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. 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
  2. spedeer2007
    May 27, 2014
    2
    Very bad game..

    -very bad optimization
    -a lot of bugs
    -bad driving system
    -bad shooting system
    -you cant not squat when you want
    -boring optional mission
    -hacking? You just press one button.
    Game on low details works and look worse than gta IV on medium/high.
  3. Rumblefish
    May 27, 2014
    0
    So I pay £45 for this game and find that I can't even play it because Ubisoft's servers are down all night.

    Fine, well implementing DRM was your choice Ubisoft, as was deciding not to ensure you had sufficient servers when launching a major title. Scoring this game a 0, well, that's my choice.
  4. 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
  5. zamach
    May 27, 2014
    1
    Extremely over-hyped with no good reason. Instead of buying this You could get a bunch of indie games and have more fun just by not playing any of them. I'm very disappointed with this title. I will think twice before I pick another Ubisoft game. 1 point for an "almost original" concept.
  6. tadashii1004
    Jun 29, 2014
    2
    Watchdogs = only GTA with Hacker's theme... Graphics are good, story correct but gameplay is awful. Driving is painful, especially when you need to drive like a mad to avoid police car or winning a race but you also need to avoid killing civilians with a limited time to do the mission... the stealth part is just useless, just take a gun and shoot people... disappointing
  7. RavenEvan
    May 27, 2014
    1
    Game could be fun, but it's not, because it's a terrible PC port. I have GTX770 + i7 and I suffer terrible frame drops and crashes. This game supposedly is "Meant to be played" on hardware with nVidia, but actually it seems that this game is not supposed to be played at all. When will Ubisoft learn how to make proper PC ports? Most of other publishers already learned that.
  8. PRAVDORUB_RUS
    May 27, 2014
    0
    I played in the creation of a new Ubisoft - do not know what 's so grand - engine - clean AC: BF can be seen with the naked eye with the 90% trimmed parkour . Physics in the game - the whole campaign she left a cloak protagonists. Machines behave inappropriately - simple details tkakih traces of burnt rubber - no. Physics destruction cars - about anything. In passable signified miracleI played in the creation of a new Ubisoft - do not know what 's so grand - engine - clean AC: BF can be seen with the naked eye with the 90% trimmed parkour . Physics in the game - the whole campaign she left a cloak protagonists. Machines behave inappropriately - simple details tkakih traces of burnt rubber - no. Physics destruction cars - about anything. In passable signified miracle play combined joystick ( for cars ) + keyboard + mouse ( for everything else ) . Puzzle empty and monotonous . Side missions did not want to pass because of wet and empty plot. And fantasy writers have really not as such - a good idea - the result - a complete PE. Less than at the end of the second chapter is becoming clear that there will be at the end of the fifth .
    Ubisoft is a failure . Trying to keep up with the GTA V - not successful . Absent any fan . Empty city and live their lives. Size 13 or 22 gig , it does not justify itself . 8 gigs ceiling.
    But what's really there - in Assassin Creed and that was fun to play - even though the story was surreal .    … Expand
  9. Hnedokneznik
    May 27, 2014
    2
    Not funny at all. Some bugs and stupid AI. Very repetitive. Minigames is... just not fit in the game. Hacking is "hacking" by button. Im sorry, but this is not good game.
  10. 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
  11. 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
  12. 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
  13. traktorist
    May 27, 2014
    0
    This game not worth money and time . Graphic not amazing at all, driving physic awful. It feels boring and chunky. There is many bugs on amd card. With my i5 and r9 280x i can't play even on low
  14. 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
  15. 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
  16. iamthewizard2
    May 27, 2014
    0
    absolutely abysmal ! even my Triple GTX 780 Ti graphics cards have a hard time keeping this game smooth on high let alone ultra quality. have to play on medium with a 30 framerate lock to keep it smooth! Thanks Ubisoft or should I say ****
  17. staszek
    May 27, 2014
    1
    This game is a huge letdown for what initially looked like the first real "next gen" experience at the E3. In reality this game looks and plays like something out of 2005. I'll give them that the game looks nice in the rain, but apart from this it is a huge letdown. Reading people's personal data is fun initially but it gets boring after you relize that mostly they are randomly generatedThis game is a huge letdown for what initially looked like the first real "next gen" experience at the E3. In reality this game looks and plays like something out of 2005. I'll give them that the game looks nice in the rain, but apart from this it is a huge letdown. Reading people's personal data is fun initially but it gets boring after you relize that mostly they are randomly generated and often don't make sense like a "Hiv positive blood donor with the income of $60,000"

    The driving is disgraceful and even more over-simplified than the latest GTA. There is no destruction model to speak of and it is riddled by constant bugs and physics glitching out. The worst thing is that all the sellouts like ING will give this game "10/10 amazung" reviews while in reality this game is not worth even $20 and you should not waste your time on it.    … Expand
  18. Ploutonas
    May 27, 2014
    0
    Nothing new from the previews sleeping dogs or saints row games, some missions or side missions, reminds you these games.

    Big limitations the way you want to play and look with your character. Cloth stores are basically ink stores, you only change colors. Mini games and CtOS towers reminds me Saints row 4. Hacking is easy and turns into a borring rutine. Over hyped and delayed for    Nothing new from the previews sleeping dogs or saints row games, some missions or side missions, reminds you these games.

    Big limitations the way you want to play and look with your character. Cloth stores are basically ink stores, you only change colors. Mini games and CtOS towers reminds me Saints row 4.

    Hacking is easy and turns into a borring rutine.

    Over hyped and delayed for nothing!    … Expand
  19. djoug
    May 27, 2014
    0
    The game is unoptimized, filled with graphics and physics engine bugs. It doesn't hold anything to what the industry has been putting out since 2008, like GTA IV. Severe framerate and stability issues, as expected from anything coming from a subpar video games company like Ubisoft.

    Physics engine is a total mess: car handling, damage reactions, one hit kills, bullet impacts, etc. Same    The game is unoptimized, filled with graphics and physics engine bugs. It doesn't hold anything to what the industry has been putting out since 2008, like GTA IV. Severe framerate and stability issues, as expected from anything coming from a subpar video games company like Ubisoft.

    Physics engine is a total mess: car handling, damage reactions, one hit kills, bullet impacts, etc.
    Same goes for the graphics engine: lack of proeminent modern features like dynamic shadows or reflection.

    Final boss is a QTE.

    Uninteresting story and characters.

    No content besides random roaming and killing.

    Target audience is 16 years olds from Reddit/Tumblr, as proven by the inclusion of Internet "pop culture" references like "memes".

