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
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. Armis
    Jun 19, 2014
    6
    Horribly unoptimised for the PC. Chugs along like a fat guy with asthma. Add to that the horrible police rubberbanding (which makes it utterly impossible to ever, EVER lose the cops unless you have a gadget to prevent them spotting you in the first place. Just not fun.
  2. sashaCZn
    May 27, 2014
    7
    When they showed the graphics of Watch Dogs on E3 2012, I was so shocked, I thought it was the true next gen, but Ubisoft are natural LIARS!! If we compare the E3 2012 and the final game graphics, there is just nothing, that they showed.

    Bad Side - Graphics - Optimization - Car Physics - Stupid NPCs - Stupid mini-games - Boring singleplayer - Ubisoft servers (27.5.2014) - Bugs,    When they showed the graphics of Watch Dogs on E3 2012, I was so shocked, I thought it was the true next gen, but Ubisoft are natural LIARS!! If we compare the E3 2012 and the final game graphics, there is just nothing, that they showed.

    Bad Side
    - Graphics
    - Optimization
    - Car Physics
    - Stupid NPCs
    - Stupid mini-games
    - Boring singleplayer
    - Ubisoft servers (27.5.2014)
    - Bugs, crashes, lagging and a lots of more issues
    - Animations
    - Water
    - The City.

    Good Side:
    - The idea - hacking (the realization isn't so bad too)
    Unfortunately that's all on the good side.

    I am so confused. I don't really think, that I will ever pre-order games from Ubisoft.    … Expand
  3. jrob23
    May 27, 2014
    5
    It's just boring. It starts out promising but then gets monotonous and the driving is abysmal. The graphics are only slightly better than PS360. What sounded so promising when it was teased so long ago is just old hat by now and too ambitious. I think Ubi released it a year too early. It needed to be fleshed out more
  4. ynotownemall
    May 29, 2014
    5
    I played this game for about 1.5 hour, then realized I was bored and not having any fun at all. This game is quite simply boring and the graphics are well below par for how hard it rides your system. (i7 gtx660ti and 8gb ram)

    This game is a prime example of why you should never preorder games.

    Steer clear of this crap!!!!
  5. beamkiller
    May 28, 2014
    5
    I have purchased this game in preorder back in April. I have waited for it as a little kid, but Im dissapointed at all.
    I have installed the game via Uplay, I cannot play it a whole day. I got crashes, VCRedist errors, than crash to desktop, everything.
    Now I got in to game, reinstalled the whole game... But the city is a mess, the graphics is not the best, it is not smooth. The cars    I have purchased this game in preorder back in April. I have waited for it as a little kid, but Im dissapointed at all.
    I have installed the game via Uplay, I cannot play it a whole day. I got crashes, VCRedist errors, than crash to desktop, everything.
    Now I got in to game, reinstalled the whole game...
    But the city is a mess, the graphics is not the best, it is not smooth.
    The cars physics is terrible, I didnt see this kind of driver experience back to year 2000 :D.
    Mouse acceleration is stupid, the controls are stupid too.
    Its optimised for controllers not for keyboard and mouse.    … Expand
  6. maximilianschme
    Jun 24, 2014
    5
    I am disapointed...since the E3 2013 i was so excited for this game, an open world hacking game with a nice vehicle physics!
    So i pre-ordered this game...on release i played it...and it was terrible!
    Don't get me wrong, the singleplayer story isn't bad and it is some kind of fun, i mean you always feel like superman with all the powers you got (slow motion, hacking with one button,    I am disapointed...since the E3 2013 i was so excited for this game, an open world hacking game with a nice vehicle physics!
    So i pre-ordered this game...on release i played it...and it was terrible!
    Don't get me wrong, the singleplayer story isn't bad and it is some kind of fun, i mean you always feel like superman with all the powers you got (slow motion, hacking with one button, youcan buy every weapon/item at the start of the game).
    Okay first i will say something about the positives.
    The multiplayer is some kind of nice, no extra loadscreens, you sometimes doesn't even notice it at first.
    The graphics are very nice at night, at day it is "okay" not really nice but it could be worse.
    And i really like, that you really can move into a train, not just "press a button" and see the train in third person like in e.g. GTA IV.
    The shops are very detailed, you have bunch of minigames, there really nice for a short time.
    Also i like the diffrent informations and easter eggs about the people walking in the city.

    But now the worst part of the game...uff where do i start, there is so many.
    The whole world is boring, you can't do something, every building is CLOSED, you can only move into the few shops and THATS IT!? Even in GTA IV you could move in a LOT of Buildings, but in Watch dogs, it's like the whole city is just a background for a movie...and thats how it feel, empty city, just random people.
    Oh and if i talk about people, the "dynamic" missions you can start with people are like 99% the same and totaly Random, only your reputation will increase or decrease if you hurt some civilian.
    And thats the other point, why is there an reputation system? i hate it, it was annyoing in every other game...who decided what is good and what not? I mean cops can kill people and nothing happend.
    Oh Cops, they have a aimbot, they hit you no matter what, but there also very stupid, i think it is because the Console is the lead plattform...
    The weapon handling is not fun, it is way to much, the game really forces you to invest your poinst into the skills, so the weapons are not recoil so extreme.
    The Car physics are worst, it is very arcadig, like some very old need for speed game, you have the feeling driving a box with like no kind of real physics.
    Oh and the car-damagesystem you saw in the E3 presentation? forget it, even Saints'row games have a way better car-damagesystem.
    This game is terrible...i am a big fan of open world games, i love to explore the city, driving arround, i loved to do this in the gta series, because the car physics, the npc physics and the car-damagemodel were amazing, watch dogs has something from the 90s..    … Expand
  7. DanielCorfour
    May 28, 2014
    5
    Being hyped as the herald of the new generation, Watch Dogs fails utterly and it turns out to be a continuation of the old one. With the exception of the central mechanic: hacking, there is nothing new or fresh about the game, whether it is the:

    -cliche-ridden, generic story -cliche ridden generic characters -protagonist with a Christian Bale-esque Batman voice, whose main trait is    Being hyped as the herald of the new generation, Watch Dogs fails utterly and it turns out to be a continuation of the old one. With the exception of the central mechanic: hacking, there is nothing new or fresh about the game, whether it is the:

    -cliche-ridden, generic story
    -cliche ridden generic characters
    -protagonist with a Christian Bale-esque Batman voice, whose main trait is being a generic protagonist "who didn't ask for this"
    -gameplay elements that we've all seen in other open-world tomfoolery sandboxes.

    The game's biggest fault however is that it tries to be something it's not. There is a sort of cognitive dissonance going on between gameplay-story-premise. The game really tries to convince you that you're some kind of hero, with even a reputation system tracking how much of a c*nt you are. But it fails entirely because the only way to make money is by stealing it, and being an A-hole, despite the reputation system, has no consequence whatsoever. You can kill thousands of innocent people, cause billions worth of damage, and still be the "hero" at the end of the day. These types of game have always been about running around doing crazy things. And while others, like GTA and Saint's Row, wear it on their sleeves, this game tries to pretend the whole way through that it's a "Good little boy". And that kind of thing just sticks out like a 50 year old man pretending to be a hip and cool guy.

    Aside from that, the game is generally solid. The mechanics that are there are good enough, there are plenty of things to do, and hacking, while incredibly easy and using only a single button for everything, is generally fun.

    The fun however can be severely interrupted by some serious framerate issues. The optimization for this game is terrible. So are the controls. The whole game was designed with the console in mind, and they couldn't be bothered to make a decent PC port. Don't buy this for PC. I mean it. Stay the hell away from the PC version. If you're desperate then but it for PS4, otherwise wait till Ubisoft or some modder fixes the optimization.    … Expand
  8. calbertuk
    May 30, 2014
    5
    Decent take on an open world though slightly disappointing due to zero optimization done by Ubisoft. The game doesn't look good at all compared to recent high profile releases and that's even with decent specs. Story is unoriginal and drags on and on and game tends to get quite repetitive. Not an awful game but not what we'd been expecting.
  9. lmah
    May 30, 2014
    5
    The game is very buggy at launch, it should have been in beta but I guess developers think it is okay to release AAA games in this state now, all they are doing is disappointing their fans, they could have kept this in beta for a few more months and polished it up more. Without disappointing anyone. The state the game is in makes it look like a blatant money grab, they had greatThe game is very buggy at launch, it should have been in beta but I guess developers think it is okay to release AAA games in this state now, all they are doing is disappointing their fans, they could have kept this in beta for a few more months and polished it up more. Without disappointing anyone. The state the game is in makes it look like a blatant money grab, they had great marketing for this game but released a poor product, hopefully they fix the problems so they don't completely lose their fanbase.

    The bullshots kinda ticked me off, the game looked amazing, then once you actually play the game it definitely looks last-gen and not even impressive last-gen... average. I have the settings maxed out, down sampled from 1440p and tested all the AA methods and it is blurry. Also something is definitely wrong with the ultra textures they create stuttering even on my Titan Black, 840 Pro SSDs, 16gb of Ram and 4770k (@4.5ghz) processor. Had to turn them down to High to remove the stuttering.

    Ubi fix your game seriously and improve it. Make it the game we expected.    … Expand
  10. kavinh
    May 29, 2014
    5
    Oh boy this has gotta be one of the biggest screw ups ever. So firstly the guys who bought the game got screwed flat and simple, uplay is required to run the game and it's broken for alot of players making it impossible to install the game to begin with. Secondly the game has day 1 dlc in the form of "deluxe" edition ripping out roughly 2-3 hours of game content. Ironically the pirates gotOh boy this has gotta be one of the biggest screw ups ever. So firstly the guys who bought the game got screwed flat and simple, uplay is required to run the game and it's broken for alot of players making it impossible to install the game to begin with. Secondly the game has day 1 dlc in the form of "deluxe" edition ripping out roughly 2-3 hours of game content. Ironically the pirates got the game out 3 days earlier then release and there's already a uplay crack allowing players to skip the whole uplay process making the game actually run.

    Now onto the game putting aside the fact that it runs like trash on amd cards, the game is quite literally a gta clone, the hacking aspects are supposedly the highlights of the game but there's not really anything there. You can scan for profiles blow up/hack things but the game itself feels like a modded version of gta. The story is mediocore typical guy's family member dies, hunts down the culprits.

    What annoys me the most is that the game's world has nothing that makes it attractive, there's no interaction with others in the world outside of robbing their banks and a basic mechanic of stopping crimes before they start which quite literally is go to the area find the guy wait till a bar glows red then chase after him.

    The hype is honestly not worth it, it's just an average game with a mediocre story and honestly from the hours I've played I'd rather just play gta 4 again.    … Expand
  11. Armin
    May 28, 2014
    5
    This game is a huge disappointment. If you expected anything from E3 2012 when the game was first revealed with a demo. The game was overhyped. Not even the mission from E3 2012 is in this game. Most of the missions provide no excitement. The story starts off great with the first mission but then it just runs off a cliff. Its almost as if minimum effort was put onto the story speciallyThis game is a huge disappointment. If you expected anything from E3 2012 when the game was first revealed with a demo. The game was overhyped. Not even the mission from E3 2012 is in this game. Most of the missions provide no excitement. The story starts off great with the first mission but then it just runs off a cliff. Its almost as if minimum effort was put onto the story specially when there could of been so much potential. As for overall gameplay, they seem to try to mimic a hitman style of gameplay in the missions. There are a couple of bugs but some things that seem more of a miss.

    The only thing that is good about this game is the police AI. Thats the only part they did well in. Police chases are great on foot and in the car.    … Expand
  12. badd3vil
    May 28, 2014
    5
    1. stupid physics.
    2. CARS(((
    3.. And finally - this game is unoptimized sh*t.. run slowly on my 8gb and 7970 with high setting..
    this is not NextGen.. I worry about AC Unity..
  13. op8
    Jun 2, 2014
    5
    4.5/10
    Its good fun for the first couple or so hours, then the novelty quickly wears off and it all just gets so boring and repetitive.
    They try and entice you to do all the side crap, but its just boring busy work. Fundamentally the game is over simplified. Its very "last gen" in appearance (I hate using that word but ppl will understand what I mean). -graphically unimpressive.    4.5/10
    Its good fun for the first couple or so hours, then the novelty quickly wears off and it all just gets so boring and repetitive.
    They try and entice you to do all the side crap, but its just boring busy work.
    Fundamentally the game is over simplified.
    Its very "last gen" in appearance (I hate using that word but ppl will understand what I mean).

    -graphically unimpressive.
    -stuff like baked on lighting.
    -too many plain looking textures. (I have a monster of a rig and play on the highest settings @ 1440P).
    -character modelling looks plain and very last gen (but hey, they've made sure your coat tails wave around like crazy!!)
    -reflections on windows that don't match what they are reflecting because its all just drawn on. (seriously its really bad)
    -lack of bullet physics (e.g.no bullet splashes when firing into water).
    -hilariously bad A.I.
    -lack of overall realistic physics simulation.
    -duller then dishwater main character.
    -reasoning and motivation behind story lines is totally weird.
    (apparently if you walk into a prison with a gun and give yourself up
    you will get booked into the prison automatically like it was a Hotel, and get put into a cell within minutes).
    -did I mention the main character was dull?

    I mention the graphics because the game was billed as being a great looking innovative game,
    but it is nothing of the sort.

