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. xMayoRx
    May 29, 2014
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Сool game about hackers, but shooting is clearly unnecessary. I liked more is not the plot, but additional tasks for hacking. A graphics and light game for me went to Plan 2… Expand
  2. oxumozka
    May 29, 2014
    9
    Things about Watch Dogs:
    - Very nice graphics
    - A good variety of cars
    - Nice guns
    - Interesting plot
    - Chicago
    - The hacking is too easy

    Almost everything in the game is very good except the hacking. It's really too easy. The NPC is sometimes a little weird, but often it works fine.
  3. Fostin4
    May 29, 2014
    1
    Ubisoft deceived everyone with false advertising at E3.
    The driving is terrible physics is unreal and overall feels like an arcade game.
    Zero optimization was done in porting the game to PC 3gigs of VRAM for an ugly game?go home Ubisoft. Lazy developers female citizens tagged as male,Static shadows,ugly lightning Crysis from 2007 looks ways better than this "lousy console port " PC    Ubisoft deceived everyone with false advertising at E3.
    The driving is terrible physics is unreal and overall feels like an arcade game.
    Zero optimization was done in porting the game to PC
    3gigs of VRAM for an ugly game?go home Ubisoft.
    Lazy developers female citizens tagged as male,Static shadows,ugly lightning Crysis from 2007 looks ways better than this "lousy console port "
    PC gamers should stop bending over and buying Ubisoft games they are only interested in pleasing their shareholders and care less about gamers.    … Expand
  4. 911nsidejob
    May 29, 2014
    0
    Nothing like the E3 footage at all, once again we get gear boxed, whats that you ask, Colonial Marines ring a bell? They promise something they can't deliver.
  5. Chuggnuts
    May 29, 2014
    8
    I will start by saying I think this game is getting an extremely harsh ride.

    Firstly, performance. My pc specs are: 2600k with mild oc Gtx580 stock speeds (3gb) 16gb ram Win 7 64 Nvidia drivers from about a year ago (long story involving mods and enb's) Watch dogs defaulted to high settings, I immediately turned textures to ultra. Played for a few hours and then maxed    I will start by saying I think this game is getting an extremely harsh ride.

    Firstly, performance. My pc specs are:

    2600k with mild oc
    Gtx580 stock speeds (3gb)
    16gb ram
    Win 7 64
    Nvidia drivers from about a year ago (long story involving mods and enb's)

    Watch dogs defaulted to high settings, I immediately turned textures to ultra. Played for a few hours and then maxed everything else (detail, shadows, water, reflections, ambient occlusion etc) except AA which I left on a medium setting. On the first evening (release day) it played fine, smooth 95% if not more of the time with the only exception bring a stutter fest for a second or two during some night time car chases. Last night however, I played for approx 3 hours with no issues at all whatsoever. Smooth as anything.

    I am a huge fan of immersion, and especially graphics (i mod most games I own to increase texture detail and lighting quality etc)and I think on high this game looks great, on ultra it ranges from really good to stunning, depending on location and time of day etc. I will not be Modding watch dogs graphics. There is no need at the moment.

    Bugs - usual uplay disaster with logging in on release day but I got in after a few mins of hitting retry(certainly nothing compared to far cry 2 launch day) the first time I started a game I had an issue with not being able to pick up some items (the ? Didn't change above the item) I restarted and I've not had any other issues, or that one repeated.

    Gameplay- it's a good game, it's very similar to gta.... And will probably become a bit repetative in the same way but after initially finding the controls a bit mysterious (it doesn't always tell you the buttons, and they are not listed anywhere which I found really frustrating) and the game a bit clunky, I started to get really into it. Do not turn the look sensitivity up, like I did, just get used to his geriatric turn speed. After an hour or three I feel 'at one' with the controls.

    The world- incredibly good, for me it's better than any gta game, it feels more real, more alive and more natural. I generally only play games that are first person, as I like to be immersed in the game world and especially when bearing in mind the in car camera angles like the one behind the wheel, first person view on foot would be fantastic. I wish there was a first person view, but hey ho, it is what it is.

