 1.    The first thing you need to know, that this game is not optimized for AMD cores because they were not invited into the development process and the game design will probably prevent any driver updates or patching to make it any better - google it. I couldn't play on my own PC and had to use my wifes since she has Nvidia on board. You have been warned!

    And now to the game itself.

    1. Graphics is nowhere close to what we saw on trailers shown to us at gaming events around the world. Not only is it just medicore, but the game doesn't even try to hide that most of the stuff is just copy paste - watch some gameplay videos and focus on random NPC animations. Clone sense tingling!

    2. Main story is just boring and predictable.

    3. Side missions are just a laugh - after 5-10 of them you will most probably skip this aspect of the game.

    4. Earning money is a laugh.

    5. Game physics is a misunderstanding if you realize that we're in 2014, not in 2004. Cars drive like a brick falling of from a bridge, vehicle damage is almost irrelevant, everything seems to be glued to the ground...

    6. Multiplayer? Go play whatever you're playing online these days as the lags, loss of connection and downtimes will just piss you off.

    Since it' s a Ubisoft game and they are well known for making promises that are never 100% fulfiled, I wasn't expecting all of the stuff that they were showing off. But the end product looks like an early alpha of what we were being shown so far. 3/10 from me, and that's only for the fact that the story has some nice support characters although even they are utilized in a predictable and unsatisfying way.

    P.S. This game runs (as always) via Uplay so expect a bumpy road when trying to actually launch the product. Server downs, missing files, 3+ file repairs in a row, you name it. So that doesn't help the overall impression at all.    … Expand
  80. Rokai
    Jun 1, 2014
    3
    They should've called this Watch_Bugs.
    Bad physics, bad AI, downgraded graphics, full of bugs, unoptimized, but if you manage to look past all of that (and if you can do that, you certainly have some unique skill), it's a decent sandbox game.
  81. inverguy
    Jun 5, 2014
    3
    Firstly I need to say that I got this game with my new graphic card for free as such enjoyed it as a free product, although as something most ppl need to pay for I would be extremely annoyed with. This is pretty much a copy of GTA5 but it is much worse. Cars drive like crap, but you can get used to this. Feels like more of a shooter with one magic button to hack stuff.

    I think the    Firstly I need to say that I got this game with my new graphic card for free as such enjoyed it as a free product, although as something most ppl need to pay for I would be extremely annoyed with. This is pretty much a copy of GTA5 but it is much worse. Cars drive like crap, but you can get used to this. Feels like more of a shooter with one magic button to hack stuff.

    I think the biggest disappointment is multiplayer (hacking and following). If you get some basic ideas how the game works there is no way for someone to successfully complete one of these successfully. Although the reward system is constructed the way you will always level up over time.

    In my humble opinion you can get more fun out of £7 indie games than this so unless the price is dropped to around £20, don't buy it.

    PS: don't get into this internet hype about this game... you will be disappointed if you expect too much.

    PS: the trailer of this game is VERY misleading. Watch some "gameplay" videos first !!!!    … Expand
  82. kalina
    Jun 5, 2014
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is disappointing. It has the potential to be much larger than the sum of its parts but the overall execution of the game is clunky and uninspired, it feels like each individual component of the game is unpolished and the optimisation of the game on this platform (PC) is woeful at this time.

    The story is pretty weak, the ending is a quick time event, the driving feels like you're driving through treacle, the shooting and moving feels like Aiden wants to hump the environment all of the time and the hacking is simplistic with no real depth.

    Overall the game has very little replay value although there is plenty of things to do during your first play through - side missions consisting of the same routine over and over again, gang hideouts consisting of the same thing over and over again, in fact... no, there's not really that much unique content to go through, just lots of the same thing over and over again.

    This game wishes it was Grand Theft Auto when it grows up, GTA with quick time events for hacking. Unfortunately, it will never be Grand Theft Auto when it grows up, because by the time it gets there Grand Theft Auto will have moved on to its next big thing.    … Expand
  83. TheBlastPassage
    Jul 14, 2014
    3
    At first seemed like an amazing concept, but was disappointing and poorly executed. I really looked forward to this game but it failed to deliver.