    I wont go into the performance issues, but its safe to say this is one *seriously* badly optimised PC game.
    There's tonnes of other stuff that makes this a below average game experience, but I think you get the picture.    … Expand
  14. fredinator
    Jun 5, 2014
    5
    Watch Dogs failed to deliver its main aspect and that is hacking. Sure you can hack everything but it feels like you just push buttons remotely. Instead they tried to copy GTA and added some hacking to it
    But they really failed with the multiplayer. There are so many problems with it that I don't want to write them all. Just know this. It does not work very well and when it works you may    Watch Dogs failed to deliver its main aspect and that is hacking. Sure you can hack everything but it feels like you just push buttons remotely. Instead they tried to copy GTA and added some hacking to it
    But they really failed with the multiplayer. There are so many problems with it that I don't want to write them all. Just know this. It does not work very well and when it works you may be getting a deathmatch rather than something with hacking.
    The singleplayer is not bad but it isn't very good either. If you can get the game for around 30 that is fair.
    The DLCs btw. are mostly all ripoffs.    … Expand
  15. Type4101
    Jun 10, 2014
    5
    Another lazy port in a long-line of lazy ports, Watch Dogs is a game that has too many other problems to suffer from poor optimization that should have been seen coming for miles. Ubisoft always does this, and it can no longer stand. The game itself should be solid--if a bit derivative--but many technical issues hold it back, and design decisions seem geared towards "dumbing down" theAnother lazy port in a long-line of lazy ports, Watch Dogs is a game that has too many other problems to suffer from poor optimization that should have been seen coming for miles. Ubisoft always does this, and it can no longer stand. The game itself should be solid--if a bit derivative--but many technical issues hold it back, and design decisions seem geared towards "dumbing down" the gameplay for reasons unknown. It is as if the developer believes people want less depth and creativity than other games in the genre provide. In the end, Watch Dogs is not the worst game, but doesn't live up to the massive hype. Sales have been brisk (I bought it too), so Ubisoft will certainly not learn a lesson from this one. I expect more poor quality games and lazy ports from the company until people stop buying the broken releases.… Expand
  16. Bloquer
    May 28, 2014
    5
    In a few words, hype have killed this game. Ubisoft now you have a big crap in your hands, how will you fix it? Now you only need to make a DLC with follow and hack missions to destroy it
  17. AdrianChan
    May 28, 2014
    5
    Watch_Dogs is a disappointment. It is kind of repetitive and the driving is one of the worst I have ever seen. Graphics are good but not impressive.4 Digital trips are actually quite boring. It is something that you only play once and you will never touch it again.
    but it has introduce some interesting new elements to the genre. The story is not bad and I personally think that the    Watch_Dogs is a disappointment. It is kind of repetitive and the driving is one of the worst I have ever seen. Graphics are good but not impressive.4 Digital trips are actually quite boring. It is something that you only play once and you will never touch it again.
    but it has introduce some interesting new elements to the genre. The story is not bad and I personally think that the multiplayer is quite good too. Besides, it has a massive open world for player to explore and there is a lot to do in the city
    It at least deserves a pass and it is definitely not a 0 or 3
    Quite a lot of improvements is needed. If they plan for a sequel they must not let us down again like this one.    … Expand
  18. Fosco1
    May 29, 2014
    5
    The game itself is beautiful, the graphics is good, so is the story and the gameplay, and believe me... it doesn't lag so much to me.
    BUT UBISOFT'S SERVERS... AND THE BUGS AND CRASHES...
  19. whatzitooya
    May 31, 2014
    5
    Watch Dogs' Disrupt is a new engine developed specifically for this game. It's based on the Assassin's Creed series' Anvil Engine and Far Cry 2 & 3's Dunia Engine which i could not ask for a better combination. But really though this one is a total disappointment. While undoubtedly beautiful, watch dogs has, surprisingly, a decent amount of glitches. Not to mention the stutter whichWatch Dogs' Disrupt is a new engine developed specifically for this game. It's based on the Assassin's Creed series' Anvil Engine and Far Cry 2 & 3's Dunia Engine which i could not ask for a better combination. But really though this one is a total disappointment. While undoubtedly beautiful, watch dogs has, surprisingly, a decent amount of glitches. Not to mention the stutter which indicates the lack optimization for PC. The worst part for me is the AI, they're really dumb, even though Disrupt's AI is based on Dunia. I even dare to say that Far Cry 3's psychotic and insane pirates are far smarter than any enemies in Watch Dogs. And the mechanics are too repetitive, many different tasks ended up on you chasing off the main target. Also, i won't advise you to get all of the unlockables since some of them involves a long and boring activities like playing a texas hold em poker or drinking challenges. Overall this is a very boring game, except if you want to know the main story.… Expand
  20. barney0001
    May 28, 2014
    5
    Was looking forward to Watch_Dogs, paid good money for it, it's utter bollax.

    Bullet points:- -Doesn't work properly on Nvidia Surround, didn't they test it in 4 years development!? -Bugs!! -Constant FPS drop outs on high end PC, massively so when driving -Bad driving -GFX are nice to be fair, shadows are awful though Hopefully they'll improve things with a patch or two,    Was looking forward to Watch_Dogs, paid good money for it, it's utter bollax.

    Bullet points:-
    -Doesn't work properly on Nvidia Surround, didn't they test it in 4 years development!?

    -Bugs!!

    -Constant FPS drop outs on high end PC, massively so when driving

    -Bad driving

    -GFX are nice to be fair, shadows are awful though

    Hopefully they'll improve things with a patch or two, until then DO NOT BUY!

    UPDATE:

    OK, you make this game playable, try these tips:-

    -Use a controller, I'm using a 360 USB PC controller
    -Use the -disablepagefilecheck method of launching the game
    -Set your PC GFX like this to help stop FPS problems:- (Thanks to whoever wrote this)

    Refresh, Aspect Ration, and VSync are grayed out because...
    Window Mode: Borderless. This helps with FPS
    GPU Max Buffered Frames: 1. I read that nVidia cards work better with 1, so I just set it like that
    Textures: High
    Anti-Aliasing: Off
    Widescreen Letterbox: Off
    Graphics Quality
    Level of Detail: High
    Shadows: Medium
    Reflections: Medium
    Ambient Occlusion: HBAO+ Low
    Motion Blur: Off
    Depth of Field: Off
    Water: Medium
    Shader: Medium

    With these tips the game becomes playable at least, the driving still needs attention but the games not too bad.

    Good luck!    … Expand
  21. JackRB
    May 28, 2014
    5
    This is probably the biggest let down of the year for me. I had such high hopes for this game as I'm sure most people did. The game has the following main problems:
    -This game is too damn short! It is the same with most Ubisoft games nowadays but this took one day of playing it about 13 hours to complete the main storyline. I like games with long storylines and the GTA series has always    This is probably the biggest let down of the year for me. I had such high hopes for this game as I'm sure most people did. The game has the following main problems:
    -This game is too damn short! It is the same with most Ubisoft games nowadays but this took one day of playing it about 13 hours to complete the main storyline. I like games with long storylines and the GTA series has always got this right with the quickest person to complete it getting it done in around 24 hours which is pretty impressive.
    -The dialogue is bad, I mean it is ridden with clichés and you don't feel attached to characters, in particular Ray and Aiden the title character. You literally spend 4 missions going from a bar fight to Ray moving in with you and joining your team. Clara is also boring and I really just don't feel any emotion or attachment to any characters. Aiden was marketed as a hero and vigilante but the only real way to make money is to hack into innocent peoples bank accounts.
    -It ends up in the later missions just becoming bloodbaths while at first yes you can hack and sneak around and use security cameras, which was pretty cool, it ended up just being a few circuit boards that you can blow up and that's about it, and I found myself using my Assault Rifle more than anything else.
    -The game is unfinished, while yes the core game is there, I noticed a whole host of things were missing from the game or unused; vehicle horns are there but you're the only person who actually uses them, you are the only person capable of driving motorbikes and as no factions can use boats, you can escape from virtually any chase in a boat. Until you get to later missions and snipers shooting the boat a few time causes it to explode, or often when you crash into another boat it just disappears and you are left to swim.
    -The hacking offers little freedom, the hacking opportunities become scripted events where you `ride cameras` to get to a destination and there is no freedom involved here as there is a set path that you have to take and then hack into and then you're done.

    The positives were as follows:
    -The first mission, well the first few, were really cool and set a tone for the game that the rest failed to keep up to. For about an hour we had some fun cool missions and it actually seemed that we were going to get emotional development between the characters but we only met Nicky once before she was kidnapped and any chance to give us relate-able characters were all destroyed.
    -The graphics for the most part were solid, but were about the same as Grand Theft Auto's graphics so don't expect any game changers like we were promised.
    -The missions while they lasted while challenging were generally enjoyable and while they did tend to be shoot-outs, that was still a very fun experience, although is astray from what Montreal were originally intending I'm sure.
    -Car crashed are really realistic, by far the best sounding and looking in a game so far, although then they are ruined by the fact that no one ever gets injured or killed in car crashes and when cars go upside down you or an NPC just teleports out of it which breaks immersion in things that otherwise look pretty cool.    … Expand
  22. atkinsonandrew
    May 31, 2014
    5
    Played it and completed the story on a PS4. This game was hyped up a lot. The ads and demonstrations prior to launch didn't reflect the tone of the game very well. I couldn't help but think the story was trying to strike the same chord as The Last of Us did, but it didn't at all. The characters were all pretty hate-able, especially Aiden Pearce, the main character. He's completely insanePlayed it and completed the story on a PS4. This game was hyped up a lot. The ads and demonstrations prior to launch didn't reflect the tone of the game very well. I couldn't help but think the story was trying to strike the same chord as The Last of Us did, but it didn't at all. The characters were all pretty hate-able, especially Aiden Pearce, the main character. He's completely insane and doesn't understand when to stop. There is hardly any context to the characters' lives before the death of Lena.

    The gameplay felt like a mixture of GTA and Assassin's Creed (which sounds really damn cool), but the execution was pretty poor. It has all the bells and whistles of GTA, but you're forced to sneak around and take enemies out one by one. Hacking isn't very difficult and it get's really repetitive after the first few times.

    The best part of the game are the mini-games. There are at least 6 fully fleshed out mini-games (not including poker) that are pretty fun. I played Spider Tank and NVZN for at least an hour each.

    Multiplayer is practically non-existent. It's not even worth it to try and explain it because it should have just been left out completely. They probably could have made a better game if they had.

    The game does look really nice though. Although there were some glitches and pop-ins here and there, it showed off the PS4's capability well. The character models looked excellent, and the cars look believable. The reflections on the buildings is bad though; the game looks exceptionally better when it's night time (in-game) or when it's raining. Some of the explosions and things you can do are awesome though. Getting away from the cops by raising a bridge and ramping over it is surprisingly satisfying. The black-outs are really cool, especially at night.

    Although it looks nice, it feels limited, and I don't really want to play it now that I've completed the main story. It's forgettable, but I enjoyed causing grandiose explosions and stopping cops with barriers that pop out of the street. Not a next-gen game by any means.    … Expand
  23. Lambretta
    May 27, 2014
    5
    Everybody thought that Watch Dogs would compete with GTA series. The truth is you will see more Assassins Creed and Far Cry in the game than GTA. The story is interesting and lenghty, the hack puzzles are challenging at the end, the fights have their moments BUT THIS DRIVING!!!! Seriously i thought it was a joke on the beggining. You simply cant drive. No physics, no handling, no logic,Everybody thought that Watch Dogs would compete with GTA series. The truth is you will see more Assassins Creed and Far Cry in the game than GTA. The story is interesting and lenghty, the hack puzzles are challenging at the end, the fights have their moments BUT THIS DRIVING!!!! Seriously i thought it was a joke on the beggining. You simply cant drive. No physics, no handling, no logic, nothing. GTA 3/Mafia had better driving than this 12 years ago. I also used a 360 controller on the pc, but still the same.
    The 70% of the missions is "jump the fence, kill everyone, hack this with a puzzle, escape".
    I played the game on realistic difficulty. Every time i just headshot everybody with silenced gun and procced.

    Battlefield 4 for example has very bad driving experience for cars and buggies, but its like the 1% of the game so it doesnt matter. But on watch dogs driving is 50% of the game and important to complete some missions, so it matters and ruins the whole experience. If it wasnt that the game is for 8/10 in my opinion.

    Is Watch Dogs a GTA replacer? No. In any way. All GTA clones always fail to imitate it. It gives the illusion of freedom and sandbox, but its restricted to gossiping citizens, and hacking them for stealing.
    Does WD live up to the hype? ABSOLUTELY not. So much marketing and advertisement before release, everybody expected something extraordinary and revolutionary. Big dissapointment. I feel bad for people who preordered.

    Is WD an OK game? Yes but not perfect. And since you expect perfection, its mediocrity is even more harsh. If you are rich or pirate go ahead and try it. But if you cant afford many games I strongly recomend to wait a GTA 5 release on the PC.    … Expand
  24. Rothy
    Jun 16, 2014
    5
    I would go so far as to describe this game as average. There really doesn't appear to be anything special about it, which is disappointing given all the lead up and hype prior to the games launch.

    Some points that really annoyed me. The driving mechanic felt poor - more akin to driving the Mako from Mass Effect than driving a car in GTA. The hacking - I found the hacking more    I would go so far as to describe this game as average. There really doesn't appear to be anything special about it, which is disappointing given all the lead up and hype prior to the games launch.

    Some points that really annoyed me. The driving mechanic felt poor - more akin to driving the Mako from Mass Effect than driving a car in GTA. The hacking - I found the hacking more challenging in Assassins Creed 4 (A game about pirates) than in this game (a game about HACKING!). There's no attachment to the main character, he's dull, tedious and nothing feels like it has a flow about it - it's just awkward. Also having one button to do almost everything, all you need to do during a car chase or almost anything else if hold 'Q'.

    Dull.    … Expand
  25. Sabatasso
    Jun 5, 2014
    5
    This game is the best example of what's wrong with computer games today;
    A) It has good graphics and a large world where you can go about your own business
    B) It is very simple and pose hardly any resistance; success one way or another is guaranteed for the player What part B coul've said is that it's dumbed down to a level where it's actually an insult to the people who buy the    This game is the best example of what's wrong with computer games today;
    A) It has good graphics and a large world where you can go about your own business
    B) It is very simple and pose hardly any resistance; success one way or another is guaranteed for the player

    What part B coul've said is that it's dumbed down to a level where it's actually an insult to the people who buy the product, which is actually Ubisoft's speciality.

