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. brook2006
    Jul 8, 2014
    7
    Watch Dogs is not just another GTA clone. It attempts to create an open world game that is more intellectual. GTA would never be like Watch Dogs due to its lack of sophistication and obsession with gang violence. Walking the streets of Watch Dogs' Chicago might initially look and feel like GTA, but it is quite different. For a start the game provides you with the names, occupation, salaryWatch Dogs is not just another GTA clone. It attempts to create an open world game that is more intellectual. GTA would never be like Watch Dogs due to its lack of sophistication and obsession with gang violence. Walking the streets of Watch Dogs' Chicago might initially look and feel like GTA, but it is quite different. For a start the game provides you with the names, occupation, salary and some random bit of information (maybe they are into dog grooming) of all the citizens you walk past on the street. This humanises the citizen a little, but the citizens will help you in a minor way if you don't kill them on purpose. Because if your reputation is good with them then they won't immediately report you when they see you with a gun or when driving recklessly. This means that you start to respect the lives of the people around you, something that I haven't experienced in an open world game before. Normally my favourite thing to do is to drive down a pavement and kill as many joggers as I can, but in Watch Dogs I haven't done this because I don't want the hit to my reputation. I actively avoid killing people in car chases and avoid using explosives and causing collateral damage.

    Many reviewers have complained about the unnecessary stealth sections, but in a similar way to the encouragement to not kill civilians, I found this to be a refreshing change to both GTA's gang warfare and Saint Row's madness. It encourages more of a Splinter Cell style of gameplay where you explore the area, setup your encounter and then execute a plan, often with gadgets to aid you. Watch Dogs is not about killing hookers or running around naked. It is about exploring a more realistic city and manipulating its systems.

    The hacking in Watch Dogs is more limited than I would have liked. I really wanted to steal from the rich and give it to the poor, but this isn't possible as you can't give money or dig into a civilian's life like that. The citizens exist, but not beyond their name, age, occupation and income value. These aren't people you can follow home to meet the family. It would be overly to be able to be more intrusive into the civilian's lives, but obviously this shows the limitations of the current game simulation. Hopefully in sequels Ubisoft will start opening this up, but at the moment you are limited to playing with traffic lights, blowing stuff up, changing traffic lights, controlling automatic bollards and playing with computer controlled bridges.

    For the PC version you need to get the graphics patch as Ubisoft has purposefully changed and degraded the graphics on the PC version of Watch Dogs to make it look similar to the console releases. To achieve this they removed a few shaders, changed the fogging effects, the lighting, shadows and degraded the texture quality. Get the community graphics mod, trust me. Plus it runs better with the mod.

    Some of the side quests are a little lame, but it is a big game with many different side missions, Chess puzzles, drinking games, poker that you can partially cheat on, slot machines that you can't hack, gang racing matches, gang hideout missions and random crimes to stop. One of the unique Watch Dogs experiences is driving around and then having another player invade your game. This takes the form of another player connecting to your game and you having to find them before a progress bar reaches its limit. Then when you find them, you have to chase them down. This is a fun and sometimes an annoying surprise, but refreshing and different as it doesn't feel scripted or forced. Hacking is the central theme of the game and this enforces that theme more than anything else that Watch Dogs does.

    There is an Android and iOS app that allows tablet and phone users the ability to connect to games and play a cat and mouse game where the app user tries to control the city resources to catch the hacker, but as the hacker I had so many disconnects that it wasn't worth my time to play. I suspect players were disconnecting before I won the matches because Watch Dogs takes experience points from players for poor performance.