    The NPCs aren't that great
    The vehicle physics feel very clunky and off
    The game feels quite boring and fails to grip the player
  84. NeedForsleep
    Aug 19, 2014
    3
    Such an awful game. So i wonder what ubisoft were doing in those extra months to "Polish" The game? Well i know what they were doing **** IT ALL UP this game is so so so overhyped when i saw the trailer i was amazed on how good the game looked alot of action. And what do we get? **** is what we get the characters in this game are so cliched and badly acted its almost funny aiden pierce isSuch an awful game. So i wonder what ubisoft were doing in those extra months to "Polish" The game? Well i know what they were doing **** IT ALL UP this game is so so so overhyped when i saw the trailer i was amazed on how good the game looked alot of action. And what do we get? **** is what we get the characters in this game are so cliched and badly acted its almost funny aiden pierce is as dull as can be it's like Aiden and Conner from ac3 are related because they are so **** boring i can go watch the ants on the ground and get more entertainment. The gamplay is not the greatest but its alright the cover system is a great feature in the game. I certainly love the whole hacking thing where you can use your phone to stop your pursuers or use for a distraction to slip past guards without knowing. There are these radio tower things which act like assassins creed synchronization points which you have to unlock the tower to be able to access some things that i cant even remember and when get to the box thingy to unlock it you have to play some sort of mingame sometimes which can be very very annoying at times. he multiplayer is pretty fun roaming Chicago with your friends causing mayhem is very fun to do. And holy **** is this game badly optimized for pc! I have the Asus G750JM and this game runs like crap on ultra settings with AA off And Ubisoft has had a history of ****ty pc ports barley and pc optimization. And if you think that watch dogs looks like a ugly game try the Worse mod for watch dogs it makes the game look so much better! So if you are going to go out and buy this game for 60$ dont your wasting your money until ubisoft optimizes this game with patches and makes it less buggy dont buy it!… Expand
  85. Bob-_-
    May 27, 2014
    3
    Watch Dogs is really nice looking, but still doesn't live up to the E3 footage - there are no impressive wind effects, light doesn't cast any shadows and there are no working mirror effects in the game. Pretty much the best looking things in the game are puddles at night. The gunplay works, but is nothing special and so do the ragdoll physics. That said, physics in general (collisions,Watch Dogs is really nice looking, but still doesn't live up to the E3 footage - there are no impressive wind effects, light doesn't cast any shadows and there are no working mirror effects in the game. Pretty much the best looking things in the game are puddles at night. The gunplay works, but is nothing special and so do the ragdoll physics. That said, physics in general (collisions, environment destruction) are just broken - bus stops completely fall apart at the lightest impact, but every vehicle in the game is just about indestructible and no damage is shown to occur to it. In addition to that, the game has invisible walls, as well as trains clipping through bridges and other very noticeable bugs. The hacking mechanics are simple button prompts and honestly don't go further than that. They're a gimmick put in to make Watch Dogs stand out, but fail, since they're not integrated into the gameplay enough. The AI is plain stupid - civilians don't react to the player shooting, even if they're just on the other end of the street and could clearly notice that; the police are blind and hiding behind the dashboard of your car in the middle of the street is enough to throw them off your tail and there is no way to be harmed if you run into traffic or in front of the train, since cars and trains just stop immediately if you step in front of them, regardless of the speed they were moving with. The story of the game is pretty decent and really well acted, but nowhere near the 40 hours the developers talked about (it took me around 14 hours to get through and I see people having similar times online).… Expand
  86. DireMelon
    May 28, 2014
    3
    Very boring missions, terrible car handling and bad performance sums this game up.

    When I played some of the missions I was like uh **** I don't want to do that let me do something fun. When driving the cars they handled horribly. The handling is comparable to that of saints row 3. When driving at high speeds my game would stutter and the game looks ugly as hell on max settings.    Very boring missions, terrible car handling and bad performance sums this game up.

    When I played some of the missions I was like uh **** I don't want to do that let me do something fun.

    When driving the cars they handled horribly. The handling is comparable to that of saints row 3.

    When driving at high speeds my game would stutter and the game looks ugly as hell on max settings.