    What do I rate this game at? Well, it's not a 0 but it far from a 10. I'd say 5 is a fair and balanced grade that says everything about this product as a whole.    … Expand
  26. MyklR
    Jun 17, 2014
    5
    I don't understand the complaints about the graphics, this game has freaking outstanding graphics, but that's about where the awesome ends. Driving is crap, once you get moving in the car more than a few blocks, you start to stutter and pause for many seconds at a time and when you get unstuck, you find yourself in a tree or smashed into something else. One button hacking is boring, TheI don't understand the complaints about the graphics, this game has freaking outstanding graphics, but that's about where the awesome ends. Driving is crap, once you get moving in the car more than a few blocks, you start to stutter and pause for many seconds at a time and when you get unstuck, you find yourself in a tree or smashed into something else. One button hacking is boring, The whole "online" aspect of it, people just popping into your game randomly to screw with you is really a massive game killer for me.

    All in all, this game is all hype. Can be fun, wait for a 50% off or more sale to buy it. I got it for free so, I got my money's worth.    … Expand
  27. i_nesm
    May 31, 2014
    5
    I was really looking forward to playing this game, I found the story interesting and original, but the controls are awful, specially the mouse, it's a mess. I don't think I can play it like this.
  28. DaGleese
    May 28, 2014
    5
    Not so impressed so far...

    If I turn a blind eye to the massive problem's I've had with Uplay, and just focus on the core game, my impression so far is the following: Sluggish driving with and without an xbox 360 controller. Your vehicle feels like it is being sucked in to pretty much EVERY obstacle that enters it's proximity The story... I have no idea what is going on to be    Not so impressed so far...

    If I turn a blind eye to the massive problem's I've had with Uplay, and just focus on the core game, my impression so far is the following:

    Sluggish driving with and without an xbox 360 controller. Your vehicle feels like it is being sucked in to pretty much EVERY obstacle that enters it's proximity

    The story... I have no idea what is going on to be honest, just got up to the bit where you meet up with badboy17, and so far... Aiden was at a baseball game... he escapes and causes a blackout, he goes home and sleeps, he goes to a birthday party of a kid with no friends, he kills a pervert, then he meets badboy17. I have no idea what I'm doing here, what I'm fighting for, why am I breaking the law? Perhaps the story develops throughout the game, but at the moment it's really not sunk me into it at all.

    The AI is among the worst I've ever seen. To the point that I'm starting to think it's some kind of optimization problem. The AI somehow knows when you stealthtakedown an enemy NPC in a hidden spot, they know you took him down and they know exactly where you are at all times. Every AI members heads straight to your location on melee takedown and as of that moment you can no longer hack wthout being taken out. The best thing to do is find a bottleneck doorway that they will have to enter thorugh to get ot you and proceed to blast each NPC that enters until they are all dead in a pile of 30 men in the doorway, then step over the bodies and walk through the rest of the mission completely uninhibited and completely bored. I seriously think perhaps my copy is bugged or something, but I tried verifying files etc and it's still the same. This CAN'T be the actual AI of a 2014 game, surely!

    The shooting with mouse and keyboard is bad, the controller is worse! It just feels laggy all the time, I wondered if perhaps it was too much for my PC (Core i7 4770k, gtx 770, 16gb ram) but on fraps I'm getting 50-60FPS at all times using nvidias recomended settings for the game, so I guess this is just how it plays?

    The game just does not feel right to me at all, it doesnt feel fluid, running is like wading through a tar pit and driving is like sliding around on a bar of soap in a bathtub. I really like the concept, but between the so far unremarkable story and just poor core mechanics of the game, I actually don't feel any drive to keep on playing.

    I hope that it is all just an optimization issue, I could handle the poor story if the game was a joy to play, but as it stands at the minute it's buyer's remoarse 101 for me.

    I'll see how this game looks in a while after updates and then I'll update my score and opinion when the game's condition (hopefully) has improved.    … Expand
  29. BigDaddyQc
    Jun 3, 2014
    5
    I'll be quick. nd this is from a legitimte copy from Steam/PC:

    My RIG (Worth more than 3,000$): Windows 8.1 i7-4930k 4ghz 16gb RAM 21330mhz EVGA GTX 780TI Superclocked SSD Pro: -Good idea in general for the idea around the game -Good selection of vehicule -Hacking is fun while driving -Good amount of weapons/Tools -Some good visual effects -Open world with barely no    I'll be quick. nd this is from a legitimte copy from Steam/PC:

    My RIG (Worth more than 3,000$):

    Windows 8.1
    i7-4930k 4ghz
    16gb RAM 21330mhz
    EVGA GTX 780TI Superclocked
    SSD

    Pro:
    -Good idea in general for the idea around the game
    -Good selection of vehicule
    -Hacking is fun while driving
    -Good amount of weapons/Tools
    -Some good visual effects
    -Open world with barely no loading screen
    -Side mission are repetative but entertaining
    -interesting multiplayer
    -Good amount of content/collectibles
    -Interesting skills tree / skills points
    -Slow motion/bullet time hability

    Con:
    -Graphics are nowhere near what was advertised (shame on you Ubisoft)
    -Very badly optimised. Performance/frame rate can vary ALOT. Main issue is STUTTERING. Frame rate can be good most of the time but when you drive a car the game as a very poor way of streaming textures thus the game will have those mirco freeze/stutter. It is unnaceptable to have this kind of performance on a rig of this kind. This game was supposedly developped on PC as the lead Platform. This is a lie and shame on you Ubisoft. You did exactly like Assassin Creed III and IV. But this game runs worst than both.
    -Story is very average.
    -Graphics are not that good. No where near Crysis 3 and/or what was shown at E3 or in every trailers
    -Music is bad
    -Characters are not interesting and pretty dull. Alot of stereotype.
    -Chicago police have no boat?!
    -Car physic/driving is terrible. Very arcade style and not realistic. Breaks immersion in a game where they try to make it real.
    -Money has no purpose. you gain money fast and beside buying gun, you wil quickly have more than 100k and have nothing to do with it. No house or garage to buy.. Only thing left to do with that money is to magically order cars via your phone.
    -No customisation/attachments for your weapons. Gun shops have tons of things but no accessory of any sort.
    -No customisation for car.
    -No way to keep any car. No garage. You do have acces to "safe houses" to rest/safe your game, but they are pretty much useless. Thus the lack of customisation I guess.

    Overall a very average experience 5/10. In this day and age where this kind of open world game will be compared to GTA, this one dont have what it takes to live up to the hype. Those expecting a GTA V with hacking will be dissapointed. The game had no where near the budget of GTA, and I can live with that. But for me, just the fact that this badly optimised PORT from consol and the fasle advertising from all the trailers means that UBISOFT really needs to go back to their hoeworks. Specially after a 6 months + delay.    … Expand
  30. IDeathstalkerI
    Jun 2, 2014
    5
    The more you play the game the more you get bored.. Watch dogs is more like Sleeping dogs, I know you know why.. Because Sleeping Dogs is True Crime that is owned before by ubisoft, Same graphics, and physics just with a different story and characters.. I hate Sleeping dogs car handling but it's playable but in Watch Dogs, it's a pain in the ass! one tap on a key and your car will turn soThe more you play the game the more you get bored.. Watch dogs is more like Sleeping dogs, I know you know why.. Because Sleeping Dogs is True Crime that is owned before by ubisoft, Same graphics, and physics just with a different story and characters.. I hate Sleeping dogs car handling but it's playable but in Watch Dogs, it's a pain in the ass! one tap on a key and your car will turn so sharp like a retard.. I hope that the "The Division" will not suck like this :( the game has a potential but it needs a lot of polishing..… Expand
  31. ARavingDerelict
    May 30, 2014
    5
    Over All: Decent story, good graphics, **** controls, no consequences, annoying multi-player & doesn't know what type of game it wants to be.

    Watch Dogs suffers from many flaws, the biggest of which is that it doesn't know what type of game it wants to be. It's story and characters are decently developed and interesting, but their dark and serious emotional tone is the complete    Over All: Decent story, good graphics, **** controls, no consequences, annoying multi-player & doesn't know what type of game it wants to be.

    Watch Dogs suffers from many flaws, the biggest of which is that it doesn't know what type of game it wants to be. It's story and characters are decently developed and interesting, but their dark and serious emotional tone is the complete opposite of the ridiculous and highly unrealistic game play. The controls are clunky and clumsy, the driving makes GTA look like Grand Turismo and there doesn't appear to be any consequences or continuity.

    Getting killed ends with re spawning with all your guns and money right where you wanted to be anyway. A 40mm grenade will completely take out a car, unless its driven by a rival player then it does next to nothing.

    The multi-player, when working, is more annoying than anything. When you want to play you can only be the aggressor, when you don't want to play you are always the victim with no way to shut it off other than to stop the game and put Uplay in offline mode. You may be about to hack a ctOS point when another player invades your game and you can no longer interact with anything except the new player.

    The hacking is cool from an information perspective, but it gets old fast. You only ever use 1 button for all things, and everything is the same level of difficulty.

    The difficulty makes no sense, instead of making the AI smart enough to understand what your doing the game just gives your attackers the answers. A helicopter spotlight will follow your movements with pinpoint accuracy even if it cant see you. When you surface after hiding cops will just report your location out of nowhere.

    In short, this is your standard Ubisoft / EA game. They spent so much time on the graphics and story that they forgot that people actually PLAY games, rather than just watch them. Games like this make you wonder if the developers of the various aspects have ever actually met each other.

    Over All: Decent story, good graphics, **** controls, no consequences, annoying multi-player & doesn't know what type of game it wants to be.    … Expand
  32. xenochrist
    May 31, 2014
    6
    This game is not good.
    The pc version is even worse.
    The car driving sucks, there is a lag in the steering, the camera sucks, and the damage and speed is **** Also, alot of the game is driving away, which is such a chore. The combat is lame, it is clunky and the no gore makes it really empty feeling. the stealth is fun, but the dumb controls and ai makes any man rage. Exploring the    This game is not good.
    The pc version is even worse.
    The car driving sucks, there is a lag in the steering, the camera sucks, and the damage and speed is **** Also, alot of the game is driving away, which is such a chore.
    The combat is lame, it is clunky and the no gore makes it really empty feeling.
    the stealth is fun, but the dumb controls and ai makes any man rage.

    Exploring the world for unlockables was the only thing i found fun.

    The game overall is a chore to play. each missions is just a mini game with cut scenes. you do the same mini games but at different locations and different 'story' to them.
    the hacking theme is almost childish. 'press q to be a haxooorrrr'    … Expand
  33. DOSfan
    May 27, 2014
    5
    high production values in all the wrong area's. overall just kind of mediocre and one button interactions. the game is ok, but nothing amazing or ground breaking.

    probably should stop making games for 6 platforms and then integrating smart phones.
    but hey, rich ppl gonna make bad games. cuz they don't play games.
  34. TheWalkingFat
    May 27, 2014
    5
    In some aspects this game is amazing, like the technology factor. But it seems to have disappointing graphics. And characters that overall were cliche. I'd rather play a game like GTA than watchdogs
  35. JamesTheThird
    May 28, 2014
    6
    THIS IS NO GTA!

    Let me start by saying that I’m writing this review on the second day after the game has been launched, so there are many issues that may be improved in the future, however my score and the review is based on the current state of game. I was really impressed when I started playing. The first mission gave a hint of what possibilities a player has and there are lots of    THIS IS NO GTA!

    Let me start by saying that I’m writing this review on the second day after the game has been launched, so there are many issues that may be improved in the future, however my score and the review is based on the current state of game.

    I was really impressed when I started playing. The first mission gave a hint of what possibilities a player has and there are lots of them when we are talking about all the interactions except driving, which I will cover later. Blackouts, raising road blocks, messing with street lights, hacking into people’s phones, robbing their bank accounts, listening to private conversations - this is something that has never been available in any other game so far on that scale. The variability of all the tasks/missions you can take up is amazing. Shooting is decent. You can sneak your way in knocking enemies out or shooting them with a silenced pistol or you can shoot your way in with carbines, shotguns, grenades and many other. You can also use a range of many useful gadgets or hack into various devices to blow them up or just to distract enemies. This is all Fun with a capital F.

    Now let’s look at some drawbacks. The game is quite difficult so you will repeat a lot of sequences. It’s only a matter of time when you will get irritated because of the fact that you cannot skip cut-scenes. You can neither save your game whenever you like, since there is only auto-save option. Driving is far from comfortable. Perhaps if you have an Xbox controller (as this is the only supported controller in PC version) things are better, but using a mouse and a keyboard will probably give you a headache. I would say car handling is somewhere between GTA and Saints Row IV - not so bad, but not good enough. Car damage is totally unrealistic. Drive straight into a wall with maximum speed - not only will you survive but your headlights will still be intact. Since this is game that promotes stealth it’s kind of puzzling why it is not possible to shoot lights - the only way to turn them off is to use a blackout gadget or blow a power transformer. The story is dull like Bold and Beautiful TV series. It all revolves around revenge - a motive old and exploited from all possible angles in entertainment. There is no humor. The main character is hard to be liked. The choice of clothes he can wear consists of changing colors mainly. You cannot reject a phone call. You have to get out of a car to start a mission. The reflections in shop windows are not real and look funny. The subtitles are shown in such a way that the last word of a sentence appears in the second line while the first line is already gone, which makes it hard to read. You cannot travel by taxi. You cannot store your vehicles although you can call for any vehicle you have unlocked. The radio resets every time you leave and enter a car. Some may say these are minor drawbacks and it may be true, but there is one that must be stated. You cannot shoot from a car! You may say it’s not a big deal until you have to do a mission, where you have to stop a guy. He has a car, you have a bike. Try to stop a car with a bike with no weapons, driving on a highway where there are no traps, road blocks you can use to your advantage and at the same time 4 other cars are trying to push you out of the road and are shooting with whatever they got. That’s where I got stuck in the game. I cannot abandon the mission, I cannot load a savegame from before, so the only option for me is to try until I succeed (I have tried about 20 times already) or wait for the developers to kindly enable shooting while driving.