    Some of the characters in Watch Dogs lengthy story are cool like his sister and nephew, and his ex partner Damien, but Pearce himself is very bland and although given a reason to hunt down the people who tried to kill him, the game never shows why he is drawn to hacking as an individual or why he is called a vigilante and not just a normal hacker or criminal by the police. I would have liked to see more motivation and more demonstration on the vigilante part of his character. Or even an explanation of how he got the vigilante label.    … Expand
  2. zombiechan
    May 28, 2014
    7
    The game was fun, it wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but still fun. The AI can be dumb at times and a few graphic glitches here and there(not to mention issues with UPlay), but still worth the money.
  3. Yoshi1
    Jun 13, 2014
    9
    Watch Dogs does have a few minor problems and its not perfect. But there has never been a game in history that is perfect. Watch Dogs single player has loads of entertainment for the price with a great Story, but I had problems with lip syncing. The game also has multiplayer with players trying to hack into your game or you can enter there's.This can be disabled if you don't want to otherWatch Dogs does have a few minor problems and its not perfect. But there has never been a game in history that is perfect. Watch Dogs single player has loads of entertainment for the price with a great Story, but I had problems with lip syncing. The game also has multiplayer with players trying to hack into your game or you can enter there's.This can be disabled if you don't want to other player to hack into your game. The game features amazing physics and water reflections. The problem is its not optimized for PC, even though Ubisoft said high end PC was one of there main priorities. Overall It's worth buying when the price drops and gets some patches.… Expand
  4. SXIIID
    May 30, 2014
    7
    it is not a bad game...well i didn't go with the hype and expected it to be worse....so no disappointment there.
    in the first place i bought it as a benchmark, to find out if my pc was really not capable to play it at high or ultra...well fact is i have a phenom x4 965 and a radeon 6870. it runs....somewhere between high and ultra. so just some made up hardware specs to by a console. for    it is not a bad game...well i didn't go with the hype and expected it to be worse....so no disappointment there.
    in the first place i bought it as a benchmark, to find out if my pc was really not capable to play it at high or ultra...well fact is i have a phenom x4 965 and a radeon 6870. it runs....somewhere between high and ultra. so just some made up hardware specs to by a console. for thos who got a black screen or even freezing: update your drivers. that happened to me as well before the release.

    to the game it self: it tells the story abaut aidan apart from the mainquest and describes his person more passive, which has to be mentioned because even the magazines don't get that.
    the missions are, ...well let's say not linear, but remind of crysis 2: they feel open but aren't.
    city itself feels empty and sidemissions are not as interesting as we were shown.
    the graphics are a bit ridiculous if we think of the specs. what concerns me the most is the bad port as expected. i really have to switch my graphic card from automatic to highspeed manually cause the program ignores that...this really gave me a shock on my first lunch when i saw the fps.
    i bought a key through the internt (~36€). this is a fair price i think, but i wouldn't buy it for a higher one.    … Expand
  5. Sendoh
    Jun 5, 2014
    7
    I quite like this game, although I wasn't buying the hype in advance as I know that with most games that are to hyped they're usually just a letdown since you set your expectations to high. I love the way this game looks and the main story was fun to go through. I felt for that this game was worth playing, however once I finished the main story line and the side missions there was hardlyI quite like this game, although I wasn't buying the hype in advance as I know that with most games that are to hyped they're usually just a letdown since you set your expectations to high. I love the way this game looks and the main story was fun to go through. I felt for that this game was worth playing, however once I finished the main story line and the side missions there was hardly anything to do anymore unfortunately.

    I think with this game it's just a matter of how high you set your expectations, if you expect it to the next- gen game that it was hyped to be then you'll most likely be disapointing. However without those expectations I think this game was quite enjoyable.    … Expand
  6. ryanch94
    Jun 10, 2014
    9
    I think this is a fantastic game that has well lived up to the hype. I got it on pre-order for PC and was among the first to play, visually it looks stunning and has many advanced graphics effects which a high end graphics card can take advantage of. I really like the concept of the game and the hacking mechanics are extremely fun to use. The story is interesting and had me wanting moreI think this is a fantastic game that has well lived up to the hype. I got it on pre-order for PC and was among the first to play, visually it looks stunning and has many advanced graphics effects which a high end graphics card can take advantage of. I really like the concept of the game and the hacking mechanics are extremely fun to use. The story is interesting and had me wanting more after each mission. The multiplayer modes are very fun, with my favourite being Online Hacking. The idea of being invaded is a unique one which I don't think any other game has done before, and I think that's a very cool feature.

    Unfortunately I do have to acknowledge the release day issues, while I had no problem downloading the game and running it in offline mode, for the first couple of days signing into uplay was patchy which meant multiplayer aspects of the game were unavailable. Now though all the issues have been ironed out and I'm enjoying the experience.

    There are plenty of things to do after you finish the campaign, as I type this I am still just 50% complete on the progression wheel so I've quite a bit more to do.

    Finally, although I have seen many complaints from users about the performance of the game I myself have not experienced any issues with performance on this game so I think this issue will differ from system to system.    … Expand
  7. hachkunhia
    May 31, 2014
    10
    The game is unique and really fun.
    Too bad many haters rate it low because some people think there was downgrade, even if there was it looks absolutely gorgeous.
  8. Chuz
    Jun 1, 2014
    9
    A great game, with good story line, good characters, and a lot of realism, where the enemies kill you with 4 or 5 shoots, Not another GTA or another Saint Row, where the only grace is to kill anyone in an easy way.

    A game where a truly champion kills his enemies with just a pair of cameras and being far enough to anyone notice his presence. They promise us a hacking game and if you try,    A great game, with good story line, good characters, and a lot of realism, where the enemies kill you with 4 or 5 shoots, Not another GTA or another Saint Row, where the only grace is to kill anyone in an easy way.