    One slightly immersion breaking aspect is the police. They are a bit ott in general, and will often send loads of cars and start shooting for not a lot EXCEPT if you get in a boat, in which case you are as good as free, even the chopper won't follow you across a tiny lake.... dont get me wrong, AI is generally ok, It's not really bad but would benefit from a bit of subtle tweaking.

    Overall it's pretty much what I expected, it's a good game bordering on really good. The missions will no doubt get boring (like with other similar titles) but roaming the city is rewarding, with the city being the best in any game so far (car engine sounds are extremely satisfying by the way) and if decent dlc content is released then this could be a big winner.

    Overall it's a good game so far, not amazing but not the disaster it seems from some of the reviews.    … Expand
  6. hein
    May 29, 2014
    0
    General Problems: Problems with ubisoft servers, problems connecting to them, problems just logging in...problems just logging in...problems just logging in...PROBLEMS F****** LOGGING IN...
  7. DjNemes1s
    May 29, 2014
    1
    After all the waiting and hype, I'm very disappointed to say this game is just......BORING.

    It's trying to be half GTA and half Assassin's Creed but fails to be anywhere near as enjoyable as either of them. - The car physics are a joke, it's like playing crazy taxi arcade. - You can't interact with NPC's other than pulling your gun out and watching them run away. - The city is    After all the waiting and hype, I'm very disappointed to say this game is just......BORING.

    It's trying to be half GTA and half Assassin's Creed but fails to be anywhere near as enjoyable as either of them.

    - The car physics are a joke, it's like playing crazy taxi arcade.
    - You can't interact with NPC's other than pulling your gun out and watching them run away.
    - The city is boring. It all looks the same, there's nothing to do, it just feels lifeless and doesn't make me want to explore.
    - Rinse and Repeat formula: You will do the same side missions over and over and over and over....forever. At least in Assassin's creed they felt fun. I got bored chasing someone who just committed a crime after the 2nd or 3rd attempt. It's just empty and emotionless filler.
    - Glitches: There are so many glitches even with the latest drivers and a high end system.
    - Characters and Story: The story is again just plain boring. Some of the side characters are quite interesting but Aiden is so detached that I actually couldn't care less half the time when he getskilled.

    The digital trip mini games are about the only thing I had fun with. One of them reminded me of Carmageddon and is actually much more fun than driving around in the game itself as the physics in that situation actually make sense.

    Don't waste your money like I did. I believed the hype. The E3 videos had me hooked since last year. The 'control the city' idea sounded unique and limitless.

    The reality on the other hand is an empty shell of a game with no soul, hugely repetitive and unfulfilling gameplay and mixed back of technical features. I've only played a few hours but can't even force myself to continue. A first in my many years of gaming!!    … Expand
  8. lars180
    May 29, 2014
    4
    May look simple but these points mainly bothered me:

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

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

    Some positive points:

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

    Conclusion:

    If it wasn't for the bad performance and driving i would've given this game a 7, but unfortunately this game disappointed me after waiting for it's release since the first trailer came out..    … Expand
  9. 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
  10. offline_n1
    May 29, 2014
    8
    Okay, first of all, don't compare watch dogs and GTA, it's doesn't make any sense. The second. This game is great, really great, eventhough there a few bugs but it's not affected to the game pretty much. Watch dogs is great, but there something of it that may annoying you:
    -Driving: I gave it 8 because of WD's driving, it's like: the driving has destroyed this game. First it's too hard    Okay, first of all, don't compare watch dogs and GTA, it's doesn't make any sense. The second. This game is great, really great, eventhough there a few bugs but it's not affected to the game pretty much. Watch dogs is great, but there something of it that may annoying you:
    -Driving: I gave it 8 because of WD's driving, it's like: the driving has destroyed this game. First it's too hard (just like GTA 4' driving), 2nd the physic isn't great for a next gen game, 3rd, the light of the car lamp doesn't make shadow to objects........ For short, like i said: The driving destroyed this game
    -The graphic: Pretty good but the texture is not good enought, and the trees is awful ( but i've never seen a sandbox has a good looking at the trees, even GTA...)
    -WD doesn't contain much of mini games like billard, pocker....
    That's all, the rest of the game is great and hard and just like Ubisoft promised. This is a great game, but it's should be 45$ not 60$ :D    … Expand
  11. DAE
    May 29, 2014
    0
    This game look like GTA:Vice city. No Physics. No reflections. The city is full of scripts - well, in fact in Gothic3 NPC were more realistic than here.
  12. matsy80
    May 29, 2014
    1
    Ok so this game should be one off the best in its kind for what i believe from crtics but in my opinion its the worst game ever in his kind.
    First off all graphics are really bad for the time we live in.
    second the mechanics of char and car driving are a hell.
    third lag lag lag even with a good grafic card
    fourth mission are stupid.
    guys plz dont buy this game its a money loss!!!
  13. GamingApple
    May 29, 2014
    0
    I bought the game, on the release day things went bad.