    All in all, I strongly advice that you wait for the game to be fixed before you buy it, unless you don’t mind all the things mentioned earlier. I haven’t brought up the online issues, because I believe they will be fixed soon.    … Expand
  36. BalicanBreeze
    Jun 7, 2014
    6
    The port is rather bad, there are a lot of menu and control issues. If those got fixed, the score would probably be raised to a 7 or maybe 8. It's not a bad game, just a bit boring story and outdated mechanics. Some of the mini-games are cute, which certainly raises the score. Inferior to similar open-world games like Sleeping Dogs, Saints Row and GTA. The concept is great, and this gameThe port is rather bad, there are a lot of menu and control issues. If those got fixed, the score would probably be raised to a 7 or maybe 8. It's not a bad game, just a bit boring story and outdated mechanics. Some of the mini-games are cute, which certainly raises the score. Inferior to similar open-world games like Sleeping Dogs, Saints Row and GTA. The concept is great, and this game could have been so much more. It feels rushed, despite the delays.… Expand
  37. Zombinedotrar
    May 27, 2014
    6
    I enjoyed my time with Watch Dogs, however it never managed to live up to expectations or feel more than an average GTA clone. The hacking is the most notable reason for this, as it has become almost completely sidelined instead of the central mechanic of the game. Instead of working on a wheel where you could select the hacks you wanted to use, hacking is now limited to "PRESS Q FORI enjoyed my time with Watch Dogs, however it never managed to live up to expectations or feel more than an average GTA clone. The hacking is the most notable reason for this, as it has become almost completely sidelined instead of the central mechanic of the game. Instead of working on a wheel where you could select the hacks you wanted to use, hacking is now limited to "PRESS Q FOR AWESOME" style situational button prompts. It is very limited and compared to the original E3 footage, highly disappointing. Nothing in the game managed to reach the heights of that footage, and as a result everything ends up feeling rather middling.

    Instead of being a Deus Ex: Human Revolution style look at the moral and ethical problems associated with mass surveillance like it was originally intended, the game is instead a combat heavy open world game. Many times it was just easier and less troublesome to go in guns blazing instead of opting for the stealthier approach. This might have been alright, had the gunplay not been painfully mediocre. The game's arsenal is completely generic and dull, and I managed to go through the game with nothing more than a pistol. one of the other weapons are interesting, and everything feels very limp to fire. Enemy AI is also functionally braindead, resulting in the game feeling very dull and uninteresting to just shoot the place up, while being completely unfulfilling to stealth and hack your way through.

    The story goes from interesting to mundane, and the pacing is usually fairly terrible. The game has many amazing ideas yet never capitalizes on any of them. Though the game opts to go for a GTA clone open world style game, there is almost no attention to detail in the world to make it feel alive like every other GTA has. Even comparing it to GTA IV, a six year old game, feels unfair to Watch Dogs. The city feels bizarrely lifeless and disjointed, with very few small details to make it feel vibrant and alive. Watch Dogs' city is just entirely uninteresting.

    I played the game all the way through on PC, on an i5 4670k and a GTX 770, with 8 GB of RAM. Despite the very high specs I have, the game is so atrociously optimized I couldn't run it at a steady framerate on ultra. I had to lower many of the settings to achieve an acceptable framerate and even then the game was highly unstable, dropping from 60 frames per second down to 20 at the drop of a hat. It is seemingly random. Load times are equally as random, sometimes loading an area in as little as 5 seconds, up to a minute for no apparent reason. The PC optimization was apparently handled by Ubisoft Kiev, who did such an abysmal job it completely took me out of the game for a long time. It is frankly unacceptable that Watch Dogs can only hit an average of 40 FPS on high-ultra settings when I can run Metro: Last Light at 45-50 steady FPS on ultra. LL is a much more graphically advanced game than Watch Dogs, which has absolutely no reason to consume so many resources that results in frankly disappointing graphics.

    While the game looks fairly good at night, and during rain, it simply looks terrible during the day. The daytime lighting is awful, colors are all washed out, shadows are weak and occasionally there are NO shadows in some building interiors. During the day you can also see how low quality many of the art assets are. A lot of the textures look great, but there is a huge disconnect when you go from an area with great textures and lighting to an area with low quality, blurry textures and bad lighting. It is very unpolished graphically, but at least at night you can't see how low quality many of the textures are. I preferred to switch to night time every chance I could because the daylight is just so much worse looking and it has no reason to be. To once again compare it to GTA IV, it looks only slightly better than that game during the day.

    The story mission design is fairly standard, but it's the side content that suffers the most. The minigames are terribly boring, and the crime missions are all literally the exact same foot chase repeated over and over again. You can walk down a single street and might encounter 2-3 crimes, yet they all play out the exact same. This repetitiveness, combined with the lackluster hacking, make the game feel completely hollow. It simply doesn't have anything to set itself apart from other open world games out there like GTA, Sleeping Dogs, or Saints Row.

    It's not all bad though, the game is still fairly enjoyable overall. there is a lot of fun to be had if you can find it. My favorite part of the game was walking around at night profiling strangers. This was surprisingly comfy and enjoyable, and I came back after finishing the game to do it some more. Overall the game is competent but only slightly above mediocre, with a ton of highly disappointing aspects. It's worth a single playthrough, but only the story missions are really worth a look.    … Expand
  38. roflCyclone
    May 27, 2014
    6
    Do you wish this game was GTA V?

    So does Ubi Soft. Driving mechanics are awful, graphics are shoddy, discouragement of offline play is questionable, and the whole game is an attempt to emulate something great rather than create it. Hacking is pretty damn fun, but I'd hoped for more from this game after waiting so long with so much hype surrounding it. If you're desperate, wait till    Do you wish this game was GTA V?

    So does Ubi Soft.

    Driving mechanics are awful, graphics are shoddy, discouragement of offline play is questionable, and the whole game is an attempt to emulate something great rather than create it. Hacking is pretty damn fun, but I'd hoped for more from this game after waiting so long with so much hype surrounding it. If you're desperate, wait till it's on sale. If you're desperate. Definitely not worth $60.    … Expand
  39. diendjap
    May 27, 2014
    6
    Pros:
    - Enjoyable story
    - Graphics are comfy (nowhere near the e3 level though) - Cool concept - Alright multiplayer Cons: - Limited music choice, no radio - Gunplay is generic - Most minigames such as ctOS towers and hacking are copy-pasted from other Ubisoft Montreal games - Ridiculously bad physics - Missions are repetitive - Side missions are boring - Skill tree is useless    Pros:
    - Enjoyable story
    - Graphics are comfy (nowhere near the e3 level though)
    - Cool concept
    - Alright multiplayer
    Cons:
    - Limited music choice, no radio
    - Gunplay is generic
    - Most minigames such as ctOS towers and hacking are copy-pasted from other Ubisoft Montreal games
    - Ridiculously bad physics
    - Missions are repetitive
    - Side missions are boring
    - Skill tree is useless and serves no purpose other than locking out features from you at the beginning of the game
    - AI is underdeveloped
    - Driving isn't arcadey nor realistic, it's outrght bad.
    Overall, the game isn't bad and you can have some fun with it, just don't expect anything groundbreaking.    … Expand
  40. Contrabardus
    May 28, 2014
    7
    I previously gave this game a 4 due to several issues with the game. However, since then I've updated my driver [an update was not available when I first reviewed] and there has been a patch.

    My biggest gripe was that the driving was near unplayable, since then the issue has been fixed. Now, I want to make clear that this is not the best driving game ever. The cars controls have been    I previously gave this game a 4 due to several issues with the game. However, since then I've updated my driver [an update was not available when I first reviewed] and there has been a patch.

    My biggest gripe was that the driving was near unplayable, since then the issue has been fixed. Now, I want to make clear that this is not the best driving game ever. The cars controls have been fixed to the point that they are functional to a reasonable level.

    I was also unable to use a few graphics options due to bugs such as flickering lights, and motion blur not properly working. I am now able to turn all settings up to Ultra and run the game without issues.

    The problem with frames dropping in areas with lots of dynamic lighting has also been cleared up. I think that same issue was what was causing the difficulties with driving the cars.

    At any rate, the game is much better than it was in my initial review. It's not as good as GTA V by any stretch, but there are a lot of fun elements.

    Hacking should be more involved than it is. I get one button for quick hacking options, but the hacking minigame for unlocking the areas could have been used more for some of the more stationary hacking situations, like ATMs and such.

    Graphically it's very pretty, the shooting isn't bad. Again, it's not GTA V, but it took a few cues from that game and it works.

    It's shorter than it should be. For an open world game the campaign is painfully short. There isn't a ton to do in the city, but it'll keep you busy for a week or so if you do everything. Again, it's not GTA V. The graphics are technically better GTA V, but the setting isn't as dynamic. Chicago isn't extremely colorful and diverse, it's got the same issue as GTA IV as the colors are rather bland and the neighborhoods look largely the same. It's realistic, but not visually all that appealing. Details are nice and it looks great on ultra, but the bland urban setting keeps it from being as interesting as GTA V.

    The soundtrack isn't bad, but it's not great. I don't usually turn the tunes off, but rarely pay attention to them.

    Don't expect a GTA clone. It looks a lot like one, and has taken some inspiration from GTA V in the interface and controls. I compared it visually, and yes you can steal cars and create havoc, but this is much more like Infamous meets Assassin's Creed. You're not nearly as nimble as either of those games, but mission structure, story, and the types of activities you'll be doing are more similar to those games than GTA.

    This doesn't live up to the massive hype but, it's still a good game. Things have improved since it was released a great deal, just make sure you have the latest drivers for your GPU.

    I recommend waiting for a Steam sale or a pretty good sized discount before picking it up. It's an ambitious title with a lot of neat elements. Using the environment through hacking is a lot of fun. This is essentially a superhero game, but your super power is your phone's ability to interact with the environment and NPCs rather than energy blasts. The morality system isn't the best I've seen, but it's not the worst either. It's no worse than the one in Infamous and works pretty much the same way. Your choices are essentially be Batman, or be the Punisher. I suppose you could go for all out murderous evil, but the game isn't really intended to be played that way. You can, but the mission structure is pretty much laid out for either Batman, or the Punisher, or some medium between the two. As with most morality type games, you're expected to go with one or the other for the most part.

    Skill upgrades keep things interesting and work similarly to Infamous, though there are no purely good or evil powers that I'm aware of. It's more a case of picking what matches your playstyle the most, and then getting the rest just for the hell of it.

    The game isn't near as bad as many of the current reviews make it sound. At present, the bulk of them are from the pre patch release. They are perfectly justified as the game should not have been released in the state it was in, but since then the issues have largely been resolved and the game has become a decent superhero game.

    I recommend it, but I recommend a rent or picking it up on sale. It's a lot of fun, but not really worth paying full price for due to the length and bland setting. It's a cool idea and when it works it works well, definitely worth giving it a go when the price drops for sure.    … Expand
  41. BoTheMastaOfAll
    Jul 12, 2014
    7
    Could have been great but has AAAisms. Final encounter is a slomo QTE, Aiden is hypocritical, and I never got to see the goth girls boobs.

    Seriously though, some elements are **** stupid. Yes the AI is pretty damn good. Some mechanics like hiding in your car are awesome, but most times the game is just damn inconsistent. How is it that enemies who don't know who I am are able to get    Could have been great but has AAAisms. Final encounter is a slomo QTE, Aiden is hypocritical, and I never got to see the goth girls boobs.

    Seriously though, some elements are **** stupid. Yes the AI is pretty damn good. Some mechanics like hiding in your car are awesome, but most times the game is just damn inconsistent.

    How is it that enemies who don't know who I am are able to get alerted because they see me? This is in public, in broad daylight, and unless Aiden is wearing some invisible sign that only enemies can see that says "Shoot me I'm the main character", he looks just like every other joe walking around.
    Nikki is broken out in a stealth sequence that you direct her in, kinda like in Blops 2 with the SR71 scene. Just shooting enemies would have been more fun.

    Legend of Zelda-style zoom ins. Seriously I think every time a new enemy walked into the fray it required its own 10 second clip of me watching them enter. Hell there was one time in a campaign mission when the last remaining bad guy outside a warehouse was supposed to drive off, initiating a chase sequence. The game required me to watch him drive ~100 yards from the warehouse to the street before I could control Aiden again.

    The game yelling at me to stay within the mission zone, with timers if I leave it. Seriously wtf.

    Gears of War slow walk. Remember how in GoW Marcus has to walk super slow to talk on the phone. This game does that... a lot.

    Zoom in on vehicle kills. If you take down a vehicle using your hacks, it zooms in on that vehicle in slo-mo, which since their often behind you, causes an inordinate amount of car crashes/civilian deaths when the camera returns to your perspective.

    Story from a high level is awesome, but the details make no sense. Literally everyone in the city knows you're the vigilante before your sister does. Hell during one mission where you need to prevent some dudes from telling on your identity (even though they only saw your face and don't know your name) I had a lady on the street say "Hey you're Aiden Pearce, the vigilante". Wtf.

    Also, despite the fact that the FREAKING RADIO says Aiden's the vigilante but has the support of the people, when your nemesis posts that to public tv, everybody goes bat **** crazy and tries to call the cops on Aiden.

    Side note, somebody deserves a medal for Lucky Quinn's character design. He's perfect.    … Expand
  42. Deonord
    May 27, 2014
    7
    So boring game with bad physics, bad story and stereotyped missions and faces of main protagonist are like from 5 years old game or worse. No emotions, no fun Developers should look on Crysis 3 faces. . Really disappointed.
  43. EloHeaven
    May 27, 2014
    6
    At first it's interesting and gives some new stuff like hacking traffic lights, exploding pipes under the road, but it's fun for a short time. Later those hacks doesn't even interest you, so the game becomes another GTA and GTA is better fullfilled. Driving is bearable, but a bit sad that this game at first supposed to be driving/racing game. Only first and second act was interesting inAt first it's interesting and gives some new stuff like hacking traffic lights, exploding pipes under the road, but it's fun for a short time. Later those hacks doesn't even interest you, so the game becomes another GTA and GTA is better fullfilled. Driving is bearable, but a bit sad that this game at first supposed to be driving/racing game. Only first and second act was interesting in story wise, after that I just wanted to finish it and put it a side.… Expand
  44. tigerskin84
    Nov 11, 2015
    5
    Its no so bad the problem is that people tend to compare it with the much superior gta 5 and is not even a fair fight, if you can let that behind maybe you can enjoy the game, has a lot of mistakes of course but also has fun and sad moments, the main character is an @sshole ok, the gunplay is mediocre, the city is also quite small,cars sucks!!..you can spy on almost everyone, hackingIts no so bad the problem is that people tend to compare it with the much superior gta 5 and is not even a fair fight, if you can let that behind maybe you can enjoy the game, has a lot of mistakes of course but also has fun and sad moments, the main character is an @sshole ok, the gunplay is mediocre, the city is also quite small,cars sucks!!..you can spy on almost everyone, hacking mechanics are a disaster and boring, the problem is ubisoft promised too much.… Expand
  45. bleublimpgaming
    Sep 22, 2015
    7
    Not a bad game as people have been calling it, its certainly not gta 5 but the story is good enough to hold your focus and the bugs aren't even notable after a while. People give it a bad rap because of how amazing Gta 5 was and how this was nothing in comparison.