    Overall don't buy this game. You could obtain it from elsewhere if you want to give it a try.    … Expand
  87. ruediger
    Oct 19, 2014
    3
    Overhyped piece of donkeysh*t. Unoptimized gameengine, unoriginal and tedious gameplay are just a death sentence for any game. I'm glad I got that game for free in a hardware bundle else I would have felt like Ubisoft dropping a big fat deuce on on my face.
  88. t3hp3trock
    May 28, 2014
    3
    Watch Dogs:
    Pros:
    Fun, engaging at the start, unique hacking concepts. Cons: Car chases are lack luster, story line is very short, numerous glitches, everything is made out of toothpicks. My main issue is the E3 demo to the actual game. Aside from the complete degrade of graphics, Watch Dogs doesn't support AMD drivers! I've noticed a few graphical issues and frame drops that my    Watch Dogs:
    Pros:
    Fun, engaging at the start, unique hacking concepts.
    Cons:
    Car chases are lack luster, story line is very short, numerous glitches, everything is made out of toothpicks.

    My main issue is the E3 demo to the actual game. Aside from the complete degrade of graphics, Watch Dogs doesn't support AMD drivers! I've noticed a few graphical issues and frame drops that my Invidia counterparts have not. This really infuriates me. If AMD was able to get the code to optimize the game, I'd give the game a 6/10 for PC.    … Expand
  89. KebabuTurka
    May 27, 2014
    3
    So. Hype of this game was reaaalllyyy big. But, gameplay is awful, physic is awful, gameplay is good and graphics ... Well, GTA V on x360 have better graphics (maybe everything ?) than this game on PC. Only story is rather good.
  90. Wolfgrin
    Jun 5, 2014
    3
    Sadly a very boring game after you played if for a hour or two, it almost feels like that's when the developers also gave up on the game and just used copy and paste to finish it. Worse game so far I have bought from Ubisoft, feels like a EA game with all that comes with that......
  91. saris1
    Jun 1, 2014
    3
    For console users this probably is a great 'open-world' game, but, for the PC... No. Even Daggerfall (Elder Scrolls) was much more open and alive than this title and that game was released nearly two decades ago! The system requirements are absurdly high and even if you meet or exceed them you will still experience glitches, lag, stutters and who knows what else. Oh, and the A.I is stupid,For console users this probably is a great 'open-world' game, but, for the PC... No. Even Daggerfall (Elder Scrolls) was much more open and alive than this title and that game was released nearly two decades ago! The system requirements are absurdly high and even if you meet or exceed them you will still experience glitches, lag, stutters and who knows what else. Oh, and the A.I is stupid, really stupid. You would think with a requirement of SIX GIGABYTES of RAM that the A.I would do something with it.… Expand
  92. MetalDude185
    Jun 29, 2014
    3
    Let's start with the bloody obvious. The state of the PC version is a joke. The lighting is hideously flat and a filthy monochrome in most scenes, as opposed to what we saw at E3 two years ago. It has hideously outdated particle effects and shadows. Yes, the water looks great, but that doesn't count when there is no setting in the entire game that makes it run at at least 60fps on myLet's start with the bloody obvious. The state of the PC version is a joke. The lighting is hideously flat and a filthy monochrome in most scenes, as opposed to what we saw at E3 two years ago. It has hideously outdated particle effects and shadows. Yes, the water looks great, but that doesn't count when there is no setting in the entire game that makes it run at at least 60fps on my high-end PC. In some places I felt like I was playing GTA IV. The pop-in in the open world is so terrible that it interferes with gameplay, especially when driving at high speeds. Weeks after its release there's still no patch out.

    Now for the gameplay, the hacking is has turned out to be a gimmick that becomes tired in the first few hours you actually get to play with it. There are some interesting things you can do with it but those become boring after you've seen them a few times and most things you do with it are executed by just holding down a button for a second. Other than that, there are serviceable driving mechanics in place, but there's very little to do with it, as everything in the gameworld just has nothing interesting to offer you, not to mention that the graphics are so bad that it doesn't even have the entertainment value of just looking at the scenery, like you could do if it was just a boring game with great visuals.
    Also it has semi-cover-based shooting mechanics, but there's just no punch to it and it's usually just frustrating to "play", especially when the framerate runs like a turtle.