    A game where a truly champion kills his enemies with just a pair of cameras and being far enough to anyone notice his presence. They promise us a hacking game and if you try, you will manage to do everything just hacking.    … Expand
  9. ghost2512
    Jun 16, 2014
    9
    first off for those saying the visuals is a step down from E3 2012 it is true but can be made to achieve by using mods ..as for the game is pretty awesome .. one of the best new IPs out there . an interesting take on hacking . the only downside is the driving . it needs to be getting used to. other than that the story is good gameplay is fun.
  10. Whitetigero
    Jun 1, 2014
    7
    I complete Watch dogs. It's funny when you play this game about ten hours, but if you get close to the end of the game. You will be dissapointed. Terrible end of story. All game was fine.It's been like a b-movie. But in the end Watch dogs storyline get close to the trash
    . Plus of the game:
    -Nice hacks, really, it's funny, effective.You have as much as you need. -Graphic, in E3 graphic    I complete Watch dogs. It's funny when you play this game about ten hours, but if you get close to the end of the game. You will be dissapointed. Terrible end of story. All game was fine.It's been like a b-movie. But in the end Watch dogs storyline get close to the trash
    . Plus of the game:
    -Nice hacks, really, it's funny, effective.You have as much as you need.
    -Graphic, in E3 graphic was pre render, in release - like GTA, but more darker.
    -Many ways to pass the mission.
    -Mini games
    Minuses:
    -Phisics, at all.
    -Bugs. All game i have been seen a lot of bugs.Most of them was funny.
    -Storyline. Like i said in beggining, 75% - b-movie. 25 -trash.
    -Optimization. It's console game. I saw a graphic glithes. FPS was unstable.
    -AI.
    In the end, i think watch dogs is a specific. All this PR did impact to the game, expectation were too high. Give a try to this game. Watch dogs cost his time, what you spend on it.    … Expand
  11. edencore
    May 28, 2014
    9
    It's realy great game with lot of interesting ideas. You shouldn't look for another GTA in Watch Dogs. It is completely different game with it's own style and philosophy.
  12. plotlesviolence
    Jun 8, 2014
    8
    OVERALL: Openworld Splinter-cell: 3rd-person stealth shooter with driving and remotely activating environmental cameras and explosives. Good value with all the side missions.
    PRESENTATION:8
    Graphics good, just not as good as Ubisoft's previous Assassin's Creed IV, or as advertised in E3 2013, not next-gen in any way, but certainly near the top of the previous-gen PS3/Xbox360-era. Enemies    OVERALL: Openworld Splinter-cell: 3rd-person stealth shooter with driving and remotely activating environmental cameras and explosives. Good value with all the side missions.
    PRESENTATION:8
    Graphics good, just not as good as Ubisoft's previous Assassin's Creed IV, or as advertised in E3 2013, not next-gen in any way, but certainly near the top of the previous-gen PS3/Xbox360-era. Enemies ragdoll, and most structures have real physics to drive through. The interface is very slick, with pop-ups and a cool fast white-wireframe transition when you hop from-camera to camera to keep you oriented.
    Aesthetically it's boring, browns and blacks: I'm unfamiliar with real Chicago, but I wasn't walking through a distinct city the way Rockstar's GTA series made me feel like visiting the actual cities those were based on.
    STORY: 6
    Story development is good if cliched. The protagonist is as boring as they come; when will game developers learn to stop making every hero an Everyman? Having zero character traits doesn't help me identify with him. I want to play as someone different from me, with unique quirks and flaws.
    But the biggest problem is that plot isn''t really about hacking the way it pretends to be. I expect videogames to immerse me in a new culture, like Tony Hawk and skateboarding culture, but the script here was written by authors who had never even spoken to a hacker but threw together some Hollywood stereotypes. So of course the female character is the Girl-With-the-Dragon-tattoo. They couldn't hire one single actual hacker as a consultant?
    Similarly, there are such wasted opportunities for philosophical discussions, i.e., the role of Anonymous as disorganized collective vigilantes "policing" the new field of cyberspace according to an evolving and non-codified set of ethics, copyright and the right to profit off your own work vs free expression, etc. etc. But the only plot threads the game cares about is the the dangers of overreliance on one centralized technology and Justice vs Revenge, both handled well, but again, if you're going to make a game about HACKING, I expect it to be ABOUT HACKING.
    Every character does has a little blurb about them you can read by highlighting them, which adds a bit to the fun of interacting with them, but it's not developed enough for you to do anything more than hack their bank account.
    GAMEPLAY:7
    I like that it is hard, especially at first. Without upgrades, you are very vulnerable, so stealth becomes a necessity during shootouts. There's no melee combat; you take down any enemy with one button press but this just reinforces the stealth aspects well, because you get shot to death unless you sneak up on a solitary enemy. You have no offensive capabilities while driving besides ramming the enemy and hacking nearby explosives, so you have to lead enemies on exciting chase. It makes you focus, whereas by comparison Saints Row is so easy it's a series of options for killing enemies rather than an actual "game."
    The much-hyped "hacking" ability is just a "use" key that lets you do different things: explode nearby objects, start distractions on an enemy, raise/lower cover or elevators, activate traffic lights (which causes all surrounding cars to unrealistically pile into the intersection, but it's random because of the car distribution), or switch your view to any camera in your line of sight (so you jump from camera to camera). This all works well and adds alot, and it's possible to clear around half of each group of enemies without ever entering the compound if you're clever. But later, when you realize that instant takedown opportunities flash to get your attention, car chases stop being as exciting.
    The "parkour" is functional but hardly as fun or developed as in Assassin's Creed.
    Driving is ok. I particularly like the reckless speed vs easy crashing of the motorcycles. But it's not great, certainly nowhere near the Playstation2-era-GTA series (which remain the best vehicle control in any videogame). And that's disappointing for a game where you drive this much.
    I like that the morality system is functional rather than arbitrary. Shooting feet/knees instead of torsos is a nonlethal takedown; so the distinction comes out of gameplay rather than just switching to a tranquilizer gun identical to your normal pistol. Because it added to the challenge, I also made a constant effort to avoid running over innocents during chases. It's a sign of good design that I did this even though there aren't any real consequences for mass-murderer.
    I do like the nonlinearity, even in the main missions. If police show and who that hurts depends on citizens randomly calling when they hear gunshots. You are almost never ordered to use a specific vehicle, or to kill an enemy a specific way, so everything feels organic.
    Bizarrely, the occasional hacking minigame is pathetic. I'm not saying they should and had you type in actual computer code with a keyboard, but what they came up with is sad.    … Expand
  13. twoeazy
    May 29, 2014
    7
    15 years back we had Neo and Trinity, and they had f*cking holes in their heads to plug in to the Matrix, not just iPhone-tapping "hacking". Now we have pervert-dressed Sam Fisher imposter and his superhacker friend Christy Mack doing supercool things like hacking others' iPhones with their iPhones. And hell, back in the old days one cool cyberpunk hacker story had Deftones instead of15 years back we had Neo and Trinity, and they had f*cking holes in their heads to plug in to the Matrix, not just iPhone-tapping "hacking". Now we have pervert-dressed Sam Fisher imposter and his superhacker friend Christy Mack doing supercool things like hacking others' iPhones with their iPhones. And hell, back in the old days one cool cyberpunk hacker story had Deftones instead of faceless electronic ambience. The game itself is fine, though. I don't care about graphics, and gameplay feels enough fun to f*ck around for a couple of hours a day.