    Story:9
    Gameplay: 6
    Map: 6
    Graphics: 8
  46. volcomfrak1348
    Jun 23, 2014
    5
    apenas hay mejoras graficas respecto a las versiones de ps4-xone la gente tiene la IA de un perro con sindrome de down y encima necesitas una central nuclear para mover el puto juego, en realidad esta bastante bien durante los dos primeros dias pero luego te pasas la campaña (el protagonista es un lloros y un capullo) hackeas un puente levadizo te cansas del online en dos horas y luego teapenas hay mejoras graficas respecto a las versiones de ps4-xone la gente tiene la IA de un perro con sindrome de down y encima necesitas una central nuclear para mover el puto juego, en realidad esta bastante bien durante los dos primeros dias pero luego te pasas la campaña (el protagonista es un lloros y un capullo) hackeas un puente levadizo te cansas del online en dos horas y luego te vas cagandote en los muertos de ubisoft camino al GAME para vender el juego. en general no cumple las expectativas, en tu puta vida vas a poder jugar a la demo de la E3 2012, que era lo mejor que habias visto en tu vida.… Expand
  47. DerAleckz
    Oct 11, 2014
    5
    Here's my rating for Watchdogs (played on XONE)

    +open world design
    +missions
    +storyline
    +realistic new-media-references

    -graphics
    -character development
    -tutorials
    -controls
  48. RMDsilva
    Nov 17, 2014
    6
    Game looks good. But what else?
    Open world GTA-like games have been plenty and this one tries to be a little original with the hacking theme. Comes off as an "okay" game.
    Story/theme-wise, it's interesting. Superficially. Characters are quite 2D and the revenge thing just.. makes less and less sense the more the story goes on. Dedsec (anonymous) and Blume (the IT evil corporate guys    Game looks good. But what else?
    Open world GTA-like games have been plenty and this one tries to be a little original with the hacking theme. Comes off as an "okay" game.

    Story/theme-wise, it's interesting. Superficially. Characters are quite 2D and the revenge thing just.. makes less and less sense the more the story goes on.
    Dedsec (anonymous) and Blume (the IT evil corporate guys who watch everything) are just there, there's no development or deeper questions.

    Gameplay-wise, hacking was.. well, press Q for everything. If I wanted to do something quick, I really had to use "focus" (bullet time, slo-mo, wtv) to not hack a camera instead of exploding a wall or something completely unrelated. Not to mention it's not too easy to "aim".
    Bit silly, and while it's fun that you can do it at all times (getting credit card info from random people while chasing someone? check) it's also quite limited to specific environment cues. So, meh.

    That said, the driving and shooting and the generic open world thing is just "okay". I miss the driving experiences of GTA, for example. Especially when running away from the police in this one. Just, urgh. Because with the hacking theme, they just seem to always know where you are, unless you get offroad or do something silly. Pro tip: grab a boat and get the helicopter disable. No more chases.

    So, in the end, it was alright. But definitely not beyond that.    … Expand
  49. LEG
    Oct 13, 2014
    7
    I love this game.
    But too much delayed release in Asia.(Due to JAPANESE voice acting version) - 1 month delayed.

    Ubisoft-korea, What are you doing???
  50. Peter6666
    Nov 3, 2014
    7
    Firstly I would like to say that what the game tries to accomplish by bringing realism into a dynamic landscape; allowing one to explore to a certain degree; is commendable to the efforts of the ple that produced this game. My system had no problems at all coping with the games resource requirements, with my AMD Radeon HD 7800 Series graphics easily up to the task. The story could haveFirstly I would like to say that what the game tries to accomplish by bringing realism into a dynamic landscape; allowing one to explore to a certain degree; is commendable to the efforts of the ple that produced this game. My system had no problems at all coping with the games resource requirements, with my AMD Radeon HD 7800 Series graphics easily up to the task. The story could have done with a little more imagination; as the sideline stories; but for me it provided enjoyable light entertainment. Not the the best RPG going around, but satisfactory. Cheers.… Expand
  51. matheusmrx
    Nov 17, 2014
    7
    At the beginning, i thought it was boring and pointless, but after a couple of hours it turned out to be kind of fun. I like the characters' emotions and natural dialogs, not robotic speeches like I've seen on The Evil Within, though i didn't really enjoy the story itself. I also like the kind of "puzzle killings", when you have to study how to get through rooms full of enemies withoutAt the beginning, i thought it was boring and pointless, but after a couple of hours it turned out to be kind of fun. I like the characters' emotions and natural dialogs, not robotic speeches like I've seen on The Evil Within, though i didn't really enjoy the story itself. I also like the kind of "puzzle killings", when you have to study how to get through rooms full of enemies without being spotted. This and other things are cool, but are basic and flat.

    As everyone said, it is badly optimized for PC. I could only enjoy it after using a joystick. Also, it doesn't deliver it's best performance even on a good machine, keeps randomly lagging and with some lights/shadows bugs.

    They could have improved many of the challenges and the gameplay, so it wouldn't get that repetitive. With so many flat challenges, it seems more like a fun and extensive demo than a full developed game.

    PS: Do not play it expecting an alternative GTA, you will get disappointed.    … Expand
  52. SirCesar
    Nov 20, 2014
    6
    Even though the game is fun to play, it has serious problems with PC compatibility. Ubisoft keeps showing that they don't care about PC gamers anymore.
  53. LostSandwich
    Dec 5, 2014
    6
    Though this game did not live up to expectations it is not a horrible game. It does deserve the hate it is getting due to semi-false advertising (Trailers and Demos at E3 had much better graphics than the actual game), but it is still a decent game. There are issues with this game, lots of 'em, poor performance, crappy story, bland character, but it has its good sides. The combat is fun,Though this game did not live up to expectations it is not a horrible game. It does deserve the hate it is getting due to semi-false advertising (Trailers and Demos at E3 had much better graphics than the actual game), but it is still a decent game. There are issues with this game, lots of 'em, poor performance, crappy story, bland character, but it has its good sides. The combat is fun, stealth is executed decently, it is fun to roam around the world doing side quests though they do get repetitive after some time. Watch Dogs' multiplayer is bad, it is not creative in the slightest and feels tacked on to the game just so it has multiplayer. Watch Dogs does contain a fun online mini-game where players can hack into each others single player games and hack the main player and steal money and such from him whilst trying to remain hidden, if there was more like this in Watch Dogs, they would have a stellar multiplayer. The hacking in the game can be quite fun and really adds to the game making it more than just an attempt to copy other sandbox games such as Grand Theft Auto V, it makes things such as car chases much more entertaining than in a game like Grand Theft Auto V, though the physics to the cars in Watch Dogs are questionable and can really take away from the fun and immersion. The hacking is fun but far more simplistic than i had hoped. There is not too much to hack, lights, barriers, steam pipes and security cameras are basically the 4 main hacks you'll use the most. The player is able to hack into security cameras and link from one camera to the other, adding to the stealth aspect, you can use the cameras to plan your moves, which can be very helpful. Ubisoft have already announced a sequel to the game and there are a few things they REQUIRE to make it a successful game:

    - Better Graphics
    - Better Protagonist and Story
    - Better and more creative Multiplayer
    - More in-depth hacking
    - Better Performance
    - Better driving physics    … Expand
  54. planas14
    Feb 24, 2015
    7
    The game start very slow, but despite of this after half of it, when you unlock the best skill it start to be fun and enjoyable. It isn't for sure the revolution announced by ubisoft but and at a decent price is a good game to have.
  55. idanidan123
    May 22, 2015
    5
    Not gonna lie, it's a really good game, but it's not a surprise it got an average score. This game uses technology in a way we haven't seen yet: You can hack into people's bank accounts and steal money, you can complete puzzles and hack private house's cameras and other nice stuff. This game also has fun and awesome mini-games. My only problem with this game is that after you finish theNot gonna lie, it's a really good game, but it's not a surprise it got an average score. This game uses technology in a way we haven't seen yet: You can hack into people's bank accounts and steal money, you can complete puzzles and hack private house's cameras and other nice stuff. This game also has fun and awesome mini-games. My only problem with this game is that after you finish the story- there's not much else to do. Sure, you can use cheats, play the mini-games and a bunch of people, but after about 20 min or less it gets boring. Overall the game is fine, but if had the potential to be better.… Expand
  56. sashaCZ1
    Dec 7, 2015
    6
    I really liked the concept, it was something new and unique. But then, don't forget it's Ubisoft.. They cannot compete to GTA. This games' graphics are good, some of the multiplayer modes were fun to play. And now, the horrible story, optimization, car physics came across. I cannot give Watch_Dogs a better score than 6. Altough, I'd like to see a new Watch_Dogs game, hopefully moreI really liked the concept, it was something new and unique. But then, don't forget it's Ubisoft.. They cannot compete to GTA. This games' graphics are good, some of the multiplayer modes were fun to play. And now, the horrible story, optimization, car physics came across. I cannot give Watch_Dogs a better score than 6. Altough, I'd like to see a new Watch_Dogs game, hopefully more polished.. 6/10.… Expand
  57. Leon354
    Sep 6, 2014
    5
    Very boring and not interesting, crazy story, the game boring 5 hours of play. Played 2 days in 2h 30m then threw boring, boring ... (Ubisoft forgotten how to make games !!!)
  58. Decaymoss
    May 27, 2014
    6
    Very hyped and overall shallow game despite it being a sandbox. Controls are awkward and most of the missions are not impressive. There is nothing new here that you have not done in GTA. Multiplier is interesting for the first few hours but the fever dies down really quickly as there is little replay value.
  59. Mahdiar
    Dec 12, 2015
    7
    Gameplay : 7
    Graphics : 8
    Story : 6
    Sound : 9
    **********************************************************************************
    Overall : 7
  60. braindamage
    May 18, 2015
    6
    its not the worst game Ive ever played, and im not sure what people are complaining about I got it for free and it was something that kept me entertained back in the summer of 14
  61. cristiadu
    Sep 16, 2014
    5
    Honestly, it does give you the feeling of "I wish I could do more". All the hacking is a little bit repetitive, and you cannot have most of the things you can get on GTA V. It was supposed to be a open world game with unlimited possibilities, but in fact the game just always sound a little bit annoying, and with the same AI GTA Vice City had. The car accidents fade away in the moment youHonestly, it does give you the feeling of "I wish I could do more". All the hacking is a little bit repetitive, and you cannot have most of the things you can get on GTA V. It was supposed to be a open world game with unlimited possibilities, but in fact the game just always sound a little bit annoying, and with the same AI GTA Vice City had. The car accidents fade away in the moment you change streets (literally, you just go to the other street, go back, and everything disappeared). The voices are repetitive, the character is not so enjoyable, etc... It is all about playing 30 minutes, and already getting sick of the game.

    Worst 50 dollars product that I've ever paid.    … Expand
  62. Amitashi
    Apr 12, 2015
    7
    Most realistic open world game I played. Car driving is smooth. Music is very good. Characters that won't leave you indifferent. Beautiful city, weather changes, daytimes change. Hacking features are really special thing of this game.
  63. lonewolfs2
    Sep 29, 2014
    5
    le jeu n'est pas mauvais, mais il n'est pas bon non plus... il est moyen en tout sauf pour les graphismes qui sont horriblement moche, sauf avec le fameux mod qui ameliore tous cela MAIS au prix oú on achete le jeu j´aurais voulu avoir ce resultat au debut lors de l´achat, sans mod...

    j´ai abandonner apres 20 h de jeu . j´espere qu´il se rattraperont pour le numero 2, mais hors de    le jeu n'est pas mauvais, mais il n'est pas bon non plus... il est moyen en tout sauf pour les graphismes qui sont horriblement moche, sauf avec le fameux mod qui ameliore tous cela MAIS au prix oú on achete le jeu j´aurais voulu avoir ce resultat au debut lors de l´achat, sans mod...

    j´ai abandonner apres 20 h de jeu . j´espere qu´il se rattraperont pour le numero 2, mais hors de question de precommander encore cette serie, j´attendrai la sortie et les avis !    … Expand
  64. iropan
    Apr 22, 2015
    5
    This game is made to look good in screen-shots, but the game mechanics are very clunky, combat is frustrating and jerky, and so is driving. Watch Dogs doesn't bring anything new to the table. Everything here has been done better by other games, and what's worst of all, Watch Dogs is never fun.
  65. renogza
    Dec 27, 2015
    5
    Horribly unoptimised for the PC. Chugs along like a fat guy with asthma. Add to that the horrible police rubberbanding (which makes it utterly impossible to ever, EVER lose the cops unless you have a gadget to prevent them spotting you in the first place. Just not fun.
  66. MrRino
    Mar 4, 2016
    7
    The game is good, graphics are ok, I liked the story and the abilities of hacks, but driving is really bad in all vehicles, shooting is not bad too, so generally it's not bad
  67. Krysen
    May 28, 2014
    6
    Again Ubisoft showed us that they can't produce an open world game.