    The story is clichéd and the main "character" is not even just unrelatable, he's boring and hasn't got a single sign of a personality or character trait, but it's not presented in any way in which we could roleplay as our own. The game clearly thinks it's got an interesting character loaded with personality and a heavy emotional story, but it just falls flat on its face, because there is no character or actual strong emotional development to any of it.

    This game would have been a huge dissapointment, if I would have been invested in the hype, so at least it didn't hurt me there, but what we have is still a hugely boring and noticeably overhyped "Triple-A" game, with a terrible PC version.    … Expand
  93. syldoc
    May 27, 2014
    3
    Lot of bugs and freeze on AMD video card
    Impossible to put ultra spec with 3Go video card, crossfire not available
    Ubisoft Montreal continue the worse work I ever see on a game, after FirCry3, AC3&4 and let the pc gamer on the side to consider the console gamers. When I play WD I feel I had a non finished game. Far away from what they present us to the E3 2013, impossible to find the    Lot of bugs and freeze on AMD video card
    Impossible to put ultra spec with 3Go video card, crossfire not available
    Ubisoft Montreal continue the worse work I ever see on a game, after FirCry3, AC3&4 and let the pc gamer on the side to consider the console gamers.
    When I play WD I feel I had a non finished game. Far away from what they present us to the E3 2013, impossible to find the same visual effects I saw
    Don't buy the game, wait for the (habitual) ubisoft infinity patch    … Expand
  94. aj587
    May 27, 2014
    3
    Probably the most hyped game in the past year aside from Titanfall. The graphics are a 7/10. A lot of characters have the same faces, same glasses (particularly a copied black female and a white blond girl). The vehicles in this game are a joke. It feels like I'm playing Mario Karts with slightly better Payday 2 graphics. I have an average of 30-40 fps in the cities on high with a GTX 680Probably the most hyped game in the past year aside from Titanfall. The graphics are a 7/10. A lot of characters have the same faces, same glasses (particularly a copied black female and a white blond girl). The vehicles in this game are a joke. It feels like I'm playing Mario Karts with slightly better Payday 2 graphics. I have an average of 30-40 fps in the cities on high with a GTX 680 and i7. Fps dips randomly and often.

    Escaping cops is too easy. All you have to do is hold W for about a minute and a half. Somehow you can hack the entire city and know everything about a person, yet the law enforcement with a similar or same system can lose track of you. The cameras in this game are pointless. Sure, you can hack them but you can literally wave your gun at the camera and there will be no alarms/criminals/cops at your location unless they actually hear or see you in person.

    You can crash into 40 walls before destroying vehicles. You can floor your motorcycle into a building head-on and 90% of the time you will somehow stay on your bike. I was bored within an half-hour of free roaming. Everything seems like it was copy-and-pasted or are inhabitable or useless.The campaign is boring and there is no life to the characters. The city is lifeless. Wow, press Q to hack. Game over.

    Another reason why you should not pre-order video games. Hopefully, there will be mods in the future that can save this game. Season pass... lol. Outfits and a hillbilly to play as. Awesome $20. Surprised Ubisoft didn't charge $50 for it.    … Expand
  95. austerus
    Jun 14, 2014
    3
    After playing a finishing the game, I return to "fix" my previous rating of 7. This is definitely not a 7.

    I don't really understand how people can say this is a different kind of gameplay. The Watch Dogs (all platforms) gameplay is nearly identical to GTA V or Assassin's Creed. You have the same "main story" structure, about the same actions to perform and same side-quests/minigames.    After playing a finishing the game, I return to "fix" my previous rating of 7. This is definitely not a 7.

    I don't really understand how people can say this is a different kind of gameplay. The Watch Dogs (all platforms) gameplay is nearly identical to GTA V or Assassin's Creed. You have the same "main story" structure, about the same actions to perform and same side-quests/minigames.

    The main difference is that this game contains a much more annoying forcible push to multiplayer but in modes that are unimaginative and repetitive. They get really old and really fast and are much worse than the also repetitive single player "side quests".