    The problem is, it makes me feel a little old and sad. Every modern game does, but this one does it the wrong way.

    Pro tip for Aiden Pearce: the best way to prevent someone from hacking your phone, or tracing it, is a switch-off button.    … Expand
  14. Frag_Maniac
    Jun 7, 2014
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Unique and engaging story, with somewhat contrived and repetitious yet immersive gameplay. There are many objects to hack and many skills that are easily unlocked via playing vs grinding. At first glance the many items you can manipulate feel uninteresting and samey, but they do often offer great exploration, distractions, weapons and even vantage points with which to do battle. There are many missions which involve brutal combat for a game that at first seems largely stealth oriented. It scales well in brutality as you amass more weapons and progress through the game though. It also has a nice suppression system whereby the player is shaken and can't aim as well when being shot, which keeps you on your toes as far as cover and tactics. In this sense it never loses it's stealth feel even in tough battles.

    This is a game with LOTS of driving though, and it can be a pain or a pleasure depending what vehicle you're using, what mission you're on, and what system and spec you're playing on. There's lots of hacking puzzles that use 2 and 3 way intersection icons on a grid you must align to allow the source current to open up connections one by one. Some are timed, and some are just complex by design. The graphics are a mix of very good and mediocre depending on time of day, area of the map and of course system played on. In general night time and anything with sunrise or sunset looks very good. Optimization is hit and miss, with driving being the worst offender. They've acknowledged it and are working on a patch though.