    Play GTA IV instead, this is just a wannabe Rockstar game but fails completely. Stop trying Ubisoft, just make mobile apps and leave the video game industry alone.    … Expand
  20. 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
  21. Ivan665
    May 27, 2014
    0
    No spoilers. Honest and quick review. Hello. OK first things first. Most of us were hyped about this game. Maybe we expected more than it delivers. As this is a review for the PC version, I have to inform you that the port is a sloppy job. Putting the glitches I often experienced aside, the frame rate is pretty bad at times with med. settings for me, and my rig is good enough for mostNo spoilers. Honest and quick review. Hello. OK first things first. Most of us were hyped about this game. Maybe we expected more than it delivers. As this is a review for the PC version, I have to inform you that the port is a sloppy job. Putting the glitches I often experienced aside, the frame rate is pretty bad at times with med. settings for me, and my rig is good enough for most games - Intel i7, 6GB RAM, GF GT630 4GB. Lets get to the graphics - the detail is slightly higher than in GTA 4, but the environment effects are sub par, so its not wrong to say that the game looks like GTA 4. But the most important thing for many is the game-play. And this is where this game let me down. In the environment of the game world, you are playing with what is basically someone who should supposedly have the power of Batman and Spider-man combined. Or more precisely, a mortal with the powers of a God over his environment. If you think of it like me, you will often hit invisible barriers in what you can do. The game cuts your potential, your approach, and your creativity, and firmly holds your hand, step by step. This is a great mismatch between what you should be able to do, and what actual capabilities are given to you.
    And at first it only made me feel that the release of the game has been rushed. But when I played more, this blatant incoherence spoiled the whole atmosphere for me. I am not against games that firmly hold your hand and guide you through the plot. But this was not the game, that should have taken this approach. Because it is most appropriate for quest games, and this game was not marketed as such.
    I cant speak for you but to tell you the truth - I feel cheated. I hope they fix the sequel and create a really good new series, but I am highly doubtful of that because it will require too many changes in the code, basically a brand new engine. Bottom line: Ubisoft should not attempt to produce anymore open world games, for their good and ours. Its a great strain for their designers and the studios should be used more rationally, and do what they can do best. I give this game a 0/10.    … Expand
  22. andyone
    May 27, 2014
    0
    Absolutely boring gameplay. Graphics and physics worse than GTA 4 (yes, I say «four») — static shadows, fake reflections, poor damage system, stupid AI. I regret that I spent money on this game.
  23. 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.
  24. Frappas
    May 27, 2014
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Was way over hyped for the game it actually is. The driving is absolutely horrendous, you almost have to have a motorcycle to escape on realistic. The story line is ok, although the dialog felt really bland and boring. The only interaction I actually preferred was Aiden and Clara and they ruined that. I won't even start on the performance issues about this game. Honestly it burned two nights of boredom but that was about it.… Expand
  25. teratron1
    May 27, 2014
    0
    First of all, this game is broken beyond repair. My computer uses a graphics card utilizing two GPUs on the same PCB, which is essentially an integrated Crossfire system. Disrupt doesn't support such systems (the engine), so I had to install it on my powerful laptop with a dedicated Nvidia GPU, which worked as Nvidia is in bed with them. It stutters like **** and makes the game unplayableFirst of all, this game is broken beyond repair. My computer uses a graphics card utilizing two GPUs on the same PCB, which is essentially an integrated Crossfire system. Disrupt doesn't support such systems (the engine), so I had to install it on my powerful laptop with a dedicated Nvidia GPU, which worked as Nvidia is in bed with them. It stutters like **** and makes the game unplayable at any setting but the lowest.

    The crime system is a joke consisting out of three different cases in six different locations, each the same. The repercussions are a joke, getting money is a joke, there is two types of police vehicles, two models... The helicopter and the generic vehicle.

    There is no dynamic lighting (not even on ultra), the game looks like **** during the day. The drving mechanics are a joke, cutscenes are pretty much the only thing that's okay. But you can't drive anything, it was developed by a goddamn toddler.

    Stealth missions are an automatic fail on the first sight of discovery.

    Where is the pride? Big review houses are giving this game huge scores (8+), but it doesn't deserve 3. It's a piece of **** go around it if you can.    … Expand
  26. 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.
  27. BridgetFisher
    May 27, 2014
    0
    Game is full of bugs, the whole time I played it I felt like I would rather be playing Grand Theft Auto 5, which has a bigger map, a bigger world, and it felt more alive than the dead world in Watch Dogs. For gamers I got about 5 hours of playtime out of it before beating the game. Worst part was to hack anything all you have to do is hit a button.
  28. Renendell
    May 29, 2014
    1
    It's like GTA but less aggressive, and Saints Row but less fun. And the technical problems make the overall mediocrity of this title unforgiving. It may be a nicer experience on next-gen consoles, but stay away on PC.
  29. PcGamer1990
    Jun 25, 2014
    0
    Well it was a boring game.Im glad it ended i was just playing to finish it...Very common story and u could predict it easily.Not to mention the graphics section , it was like a tank full of holes...Stuttering , fps drop for not so "wow" graphics...And to mention that it reminded a copy of GTA 3.It was like playing GTA 3..Not to mention the propaganda part where CTos2.0 was going to helpWell it was a boring game.Im glad it ended i was just playing to finish it...Very common story and u could predict it easily.Not to mention the graphics section , it was like a tank full of holes...Stuttering , fps drop for not so "wow" graphics...And to mention that it reminded a copy of GTA 3.It was like playing GTA 3..Not to mention the propaganda part where CTos2.0 was going to help the community in chicago by spectating the whole world throught cameras...0 privacy?...Anyway nothing good on it.Neither graphics nor plot.… Expand
  30. 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
  31. Yaysuz
    Jul 6, 2014
    0
    What an absolute disgrace of a game! Saying **** You" to everyone who is playing it. Absolutely sickening. Did not even deliver what they promised us.
  32. McHagge
    Jul 2, 2014
    3
    So basically it is just GTA with a hacker theme.
    The online modes it provides are:
    -Checking the city with your friends (no objectives and stuff, so basically you have nothing to do) -Hide'n'seek -Hide'n'seek (just a little bit different) -Car Race -Team Coop I played the game for two days and got bored of it pretty quick. Alot of things in the game doesn't make ANY sense at all,    So basically it is just GTA with a hacker theme.
    The online modes it provides are:
    -Checking the city with your friends (no objectives and stuff, so basically you have nothing to do)
    -Hide'n'seek
    -Hide'n'seek (just a little bit different)
    -Car Race
    -Team Coop
    I played the game for two days and got bored of it pretty quick. Alot of things in the game doesn't make ANY sense at all, not just lorewise but technically (Yeah I hack the phone of my sister, she stands right next to me and she sounds like she is talking trough the phone, there is no 2nd voiceover for her while standing next to her - NPCs attack you but ignore passengers, for not a damn reason and so on.)
    The missions seem pretty repetativ and so does the gameplay.
    I would not recomment this game to anyone, expect people who LOVE GTA games. But even though there are much better games.
    What bothers me the most is the schedule they got and the game is still buggy and stuff. (So it was just for marketing reasons as far as I assume)    … Expand
  33. 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
  34. Sinuage
    Jul 22, 2014
    0
    Game could be decent, no where near 2014 AAA standards. Pretty far from it actually. Ubi will burn for this one, such a bad PC port when PC was supposed to be the lead platform. Many users on high end rigs are still waiting for optimization patch from UBI. As other reviews have said some people are dumb and don't know how to use their computers. However that user is on a 660 and there areGame could be decent, no where near 2014 AAA standards. Pretty far from it actually. Ubi will burn for this one, such a bad PC port when PC was supposed to be the lead platform. Many users on high end rigs are still waiting for optimization patch from UBI. As other reviews have said some people are dumb and don't know how to use their computers. However that user is on a 660 and there are no issues with that card. Easy to say it is user issue when your card isn't one that has issues. Cards in the 700 series and especially the 780 ti and titan are having issues.