    The city isn't breathing life, it's idiotic. Shoot a person? Police are on to you and you lose "street cred", ok. Run over a civilian? No police but you get a drop in reputation. Cause an accident killing tens of civilians or intentionally push a car to crush pedestrians? Nothing.

    Civilians behave idiotically following accidents. Often they remain in burning cars or sit around burning cars waiting to explode. They don't tend to each other, no police goes on the scene and no ambulances come as well, no matter how many dead.

    The story is bland (although not as predictive as some say), the world isn't immerssive (nowhere near Assassin's Creed for example), the characters are stereotypical cardboard and some are downright annoying.

    Also, Aiden is unable to jump over stuff. Sure, he can vault over obstacles, but he can't jump over a half a meter pit to get from a railing to a roof (the kind of jumps they breeze through in Assassin's Creed).

    I am willing to disregard technical issues but the failing in storytelling and gameplay I can't forgive.    … Expand
  96. Shelledfade
    Oct 3, 2014
    3
    Pros:
    -Visually stunning world, rich in small detail.
    -Movement feels good. Cons: -Lifeless and disconnected world. -Guns sound like toys. -No "contacts" like GTA 4, you are 100% alone in this game. -One-button hacking gets extremely old fast. -Cannot shoot a gun while driving. -Cars have really bad physx and drive like unstoppable tanks. -All clothing stores are identical, all    Pros:
    -Visually stunning world, rich in small detail.
    -Movement feels good.

    Cons:
    -Lifeless and disconnected world.
    -Guns sound like toys.
    -No "contacts" like GTA 4, you are 100% alone in this game.
    -One-button hacking gets extremely old fast.
    -Cannot shoot a gun while driving.
    -Cars have really bad physx and drive like unstoppable tanks.
    -All clothing stores are identical, all gun shops are identical.
    -Little to no reason to explore the rich world.
    -There really isn't any loot in the world at all, think gta 4 city but much less lifelike, it feels dead, and crafting components are so inexpensive it just kills exploration.
    -Every single mission is the same. It either involves chasing someone by foot or by vehicle, or killing enemies that roam specific paths in a small area. The one-button hacking doesn't even add anything to the gameplay. If the hacking was removed it would essentially be the same game with little difference. You are not going on interesting missions like gta 4 where you would rob a bank or anything like that at all.

    -Digital trips: It adds some interesting game modes that have absolutely nothing to do with regular gameplay but it almost feels like the developers were aware of how lifeless and boring the main gameplay was so they added these digital trip game modes like driving a tank-spider and blowing crap up, and it does add some variety but I just wish the variety was in the main gameplay itself and its not, at all.    … Expand
  97. Denial
    May 27, 2014
    3
    This game really tests your nerves and patience. Firstly i downloaded the game through the ubisoft launcher, which then totally eats up all bandwidth and shuts everything else off on your computer (I have a 60mbit/12mbit line). When the game is finally installed i first get the black screen after ubisoft logo, verify files then repair files, then finally get to see the menu, start up a newThis game really tests your nerves and patience. Firstly i downloaded the game through the ubisoft launcher, which then totally eats up all bandwidth and shuts everything else off on your computer (I have a 60mbit/12mbit line). When the game is finally installed i first get the black screen after ubisoft logo, verify files then repair files, then finally get to see the menu, start up a new game and the game freezes at 80% of loading a new game. Verify files and repair game AGAIN. After that i finally get into game, but nooo this isn't enough, the game now freezes all the time 3-5 seconds, but the sound continues to run like nothing happened - This is just one more game in the line of MANY games that is being released without being tested properly. This is starting to be a really bad trend to release buggy games and after that just release patches as they see fit.

    Now for the actually review of the game;

    As we all have seen in the intros, this game should be very sophisticated and have great AI, but it doesn't. You spend a lot of time driving in this game so you would think that the driving would be a great feel, but its not. every time you get into a car and hit the throttle the whole screen shakes like its starting an earthquake, i mean wtf? The handling is very clumsy and you use more time watching for things you can hack while driving rather than watching the road, which makes for some random accidents A LOT.