    Uplay site was horrible to get on, lags and unable to connect. Took me 1 day to try and download "Uplay" and the download was corrupted. Then i restarted and tried again. Then finally after 5 hours i could "start up the game" but when i tried to play CRASH I had 5 crashed before i could even go further then the intro movies.    I bought the game, on the release day things went bad.

    Uplay site was horrible to get on, lags and unable to connect.
    Took me 1 day to try and download "Uplay" and the download was corrupted.
    Then i restarted and tried again.

    Then finally after 5 hours i could "start up the game" but when i tried to play CRASH

    I had 5 crashed before i could even go further then the intro movies. And you can't skip.
    After awhile I could but then CRASH.

    I gave up and tried to do everything possible to fix it. Re-download, install all drivers etc.

    Still no luck, this is day 3 and i still can't play this game. 2 of my friends could play it and they say it's horrible. Multi-player takes 1/2 hours before you can invade random people. Then it's broken.
    Game-play issues etc.

    for a game that got delayed for nearly 2 years you would expect them to FIX and bring a STABLE game out. where did 68 Mil $ go? how can a game that cost that much be SO horrible.

    here's a vid about the crash I'm getting

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnThC_6nKVA

    Bad launch, reminds me of Rome 2, Siims city 2013 and X rebirth. BAD and horrible launch. Great PR but did not live up to it's expectation.    … Expand
  14. gopo2004
    May 29, 2014
    0
    BANK ACCOUNT HACKED
    [Being, Sentient]
    [Suckered by Ubisoft]
    [Age: 27]
    [Occupation: Idiot]
    [Bank Account: -$59.99]