    Such a fail game.    … Expand
  35. 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
  36. ImFarza
    Jul 4, 2014
    3
    It's fun to play for a few days but after that it's nothing more to do.
    The missions get you stuck, The side missions are almost all the same.
    I won't buy this now. Maybe if they add some DLC's or more updates

    Negatives:
    NPC calling 911 system fails (Too OP)
    Nothing to do in the city (Only A few games)
    Not so many cars
  37. Pushistick
    Jul 23, 2014
    0
    One of the most boring games i've ever played. Primitive and boring story, boring hacking, repetitive and uninteresting missions, boring characters. Very poor optimization. Very bad physics.
    If you want to have wasted $47 - buy it.
  38. Shpongle
    Jul 22, 2014
    0
    Abysmal performance for a game that looks nothing like what we were shown two YEARS ago. The game play is original and intriguing however it's impossible to enjoy it when the game stutters like Jimmy Vulmer. The driving mechanics are even worse than GTA IV and the "Ultra Quality" reflections are still the same pre-rendered crap but with a higher resolution texture. Even with a GTX 780 ti IAbysmal performance for a game that looks nothing like what we were shown two YEARS ago. The game play is original and intriguing however it's impossible to enjoy it when the game stutters like Jimmy Vulmer. The driving mechanics are even worse than GTA IV and the "Ultra Quality" reflections are still the same pre-rendered crap but with a higher resolution texture. Even with a GTX 780 ti I get stutters that range anywhere from .1 seconds to a ridiculous 3 seconds along with textures that flicker through walls. The stuttering occurs even more frequently when driving fast which only adds on to the horrible driving mechanics. I've tried downclocking everything and I've tried the latest WHQL and Beta drivers to no avail. Two months after release and they still haven't fixed the stuttering. What a joke, Ubisoft. Too bad we're the butt of that joke. If you haven't bought the game yet, don't. Even for $5 this game isn't worth it with all of it's atrocious performance issues.… Expand
  39. uforoboso
    Jul 19, 2014
    1
    Ok, I am giving a 1. The game itself is rubbish. Except 2 things: 1) the graphics. The city is awesome, it is a pleasure to randomly wander around and discover all the nice places. it's much better than GTA V for this aspect, and I even did not have tech issues to run it at ultra even on a poor 660M GPU. 2) a few of the missions (and side activities) are actually good, the ones where youOk, I am giving a 1. The game itself is rubbish. Except 2 things: 1) the graphics. The city is awesome, it is a pleasure to randomly wander around and discover all the nice places. it's much better than GTA V for this aspect, and I even did not have tech issues to run it at ultra even on a poor 660M GPU. 2) a few of the missions (and side activities) are actually good, the ones where you have to use strategy, hacks and stealth to get to the objective. All the rest.. is just a pain in the a**, and you can't skip it. So.. I think you should actually play this, but only when it's 80% discounted on Steam, as there is so much good stuff in life than this game (even other games, for instance).… Expand
  40. 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
  41. billtoledo567
    Jul 7, 2014
    1
    I have a very capable PC (I7 4960X 3.6GHZ 6 CORE 15MB, G.SKILL 32 GB 1866MHZ DDR3 - RIPJAWS,ASUS X79 DELUXE MOTHERBOARD,EVGA GEFORCE GTX TITAN BLACK - 6GB, etc) so my PC is not a problem...this game sucks as much of the game is dependent on driving, and this game fails miserably...there is NO CONTROL over the driving using mouse and keyboard, no way to modify it, its either throttle upI have a very capable PC (I7 4960X 3.6GHZ 6 CORE 15MB, G.SKILL 32 GB 1866MHZ DDR3 - RIPJAWS,ASUS X79 DELUXE MOTHERBOARD,EVGA GEFORCE GTX TITAN BLACK - 6GB, etc) so my PC is not a problem...this game sucks as much of the game is dependent on driving, and this game fails miserably...there is NO CONTROL over the driving using mouse and keyboard, no way to modify it, its either throttle up full speed like a rocket, and crash into everything...the driving controls ruin this game and I have wasted $60 as a result...I would caution anyone considering this game to buy something else...this is absolutely the worst PC game I have ever owned and it does NOT live up to its advertised hype… Expand
  42. chelonia
    Sep 12, 2014
    0
    I wanted this game to be good but unfortunately that wasn't the case. It's the same game as Far Cry and Assassin's Creed re-skinned. The graphics have been considerably downgraded to be the same on consoles. And between the bugs, childish memes, and boring gameplay, this is quite possibly the worst game I've ever played.
  43. Hornet
    Sep 16, 2014
    3
    Abysmal release on PC. More technical glitches than you can shake a powerful gaming rig at, and even that won't help. As usual, Ubisoft gives zero f***s about the PC community and hasn't done any significant patch work (not excusing the horrible release state in the first place). Let's not forget that, once again, Uplay was a disaster at launch.

    The technical problems are shocking - I    Abysmal release on PC. More technical glitches than you can shake a powerful gaming rig at, and even that won't help. As usual, Ubisoft gives zero f***s about the PC community and hasn't done any significant patch work (not excusing the horrible release state in the first place). Let's not forget that, once again, Uplay was a disaster at launch.

    The technical problems are shocking - I can't believe how horrible the driving physics are considering Ubisoft has proven once before that they can do a good driving game (Driver: San Francisco).

    Aside from that, the on-foot traversal is clumsy, the shooting mechanics mediocre, the hacking elements asinine, and the storyline and characters completely lacking. Only minimal fun can be eked out in short bursts before the tedium sets in.

    Just about the only thing that can be said is that the environment artists did a fair job of detailing the city, but this is let down by a poorly optimised graphics engine.