    The AI in this game was advertised as being really good, however the way it is, is something really different, ie. if you get the police after you, they don't really care what you did, they just want to see you dead, whatever the cost may be (Shoot first, ask later), which gets annoying after a while.

    The whole hacking thing gets really old, really fast and the switching of traffic lights is often a burden rather than a help since you most of the time start a traffic accident/jam in the middle of the road. Also walking around can be quite tedious, because every time you pass someone it automatic lock onto them due to the hacking part.

    The side missions is just annoying after you've done them 5-10 times, i mean you spot some potential crime because you hack a phone and read the texts, thats already far fetched, on top of that you follow that person and intervenes right as the crime is about to take place, which leaves you often running after the criminal and just plain gunning him down.

    One of the positive things i've tried (There is some!) is the mini games, even though they are a bit misplaced in the game they are actually quite enjoyable and different.

    I give this game 3 in score simply because its a game that was released with massive bugs, the list is huge on the ubisoft forums. Also because this game was advertised to be way more than it actually is, which is a shame, its good fun for some hours but after that you just get tired of doing the same things over and over again. If the game just had better driving mechanics i think this game would be a lot more enjoyable. I would not recommend buying this game at full price, not even half price, i luckily only paid half price of retail, but would have loved to pay way less.    … Expand
  98. jonnyvonny
    May 27, 2014
    3
    This game is an awful, unfinished piece of garbage.

    - Terrible AI
    - Worse dynamic lighting than GTA IV
    - Static shadows
    - Hacking mechanics are stupid and unrealistic
    - dumb moral system
    - glitches EVERYWHERE

    Also, the last boss is a QTE. 2 stars above minimum for effort
  99. DaveDxx
    May 27, 2014
    3
    Here we go, the gameplay is fun and the story starts promising, so be ready for the backstab. Thats it, what else?
    Well, also there is :
    - No car customization - No weapon attachments - No blood/gore - No melee combat system - No shooting while driving - No realistic driving and physics - No character customization besides the same clothes with different colors - Mediocre story    Here we go, the gameplay is fun and the story starts promising, so be ready for the backstab. Thats it, what else?
    Well, also there is :
    - No car customization
    - No weapon attachments
    - No blood/gore
    - No melee combat system
    - No shooting while driving
    - No realistic driving and physics
    - No character customization besides the same clothes with different colors
    - Mediocre story with terrible ending
    - Bad use of the great side characters
    - Repetitive(boring) missions
    - Not a good game to have fun around the city for hours like GTA, Sleeping Dogs, Saints Row, AC...
    - No replayability
    - Dont even think about buying this just because it has a boring multiplayer mode.

    Conclusion, you should play this game and make your own conclusions, but right now its just not worth the full price, the experience is ok, but you'll want to erase this from your memory quickly when you complete it.    … Expand
  100. static1990
    May 27, 2014
    3
    Sadly this game is really unplayable at this stage,it is very bad optimized i have a high end rig and i got 15-35 fps on ultra and like 45-50 fps on low and even then it sutter.
    PS: Intel i5 Haswell 2.8ghz,gtx 780 and 8gb ram yea...shame ubisoft.
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Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014
20
#20 Most Shared PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Sep 3, 2014
    79
    Ubisoft's flagship title has a really, really repulsive protagonist. The entire storyline feels like it was cranked out of a automated story generator. On the positive side, Watch Dogs looks really good on PC, especially after modding the graphics to match the visual splendor of the early E3 demos. [Aug 2014]
  2. PC PowerPlay
    Jun 29, 2014
    70
    There are some strong gameplay elements in Watch Dogs, but overall it's merely an adequate open world game. [July 2014, p.46]
  3. GameCritics
    Jun 23, 2014
    80
    Nothing could have realistically lived up to the immense level of hype that Ubisoft stirred up for this game, and while I value strong narratives and envelope-pushing technological advancements, I place just as much importance in the ability to enjoy the gameplay that's being offered to me. Watch Dogs is one of the more exciting sandbox games of the last few years, and if this is to become Ubisoft's next big franchise, I'm excited to see where they take it.
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