    - Stupid NPC
    - Woods cars
    - Not interesting player's company.
    - Nothing to do in city
    - Static shadows
  15. ici_chacal
    May 29, 2014
    9
    The game is good but not perfect. There are no many games on PC like this one. GTA V were never released on PC so we should have not compare them two. We should rather compare it vs. the first trailers we saw 2 years ago. So what I noticed only as an disappointed is the Graphic - a little bit worse than presented. All the rest is the same. My score for this game is 8.
  16. myckat
    May 29, 2014
    1
    This must be a joke...
    graphics 3/10 (its 2008-2009 lvl, not next gen)
    gameplay 2/10 ( press x to win)
    bugs 10/10
    I feel like ubisoft lied to me, 2012 E3 trailer and THAT game just can't be the same... Totally dissapointed
  17. silenterfox
    May 29, 2014
    0
    i had 2 gb nvidia 540m and i cant play this **** .producers use nvdia in ads that so funny. this is a fraud. this is a shame. we are aggrieved. im so sad.
  18. MrBrioche
    May 29, 2014
    0
    Two words describe this piece of crap : SCRIPTED EVENT!
    They said we could choose how to do the mission... **** if you do a perfect stealth mission at a point some guard/car will pop out of nowhere and charge like you have some kind of GPS on you.
    Another thing I had to get closer of my tv, the game was giving me headache. I played for 30+ hours and so far the most ''fun'' thing I've    Two words describe this piece of crap : SCRIPTED EVENT!
    They said we could choose how to do the mission... **** if you do a perfect stealth mission at a point some guard/car will pop out of nowhere and charge like you have some kind of GPS on you.
    Another thing I had to get closer of my tv, the game was giving me headache.
    I played for 30+ hours and so far the most ''fun'' thing I've done is the Spider-tank mini game and it wasn't that fun...    … Expand
  19. ImGoinToWalmart
    May 29, 2014
    8
    No Spoilers.
    To all those out there that are smashing this game because they cant run it or they cant play it because they don't have a 64 bit system really need to just educate themselves about computers. Half the people that played this game probably torrented it from the internet. And half the people that have 64 bit windows probably stole that too. Why are you **** about paying for    No Spoilers.
    To all those out there that are smashing this game because they cant run it or they cant play it because they don't have a 64 bit system really need to just educate themselves about computers. Half the people that played this game probably torrented it from the internet. And half the people that have 64 bit windows probably stole that too. Why are you **** about paying for something when if you were a true pc gamer you would know how to test a game before you bought it? Idiots, the lot of you. As for this game, if you tweak it right it is perfectly playable at an acceptable frame rate and provides the fun it promised without maybe as shiny a coat of paint. IT is still very much worth a play or a rent. Stop saying this is a bad game just because your too big of an idiot to make it work properly.    … Expand
  20. COHL7500
    May 29, 2014
    9
    I think that all these people who gives this a 0-3 Really needs to get slapped in the face as many times as possible, because this is like saying that "I dont what a game is" Because THIS game, looks fantastic, and i´ve for sure been playing this more than all other people that gave this negative. In this review, im gonna be honest, and tell you the truth. Not the **** making review thatI think that all these people who gives this a 0-3 Really needs to get slapped in the face as many times as possible, because this is like saying that "I dont what a game is" Because THIS game, looks fantastic, and i´ve for sure been playing this more than all other people that gave this negative. In this review, im gonna be honest, and tell you the truth. Not the **** making review that haven´t played this game, because people HONESTLY dont know what the **** is a 0-3 out of 10. Go see Mindjack, then you know.

    This game is a really the best graphics on the market yet, and yes, i felt like it looked bad on the livestreams, but that was just the haters making it look so bad, but the game is actually looking really good, i was actually sometimes (even at morning) strolling around for looking at the game - it looks really good on Ultra and high, and i can agree with people saying that this game is only for rich gamers, or something playing on maxed out (as i do), but that doesn´t really care, because the game looks great too on High.

    The game has a really an addicting gameplay. I was playing 10 hours straight, and i couldn´t even stop. People saying that this game is boring after 2 hours, have some ****ing problems. The game has too some kind of soul in the game, fx: When you´re walking on the streets, you´re seeing alot of people, but none of them looks the same (As cough GTA cough..), and some of them are actually doing stuff that makes you stop up, and look. The game comes sometimes with a random mission saying like "CRIME DETECTED! CLICK X FOR Destination!" Which makes the game not boring at-all; Sometimes, i was a bit stressed in the game because you really want to complete the crime, and you really want to try the Gang Hideout (Which shows the good stealth in this game), and sometimes you really want to try criminal convoy (Which is a tactical gameplay) And the criminal convoy, is exactly what that makes the game REALLY, and yes, REALLY gets the game to look look a ****ing badass movie! It works like that there´s 3 (sometimes 4) Trying to get the money/hash/armory away from the city (You´ll meet russians lol), which makes it extremely hard to complete, because people needs to be saved (like in the E3 Gameplay 2012), but TRUST me, it doesn´t work trying to **** around, even on medium they´re trolling, you, and just to say: THE. NPCS. ARE. NOT. DUMB. And why are they not dumb? Well because: 1st: They´re calling reinforcements, which makes you ****ed sometimes, because they´re coming from behind, and the front of you. 2nd: They´re not just YOLO'ing in this game. They´re going to immediatly find cover, and they´re running behind you, to **** you up. 3rd: When they´re driving, the (secret) guards will dodge your shots that you´re shooting, and try to drive as near, as possible, and they will drive behind you, to get your ass pwned 7 times in a row. 4th: If you´re in a shop, and there´s a TV Screen, and there´s coming news about you, the owner will react in 2 different ways 1st. He´s going to warn ctOS with an alarm under the desk. 2nd: He will say to you, if he knows that you´re a good guy "Hey, dont bring me in trouble. Get out of here!" Then he will hide under the desk, and not warn the police.