    You just have a few oppurtunities and after 4 Hours playing, i had every hacking skill. The story is boring, protect your sister, save the child, take revenge. Just like a bad movie, it feels like ubisoft took the easiest reason to kill people, REVENGE in a bad way. The Graphics is good at night, but i hate the    Again Ubisoft showed us that they can't produce an open world game.

    You just have a few oppurtunities and after 4 Hours playing, i had every hacking skill.

    The story is boring, protect your sister, save the child, take revenge. Just like a bad movie, it feels like ubisoft took the easiest reason to kill people, REVENGE in a bad way.

    The Graphics is good at night, but i hate the plastic Faces of most of the characters, it should be better for a new generation game.

    The driving mechanics also feels terrible, and if u want to adjust the camera, sometimes it just jumps way too far.

    The killing animation with the baton is always the same and sneaking feels terrible because of it. I dont think hitting someone with a baton is silent and you can't stranglehold someone for a shooting. Its not much but it should be possible.

    There are plenty good open world games, which have more to do, better animation even if they are some years older. I just dont understand why Ubisoft isnt able to make a game with penty more features. Like every other game of ubisoft u can discover everything in Act 1 and test every hacking skill.
    And after that there is nothing more to discover    … Expand
  68. Masterhummel
    May 27, 2014
    6
    There's not that much to say about the graphic controversity. The game looks good, no doubt, but not nearly as good as in the E3 Trailers, Launch Trailer or Steam Shop Page Screenshots. By all means, this form of false advertising has to stop. Also, getting hours less of playtime because i didnt bought the "Digitale Deluxe" Edition is just wrong and should not be supported.

    For the game    There's not that much to say about the graphic controversity. The game looks good, no doubt, but not nearly as good as in the E3 Trailers, Launch Trailer or Steam Shop Page Screenshots. By all means, this form of false advertising has to stop. Also, getting hours less of playtime because i didnt bought the "Digitale Deluxe" Edition is just wrong and should not be supported.

    For the game itself, its your average GTA style game. The story is very odd and inconsistent. The one moment i beat someone up with a basbeall bat, then i'm visiting my nephew, then i'm suddenly Badass McBadBat again. The side Missions are extremly dull and usually consist of dozens of heavily armed dudes getting thrown at you. You have whole military-like mob convoys driving trough the city. Whoever runs the city is probably the worst police state in the history of gaming.

    The gameplay is uber-realistic. You have a three meter turn radius, every car handles like a formula one car that has tanked cerosine and the gunplay is quite odd. That said, there are good things in watchdogs and its fun to **** around with the city, but its not enough to keep me want to play it.

    In the end, Watch_Dogs is not a bad game. Its just extremely average.    … Expand
  69. Pickle-Tickler
    May 27, 2014
    6
    Does this game live up to the hype? No. Does it deserve a zero score? Absolutely fu**ing not.
    People giving this game a zero score need to go have a cry, this game is still a fairly decent game, it's no GTA by a long shot, but still one of the best games this year. Is it downgraded since the 2012 E3 footage, yes. But im'm not one to care too much for graphics. I must admit the driving is    Does this game live up to the hype? No. Does it deserve a zero score? Absolutely fu**ing not.
    People giving this game a zero score need to go have a cry, this game is still a fairly decent game, it's no GTA by a long shot, but still one of the best games this year. Is it downgraded since the 2012 E3 footage, yes. But im'm not one to care too much for graphics. I must admit the driving is god awful and I get constant frame skips whilst driving so I had to lower the texture quality from High to Medium even though the game runs really smooth whilst on foot. Controlling driving is probably the worst I have seen in a third person open world game ever, EVER, even with a gamepad. Besides driving, the game is really solid, the world feels alive, and with the help of the profiler gadget, it really helps humanise the NPC's. The hacking game mechanic is a really nice feature and can cause some really amazing action sequences and cop chase strategies. Stealth is really fun, gunplay is nice and smooth, haven't finished the story mode yet but from what I've played it's not too bad. Do I recommend you get this game? Probably not. At it's current price of $75 (Australia), wait for the price to go down, or save your money for the upcoming steam sale.    … Expand
  70. JaydenPickens
    May 22, 2019
    5
    The game isn't bad, but it isn't good either. It lacks identity, the only thing, that Watch Dogs has that is original is the hacking stuff... and yeah it was fun, but the game is really boring. Like, I finished it few months ago and I can't recall almost anything from it... the game is just average. Heard the sequel is better, gonna play it in 2022 when I'll have time. Pickens yawns.
  71. isg1983
    Mar 15, 2016
    7
    Finished the game in 2016. Seeing that in 2014 technical issues caused mayhem amongst reviewers and my review for 2016 (which plays without problem) goes like:
    1. Story is passable, plays a bit repetitive, other than that, it is really ok, good ideas on sci-fi side but not much on the action side.
    2. Overall atmosphere is also not bad and brings you in, side quests are fun and so much to    Finished the game in 2016. Seeing that in 2014 technical issues caused mayhem amongst reviewers and my review for 2016 (which plays without problem) goes like:
    1. Story is passable, plays a bit repetitive, other than that, it is really ok, good ideas on sci-fi side but not much on the action side.
    2. Overall atmosphere is also not bad and brings you in, side quests are fun and so much to do.
    3. Driving has issues solely because they tried to make it realistic and failed. Sometimes it plays so good and sometimes really bad. I assume no one wants a realistic driving experience in a open world game. Also collisions and fog still cause weird fps drops.
    4. Shooting is not bad but gives you a hard time unless you unlock some skills.
    A nice game overwhelmed by technical issues in the past but you can play it without hesitation now.    … Expand
  72. oz4n
    Jan 27, 2016
    5
    First of all, I didn't really care about downgrade of the graphics... I was okay with that, but story and gameplay were unbelievable. Hacking and playing the God were some fun elements of the game at first, but then it became so boring. Storm into some place, hack into some system, bad guys comes in then kick some asses with your weapon and leave the place. Play same **** rescuingFirst of all, I didn't really care about downgrade of the graphics... I was okay with that, but story and gameplay were unbelievable. Hacking and playing the God were some fun elements of the game at first, but then it became so boring. Storm into some place, hack into some system, bad guys comes in then kick some asses with your weapon and leave the place. Play same **** rescuing civilians and fixing missions to hurt your butt and gain some experiences. The big story-line itself had also become boring at some point. I couldn't complete the third memory and removed the game. Game seems to give you a lot of freedom and a big open-world, but you realize that you're doing the same thing all the way around. Not good...… Expand
  73. Captiosus
    Jun 2, 2014
    6
    I'm revising my review after finishing all of the single player elements of the game.
    Pros:
    - Lots of things to do. - A decent illusion of choice regarding how to approach missions. - Multiplayer invasions are fun for a few times. Cons: - The story. My brain, it hurts. So many cliches. I thought the first two acts were bad, and then I got to act 4... where there's a Deadmau5 rip    I'm revising my review after finishing all of the single player elements of the game.
    Pros:
    - Lots of things to do.
    - A decent illusion of choice regarding how to approach missions.
    - Multiplayer invasions are fun for a few times.

    Cons:
    - The story. My brain, it hurts. So many cliches. I thought the first two acts were bad, and then I got to act 4... where there's a Deadmau5 rip off and two missions that contain every bad hacker and computer stereotype for the last 35 years, from Wargames to The Matrix.

    - The story 2.0. Aiden Pearce, the vigilante whose identity the entire world knows. That's a pretty shoddy vigilante. Imagine if everyone knew who Batman or The Shadow was within the first hour of their stories. They wouldn't be nearly as compelling, right? Neither is "The Fox", Aiden Pearce. Also, the secondary characters were supposed to be computer geniuses but came across as bumbling idiots (looking at you, T-Bone Grady).

    - Hacking. Press Q. Press Q. Press Q. Press Q. Press Q. There, I've summarized the entire hacking "mechanic" in the game.

    - There are perhaps TOO MANY things to do and TOO MANY things to collect, with very few of the collections or mini-games offering compelling rewards to complete.

    - The driving mechanics are atrocious which makes playing Online Race mode frustrating as hell.

    - Multiplayer becomes stale, fast.

    - Lastly, and obligatory: Terrible graphical optimization with clearly cross gen textures and engine design. Faces look great during cutscenes (which are rendered in real time) but beyond that, even on Ultra, the game is decidedly lacking in the graphics department.

    Clearly primed to be Ubisoft's next big franchise. Hopefully the next iteration has a less cliche story, more diverse hacking, and a better engine.    … Expand
  74. alexferriswheel
    May 28, 2014
    6
    Clunkly controls and driving are almost game breaking. Shame because the "feel" of the world is spot on. Still fun...just not as good as it could have been.
  75. lolmetacritic
    May 31, 2014
    6
    Game had a very promising start but after Act 2 (of 4) the writing goes straight out the window. The missions become repetitive and unimaginative. The game was a 8 eight about half way in but dropped quite sharply after that.
  76. strigoi1958
    Jul 10, 2014
    6
    I love this type of game I've played over 300 hours of farcry 3 and this game is virtually identical but with a different setting so why am I disinterested with watch dogs ? Well other games have a tutorial or little hints about what to do but when you don't know what to do or how to do it.... it becomes boring. No crafting help so I didn't know how to get up inventory or craft or useI love this type of game I've played over 300 hours of farcry 3 and this game is virtually identical but with a different setting so why am I disinterested with watch dogs ? Well other games have a tutorial or little hints about what to do but when you don't know what to do or how to do it.... it becomes boring. No crafting help so I didn't know how to get up inventory or craft or use comms jam so I died over and over again trying to stop a convoy. A drinking game I didn't know you had to press the corresponding numbers while hovering over them. The characters are boring except Jordi who has little input... and the game got very old very quickly.... I found myself just running round tapping the q key to hack phones but then you get a bounty put on you from other human players but you lose or gain nothing relevant to the game so I just ignored it. The graphics are great the rest is average... but like a film you need to involve your audience within the first 10 minutes and WD doesn't. Potential exists for future games to be awesome but this one is far from polished… Expand
  77. Bastrion
    May 28, 2014
    6
    Way overhyped, but enjoyable once you get past uPlays connection issues (which have become less of a problem since launch but still there).

    Graphical optimisation is poor, but the graphics themselves are great on Ultra settings, just a shame that you can't play it on Ultra without frame skipping and slowdown. Storyline is bland and boring, nothing at all like how it was advertised    Way overhyped, but enjoyable once you get past uPlays connection issues (which have become less of a problem since launch but still there).

    Graphical optimisation is poor, but the graphics themselves are great on Ultra settings, just a shame that you can't play it on Ultra without frame skipping and slowdown.

    Storyline is bland and boring, nothing at all like how it was advertised during the E3 promos and recent storyline trailers, but the side missions and additional stuff is on par with GTA V, which is not what can be said for the driving. The cars drive like they are made of unresponsive clay with lubricant on the tyres, and seem to pivot rather than drive like any open world game cars I have played with. The motorbike is great though, which I use whenever possible. It feels like it's designed to not drive at full speed around the city, and instead drive like an old lady, following all the lights and signs etc.

    The UI is good, feeling clean and slick, giving little bits of information about everything around you as you approach it, and often giving you a chuckle as you find out what people have been searching for online, or buying alot of, or taking part in, via the little pop up vignettes that show on any NPC in the game.

    Good points:
    - City is huge (not compared to GTA V but big enough)
    - Graphics are lovely after you find your sweet spot
    - Side missions and free roaming is great fun
    - Multiplayer is really original, and alot of fun to play

    Bad points:
    - uPlay (forced DRM, online reliance for the good features)
    - Day 1 DLC (big bad move for any company to do this)
    - Storyline feels boring and empty, characters have no personality
    - Car driving is absolutely awful (really really bad)
    - Hacking, while intended to be simple, feels over simplified
    - Game is barely anything like the one that was advertised
    - Price is ridiculous, I got it for free and still feel a little ripped off
    - If GTA V was out on PC, this game wouldn't get a second look from anyone

    Overall, I am enjoying it, performance issues aside, but only really for the stealthy part of the gameplay and the secondary quests, as the main storyline is boring. Would recommend, if you can pick it up cheap on Kinguin or similar.    … Expand
  78. wussification
    May 27, 2014
    6
    I honestly wasn't going to buy this at first. A friend of mine convinced me to and I'm glad he was able to. This is a fun game overall ,but it doesn't come without its painstaking flaws. The default keyboard layout is god awful (yes you can remap it, but they could have done something a bit more comfortable for the fingers). On top of this the mouse sensitivity is completely skewed, yetI honestly wasn't going to buy this at first. A friend of mine convinced me to and I'm glad he was able to. This is a fun game overall ,but it doesn't come without its painstaking flaws. The default keyboard layout is god awful (yes you can remap it, but they could have done something a bit more comfortable for the fingers). On top of this the mouse sensitivity is completely skewed, yet you cannot change it to your liking. Another minor issue would be that the 'hacking' is holding the q button for 2 seconds. I would have liked it to be a bit more difficult for things such as ATM's. My last complaint, and this is the most important, is that the game runs like absolute **** I get a frame rate above 50 fps, but the cut scenes are incredibly choppy. In addition to this my computer can run games like Battlefield 4 on all high/ultra high settings, yet when running this game I cannot play the game on anything past low. This really irks me considering the game is in cooperation with Nvidia, which is the brand GPU that I have. I meet all requirements yet this game that it supposed to run beautifully ends up running like **** All that being said, the game itself is not too bad. Its not amazing, and so far it is a bit sub-par to some of the other games I have played recently. The online factor is extremely enjoyable, and I haven't become bored with the game, we'll see if time changes that. Overall the game is decent, not amazing. I would definitely recommend it to a friend if it went on sale a bit.… Expand
  79. Nomus
    May 27, 2014
    7
    Ive spent 5 hours in the game. My thoughts:
    1. Story wise its pretty interesting. Kinda love that hacker stuff but i think that drama crap is pretty unnecessary
    2. Sandbox feels pretty dull. Yeah minigames yeah kinda. They are pretty repetitive but its just polished Saints row 3 3. Same with the car physics 4. Muliplayer is well...it usually boils down to the target hiding in really    Ive spent 5 hours in the game. My thoughts:
    1. Story wise its pretty interesting. Kinda love that hacker stuff but i think that drama crap is pretty unnecessary
    2. Sandbox feels pretty dull. Yeah minigames yeah kinda. They are pretty repetitive but its just polished Saints row 3
    3. Same with the car physics
    4. Muliplayer is well...it usually boils down to the target hiding in really empty place where you can't track him unnoticed or its just take the fastest car and leaves you. I kinda like the fact that you can be invaded all of a sudden but again it boils down to someone having a faster car.
    5. Gunplay is quite boring. All that hacking stuff becomes boring and repetitive at the 4-5th time.
    6. AI is ok. Nothing special
    7. Music is terrible except the part where you have to hack another player. Radio is just awful

    Again. They had alotof experience with AC series and still failed to come up with something original. Minigames doesnt make the sandbox interesting. The world around you lacks on ambient noises and that makes the world around you even more empty.    … Expand
  80. Darkin20
    Jun 14, 2014
    7
    Game is pretty fun and has some interesting dynamics but the fact that there is a save game corruption that you can't get out of and need to restart from scratch is inexcusable. Maybe when they get that fixed i'll bump up the score but taking 2 weeks already with no end in sight is not a good thing. Too bad, I was really liking the camera games.
  81. Pots_Talos
    Jun 23, 2014
    6
    Fun but forgettable. Very clunky controls with keyboard and mouse makes playing with a controller a must. Since UPlay is also attached to it I rated the game a point lower.
  82. gamiseta
    May 27, 2014
    7
    For all those who might get the idea that this game is basically GTA with hacking.