    WD is often compared to GTA, but it doesn't really play like the typical GTA. Besides a huge difference in stories, the hack puzzles and hackable objects while driving, ctOS scans that search for you, and the protag being a vigilante avenging his niece vs a glorified gang banger, it makes for quite a difference in the feel and focus of the game. It also has more replay value, with many difficulty modes. It as well has many mini games, but I find many of them aren't nearly as real world as those in GTA. Instead of bowling, darts, bike riding, etc, you'll often be engaging in very retro arcade silliness, like shooting cartoon-like floating aliens, chasing after glowing cash icons, etc. Yeah they'll throw chess at you as well, but rather than an actual game it's a scenario where you simply have to take X number of pieces in so many moves, which isn't that hard really. Side events are many but could be thought out better. My fave side mission is the finding of several weapon crates, culminating in an epic mission to take on waves of enemies with some elite weapons. Solving DedSec's QR puzzles was also very good, but I found it's final mission a bit aggravating. The main campaign's final mission can also be annoying and even confusing.

    The biggest annoyance of this game though is the spotty vehicle handling, which is exacerbated by poor performance on PC while driving. For that reason alone I was going to rate it 7.5/10, but you can only rate in whole numbers here. They HAVE acknowledged the bad performance on PC though and are said to be working on a patch. Even WITH the spotty handling, if the patch significantly improves system performance while driving, I will bump my rating to 8.5/10, or 9 I guess since their rating system here isn't too detailed.    … Expand
  15. BrBa_DiAbLo
    Jun 13, 2014
    8
    Many gamers this game is very disappointing. Yes! And it is quite possible! Since the graphics in the game is great, but does not have a physics **** Here are my general assessment of this game:
    Graphics - 9.7/10
    Gameplay - 8.1/10
    Physics - 4.6/10
    Story - 8.6/10
    Music and Sound-9.1/10
    Control - 7.4/10
    Average rating - 8.0/10
  16. ryanshowseason2
    Jun 4, 2014
    8
    Some things could definitely be better. It is no 10, definitely not. But it has a solid storyline otherwise and themes mirroring headlines today from hacktivist groups to the fast and furious weapons scandal.

    Money becomes useless very quickly and I find myself only needing 2 kinds of vehicles. Motorcycles because the handling and speed is superior and whatever car is nearest because I    Some things could definitely be better. It is no 10, definitely not. But it has a solid storyline otherwise and themes mirroring headlines today from hacktivist groups to the fast and furious weapons scandal.

    Money becomes useless very quickly and I find myself only needing 2 kinds of vehicles. Motorcycles because the handling and speed is superior and whatever car is nearest because I need it now!

    Its a watered down GTA with hacking and an empathetic story instead of jerks being jerks.

    But you know what? I would play GTA with a good story!    … Expand
  17. Skippy224
    Jun 5, 2014
    9
    I'm pretty shocked to see the amount of negative user scores for this game. I think it bought a fresh perspective into open world activities and had a pretty rich story line too. Very pretty game too if you have the right hardware.
  18. V0ldek
    Jun 6, 2014
    10
    The game is just what I expected it to be. Is it bad? Hell no! It's the game of the year for me (at least for now, but I think it will hold this status). I don't care about graphics (water is amazing, though) and hacking everything is just too damn great. Story is awesome, I like the main character. Freedom is absolutely here, just like in Deus Ex: HR - you can sneak, hack, take outThe game is just what I expected it to be. Is it bad? Hell no! It's the game of the year for me (at least for now, but I think it will hold this status). I don't care about graphics (water is amazing, though) and hacking everything is just too damn great. Story is awesome, I like the main character. Freedom is absolutely here, just like in Deus Ex: HR - you can sneak, hack, take out hostiles quietly or go for the frontal assault. I don't want to convince anyone that this game is uber-awesome: I love it, I sold my soul to it, I go back to playing it right now. 10/10 would bang.… Expand
  19. Tubey
    Jun 4, 2014
    8
    It's a very, very good game, let's just get that out of the way first. Of course, reading metacritic, you wouldn't believe that to be the case, given that the score is currently lower than dross such as Orion Dino Horde...

    The reason for the lower meta score isn't because the game is bad in any way, it's more to do with the fact Ubisoft sold a lie with their incredibly over-optimised E3    It's a very, very good game, let's just get that out of the way first. Of course, reading metacritic, you wouldn't believe that to be the case, given that the score is currently lower than dross such as Orion Dino Horde...

    The reason for the lower meta score isn't because the game is bad in any way, it's more to do with the fact Ubisoft sold a lie with their incredibly over-optimised E3 video and thus expectations were through the roof. So, when those expectations are then not met, either graphically or in terms of gameplay, the Metacritic fume meter goes off the scale and you see the overreaction.