    The skill tree in this game is extremely helpful to survive in this game, and it has a lot of different skills to upgrade, the one im upgrading most, is combat, and hacking (which is a bit important in this game). And i really love the skill tree, and a lot more than far cry 3 Showed us.

    The first time driving in this game is really special for you when you start, but i learned it faster than i could count to 20. It´s really easy to drive in this game, and it feels like a driving game, because you will feel the difference when you´re driving in this game, in any other game, like this: Muscle cars is the most difficult to drive, and they have a handling like a leopard have. The normal racer cars, and performance cars will sometimes have a really badass driving, and handling, when the normal cars will just feel uninteresting to drive in.

    FINAL VERDICT: The game has some bugs, which all game has, and it´s not like "OMG TOO MANY BUGS KILLING MYSELF" It has like some strange bugs, which only with trying to make a glitch, or trying to **** it up. I must say, that i dont understand people that have rated this game, they should really be tortured for saying something so bad, even gamefront was stupid enough to jump on the train. Many will think, when im giving it a rate on 10: "Lol, ya dont mean it, right?" And yes, i do. This game lived COMPLETELY up to its hype, but it seems like it was only GTA Idiots that reviewed this game, and GTA, cant ****ing beat this game, at all. The history is full of surprises too: ((SPOILER)) BadBoy17 in this game will be Clara Lille, which is a really big surprise for me.

    This game deserves with a golden badge 9/10: Addicting Gameplay, extremely perfect design, AND AI/Tech too!    … Expand
  21. The_Icon
    May 29, 2014
    3
    Worst decision ever made, it is horrendous on the PC. It took me entire day to download, only after coming back from work, I spent 3 hours trying to figure out how to launch without it constantly crashing. Then, just gave up. Next morning, it launched, but the game was nothing like e3 2012 with everything ultra. My system is decent enough to handle it:

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

    Core i5 4670
    R9 290
    16 GB RAM

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

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

    Last ubisoft game I am buying, with no laws for piracy where I live, will pirate them only.    … Expand
  22. Gidein
    May 29, 2014
    10
    Watch_Dogs is a very different experience for each user, and many of the people writing these aren't realising that. I see that many of you complain about it not working - welcome to Ubisoft. All of their games have bugs and glitches when they come out, but that doesn't make the game bad. That makes it buggy. Also - the game requires a lot of machine power. You should probably check yourWatch_Dogs is a very different experience for each user, and many of the people writing these aren't realising that. I see that many of you complain about it not working - welcome to Ubisoft. All of their games have bugs and glitches when they come out, but that doesn't make the game bad. That makes it buggy. Also - the game requires a lot of machine power. You should probably check your system before buying the game, check steam for the requirements.

    Anyway - onto the actual review.

    I've not completed the game yet but so far the game has been very fun, there is lots to do and very little things holding you back from just doing what ever you feel like. I have to say the things such as destroying criminal convoys are completely out of the story life, but really fun with a 40,000 dollar grenade launcher. The main story, personally, is very good. Before I bought the game BETA critics were complaining that it's an over-reaction (the whole storyline) but I think that it really fits.

    The gameplay its self is also pretty damn awesome, the driving mechanics are a bit ... crazy. BUT are really fun to mess around with. The graphics in the game are amazing (I play on ultra). The game could do with a few more open buildings though to make the world even more open.