    Sadly this generated massive sales for Ubisoft and this is apparently all they care about, so we can expect more dross like this in future. I won't be foolish enough to fall for it again.    … Expand
  44. darkknight1577
    Aug 16, 2014
    1
    This game makes me mad . Bad graphics , unoptimized , and stupid NPC .Why i can't run this game even on high settings with my R9 290x OC it crashed after 5-10 minutes and there are so much glitches and bugs . Worst game on PC
  45. AzzyTheCharger
    Sep 12, 2014
    0
    I would like to start by saying that this game is an absolutely terrible port on the PC regardless of the downgraded graphics i performs utterly bad. The story was quite enjoyable at first but then in gets slow and really boring.
    in short, the game was over hyped and disappointed many gamers including myself.
  46. gwolf14
    Sep 14, 2014
    3
    The theme of this game showed so much promise but fails to deliver on a number of levels. The hacking mechanic was interesting but soon lost its appeal after the 100th time of pressing X. The characters and story were uninteresting and cliched but worst of all was the playability of the whole thing.
    The game does look amazing with everything turned up to ultra, but good luck playing it    The theme of this game showed so much promise but fails to deliver on a number of levels. The hacking mechanic was interesting but soon lost its appeal after the 100th time of pressing X. The characters and story were uninteresting and cliched but worst of all was the playability of the whole thing.
    The game does look amazing with everything turned up to ultra, but good luck playing it with those settings. The game is poorly optimized for the PC (if you can call it optimized at all) and is truly unplayable with the settings.

    I have an i7 4770K, GTX 780 and 16Gb and experienced stutter even on the lowest graphics settings. This is after doing everything in my power to fix the issues and speed up the game. Changing the settings to medium caused game breaking lag and on ultra my entire system was brought to its knees.

    If you have a top end system (and I mean seriously top end) then give this game a go. Otherwise, give it a pass. It's not worth the time or the hassle to try and play.    … Expand
  47. 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
  48. 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.
  49. 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
  50. montana
    Sep 6, 2014
    1
    There are lots of things in this game that is worth criticizing, but the most important thing is the fact that this game is a poorly optimized consoll port. There is no way to turn off mouse acceleration and the movement off the character is horrible to control with a mouse - you cant turn without moving 2 meters around in a circle. And where the fu%k is my FOV slider!!!? - The camera isThere are lots of things in this game that is worth criticizing, but the most important thing is the fact that this game is a poorly optimized consoll port. There is no way to turn off mouse acceleration and the movement off the character is horrible to control with a mouse - you cant turn without moving 2 meters around in a circle. And where the fu%k is my FOV slider!!!? - The camera is so close to the caracter its like you are breathing down Aidens neck. To add insult to injury these are easy fixes and a big middle finger to pc gamers.… Expand
  51. 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
  52. 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
  53. 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.
  54. Kittensausage
    Jul 20, 2014
    2
    This game is the reason nobody should trust the hype. The game could have been so much more, but it turned out to be simply awful. Here's why :

    The game looks like a AAA game from two or three years ago. Some people often compare it to another GTA-like with a neat but underdeveloped gimmick that also happens to have "dogs" in its name... And that also happens to look better. However,    This game is the reason nobody should trust the hype. The game could have been so much more, but it turned out to be simply awful. Here's why :

    The game looks like a AAA game from two or three years ago. Some people often compare it to another GTA-like with a neat but underdeveloped gimmick that also happens to have "dogs" in its name... And that also happens to look better. However, the optimization was left to two starving interns to do and the game suffers from every optimization problem you could imagine : a whole lot of input lag, a huge memory leak on most configs, lots of stutter, terrible FPS even at the lowest settings, no DX9 support...

    The game itself is an average GTA-like built around a gimmick that is very limited in use. Whereas the game could have been an open-world Hitman with lots and lots of ways to get around an enemy or kill them directly using your environment as a weapon, most of the hacking is either mandatory or unnecessary (because a run and gun approach is just much simpler). You can't use a combination of hacks to kill an enemy (say, reversing the escalators time and time again to make him panic before he decides to take the elevator that you then proceed to drop a few hundred feet). It just ends up feeling like an other way of killing civilians when you get bored looking at the amazing trench coats physics.

    It's overall a very shallow game with a badly integrated gimmick that is just gonna end being a dumb franchise that will slowly die off.    … Expand
  55. KAOS661
    Sep 4, 2014
    2
    This game is just awful.All there is to it is a guy hacking traffic lights. What a terrible game. A waste of time and money. Worst game of the year without a doubt!
  56. DuraboITA
    Aug 26, 2014
    0
    The game is amazing!!! This is the nextgen!!! The cars are handling like a brick and missing the deformation. Those amazing pedestrians with the same walking animation. The boring storyline, and press to win hacking. Oh god 10/10!!!
  57. rudiedirkx
    Aug 9, 2014
    2
    The 'hacking' is horrible, the health/hurt is horrible, the driving and cars are horrible. After a while, everything's the boring same. The AR mini games are fun, thank god for those, but only once or twice. The problem isn't just not living up to the enormous hype, it's just not a good game. The story is ridiculous and I can't help but HATE the very self absorbed, annoying main character.The 'hacking' is horrible, the health/hurt is horrible, the driving and cars are horrible. After a while, everything's the boring same. The AR mini games are fun, thank god for those, but only once or twice. The problem isn't just not living up to the enormous hype, it's just not a good game. The story is ridiculous and I can't help but HATE the very self absorbed, annoying main character. Zero replay value.… Expand
  58. Dralidan
    Aug 1, 2014
    2
    There's hardly anything good about this game. The AI is absolutely horrid, the hacking isn't even all that interesting, and nearly all of the missions are the same. It's kinda fun for about 2 hours, but then things get repetitive. The city isn't that interesting and doesn't look that good either. It's a good game to pick up if you manage to find it for $5 or less.
  59. triplex01
    Jul 17, 2014
    0
    1) The most over hyped game ever? Yes, it is! 2) Next Gen graphics? No, it is not here. 3) Realistic physics? LOL, physics is the same as in Sleeping Dogs. 4) Interesting story? No, the story is very boring and full of clichés. 5) This game is good polished? No, it's not. Bugs and glitches everywhere! 6) Interesting missions? No, they are not. There are just boring and1) The most over hyped game ever? Yes, it is! 2) Next Gen graphics? No, it is not here. 3) Realistic physics? LOL, physics is the same as in Sleeping Dogs. 4) Interesting story? No, the story is very boring and full of clichés. 5) This game is good polished? No, it's not. Bugs and glitches everywhere! 6) Interesting missions? No, they are not. There are just boring and repetitive. 7) This game is well optimized for the PC? No, damn it! It is a console port! Bad console port! This is one of the most poorly optimized games!
    Conclusion: 0/10
    Ubisoft fu*ked us. Again.    … Expand
  60. FWordFizz
    Oct 2, 2014
    0
    Ubisoft. Give it up. You are an EA. You ruin every good idea you touch. Just let Dev teams finish their games before they put it out and you will be fine. Don't throw us an alpha and say its a finished product.
  61. Mystery
    Sep 20, 2014
    0
    TERRIBLE, Worst game ever never even runned after 13 hours of trouble shooting , patching and **** downloaded it still dont work THEY RELEASED 2 DLCS INSTEAD OF FIXING IT, graphics let down terribly worst game ever i wasted £45 and didn't even get a **** refund
  62. 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.
  63. 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
  64. 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 .
  65. 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
  66. peterf28
    Oct 31, 2014
    2
    Stupid and boring game. I start to hate Ubisoft. The open world is limited and does not feel real .They dont make good games, very boring . I also hate other ubisoft games .
  67. chazmire
    Jul 15, 2014
    3
    I got a quest to stop a villain. I was told I would get extra credit for not killing him. I thought to myself "This is an advanced game, surely it has some kind of advanced body targeting." I shot him in the calf...he kept running completely unhindered...I shot him in the calf again...he fell over dead. I stopped playing the game. Just one example of unrealisticness that ruins games forI got a quest to stop a villain. I was told I would get extra credit for not killing him. I thought to myself "This is an advanced game, surely it has some kind of advanced body targeting." I shot him in the calf...he kept running completely unhindered...I shot him in the calf again...he fell over dead. I stopped playing the game. Just one example of unrealisticness that ruins games for me. Add to this all the other bugs and lameness and you get a pretty lame game....but I guess hacking was kinda cool for the first 4 minutes.… Expand
  68. Roemerquelle
    Nov 8, 2014
    1
    To be honest: I was very excited when Watch_Dogs was announced. The trailers and everything made my jaw drop down to the core of the earth. I'm not a graphic whore, but I couldn't stop thinking about how great this game looks. So I pre ordered it for PC and was very excited when it eventually came out..
    So I installed the game and I could turn graphic settings on maximum. "How great!", I    To be honest: I was very excited when Watch_Dogs was announced. The trailers and everything made my jaw drop down to the core of the earth. I'm not a graphic whore, but I couldn't stop thinking about how great this game looks. So I pre ordered it for PC and was very excited when it eventually came out..
    So I installed the game and I could turn graphic settings on maximum. "How great!", I thought. "It runs smooth on those settings? Wow!", I thought.. But something was wrong. The graphics looked very bad. Not nearly as good as in the announcement. Few weeks later it became clear that they just downgraded the game on PC, to make it look like the PS4/Xbox One version (more or less). Thanks to some modders, the PC-com could play the game now how it was supposed to be. It even ran smoother with those mods. But again: I'm not a graphic whore. If the rest would've been great, I wouldn't have been complained. But the rest sucks too.
    In short:
    - Boring story
    - boring characters (Aiden seems like he doesn't care about anything..)
    - Boring hacking (Press Q to hack everything!)
    - The worst car handling ever.
    - Considering that you're the hacker vigilante, it's pretty stupid that it's much easier to clear a base of enemies by just rushing in and shooting everyone.