    Graphically, on the PC on ultra, the game is one of the best looking games ever made, but it isn't what E3 painted it as, not by a long shot. This is on a par with GTA5, with an Assassin's Creed sheen over the top of it. Gunplay is fine, as is driving, despite the OTT criticism of it because it's a different, slightly more arcadey style to GTA, but it's simply different, not worse.

    Hacking involves one button opportunist situations rather than anything detailed. However, it fits into the game, and when you're involved in cat and mouse chases and looking for terrain hacking opportunities the game comes to life. I'm not quite sure what people wanted here... Did you want to stop the game and put in code to hack the game? How would that work in a car chase?

    The city is well realised and gives a fair degree of things to do, such as city spots and side games. However, compared to the all-encompassing freedom of other open world games, Watch Dogs often feels a bit cramped. Immersion is lost when you don't see reflections in windows, or when you cause chaos and no police are called, yet when you rob a car they're on you like a rash.

    The plot is OK if not stellar. Characters are a bit hit and miss. Side quests provide a welcome distraction to the main missions, but don't have the diversity to really draw you in.

    It is a game where you wouldn't regret buying it if it had came out of the blue and was just released. However, after an age of hype and expectation, it falls short. I can highly recommend picking it up, but don't expect the next-gen game changer that many thought it would be.    … Expand
  20. FredWallace18
    Jun 9, 2014
    8
    This game contained an insane amount of negative hype, simply because people expected it to be the future of gaming and it turned out to be a GTA clone. I've never been able to get into GTA--it's takes place in a world that's too "real" for me. Watch_Dogs on the other hand offers a Sci-Fi adventure with fun (albeit implausible) hacking, Batman-style justice, and mini-games.

    There are    This game contained an insane amount of negative hype, simply because people expected it to be the future of gaming and it turned out to be a GTA clone. I've never been able to get into GTA--it's takes place in a world that's too "real" for me. Watch_Dogs on the other hand offers a Sci-Fi adventure with fun (albeit implausible) hacking, Batman-style justice, and mini-games.

    There are issues to be sure: the graphics could use some optimization (although they are by no means the horrible ugly mess some people are claiming; try playing games from 5 years ago you 12-year-olds!), the DRM is an issue, PC controls need tweaking, and the driving could use some work. Nothing to kill the game, though.    … Expand
  21. pekmatyi
    Jun 6, 2014
    8
    This game reminds me of the first Gothic. The car control and physics are far worse then in GTA, but still it only bothers you in the first one two ours, when you get used to it, you will forget who bad it was for the first time. I recommend this game only because the game play, because it gave me a new feel, in other ways it didn't give me anything new. Average game, interesting game playThis game reminds me of the first Gothic. The car control and physics are far worse then in GTA, but still it only bothers you in the first one two ours, when you get used to it, you will forget who bad it was for the first time. I recommend this game only because the game play, because it gave me a new feel, in other ways it didn't give me anything new. Average game, interesting game play that can be developed further.… Expand
  22. impu15e
    Jun 8, 2014
    8
    Watch_dogs is without a d doubt is not the game we saw at E3 it does not look as nice and it is missing a lot of the features you saw during the E3 game play trailers BUT i am not one to score a game on what it was supposed or what we were believed it to be and i think everyone should stop judging it that way. I am one to judge on what it is, and Watch dogs is a Great Game. I wasWatch_dogs is without a d doubt is not the game we saw at E3 it does not look as nice and it is missing a lot of the features you saw during the E3 game play trailers BUT i am not one to score a game on what it was supposed or what we were believed it to be and i think everyone should stop judging it that way. I am one to judge on what it is, and Watch dogs is a Great Game. I was originally disappointed by the dumed down graphics but when i actually look at what they looked like at E3 its not that far off, the only wig difference are the lack of Wind effects and the NPC face textures The Gun play is Fun, the Driving although it takes a long time to get used to is extremely fun once you do get the hang of it. People keep saying that Aiden is a uninteresting Main character and it was hard for them to sympathize or feel connected to his character but i personally did not have that trouble but that's just me. all the other characters were interesting and i really felt for them. The story is pretty good, not great but still pretty good, with interesting Villains. All this is coming from someone who has been Hyped since the First trailer and you don't see me giving it a 10/10 or a 0/10 for that matter i tryed to keep a cool head and take everything into account and give it what it really deserves.… Expand
  23. Machobruce
    Dec 31, 2017
    0
    I tried the pc version free retail from Ubisoft and i'm relieved for didn't buy it.
    - awful graphics;
    - generic missions (like mini-games);
    - doesn't have a solid story;
    - sometimes crash;
  24. AWHcosmo
    Apr 17, 2018
    0
    I did not get my free tablet with this review like the "professional" critics, so this review is actually sincere... and not biased. *Clears throat* the game sucks... the hacking sucks, the graphics suck, the "action" sucks.. this game was so bad, ubisoft had to bribe other critics with tablets, just to get a good review.. and these morons call themselves critics, the same guys can beI did not get my free tablet with this review like the "professional" critics, so this review is actually sincere... and not biased. *Clears throat* the game sucks... the hacking sucks, the graphics suck, the "action" sucks.. this game was so bad, ubisoft had to bribe other critics with tablets, just to get a good review.. and these morons call themselves critics, the same guys can be bought with a case of Mountain Dew to give sonic free rides a 10/10… Expand
  25. OliverGrau
    Jun 4, 2014
    10
    Before you read this review; mind that many of the negative reviews are based upon launch issues as well as individuals who are either mad that their PC can't handle the game or don't know how to update their drivers.