    The AI aren't the brightest bunch, I'll give you that. From reading 'sowingsadness's' review it seems that this person must of been previously playing minecraft and having some sort of finger increment. 'NPC' that's a non-player character. AI are the civis and soldiers that shoot at you, including the police. 'Woods cars' seems legit. The car's are a lot more sturdy than real life, but that doesn't really make a huge difference. etc... etc..

    I highly recommend giving this game a shot.    … Expand
  23. thegameon1
    May 28, 2014
    4
    for its requirements for the game to enjoy it are way too high for it looks or even functionality, i got i5 4.0ghz quadcore and gtx 670 sli so 2 graphcs cardsand running with texture set to high cuz ultra need 3 gb vram and i have 2 the most so its garbage to be honest its been hyped up and it looks nothin special for sure its no different then any other if its worse ac4 looked so crispfor its requirements for the game to enjoy it are way too high for it looks or even functionality, i got i5 4.0ghz quadcore and gtx 670 sli so 2 graphcs cardsand running with texture set to high cuz ultra need 3 gb vram and i have 2 the most so its garbage to be honest its been hyped up and it looks nothin special for sure its no different then any other if its worse ac4 looked so crisp and nice or crysis 3 where this game looks ok and it lags soo much to enjoy fps goes up 70 drops to 8 sometimes usually at 50 to 60 range but not smooth at all u never know when its gona lag and ruin the game so i dont know if its nvidia or ubisoft needs to patch their ****… Expand
  24. thegamewarrior
    May 28, 2014
    3
    Decided to rent the game on Xbox One to give it a try. Aside from the loading screen issues and driving which makes the game annoying and nearly unplayable, there isn't much to talk about. There is nothing to say positive or negative about the game. It is just bland. The hacking isn't interesting, the characters are boring, and the plot is too basic. Multiplayer is a repetitive bore withDecided to rent the game on Xbox One to give it a try. Aside from the loading screen issues and driving which makes the game annoying and nearly unplayable, there isn't much to talk about. There is nothing to say positive or negative about the game. It is just bland. The hacking isn't interesting, the characters are boring, and the plot is too basic. Multiplayer is a repetitive bore with missions that seemingly have no value.… Expand
  25. wazzuppi
    May 28, 2014
    1
    This game is beyond horrible.

    Im playing this one PC, one thing i noticed straight off the bat, horrible horrible sleeping dogs driving and movement. ITS NOT AN ARCADE THIS IS MEANT TO BE NEXT GEN, or atleast playable!! I dont want an arcade driving, arcade button mashing, arcade shooting.. The old, accelerating vehicles to 100kmh in 2 seconds is rampant in this game, poor mechanics    This game is beyond horrible.

    Im playing this one PC, one thing i noticed straight off the bat, horrible horrible sleeping dogs driving and movement. ITS NOT AN ARCADE THIS IS MEANT TO BE NEXT GEN, or atleast playable!! I dont want an arcade driving, arcade button mashing, arcade shooting..

    The old, accelerating vehicles to 100kmh in 2 seconds is rampant in this game, poor mechanics all round, the vehicles are huge wide steering yet drive like trains.

    The texture pop ins - which are on purpose just annoy you. You cant even experience the world slowly without having crap ramped into your face ( i hated max payne for this ). You want to hide in a car after running someone over? NOPE useless. we will put annoying yellow circles in 3 seconds you have our hard to lose cops on your tail for 10 minutes which mind you, catch up to you regardless of how fast you go. The only way to lose cops is to GO TO HIGHWAYS!! YES HIGHWAYS, you cant lose cops the ordinary way ( the hacks dont work ) this engine does not recognise distance, only speed.

    It would have been so much better if it was slower paced - less crap crammed into your face, and MORE SIMPLER. Games have a reputation for coming out clunky, overly complicated and boring.