    But hey, there are also some positive things:
    - Digital Trips. Funny as hell.

    In my opinion one of the most disappointing and boring games of the last few years.    … Expand
  69. 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
  70. UND34DxTR41T3R
    Jan 19, 2015
    3
    This game has an interesting idea of what it wants to be but it failed massively

    my PC can run this game no problem but it sometimes crashes my PC no patch has ever fixed this! The story is stupidly short and the ending is terrible Its filled to the brim with glitches like falling trough the map the game not loading properly and its not only on PC my friend has a ps4 and it    This game has an interesting idea of what it wants to be but it failed massively

    my PC can run this game no problem but it sometimes crashes my PC no patch has ever fixed this!

    The story is stupidly short and the ending is terrible

    Its filled to the brim with glitches like falling trough the map the game not loading properly and its not only on PC my friend has a ps4 and it crashed alot of time and fell through the map 5 times

    the open world it empty with nothing to do i fell into the hype and i was sad once i bought the game

    it feels like an boring gta game this costs too much and you should just buy gta    … Expand
  71. 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.
  72. DevinTakkar
    Apr 1, 2015
    3
    This game is just a big disappointment.
    Yes, the core idea is good and yes, the hacking is the best part of the game...but that's the only thing that's actually fun and it's just not enough to carry this game. The gameplay besides hacking is clumsy, the controls on pc are annoying, driving feels wrong and the gunplay is awkward..
    And yes, the story is boring and the main character not    This game is just a big disappointment.
    Yes, the core idea is good and yes, the hacking is the best part of the game...but that's the only thing that's actually fun and it's just not enough to carry this game. The gameplay besides hacking is clumsy, the controls on pc are annoying, driving feels wrong and the gunplay is awkward..
    And yes, the story is boring and the main character not interesting, so no way I'm going to finish this.
    Don't bother with it.    … Expand
  73. Ihatefifa14
    Dec 8, 2014
    0
    This game got me bored after i had played for less than an hour. Im glad i got it for free with my PS4 traded that **** in the next day. It was so **** bad holy ****
  74. HuntingArt
    Nov 18, 2014
    3
    Do you want to be a cool baddass hacker like the ones you see in the movies?
    Did you buy this game to feel like an awesome hacker with 1337 skillz where you can be cool and even do what the government chooses not to do in order to be a great vigilant?
    Or even to just do whatever the **** you want, and feel like you've got power on the tips of your fingers? Yeah me too. What I described    Do you want to be a cool baddass hacker like the ones you see in the movies?
    Did you buy this game to feel like an awesome hacker with 1337 skillz where you can be cool and even do what the government chooses not to do in order to be a great vigilant?
    Or even to just do whatever the **** you want, and feel like you've got power on the tips of your fingers?
    Yeah me too. What I described sounds awesome. Too bad what you're really going to get is Magic Button to Steal (worthless) Money From People, pointless and barfed up car chases, mixed in with killing people from afar that you need two serious patience through boredom for.

    Somehow this game was not as I expected it would be after I saw the breathtaking E3 footage. Nnnnope. This game, had I known how completely-and-utterly boring it would be, I'd have only purchased it for $15 USD. Like, yeah! Yeah this game sure is fun! But you know what's more fun? Nintendogs. At least currency in that game actually worth something. Yeah, you heard me.

    Hacking in this game is nothing more than pressing A to Jump. That is to say, hacking isn't hard. Hacking isn't interesting. Hacking is so easy that it actually feels kind of pointless. There's a couple of things you can do to hack in this game; press button to steal money, press same button to listen in on phone call, press same button to create a distraction, press same button to explode a transformer, press same bu- do you get it? In five minutes, you've gotten enough money to buy every gun in the game. You are not a cool hacker, either. You're just a person who times somebody stepping on a pipeline before making it go off but not in a cool I'M A HACKER way but in a "I pressed jump before I got to the goomba" way. When you finally do get to hack into a computer sort of thing- you get presented with what I must conclude is their attempt at a "puzzle". Most of them are timed but... as long as you don't click anything you get to stare at it for as long as you'd like until you get it. If you don't get it in time, then you get to start over. So it's POINTLESS. It's not even complicated either. It's like one of those old pipe games where you move the pipes so water goes through. Not exactly a puzzle...

    You're expected to ""hack"" when you're infiltrating buildings, but by that I mean; you need to kill everyone in an area, and conveniently people are standing around a lot of explosives that you can "jump the goomba" on. They also expect you to shoot people here though. I go for the sniper. Granted, if it didn't take so much patience and annoyance on top of that, this would probably be fun for me. I explode who I can, and then I snipe out the rest. It is all rather tedious though.