    This review will be solely based upon the game itself, not Uplay, not launch issues, not anything at all which is directly game related. But I would like to mention that    Before you read this review; mind that many of the negative reviews are based upon launch issues as well as individuals who are either mad that their PC can't handle the game or don't know how to update their drivers.

    This review will be solely based upon the game itself, not Uplay, not launch issues, not anything at all which is directly game related. But I would like to mention that the optimization is fine! People just need to update their drivers. I run the game at 1080p, high/ultra settings with a setup featuring a GTX 670 and an i5-3570, with an average FPS of 45.

    The game itself looks great! It might be one of the best looking sandbox games at the moment. The reflections of puddles and the water is spot on. Textures look great, I have not yet found spots which are muddy or undetailed. Shadows are not static as some people mention, enabling anti-aliasing will help upon it and cranking the shadow details up a little. Furthermore, it's just amazing seeing how objects are following the wind, the trees, trash, paper, leaves etc.

    The AI is not dumb, it's actually one of the most realistic and best responding AI I've tried in a long time. When stealing cars people call the police, if you draw your gun they run in fear and call the police, if you're spotted during someone doing a crime they stop it of fear. Shooting officers in the knee during a chase will take them out without killing them, why did it take so long for something so simple yet useful as this?

    Gameplay works great. There are many mini-games, many crimes and many other forms of smaller side-quests to do, which are great for the most part, yet they will become repetitive in the long run. The main story itself is long and entertaining, without spoiling anything I can tell it's different and a fresh breath in the gaming industry. The hacking is easily done by a click of a button and I like that. The difficulty of the hacking is to do it at the right moment, so you can either get past guards, escape the police or take someone out. The driving works, yet is nothing fantastic. When you start to drive the car accelerates at an unrealistic pace, it takes a while to get used to, but isn't game breaking.
    You can also see the game is made by Ubisoft, a little parkour borrowed from Assassins Creed is well executed and brings life into chases on foot.

    The game is worth it's price. I haven't met any issues yet and I recommend to anyone who enjoys sandbox games! Now go hack a dude who often buys online porn!    … Expand
  26. Invader-Nik
    Jun 18, 2014
    8
    Let me start off by saying this is NOT a bad game. It may be poorly optimized for PC, but it's still a great game. It may not bring anything new in modern Third person shooters, but it does a great job of making Chicago feel alive. Everyone has a name, and you can also learn their secrets too.

    Contrary to other people's reviews, I found this game very great, and I've been playing    Let me start off by saying this is NOT a bad game. It may be poorly optimized for PC, but it's still a great game. It may not bring anything new in modern Third person shooters, but it does a great job of making Chicago feel alive. Everyone has a name, and you can also learn their secrets too.

    Contrary to other people's reviews, I found this game very great, and I've been playing through it solidly since release. The shooting is nice, responsive and fantastic! Hacking your way around Chicago is great and it really does help out in those car chases and battles.
    Driving could do a bit of work, yet again I'm not a driving enthusiast when it comes to games, but yet for an open world game the driving could have been better. Too slippery. The story is really well done, and late into the game you begin to sort of feel an attachment to these characters, it's really great.