    Rent mabye, but i honestly would not waste my money.    … Expand
  26. victorator
    May 28, 2014
    0
    Repetitive, too easy, boooring. Lots of technical issues. Skip this title. It was overhyped and it is a sh itty GTA wannabe clone that doesn't come close to the original. Boycott ubisoft.
  27. Hurricane
    May 28, 2014
    2
    Ubisoft lied to us all the time. So much hype about this game, and what we've got?
    -Bad Graphics
    -Lags and freezes
    -Car physics from saints row
    2 points for hack idea and Chicago
  28. 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
  29. arkyabbott
    May 28, 2014
    0
    Absolute **** how Ubisoft completely reduced all visual graphics and effects to cater to the underpowered console market. F*ck their marketing and completely capitalist money hungering f*ckery.
  30. voiceofreason46
    May 28, 2014
    7
    A lot of people have been giving this game very poor reviews based on launch reactions. As a result a lot of people colorfully added things such as "nothing to do in the city" which I might add is an outright lie and people saying things such as NPC's are lacking in intelligence, which is also a lie. I suspect this is the result of many people who could not actually play the game, but theA lot of people have been giving this game very poor reviews based on launch reactions. As a result a lot of people colorfully added things such as "nothing to do in the city" which I might add is an outright lie and people saying things such as NPC's are lacking in intelligence, which is also a lie. I suspect this is the result of many people who could not actually play the game, but the fact that some people list their total time played regarding the game as two hours should be a big understanding.

    Before I get into a review of the game itself, let me just say that PC version of the game is buggy to being outright unplayable right now (that should change at the end of the week or sometime next week when a patch comes out) as well as poor optimisation issues. Once this changes I will go ahead and amend this portion to let people know how well the game runs. So if you're looking to get the game, I would recommend waiting till they patch the game.

    Now for the content, after playing about 6 hours I just got done with the main starter mission and just entering Act 1 (which took only about 15-25 minutes getting through btw) I spent most of my time actually using ctOS system to hack away at people's account's, profiling people to see what they've done and what their footprint is, stopping randomly generated crimes and hunting down people who just decided to cause a public altercation. The wealth of this content kept me quite busy when I finally realised I was playing way for over 4 hours before I decided to do one of the Digital Trips.

    The one I did was about the Spider Tank and I can tell you it is as fun as it sounds. You control a Spider Tank and wreck havoc on the city itself. It is so fun causing chaos and destruction I had to force myself to get away from it when I realized I hadn't eaten for 8 hours. When there comes a time I have to force myself to stop playing in order to eat because I hadn't had anything in the last 8 hours, to me that is a great first impression.

    Now about the hacking, a lot of people complain that the hacking is one button contextual notions and has nothing to do with real hacking. To those of you have similar criticisms or to those of you have seen them and agreed, might want to understand how script hacking works because most people need to understand one obvious thing, in a central computing system where the security is overarching and the same, such one button exploits are not only possible, they're inevitable. This is coming from someone who actually frequents hacker forums where these kinds of discussions are almost routine among the political forums.

    So how is the hacking you might ask? It's fun as **** I can't tell you how much I began to laugh my ass off when I started a traffic jam by screwing with the freeway lighting system, which systematically ended up turning into a riot after a few people started punching each other after arguing for about five minutes about who's fault it is. It was a natural chain reaction that felt totally emergent and it literally made my insides hurt.

    With the profiling there is a bit of satirization that makes me just laugh my ass off. One person I profiled had an internet footprint of actually purchasing a crap load of hentai... I'm not making this up, I literally died laughing when I saw it, it had an almost GTA style parody feel to it which made it all the more interesting.

    Car's handle like **** not much to say, but then again with the keyboard and mouse I tend to hear car's don't work well together. Will give a better detailed impression once I try it with a gamepad, but suffice to say, the car's handle like they should, but just not optimized for keyboard and mouse.

    Now just to let people know I have given this game a 7 simply for the fact that I have not played that much of the content so far (even though I get the feeling I'm going to be playing the game for the next 6 months and not get tired of it) but I will amend my score based on more gameplay and will probably rewrite this review as time goes by. As a result, the score will also change. But I have a feeling that this game will probably get a perfect 10 if not a 9 from me.    … 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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