    Then after that you have these Car Chase Scenes!!!1!1!11 They are completely unimpressive. They expect you to hack while you're doing these car chases? But with the exception of making draw bridges go up or turning green lights red and a few others, you can't really have the control to hack. I don't even understand what it wants me to do when it tells me to press my jumping goomba button. Like what am I doing? Granted if I could drive while looking behind my car, it would probably make sense, and I could understand why their car blew up; but I can't as it is. If you don't go to international waters, then these chase scenes are long, and their boring, and they're INCREDIBLY redundant. Actually the hacking and sniping is redundant too but.. this is more so.

    These are the two main game play things we get in the game. "Car Chase, Hack/Snipe, Car Chase, Car Chase, Hack/Snipe, Car Chase, Car Chase", UGH.

    The plot though... is awful. Like it really is. But not as awful as our really bad main character. Lackluster plot aside, our main character is not just "morally gray", he's downright **** After his sister's daughter dies because of HIM (why they didn't kill him instead of his neice who ****ing knows) she asks him to stop all of this **** because it got her daughter killed and it's going to get her and her son killed! He's all "But vengeance!!!!" and then wouldn't you know it it literally puts his sister and her son in danger. Again like why don't these people just kill this dude instead of "punishing him through people around him"? Ah right game devs are incompetent and don't know how to motivate characters, right. Anywho- I'd be fine playing a really **** character if the game I was playing them in didn't KEEP MAKING THEM OUT TO BEING HEROES. Cause this guy? He's despicable. He doesn't care about ANYONE except his reputation! Like, hope you weren't planning to get mugged today! This guy doesn't care and even though he knows you're getting mugged he wont lift a finger until you're already ****ed over. You're welcome! ..literally that's in the rules. If you save the person too soon you're penalized.

    This game could have been something great but instead it's just churned out old and tired tropes and gameplay.    … Expand
  75. Vadim1989
    Jul 2, 2014
    0
    Russian: Вы помните уёбищную оптимизацию GTA IV для ПК? Оптимизация Watch Dogs ещё уёбищнее!
    Вы помните геймплей с Е3 2012? Это просто наебалово!
    Уёбищный сюжет. Уёбищная физика. Уёбищное управление. Скучные и повторяющиеся миссии. Уёбищный геймплей. Уёбищная концовка. Уёбищный хакинг. Безмозглые NPC. Press X to Hack. Дохуя багов! Что за факт? Эта игра просто наебалово! English: You    Russian: Вы помните уёбищную оптимизацию GTA IV для ПК? Оптимизация Watch Dogs ещё уёбищнее!
    Вы помните геймплей с Е3 2012? Это просто наебалово!
    Уёбищный сюжет. Уёбищная физика. Уёбищное управление. Скучные и повторяющиеся миссии. Уёбищный геймплей. Уёбищная концовка. Уёбищный хакинг. Безмозглые NPC. Press X to Hack. Дохуя багов!
    Что за факт? Эта игра просто наебалово!
    English: You remember the terrible optimization GTA IV for PC? Watch Dogs optimization in even worse!
    Do you remember the gameplay from E3 2012? This game is a lie!
    Poor story. Terrible physics. Horrible driving. Boring and repetitive missions. Boring gameplay. Stupid ending. Boring hacking. Stupid AI. Press X to Hack. A lot of bugs and glitches!
    What the Fuсk? This game is just disappointing!    … Expand
  76. ibbie
    Sep 27, 2014
    1
    This game is like Cancer, You don't wan't it but you still get it in the end...

    This game is **** **** **** and even more ****!
    If you have a beast rig then expect 30 fps as a max on ultra and 50 fps on low!
    Uplay is the reason for Japan's high suicide rate! -_-
  77. 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
  78. 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.
  79. JadeRegent
    Oct 20, 2014
    3
    --The Characters--

    Watch Dogs is a game full of wonderfully creative characters with interesting motivations and backgrounds, unfortunately the main character isn't one of them. Attempting to get away from the whole "dead wife and kids" theme that many games that feature male protagonists that have lost someone go with they really didn't hurt anything going instead with "dead niece".    --The Characters--

    Watch Dogs is a game full of wonderfully creative characters with interesting motivations and backgrounds, unfortunately the main character isn't one of them. Attempting to get away from the whole "dead wife and kids" theme that many games that feature male protagonists that have lost someone go with they really didn't hurt anything going instead with "dead niece". Iraq is an Iraq war vet who took what he learned and brought it back to his neighborhood, turning a group of average gangbangers into a well trained army. Lucky Quinn is an aged Mob Boss who clawed his way to the top. Despite being well into his late 70's he isn't afraid to get his hands dirty when work needs to be done. Aidan Pierce is a hacker with a niece who died entirely because of him, who blames everyone else instead of himself (the person actually responsible) for her death.

    --The Story--

    The story is pretty generic, man with lost loved ones begins searching for those responsible but along the way is faced with a moral dilemma about whether he's doing the wrong things for the right reasons and whether or not at the end of the day he's the bad guy but it's livened up by a pretty interesting cast of supporting characters.

    --Gameplay--

    The gameplay was really hit or miss for me, the combat works really well and while the inclusion of a bullet time ability a little disappointing the ability to use hacking with it helped get me over it. I really enjoy the way the enemy reacts when you fire off some rounds, move to a different location and they'd still be looking for you at that old position, it really made the whole experience feel very organic. Unfortunately, the same thing cannot be said for the driving mechanics. With most cars its like the roads were made of ice most of the time with the way the car's back ends would just go spinning out whenever you'd turn at anything faster than a slow jog. Not sure if this happened to anyone else very often but if the car is moving at anything other than a dead stop, when you get out you'll be doing a combat roll out of the car moving slower than people on the sidewalk, more than once Aidan decided to dive out of this incredibly slow moving car directly into an oncoming garbage truck.

    I say thing about every sandbox game that takes place in a city but its really disappointing how many buildings I can actually walk into. In the Chicago metropolitan area I can walk into MAYBE about one in every 15 buildings. Maybe instead of making the game look so pretty, we work on actually having places to go into.

    Finally the hacking, while an interesting concept most of the time you'll forget about interacting with the environment via hacking unless the game is forcing you to. Why hack the streetlights or a bridge when you can just use the Jam Comms ability and prevent the police from even being called in the first place. Why use environmental explosives when I have a pump action grenade launcher.