    It is not. This point is actually important because if you keep comparing this with GTA you will fail so I suggest you to compare this game with AC series for more accurate feeling. I'll start with the graphics. Although they are not as good as E3 demo, graphics are actually quite nice but there are    For all those who might get the idea that this game is basically GTA with hacking.

    It is not.

    This point is actually important because if you keep comparing this with GTA you will fail so I suggest you to compare this game with AC series for more accurate feeling.

    I'll start with the graphics. Although they are not as good as E3 demo, graphics are actually quite nice but there are some stuff like fake reflection that kinda throws you out of that universe but textures and waters are awesome. And by saying waters are awesome they are INCREDIBLY awesome. Seriously, Ubi should promote the hell out of people dealing with water stuff. Other than that graphics are not as bad as people say they are.

    I'll agree with music though, it REALLY sucks. I mean I can understand that they don't want to spend a lot of money with copyright stuff but they should've thrown some famous hit songs here and there that will make you feel badass. You may have experienced some audio stuttering so for that I STRONGLY suggest you to do the following:

    -Create a shortcut of watchdogs.exe
    -right click->properties->add "-disablepagefilecheck" without quotes at the end of the "target" section

    Since this is a Ubi game, it is filled with bugs and optimization problems (as expected from Ubi) so I think you might wanna wait until a patch fix or Nvidia update for optimization but by adding -disablepagefilecheck, I managed to get all stuttering to stop and experienced an acceptable overall framerate

    The story is actually quite good, I mean it is a little bit cliche but characters feel real (unlike Connor from AC3...god I hated that character...). Also hacking stuff is kinda fun but it might get repetitive over time. Also Ubi could have spent a bit more time and resources to make this game open as hell; for instance by adding hacking option to a lot of buildings to see inside of the apartments. I mean they have that in the game but they could've made it in every building and with random results (sometimes the apartment could be empty or could have several different scenes, like at first there are some couples arguing and at a later time those couples are divorcing etc...). Hacking through stuff to see everywhere is a giant privacy problem, one that could be used to create an amazingly immersive world. Random npc reactions around are good enough IMO so the city feels live enough.

    Car physics feels really weak though. Most of the time it is just you driving a carton box around, it doesn't have the "car" feeling to it. Although there are a lot of side quests and collectibles around, it gets repetitive easily and you start to feel that they are just burden to you and skip them. On a side note, I STRONGLY suggest you to try out the spider-tank minigame, because that was THE most fun I've ever had in this game!

    AI is really cool. They don't pop their heads for no reason and tactically they do fine against you (flanking and shooting at you the moment you pop your head out). Also I find the options of hacking before and while fighting satisfying. You can use cameras to see the battlefield and approach tactically to it by using different hacking tools on your opponents' technology.

    Generally the game is actually quite nice and different, even though it doesn't have that "next gen" feeling to it so I can understand fellow reviewers' disappointment with it but I suggest you to buy this game and play it, you are not going to be sorry, as long as you don't see this game as "The ultimate hacking game" or "GTA-Killer" rather than "an action game in which you use hacking and guns to get around".    … Expand
  83. masterkiser
    May 27, 2014
    6
    This game is Good but it has its flaws The NPCS are retarded and there's not much to do aside from taking over the Stations for control over the area. all in all The game is over hyped i pre purchased it and was Really exited for it But when it finished installing it was fairly disappointing. Id wait for a price drop or a sale. The game did have its moments but got bored after an hour.
  84. grimmmy
    May 27, 2014
    7
    Average at best. The story in itself isn't too bad but the cutscenes feel awkward and forced.
    Gameplay wise, there is a quite a bit to do in the city but things become repetitive quickly and many of the rewards you just don't need. I've also encounted a tonne of bugs with missions not being completable or unlockables being blocked by clipping issues with other items. Running this on an    Average at best. The story in itself isn't too bad but the cutscenes feel awkward and forced.
    Gameplay wise, there is a quite a bit to do in the city but things become repetitive quickly and many of the rewards you just don't need. I've also encounted a tonne of bugs with missions not being completable or unlockables being blocked by clipping issues with other items. Running this on an i7 and a 780ti it looks pretty but still struggles with frame rates.

    All in all, the the concepts are good in this game but it feels like they've been bolted together without any thought. The hacking becomes dull quickly and the vehicles have zero weight and therefore are terrible to drive.

    Personally, I'd give this a miss.    … Expand
  85. bilel
    May 29, 2014
    6
    ok game but not good or great with repetitive game play it gets boring from the second hour of playing, the graphics are great but the game has some glitches and the car driving gameplay is very bad ,doll and poor the worst driving gameplay in any game in my opinion, i hope the sequel can be more interesting.
  86. Latetzki
    May 31, 2014
    6
    Things I don't like about Watch_Dogs:

    - Armoured enemies are lame way to make the game harder. - You can't shoot at helicopters because they are mostly above you while chase is on. - Snipers (Also chopper, which is a bi*ch) aim is ALWAYS locked at Aiden's head. Which is just way too unrealistic. - There's no crouch, just cover. - Enemies often know your exact position right away. -    Things I don't like about Watch_Dogs:

    - Armoured enemies are lame way to make the game harder.
    - You can't shoot at helicopters because they are mostly above you while chase is on.
    - Snipers (Also chopper, which is a bi*ch) aim is ALWAYS locked at Aiden's head. Which is just way too unrealistic.
    - There's no crouch, just cover.
    - Enemies often know your exact position right away.
    - Man who is about die in a second or two, simply doesn't have time to report others about my presence.

    Things I liked:

    - Stealth gameplay
    - Graphics
    - Some of the gadgets were fun

    It's a game I wouldn't buy just yet, as the price is still high.    … Expand
  87. Kruk82
    May 27, 2014
    6
    The problem this game has is that the city really doesn't feel alive enough. The thing that the GTA series has done right every time is that it creates the opportunities for moments at which it all comes together. Much like battlefield (they even marketed this) allows for the emergence of those battlefield moments, Los Santos and LC managed to offer the kind of sandbox in which greatThe problem this game has is that the city really doesn't feel alive enough. The thing that the GTA series has done right every time is that it creates the opportunities for moments at which it all comes together. Much like battlefield (they even marketed this) allows for the emergence of those battlefield moments, Los Santos and LC managed to offer the kind of sandbox in which great things CAN happen. Ubisoft's attempt at this seems to have failed, the city doesn't feel real, the activities seem limited, the streets appear sterile and artificial. All of this is underlined by the physics of driving that just do not create the sense of weight and speed that GTA has gotten gamers used to. Also, the hype surrounding the game and the 6 month delay really means that Ubisoft had to deliver a gamechanger, instead they gave us a mediocre open world game...like sleeping dogs minus the moves or Just Cause 2 minus flying...or Saints Row minus the madness.… Expand
  88. SeverityOne
    Jun 20, 2014
    6
    This game is a bit of a mixed bag, in more ways than one. It tries to be a lot of things (open world, GTA clone, role-playing... something like a cross between GTA and Skyrim. The result is a game that excels at certain things, but fails woefully at others.

    Pros: * A LOT of work has gone into the design of "Chicago". And it's clear that there's a lot of affinity for the place; one set    This game is a bit of a mixed bag, in more ways than one. It tries to be a lot of things (open world, GTA clone, role-playing... something like a cross between GTA and Skyrim. The result is a game that excels at certain things, but fails woefully at others.

    Pros:
    * A LOT of work has gone into the design of "Chicago". And it's clear that there's a lot of affinity for the place; one set of collectibles is about city hotspots, that tell some story about Chicago (often involving Al Capone and other gangsters).
    * There are little things that add nothing to the gameplay, but so much more to the atmosphere. For example, somebody is playing with a football, trying to keep it up and losing it; somebody else is welding a pipe; a third guy is painting over graffiti. It makes the place much more alive, more real.
    * The puzzles are, by and large, fun. You have to try to hack something, and follow lines to where there's something you can unlock. Sometimes it's visible, sometimes you need one or more cameras. You then get treated to scene that can be fun, or disturbing, or anything in between.
    * The way you can control the world with the "hacking" is endless fun. I could spend hours watching cars crash because I hacked traffic lights.

    Cons:
    * Performance is not all there. Before the Geforce Experience set the optimal settings for my card (an ageing GTX580) it was almost unplayable, especially when driving. Now it's OK, although there's still the occasional glitch.
    * The game forces you into a certain way of playing, and that's annoying. I can very well decide for myself how I play. Case in point: gang hideouts.
    * Some (side) missions you fail time and again, especially if you don't play the way the game wants you too. There's an incredibly high annoyance factor at times, especially when you need to melee (not shoot) someone, or even three, while his mates will shoot at you, call reinforcements, and do all sorts of things to make you fail the mission.
    * Uplay. I don't want yet another pointless launcher on my PC. I've got Steam and that's all I need. I don't want to have to create an account either.
    * Server availability. In the first few days it was terrible; now it's OK. But why do I need to connect to their servers if I want to play?
    * Online elements. There's this thing called "online invasion", switched on by default, where some random player breaks into your session and steals your points. It took me three or four times before the settings understood that I really didn't want this. Helloooo! There's a reason why I play single player games: I don't WANT to play with others. But even after you switch off Online Invasion, you still get constant requests for races, hacking or whatever from other people. And this you can't switch off. Worse, you need to do some of these things in order to unlock weapons and such.

    So for an open-world game, it's pretty pedantic in thinking that it knows what's best for you. And that's its major weakness, together with the sometimes nigh impossible side missions.    … Expand
  89. FredPL
    Jul 13, 2014
    7
    The game isn't so bad as every one says. It just isn't what they told us it would be. Still it's a good game, only good. The campaign is short and not worth remembering. But you will still have a lot of fun from hacking, running from police, shooting and hacking other players.
  90. Banhammer0
    Aug 13, 2014
    7
    >GOOD<
    Watch_Doges, while it does underdeliver quite a bit especially in the graphics department (no doubt downgraded so console peasants didn't feel left out), isn't really a bad game.
    Free roaming in the city is quite cool, the hacking while simple is satisfying and the story is acceptable. The city is a little to small but very detailed and feels truly alive, bested probably only by    >GOOD<
    Watch_Doges, while it does underdeliver quite a bit especially in the graphics department (no doubt downgraded so console peasants didn't feel left out), isn't really a bad game.
    Free roaming in the city is quite cool, the hacking while simple is satisfying and the story is acceptable.
    The city is a little to small but very detailed and feels truly alive, bested probably only by GTA V.
    Multiplayer is surpirisingly original and good, best hide and seek I've ever played !
    Selection of weapons, cars and other unlockables is very good.
    Bugs are few but there are some issues in multiplayer connection.
    The bad part is for example side missions are extremely lazy and repetetive, grindy feeling they bring, game being too easy (to conform retarted casuals probably), story feeling cheesy, main character being sorta underdeveloped, most minigames are plain bad and pointless (apart from unlocks), day-1 greedy DLCs marketing. Meh.

    It's a fun game but ruined by slopiness and greed (which game today isn't though)
    Gets a flat 7/10.    … Expand
  91. Gullyvuhr
    May 27, 2014
    6
    The Critic reviews on this are obviously bought and paid for, so take them with a grain of salt.

    The graphics in the game are underwhelming to say the least -- and this was supposed to be it's strong selling point. This is also under the premise that the game is playable for you at a decent frame rate, which as of the date of writing this it isn't for everyone. Lots of trouble there.    The Critic reviews on this are obviously bought and paid for, so take them with a grain of salt.

    The graphics in the game are underwhelming to say the least -- and this was supposed to be it's strong selling point. This is also under the premise that the game is playable for you at a decent frame rate, which as of the date of writing this it isn't for everyone. Lots of trouble there.

    That being said, go look at the last review of Grand Theft Auto and add in a that it's an awful port with a less than engaging story involving characters you'll find it very hard to care about, the controls are about as sluggish as possible with no hope of fine movements without a lot of trial and error sensitivity changes outside of the game, and a story line that just doesn't make much sense.

