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.
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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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