    --Summary--

    Watch Dogs plays like a cross between Grand Theft Auto and Assassins Creed with the little hacking gimmick thrown in. Unfortunately the various pieces of this game do not coalesce into anything more than mildly entertaining. It gets boring a few hours in after you've tried most of the hacking tricks out a few times and realize how shallow the system actually is.    … Expand
  80. BigBossReviews
    Feb 3, 2015
    3
    Another piece of overhyped trash released by UBISOFT, I made the mistake of preordering this game, and threw my $60 dollars down the fu*king drain. This game is a prime example of terrible PC ports, since this game is an avid supporter of console parity, although, this being the PC, modders are in the works, trying to fix this game, and yet Ubisoft is putting out patches to wipe these modsAnother piece of overhyped trash released by UBISOFT, I made the mistake of preordering this game, and threw my $60 dollars down the fu*king drain. This game is a prime example of terrible PC ports, since this game is an avid supporter of console parity, although, this being the PC, modders are in the works, trying to fix this game, and yet Ubisoft is putting out patches to wipe these mods out. FU*K THIS GAME, AND FU*K UBISOFT!… Expand
  81. 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.
  82. EricFate
    Jul 18, 2015
    1
    A waste of potential from beginning to end. Inconsistent writing, non-sequitur mini games, a lead character with no redeeming characteristics, and a tedious open world in which there is no joy to be had from simple exploration. Save your money and get Sleeping Dogs or Saints Row instead. They both understand that games require an element of fun first and foremost. All this game does isA waste of potential from beginning to end. Inconsistent writing, non-sequitur mini games, a lead character with no redeeming characteristics, and a tedious open world in which there is no joy to be had from simple exploration. Save your money and get Sleeping Dogs or Saints Row instead. They both understand that games require an element of fun first and foremost. All this game does is demonstrate why the marketing team should never be given sway over the design team. Once you get past the hype, this game reveals itself to be nothing more than a pile of hot garbage.… Expand
  83. domadordepollos
    Jul 13, 2014
    3
    THIS LOOKS AMAZING! in the trailer ;)
    Graphics are sincerely dreadful, unfinished edges, unpolished textures... lacking detail.
    Its true that you can hack, but its not worth for the 60 bucks you spend on it.
  84. Rizwan
    Jun 29, 2015
    0
    Actually, I was waiting for this game from 2013. The release date was always making late. At last it was released in May 2014. I was eagerly waiting for it. But when I played it , it greatly disappointed me. The graphics of the trailer was great, But in the game, Huh !!!!! Really a disappointing piece of **** !!!!!
  85. BoltarCavanaugh
    Jul 12, 2014
    0
    The story and the characters are made on a OK-quality level, the graphics are OK too, the gameplay is working, so are the mechanics. Its a bit like GTA, but in a hippster-dress. There are some annoying bugs and the physics are just..funny.
  86. baevar
    Dec 27, 2014
    0
    Sigh Metacritic site error on first review, so here's the short version:

    Would never play because it has Uplay...and I have an AMD card. Never had a chance to earn points, 0/10 wake the F up Ubisoft, your brand is tanking over DRM that only hurts paying customers and offers literally zero benefit to the consumer. Yes I know there's points and unlock rewards; but Ubi is extracting    Sigh Metacritic site error on first review, so here's the short version:

    Would never play because it has Uplay...and I have an AMD card.

    Never had a chance to earn points, 0/10 wake the F up Ubisoft, your brand is tanking over DRM that only hurts paying customers and offers literally zero benefit to the consumer. Yes I know there's points and unlock rewards; but Ubi is extracting those reward elements from a normal game, and sticking it into its DRM; completely unnecessary; let me unlock things for the games I play because of things I do in the game, not add some unnecessary reward points layer just to justify really bad and invasive DRM that has in the past not even let me play games I own because it can't connect to its own servers even though I'm online, or the stupid Uplay client crashes in the background. Clean up your act Ubi; here's an old addage about customer service for ya "Ignore your customers and they'll go away"    … Expand
  87. asdgfasgagag
    Sep 11, 2014
    0
    No spoilers. Honest and quick review. Hello. OK first things first. Most of us were hyped about this game. Maybe we expected more than it delivers. As this is a review for the PC version, I have to inform you that the port is a sloppy job.
  88. E71
    Jul 22, 2014
    1
    Very poorly optimized for PC:

    - It doesn't allow binding of certain keys (backspace, enter, pgup, pgdn, etc) so if you're an old-school gamer using arrow keys, you may need to resort to clumsy solutions like AHK (allows you to rebind but it won't change in-game on-screen prompts). - Runs poorly even on high-end systems with the most annoying stuttering (sinuous frame rate). Tested    Very poorly optimized for PC:

    - It doesn't allow binding of certain keys (backspace, enter, pgup, pgdn, etc) so if you're an old-school gamer using arrow keys, you may need to resort to clumsy solutions like AHK (allows you to rebind but it won't change in-game on-screen prompts).

    - Runs poorly even on high-end systems with the most annoying stuttering (sinuous frame rate). Tested both "High" and "Ultra" @ 1080p on a Core i7-3770K with 32GB DDR3 memory, R9 290 4GB GPU, HW RAIDED SSDs, felt like my computer was seriously outdated.

    - Uninnovative control scheme... One too many individual binds. For example, the cover system is a frustratingly awkward mess -- press one key to take cover, another to exit?! Why not a single key for both, like Mass Effect 3's cover system? This is only made worse by the inability to bind other keys in that area of the keyboard...

    - Forced (negative) mouse acceleration... when you're trying to "fine aim" the crosshairs at your target, it feels like you're moving your mouse in thick mud. The GamerProfile.xml "fix" doesn't really help that.

    - Can't adjust/change mouse wheel up/down ("next weapon"/"previous weapon"). I use the mouse wheel too but I need it inverted.

    At least it never crashed on me, for which I give it 1 point out of 10.

    All in all, games are supposed to be fun but I experienced frustration for much of the play through so...

    TRY HARDER UBISOFT!!    … Expand
  89. 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.
  90. DaveAus
    Sep 3, 2014
    1
    While it tries to make the open world genre feel more modern and relevant. It takes what could of been a great social media privacy commentary and turns it into a generic shooter, with an open world that is incredible empty and lifeless.

    The brief and random descriptions you get from street walking NPC's seems more like an attempt to hide how dumb and pointless they are, then add    While it tries to make the open world genre feel more modern and relevant. It takes what could of been a great social media privacy commentary and turns it into a generic shooter, with an open world that is incredible empty and lifeless.

    The brief and random descriptions you get from street walking NPC's seems more like an attempt to hide how dumb and pointless they are, then add individuality to them.

    The 'Press x to hack' aspect is almost completely useless in actual game play apart from scripted segments in a few missions. Unlike the misleading trailers, hacking the world around your opponents is more of a waste of time then tactically useful. Popping out from cover and shooting/throwing grenades is the most efficient way to kill enemies, nothing new.

    The graphics are sub par, and it can't help but draw comparisons to Grand Theft Auto 5, a game that came out a year earlier, yet looks better and has more to do.    … Expand
  91. Gawee08
    Nov 25, 2014
    2
    Watch_Dogs had a lot of potential but Ubisoft managed to somehow mess up Watch_Dogs in a way they have never done before (Including Unity, which was a great game but it had bad optimization). I love Ubisoft (Even if they make terrible PC ports) but Watch_Dogs is a terrible game that no one should have to play, even on PC. It was filled with glitches, poor optimization, missing featuresWatch_Dogs had a lot of potential but Ubisoft managed to somehow mess up Watch_Dogs in a way they have never done before (Including Unity, which was a great game but it had bad optimization). I love Ubisoft (Even if they make terrible PC ports) but Watch_Dogs is a terrible game that no one should have to play, even on PC. It was filled with glitches, poor optimization, missing features that they showed at E3 and bad graphics compared to today's standards.