    This game is at best Grand Theft Auto with a focus on hacking. At worsts, it's a really bad Grand Theft Auto with a focus on hacking. Don't get me wrong, the idea of hacking is a great inclusion -- you just can't insert it into what looks like an attempt at a rockstar game and hope it carries the weight all by itself.    … Expand
  92. Jonhuggs
    Jun 3, 2014
    6
    Oh watch Dogs, I want to love you, but I can only like you. First let me say that I'm "trying" to play this game on an AMD HD 7870. Ultra settings will KO my computer to the tune of a Blue screen of death(which I didn't even know could still happen as it's been years since I had one, like 4 iterations of windows ago) High settings will get me about 20-25 FPS, while playing on medium willOh watch Dogs, I want to love you, but I can only like you. First let me say that I'm "trying" to play this game on an AMD HD 7870. Ultra settings will KO my computer to the tune of a Blue screen of death(which I didn't even know could still happen as it's been years since I had one, like 4 iterations of windows ago) High settings will get me about 20-25 FPS, while playing on medium will get me 45-60 on foot, but in car it drops to around 30, playable though, just not what I'm used to with other more graphically impressive games, even another Ubi game ACIV runs great on my system, here's hoping the promised update helps. Now to the actual game, it's good and fun, it's kind of a mixture of GTA, Splinter cell, with a little Assassin's creed on top. It has a good story, although it can be predictable. I like the way you can attack missions head on or use stealth and cameras to neutralize the enemies. I do recommend this game and from what I've read if you run Nvidia, you'll likely have a smoother experience with it, but for us AMD users it's not really optimized very well yet and might be worth waiting on if you haven't picked it up yet.… Expand
  93. captainkane
    Jul 12, 2014
    7
    Watch Dogs is competing in a genre created by Rockstar’s GTA series. So how does it hold up? Underneath the hood, Watch Dogs is a hybrid of Deus Ex Human Revolution, Sleeping Dogs, and Far Cry 3. Well, I find it more enjoyable than Ubisoft's Far Cry 3 and the combat mechanics superior to Sleeping Dogs.

    For the most part, I'm like the game. Fictional Chicago feels real. The visuals and    Watch Dogs is competing in a genre created by Rockstar’s GTA series. So how does it hold up? Underneath the hood, Watch Dogs is a hybrid of Deus Ex Human Revolution, Sleeping Dogs, and Far Cry 3. Well, I find it more enjoyable than Ubisoft's Far Cry 3 and the combat mechanics superior to Sleeping Dogs.

    For the most part, I'm like the game. Fictional Chicago feels real. The visuals and lighting are impressive. Although graphic quality is a sticking point with gamers lately, most are over zealous. Watch Dogs maintains high graphic fidelity while simultaneously pushing cool visual effects. When Aiden's profiler app is active, information is constantly streaming in about people and environments. Viewing Chicago thru a hacked camera takes mere seconds as the whole world is shifted to different perspectives. Even fast traveling is speedy. These seamless transitions are handled in true Ubisoft fashion. That's a good thing. Despite the huge world, it only takes up 22gb of space. THANK YOU UBISOFT!! I'm tired of 50gb+ games that offer less and look worse.

    Hacking is easy, unlike the cumbersome minigames in Dues Ex HR. In combat, hacking can be combined with stealth to provide tactical advantages. Players can craft items that will distract opponents or knock out the power grid. Hacking bridges and stoplights while driving allows speedy getaways. So one touch hacking makes sense and keeps the pacing brisk. Or players can use lethals and blow up everything in sight. And focus mode slows down time long enough for players to pick off a few baddies. The cover system is perfect for stealth, and focus mode is a treat for those who like to place headshots. However, driving is clunky and cars handle horribly. Unfortunately, players are forced to complete dozens of frustrating chases.

    There are side missions, but they don't feel quite as repetitive as Far Cry 3. There are different online game modes such as racing, and players can invade other people's games. Fortunately, the invasion mode can be turned off for those who only want to focus on the missions.

    Unfortunately, the game is not PC optimized. There is micro stuttering, fps drops, and sound hiccups. Thankfully, ATI’s latest beta driver address those. Now, I generally only experience problems if textures are set to Ultra. For now, I'm forced to leave textures at High. Occasionally, the game force quits and frames still stutter. Without ATI's effort, Watch Dogs would be unplayable. The game is extremely RAM hungry. My system RAM will peak at 5gb but my GPU's VRAM won't go past 70% load. That's a console port legacy and explains the issue with Ultra textures.

    Although gameplay is fun, there are frustrations. I can't tell Aiden which car door to exit. I've automatically exited the side of a car taking all the gun fire. Stupid. I wanted to exit the passenger door and use my car as cover while placing a few shots. Nope. And I agree with critics that hacking is superficial. It seems most beneficial while evading pursuers. However, I really think Ubisoft is trying to force players to use multiple play styles. If all enemies could be hacked, the game would be too easy. If hacking was complicated, then it becomes Deus Ex. The dilemma for Ubisoft was establishing the right balance. It wants players to engage in combat. So hacking is only advantageous for gaining intel, thinning out enemies, or escaping.
    Aiden's carries every gun, lethal, and hacking device he touches. Also, his phone (the primary hacking device) has an infinite power supply. Even if the battery drains, recharges quickly. Need grenades? Just craft those on the go. Get the point? It’s way too easy. The missions can be challenging depending on the approach players take. But there is always the temptation to take the easy route: Blow everything up and shoot survivors. There is one huge annoyance. If Aiden dies during a mission, his car disappears. So players can be stuck with a POS clunker for one of the dozens of chases unless they restart the mission.

    The story is OK. It doesn’t have the depth of Sleeping Dogs, but it’s more enjoyable than FC 3. The ceaseless propaganda is annoying . Even if car radios are disabled, advertising and "news" will still play conveying the same message over and over: Is technology evil? Are we giving up privacy for convenience? I'm tired of hearing that every 2 minutes. The lack of subtlety is irritating after the 10th time it plays. Dues Ex did a much better job conveying a similar message.

    Watch Dogs is a great effort by Ubisoft into GTA's world. In fact, I say it’s a must own. Despite the gimmicky hacking, the game is fun. I'm disappointed by the buggy PC launch. The PC gaming market is much larger than big publishers acknowledge, just look at Steam's success. ATI did what it could, but Ubisoft needs to push more patches now. The game deserves an 8 out of 10, but poor optimization and poor driving mechanics are impossible to overlook.    … Expand
  94. 0hope
    Jun 11, 2014
    6
    Although it's been a while since game came out i still felt like i should write something soo.....
    Even with new AMD drivers (14.6.) you wont get that better performance in Watch Dogs, this brings that 'nVidia meant to be played' to whole new level which is just sad.
    And 2nd thing about Watch Dogs that put most ppl away are rather sloppy controls. I'm not talking about hardware issues    Although it's been a while since game came out i still felt like i should write something soo.....
    Even with new AMD drivers (14.6.) you wont get that better performance in Watch Dogs, this brings that 'nVidia meant to be played' to whole new level which is just sad.

    And 2nd thing about Watch Dogs that put most ppl away are rather sloppy controls.
    I'm not talking about hardware issues and crap (which exist like crappy forced mouse acceleration) but how simple things like aim camera and free camera movement speed are inconsistent and that requires some getting used to, just like driving controls ...

    So yeah once you pass that you can actually enjoy game and its not GTA clone as some expect it to be.
    There is plenty of stuff to do in city but you are not pulled by hand for everything and that stuff requires good old explorations.    … Expand
  95. Llaerrick
    Jul 7, 2014
    7
    having spent a lot more time on this (after initially reviewing it at a 6), i've decided to do a second review and up the score to a 7 (edging closer to a 7.5). yes there are some issues in the game. but in terms of Single Player game-play, i've not had much performance issues of bugs. SP is somewhat enjoyable and while the hacking itself is limited to either contextual button-pressing orhaving spent a lot more time on this (after initially reviewing it at a 6), i've decided to do a second review and up the score to a 7 (edging closer to a 7.5). yes there are some issues in the game. but in terms of Single Player game-play, i've not had much performance issues of bugs. SP is somewhat enjoyable and while the hacking itself is limited to either contextual button-pressing or puzzle-solving, it's the contextual use of the hacking abilities/tools that make the game fun. of course, you could pretty much just run around and shoot things GTA-style but that isnt the essence of the game and isnt remotely fun. on the other hand, using environmental hazards/contextual hacking to accomplish the mission is far more fun and fulfilling. what makes this game really stand-out is the online multi-player integration. the online aspects and modes fit in very well with the theme and background of the game. online invasions and the threat of invasions from other online players is compelling and adds a lot of zing to the game. unfortunately, there should be slightly better online integration (or some filters that can be toggled allowing you to join/invade players of an acceptable ping). but overall, still enjoying it after considerable play-time.… Expand
  96. Alex0001
    Jun 28, 2017
    7
    сначала игра была прикольная хоть какаято атмосфера но потом идеи ссякли есть только 3-4 вида заданий это надоедает чарез час одно и тожн одно и тоже СКУЧНО БЛЯ
  97. DrawidsAR
    Jan 13, 2020
    6
    Сюжет неплох, неплох. Во всяком случае он сделан не по заезженному шаблону. По поводу стрельбы, с одной стороны вроде бы хочешь стрелять, но как начинаешь это делать, то сразу становится противно, и один приятный звук ситуацию не исправляет. Дизайн уровней по сути своей не очень то и однообразен, город, пригород, тюрьма, остров, но из-за растянутости игры и это успевает надоесть. СтелсСюжет неплох, неплох. Во всяком случае он сделан не по заезженному шаблону. По поводу стрельбы, с одной стороны вроде бы хочешь стрелять, но как начинаешь это делать, то сразу становится противно, и один приятный звук ситуацию не исправляет. Дизайн уровней по сути своей не очень то и однообразен, город, пригород, тюрьма, остров, но из-за растянутости игры и это успевает надоесть. Стелс очень хорошо сделан на удивление, не в плане что он сложен и ИИ хорошо справляется с задачей, а в том плане, что разработчики не ставят перед вами рамки как проходить миссию. Можно в пулемётом на перевес бежать сломя голову, можно краться с глушителем или взламывать камеры. Открытый мир открыт, есть что делать, правда нет вменяемых сайд квестов, зато есть утомительные и однообразные миссии от устранителей. DLC 0 из 0… Expand
  98. Matius98
    May 27, 2014
    7
    Game is not done. Optimization sucks. Bugs are everywhere, and they got almost one year more to work on game. Really, how they couldn't finish this **** Only thing that make this game 5 is potential and complete new game... Ohh sorry - not complete for sure.
  99. TerranGuy93
    Jun 24, 2017
    6
    A relatively entertaining game that has its problems.

    The good: Its a fun, beautiful open world with a lot of interactable environment. Very few things are as satisfying as stopping a chase in its tracks by hacking the traffic lights or the bridges at just the right time (though this does become a bit repetitive. The story is entertaining enough, not uber special but not bad. The    A relatively entertaining game that has its problems.

    The good:

    Its a fun, beautiful open world with a lot of interactable environment. Very few things are as satisfying as stopping a chase in its tracks by hacking the traffic lights or the bridges at just the right time (though this does become a bit repetitive. The story is entertaining enough, not uber special but not bad.

    The bad:

    The hacking could be a little more varied from person to person. IE: some NPCS have the option to be hacked, but unfortunately it means click Q and you'll get a reward. I would have preferred more advanced options, perhaps a minigame that will net you more but risk detection etc.

    The big thing other reviewers are getting upset at are the graphics. This is a fair criticism as the game is not what was advertised at E3 and despite the downgrades, the game still runs fairly poorly.

    Overall its a fun game for people that enjoy open world, but it is a bumpy ride that won't be worth it for everyone.    … Expand
  100. tomasz009
    Nov 24, 2014
    7
    First of all, these **** giving the game an instant 0 because of performance issues are stupid. Yeah, I know, it can ruin your experience of the game, but does it eliminate all its merits? I have the privilege to run this game with an i7 4770K and a GTX 780, so I know I probably lack some perspective, but it still doesn't make sense.

    Anyway, Watch Dogs is a solid game. Solid hacking,    First of all, these **** giving the game an instant 0 because of performance issues are stupid. Yeah, I know, it can ruin your experience of the game, but does it eliminate all its merits? I have the privilege to run this game with an i7 4770K and a GTX 780, so I know I probably lack some perspective, but it still doesn't make sense.

    Anyway, Watch Dogs is a solid game. Solid hacking, gunplay, plot, setting, and graphics. While, like many others, I'm disappointed with the downgrade in graphics from the E3 2012 trailer, it still looks good, especially at night. Only thing I'm scared about is Ubi downgrading The Division, which would be blasphemy. The 'press button to hack' feature works pretty well, and I had some cool moments taking down traffic with them. It's not really as exciting as you'd think hacking would be, but it's alright.

    Guns are good, with a wide, meaty selection, but apart from some scripted 'waves of enemies' moments, I pretty much beat the game with headshots from a pistol. If you can beat the game with an M1911 you get a quarter into the game, it's a bit broken. Stealth works well though, except why even use take downs if they attract every damn enemy when you use them on just one guy...

    Environment-wise, Chicago feels like a gritty urban city with a wide variety of socio-economic classes. Pawnee...ehh, does every open world GTA-like game have to have a rural area a la San Andreas, who did it first? The story missions used Chicago well. Apart from that, I felt no need to explore the city; it was just darting from story mission to story mission. I didn't touch the vigilante missions (except for the introductory one) and unless I run out of games to play, I probably never will.

    Finally, characters and story. The game is presented as ~ultra-hacking thriller~ but it barely has sense of humour. When it does, it comes from the stereotypical characters, which don't get me wrong, I liked, but it was a bit too predictable. Jordi Chin, the wise-cracking Asian-American; Clara Lille, the 'punk/underground' chick; T-Bone, the trailer trash. Now they did have unique features, particularly Clara and T-Bone, but surprisingly, my favourite character was Jordi.

    Aiden Pearce himself? Bastard needs to smile. I mean, I get the game is meant to be hard-hitting and ponderous, but his stoicism just made him dull most of the time. He's a badass, sure, but I don't careeeeeeeeeeee about his damn nieeeeeeeeeeceeeeeeeeeee...why should I? I heard her talk for like 10 seconds. Why is her death so affecting? Take the time to make us care Ubisoft. Also Damien is **** annoying and not in an interesting way.

    Yeah...game was solid, but not fantastic. Ubisoft needs to stop rushing/confusing endings as well, as yet again, Watch Dogs' is. I'd give it like, 6.8/10.    … Expand
prev
Page:

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.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »