Watch Dogs

 PC
User Score
6.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 5182 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,662 out of 5182
  2. Mixed: 913 out of 5182
  3. Negative: 1,607 out of 5182
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  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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
  6. dandalis
    Oct 25, 2016
    5
    Pretty abysmal PC port, awful and inconsitent performance on any hardware configuration, graphics them selves are pretty mediocre in final product and reveal foul play in game's advertising. However Chicago is very well detailed for the most part, downtown area especialy, to be fair game can look pretty damn good when its raining and storm hits.

    The story is a huge MEH and only couple    Pretty abysmal PC port, awful and inconsitent performance on any hardware configuration, graphics them selves are pretty mediocre in final product and reveal foul play in game's advertising. However Chicago is very well detailed for the most part, downtown area especialy, to be fair game can look pretty damn good when its raining and storm hits.

    The story is a huge MEH and only couple of characters are memorable enough to remember them after crediots roll. Aiden completely fails as main character or even anit hero, he just that bad and horribly written.

    Gameplay is super mega casual, it treats you like an brainless fool with insane hand holding and hacking takes no effort whats so ever. Driving feels like youre comandeering a boat no matter its a minivan or a super car. Shooting feels unsatisfying and stealth gameplay is pretty bare bones, enemy AI have no traces of intelligence also. Overall theres huge lack of detail in world interaction with wonky physics and stuff.

    Biggest let down of 2014 to say the least. I have no idea whats happening in people's heads who praise this game so much.    … Expand
  7. user12
    Nov 26, 2017
    5
    WATCH_DOGS is an incredibly disappointing and overhyped game. I don't hate it or anything, and it's not a bad game at all, the reason why I'm rating a 5 is because we were promised so much more. WATCH_DOGS' story is a generic, cliched tale of revenge. That's it. It's so boring and uninvolving that you just daydream through it. I think what sucked me out of the story the most is when IWATCH_DOGS is an incredibly disappointing and overhyped game. I don't hate it or anything, and it's not a bad game at all, the reason why I'm rating a 5 is because we were promised so much more. WATCH_DOGS' story is a generic, cliched tale of revenge. That's it. It's so boring and uninvolving that you just daydream through it. I think what sucked me out of the story the most is when I realized that Aiden Pierce is an uncharismatic, boring, hollow shell. Generally speaking, the graphics look like **** The game looks good at night time, in the rain, but that's about it. The open world is dead and empty. There are around five pedestrian models, and the pedestrians have no human personality to them. They just walk around, drive around, and sit. The pedestrians on trains and at train stations never get on or off. You can go to a bus stop and see them waiting for buses, even though there are none in the game. The side missions are quite fun, but the main campaign missions are just awful.
    So, all things considered, WATCH_DOGS is a huge letdown, which is not worth playing.    … Expand
  8. Sweetard
    Jul 11, 2018
    5
    It´s a more bad than good game. I would say it is playable and it may have much potential but I´m not rating potential in a fully released game.It could be worse but there is nothing in it where I say that this game does it better than any other game of this genre. All in all it´s a more or less good attempt to "attack" the GTA series but with it´s bad driving physics and bloody screen itIt´s a more bad than good game. I would say it is playable and it may have much potential but I´m not rating potential in a fully released game.It could be worse but there is nothing in it where I say that this game does it better than any other game of this genre. All in all it´s a more or less good attempt to "attack" the GTA series but with it´s bad driving physics and bloody screen it stays behind GTA and is more like the "stupid little brother".… Expand
  9. 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.
  10. Soullex
    Nov 30, 2022
    5
    Teoride güzel ama uygulamaya gelince sıkıntı çıkmış gibi...................
  11. Zinaldo
    Sep 6, 2023
    5
    hacking stuff solving puzzles are so annoying , I hate solving puzzles in action games
    that mission that you have to hack cameras is so annoying
  12. jugabo
    Jul 17, 2020
    5
    Graphics are average, but the gunplay and the driving is horrible. The story is boring. Hacking things is fun, but don't buy the game, wait until it's free.
  13. ErdemMT5
    Jan 23, 2022
    5
    Watch Dogs, is an incomplete gta-like game with some hacker aspects.
    This game could be much more good if it was a completed game. But in this current form, game has too many lacking contents about open world design. Except for the time spent during the main quests. There is only few activities player can do in the open world. And this activities are mostly same anti crime side    Watch Dogs, is an incomplete gta-like game with some hacker aspects.
    This game could be much more good if it was a completed game. But in this current form, game has too many lacking contents about open world design. Except for the time spent during the main quests. There is only few activities player can do in the open world. And this activities are mostly same anti crime side missions.Except the open world events, even the main quest types are very few and too similer to each other.
    Even the game mechanics are incompleted. Game usually offers you a stealth gameplay especially in the main quests. But the silly part is, game even doesn't have fundemental stealth mechanics like, carrying dead body's.
    This game had the potential. But the Ubisoft's money lust causes a incompleted freak game again.    … Expand
  14. alexnikolov667
    Aug 19, 2023
    5
    Look it's not a bad game, and it IS fun to play, but there are too many unforgivable screw ups. I expect better from such a huge game developer.

    ---{ Story }--- PC is a hacker who gets mixed up in something way over his head. Bad guys try to scare him off but end up killing his niece. Rampage. The story is ok in principal, but the further into it you play, the more the plot    Look it's not a bad game, and it IS fun to play, but there are too many unforgivable screw ups. I expect better from such a huge game developer.

    ---{ Story }---
    PC is a hacker who gets mixed up in something way over his head. Bad guys try to scare him off but end up killing his niece. Rampage.
    The story is ok in principal, but the further into it you play, the more the plot contrivances build up. There are several plot holes that bothered me. It does raise interesting questions about the surveillance state, and a free society versus a safe society.
    However, there are too many main missions. I feel like half of chapter four should've been side-quests, it just drags too much and kills the pacing. Also Clara's *spoiler* feels like tacked on. Devs clearly knew it was going to happen (there was early signposting), but then the way it was integrated was very sloppy.

    ---{ Gameplay }---
    The movement is really awkward. You can climb over massive fences, but not a meter high wall. You can't climb out of water unless there is a pre-ordained climbable surface.
    The driving is absolute trash. Cars accelerate violently with the barest touch of a button. This might make sense with a high powered sports car, but it happens with everything, including massive trucks.
    Anything involving car chases is wack. Worst rubber-banding I've ever seen. The game (and fans) are very quick to remind you that you're not playing GTA, you're a hacker, so hack your way out of trouble, but then the correct solution to some escapes is to... steal a boat and sail out into open water??? Also enemy vehicles can instantly accelerate from stationary to ramming speed, your car however can not.
    Nobody in the city has any regard for there own safety. Pedestrians will leap in front of you. Enemies will ram their car into you in a way that would absolutely result in their death. Multiple times.

    ---{ Graphics }---
    So obviously the E3 fiasco. But actually the graphics are fine. Everything looks very nice. Certain levels of anti-aliasing resulted in shadows flickering. Got some object pop-in as well at what i would consider a relatively short distance.

    ---{ Audio }---
    Absolutely awful. Dialogue was so quiet i had to turn my volume well above 50% (normally I'm at about 20, 30 max), and then something exploded and I'm deaf now. Whoever was in charge of audio for this game should be locked up for wilful endangerment.
    The voice cast did very well.

    ---{ Difficulty }---
    Overall it's all very do-able. There were some missions that were badly designed (enemies spawning behind you, infinitely spawning enemy cars), but overall, not a hard game

    ---{ Grind }---
    Huge. The amount of side content here is ludicrous. You're constantly being peppered with notifications of a crime being committed nearby. You don't NEED to complete them, but you'd be crippled without some of the hacking and driving abilities, so a bit of side-questing is recommended.

    ---{ Bugs }---
    CTD when changing certain graphical settings. CTD when changing to full-screen with some graphical settings. Some missions are bugged so you can't complete without a restart.