    This is not worthy of GOTY 2014, but it's still a good game to play, rent it if you want.    … Expand
  27. BogusBoo
    Jun 4, 2014
    8
    This game is unfairly rated because of overly high expectations (even though it was overhyped) and simply bad optimization. Here is a FAIR, unbiased review:

    - The Pros: + Great, Seamless movement/parkour system (worth at least 1 point out of 10) + Awesome Graphics + Good Story Missions (even if the story is more than a little shallow) + Gigantic, detailed city (from every    This game is unfairly rated because of overly high expectations (even though it was overhyped) and simply bad optimization. Here is a FAIR, unbiased review:

    -

    The Pros:
    + Great, Seamless movement/parkour system (worth at least 1 point out of 10)
    + Awesome Graphics
    + Good Story Missions (even if the story is more than a little shallow)
    + Gigantic, detailed city (from every warehouse to every park to every alley, the city is beautifully crafted)
    + Vigilante System - You build up a reputation, the worse it is (killing cops, hurting civillians) the more likely it is that citizens will report you to the police; same goes for vice versa
    + Great audio (especially for weapons)
    + Lots of minigames (Chess, Shell game, Drinking game - although it feels a bit as if its trying to live up to GTA V's standards)
    + Feel like batman without the cape (even sound like him)
    + Immersive environment - I love learning the backstory of almost every citizen that passes by
    + Side missions are alright, if a little rushed (such as the missing persons branch where you have to track down a serial killer, the ending is somewhat anti-climatic to be honest)
    + Stealth is great in this game (especially for gang hideouts) IF you try hard enough, if you're lazy and rush in without thinking you'll just spoil it for yourself
    + Realistic firefights, you take a lot of damage from bullets etc and the game actually feels challenging as opposed to other open world games
    + Great characters, but not paticularly Aiden (Jordi Chin and Bedbug are the best)
    + Innovative Multiplayer - Kind of like the matrix. A player blends into your game, you don't even know they're there then POOF! they're gone. Along with some of your money. And XP.

    The Grays:
    x Cover system - Not the best system ever, but certainly not game-breaking
    x Hacking is very useful at times but somewhat feels like a gimmick to be brutally honest and is not always viable in gunfights or car chases. Fun to play with though... for a while
    x Progression System - Had a lot more potential, but was let down by not enough unlockable perks in the hacking and combat tree
    x Hacking minigames - More potential, quite boring to be honest and only give you a tiny litlte kick when you get them right after hacking a billion cameras and unlocking hundreds of doors only to get a few minigames as a bonus for unlocking a ctOS station.

    The Cons:
    - The gunplay is barely above average and feels somewhat clunky
    - The story is uninspired - I was expecting a deep, rich story which roped me in, just to find that I was let-down with a hard to understand (at some points) and unevenly paced story branch
    - THE PERFORMANCE!!!!!!!!! I can run the game on Ultra with about 36-50 fps on average but there is TERRIBLE stuttering which usually comes when I'm skyping, the game hasn't been patched since day one, this is the REAL game breaker for me and so many others. Fix your damn game Ubisoft
    - UPlay. This uninspired piece of crap almost ruins the whole experience.

    Verdict: Without the performance issues and UPlay, this would get a 9/10 but I'm going to drop it down to 8/10. The game deserves a chance which most will not give it - hating on it simply "because". The game is great, go get it *IF YOU CAN RUN IT* or wait until the price drops/the game is patched.    … Expand
  28. nsonkusre
    Jun 12, 2014
    8
    negative ratings are because of uplay glitch and users hardware..
    i have gtx 660 n a i5.. it still hangs sometime but not always. and when it hangs it becomes very difficult to drive via keyboard.
    i didn't play gta5 but i can say that its graphics are way better than gta4 pc. side missions are fun not like saints row **** its an addictive game like vice city PS: it is one the best    negative ratings are because of uplay glitch and users hardware..
    i have gtx 660 n a i5.. it still hangs sometime but not always. and when it hangs it becomes very difficult to drive via keyboard.
    i didn't play gta5 but i can say that its graphics are way better than gta4 pc.
    side missions are fun not like saints row ****
    its an addictive game like vice city
    PS: it is one the best game that i have ever played.    … Expand
  29. BUDA20
    Jun 1, 2014
    10
    The game is awesome in many many ways, also has awful mistakes, like car driving mechanics, I hope Ubisoft take notes and fix the issues in the next game, I'm looking forward to play it.
  30. AndroTux
    Jun 3, 2014
    9
    Watch Dogs is a great game if we bear in mind that it's the first title in that category from Ubisoft. As a Nvidia-user there are almost no bugs except for the stuttering while driving around. Also, it's a bit complicated to climb up rocks. The storyline is intuitive, the missions are great and there are plenty of side missions. I also like the personality of all the NPCs running around.Watch Dogs is a great game if we bear in mind that it's the first title in that category from Ubisoft. As a Nvidia-user there are almost no bugs except for the stuttering while driving around. Also, it's a bit complicated to climb up rocks. The storyline is intuitive, the missions are great and there are plenty of side missions. I also like the personality of all the NPCs running around. Clearly, Ubisoft took a lot of effort to build a game like this. I'm looking forward to Watch_Dogs 2.… 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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