    Watch_Dogs follows Aiden Pearce, a man who's niece was killed which made Aiden Pearce go on a quest to find the man who murdered her and take revenge. Aiden Pearce is a hacker who uses his phone to hack objects such as traffic lights, transformers, street pipes and generally most electronics in the futuristic city of Chicago.

    Gameplay for Watch_Dogs was average, but hacking was terrible. The hacking puzzles were mediocre and unoriginal, the normal hacking was just hold Q to hack and the shooting was.. meh.

    Aiden Pearce is the blandest character Ubisoft has made, he is more bland than Connor from Assassin's Creed 3. Aiden Pearce does not have any personality, his story is filled with cliches and he never shows any signs of emotion. Aiden Pearce is not likable or relatable due to the fact that he shows no signs of emotions or any personality.

    Watch_Dogs has many bugs, poor optimization, bad graphics, average gameplay and a terrible story. No one except for diehard Ubisoft fans should play Watch_Dogs as it is just not fun to play and the ending is a major let-down. I recommend you don't play this game unless you really want to. Ubisoft showed many great things at E3 but in the end, they downgraded graphics and took out many features that would've been great.    … Expand
  92. NickPreveza
    Aug 23, 2014
    1
    Is this game bad ? No .
    Does it deserve 1/10 ? Hell , no - its a 6 .
    Is the pc version any good ? No , NOPE , NO .
    There is nothing to talk about this , just dont buy it for pc - go console or just dont . Even the ridiculous amound i paid for it ( 15 ) is not worth it .
  93. 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
  94. 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
  95. iansarmy1
    Oct 25, 2014
    3
    A terrible, broken, downgraded PC port that Ubisoft simply walked away after only a paltry effort of trying to fix it. Even it runs smoothly on your system you're really just buying a very mediocre GTA clone. Don't reward Ubisoft for dumping this clunker on PC gamers.
  96. lolmaster3267
    Jul 11, 2014
    0
    Hmm........Needs MoreHmm........Needs More Dogs................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................… Expand
  97. cobblers76
    Dec 6, 2015
    0
    The developers spent their money on marketing rather than making a good game.

    This is all I have to say, so I'll just keep on typing until this review is over 150 character and I can post it.

    DO NOT BUY THIS GAME.
  98. BSim500
    Sep 26, 2014
    2
    Good Lord, where to start?

    Controls : Badly ported consolized controls (mouse speed all over the place & inconsistent from one menu to the next, 1 second laggy delay in all movements (compared to 0.3-0.6s in most fluid games), smartphone menu is a simulated analog stick, predictive targeting keeps jumping about, cannot crouch or jump without "contextual" actions, "uncovering" takes a    Good Lord, where to start?

    Controls : Badly ported consolized controls (mouse speed all over the place & inconsistent from one menu to the next, 1 second laggy delay in all movements (compared to 0.3-0.6s in most fluid games), smartphone menu is a simulated analog stick, predictive targeting keeps jumping about, cannot crouch or jump without "contextual" actions, "uncovering" takes a few seconds to "unstick" from a wall, combat feels massively clunky, sluggish aiming and poor "gunplay" in general.

    Driving : BADLY game-breakingly broken (long 1s delay in turning regardless of speed, brakes unresponsive, two speeds - stop and 80mph, can't shoot from vehicles, collision detection broken with oncoming traffic & objects), etc. Physics are a joke (everything either weighs 100 tons or is totally weightless and there's no sense of friction on the roads at all).

    AI : Police "rubber-banding" ruins fun of chases, AI characters/cars spawn & despawn 20 meters from you especially during chases, AI broken on crime quests (if you take down a mugger, NPC's will treat you AS the mugger), helicopter locks laser sight on you even when zigzagging at 80mph, side missions get spammed too fast. The city looks alive, but only as long as you don't interact with anything (you can't even talk to anyone), immersion breaking contradictory random tags "HIV positive blood donor", etc.

    Hacking : Nothing more than "Press Q to win" novelty which becomes boring after first 20mins and is nonsensical anyway (hack mechanical steam pipes?), hacking traffic lights ahead merely creates jams in the middle of the road where you want to drive (and pursuing enemies are so close they bypass it), hacking a bridge will simply cause police to "teleport spawn" the other side anyway after 5 seconds, trying to hack behind you (looking back) is impossible without crashing, super annoying hack puzzles.

    Nonsensical plot : Aiden is a "hero" who got his own niece killed whilst committing a crime (then blames everyone else) then since goes on a crime-fuelled rampage - to stamp out crime), Aiden keeps saying he needs to remain anonymous when the authorities and the media mentions him on the news all the time. Aiden doesn’t want to get arrested, so later on he gets arrested in order to break into prison to intimidate a witness there who can identify him even though the police already know who he is and are after him. Missions get ultra repetitive & tedious (I stuck with it for 8hrs up until Act 1 ("Not The Pizza Guy") then gave up out of sheer boredom as they're all the same recycled "meet contact and escape ambush" cut & paste sub-plots that are obvious padding to make the game longer than it should be,

    GFX : Texture pop-in, GFX texture quality low and massively dumbed down from E3 footage (ie, blatantly false & dishonest marketing), poor performance, chronic stutter, missing face texture bug, AMD cards run 20-40% slower than they should, lengthy unskippable cutscenes (made worse by lack of quick/manual saves), alt-Tabbing back & forward loses VSync & triple buffering requiring highly annoying switching from fullscreen to borderless and then back to fullscreen again to avoid 30fps lock in rate (and usual D3Doverrider fix doesn’t work due to game being 64-bit), some building sign textures are low-res & have visible JPEG artifacts.

    Everything else : Dual DRM (Uplay + Steam), no quicksave or multiple save slots (see +300 pages on Ubisoft support forum about game-breaking save-game corruption for why this is important), Some journalists were openly bribed with a free Nexus 7 'gift', long load times, final boss QTE, all that "city scale freedom" and you still get “You are leaving the mission area” messages, people’s metadata feels contrived and on an obvious "random number generator" algorithm after 20-30mins of play, overheard phone conversations reused over & over. 95% of the Skill Tree makes little difference to gameplay, 90% loading screen bug, unbalanced weapons (pistol more powerful than grenade launcher). Ludicrously inefficient (3GB VRAM required for ugly textures complete with JPEG ringing artifacts?)

    Overall : A nasty little PC port of a game that falls way short of what could be great potential. Maybe a sequel will fix what's broken, but this is one wildly over-hyped train-wreck.    … Expand
  99. 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.
  100. localhost
    Oct 6, 2016
    0
    Horrible piece of ****
    Horrible piece of ****
    Horrible piece of ****
    Horrible piece of ****
    Horrible piece of ****
    Horrible piece of ****
    Horrible piece of ****
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
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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