    ---{ PC Requirements }---
    Max settings on an i5-9600K and an RTX 2070 = constant 60fps.    … Expand
  15. Pier
    Jun 8, 2014
    4
    I can play this game at ultra, but the controls are simply horrible, even after semi fixing the mouse modifying a config file. It doesn't matter how good is the story if you can't play it or the games crashes.
  16. kartana
    May 27, 2014
    4
    Overrated and badly optimized console port. There is nothing new here. The hacking is mostly a gimmick. It's the standard "go here, go there, click that and now escape the bad boys chasing you".
  17. Vasot
    May 28, 2014
    4
    1) Graphics are not as good as they promised
    2) At Ultra graphics it stutters a lot even if you have a super powerful PC
    3) UPLAY is garbage it really makes the game run worse and is one of the most awful services out there and as a DRM solution it does not stop the pirates... 4) Gameplay becomes repetitive really fast 5) Car physics are very arcade and unrealistic almost worse from    1) Graphics are not as good as they promised
    2) At Ultra graphics it stutters a lot even if you have a super powerful PC
    3) UPLAY is garbage it really makes the game run worse and is one of the most awful services out there and as a DRM solution it does not stop the pirates...
    4) Gameplay becomes repetitive really fast
    5) Car physics are very arcade and unrealistic almost worse from the Need for Speed series    … Expand
  18. TitaniumDragon
    Jan 3, 2017
    4
    Sadly, the game doesn’t live up to expectations, though not for the reasons that many of the people who complained about the graphical downgrade (the game, frankly, still looks pretty decent) seemed to think was the cause.

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

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

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

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

    Ubisoft found a way.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    However, I found some things rather disturbing...

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

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

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

    Online. Dreadful. Annoying. Not balanced.

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

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

    I could go on for a while. Instead, I will leave it at the game had amazing potential. Sadly, that potential was not reached or even glanced at. I will finish the game as I tend to dislike not finishing things I start. I'm disappointed in Ubisoft. Instead of a dynamic story with thrilling action, we got a flat story with a shaky plot. This is not the quality I expect from Ubisoft. If I were them, I would be ashamed my name was on this.    … Expand
  29. user82
    May 27, 2014
    4
    Story: Actually the best thing about the game. Complex enough to be a little unpredictable, simple enough to follow
    Controls: Walking and going into cover works well, Aiming is unprecise
    Graphics: Medium at best, nothing fancy Free Roam: Very Repetitive Other: Buggy and laggy, not enjoyable at all on a system better than recommended specs Total: While the concept of hacking and the    Story: Actually the best thing about the game. Complex enough to be a little unpredictable, simple enough to follow
    Controls: Walking and going into cover works well, Aiming is unprecise
    Graphics: Medium at best, nothing fancy
    Free Roam: Very Repetitive
    Other: Buggy and laggy, not enjoyable at all on a system better than recommended specs
    Total: While the concept of hacking and the story are ok, the experience diminishes due to the poor performance and the poor graphics in daylight.    … Expand
  30. xTobyMc
    Jun 27, 2014
    4
    The game is okay, but the poor optimisation has ruined it for so many people. Running a GTX 780 the game barely keeps a stable frame rate on the lowest settings. There's also frame stutter at all times when driving and the game keeps crashing. In fact, I'm about 10 hours into the game and I can't continue the main storyline because it crashes every time. I'm thoroughly disappointed withThe game is okay, but the poor optimisation has ruined it for so many people. Running a GTX 780 the game barely keeps a stable frame rate on the lowest settings. There's also frame stutter at all times when driving and the game keeps crashing. In fact, I'm about 10 hours into the game and I can't continue the main storyline because it crashes every time. I'm thoroughly disappointed with Watch Dogs as it was looking to be one of the best games of the year. The game isn't even that exciting either. The story gets fairly boring, enemies are extremely weak, whilst the police are ridiculously hard to get away from. The whole idea of hacking everything around you isn't that much fun either. I'll be honest, I'm not even that annoyed that the game crashes so much that I can't play it any more. I'd probably stop playing it anyway, it doesn't excite me at all. I look forward to GTA V coming to PC, it will be much better than this for the genre.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

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