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. Oliver404
    May 31, 2014
    6
    Throughout the game you take on the role of a hacker whose phone allows him to access a network that controls the entire city the game is based. While this set up to being an interesting and innovative game, watch dogs falls short of the mark; not due to glitches, bugs, down-scaled graphics or over-hype but poor design choices and poor development. Ultimately the games spectacular ideasThroughout the game you take on the role of a hacker whose phone allows him to access a network that controls the entire city the game is based. While this set up to being an interesting and innovative game, watch dogs falls short of the mark; not due to glitches, bugs, down-scaled graphics or over-hype but poor design choices and poor development. Ultimately the games spectacular ideas and concepts are lost and in the end it doesn't quite compare to other games of its ilk.

    Now I say the design choices were poor because the ideas and concepts behind the game had so much more potential then what was given to use. For instance, the games world is constantly active with NPCs, objectives and missions but it never changes in any meaningful way, it never evolves or responds to what we do or whats happening in the story. The city at the start of the game is exactly the same as the city at the end of the game. There are also many other smaller annoyances like control frequently being taken away from the player, unresponsive scenes & controls, no save feature, tedious checkpoints that make the player re-watch long cut-scenes or dialogue, unskippable cut-scenes and dialogue and at times poor explanations, instructions or descriptions.

    However watch dogs all up is not a bad game, the plot is extremely interesting and it couples with the open world anarchy is the only thing that kept me plaything the game to its end. Multiplier is also a blast, I just wish the game would stop prompting me to play it every 2 minutes and let me get on with the single player. And while the world never changes there is a wealth of content and fun to be had in it.

    Overall I score this game a SIX out of TEN, its definitely a game I enjoyed and will spend more time in, but in the end I don't feel it has the replay value needed for an open world genre and in the end will sadly be left on my self to wait a couple of years before I could ever go back to it. And if anyone from ubisoft reads this I simply disappointed with the lack features you could have juiced from such a brilliant, interesting, unique idea and concept as watch dogs.    … Expand
  2. Loskutorr
    Oct 1, 2016
    2
    Unplayable. There is no FOV slider, there is no way to turn OFF mouse acceleration. Game feels uncontrollable. Character automatically "sticks" to the walls when you do not want to. Mouse feels laggy, unresponsive. Menus are made for gamepads and consoles. Car physics is a joke. Graphic is mediocre. Game is not worth even downloading from pirate bay. Played on i5, 16Gb RAM, GTX 1060. PlayUnplayable. There is no FOV slider, there is no way to turn OFF mouse acceleration. Game feels uncontrollable. Character automatically "sticks" to the walls when you do not want to. Mouse feels laggy, unresponsive. Menus are made for gamepads and consoles. Car physics is a joke. Graphic is mediocre. Game is not worth even downloading from pirate bay. Played on i5, 16Gb RAM, GTX 1060. Play Witcher 3 instead of this crap.… Expand
  3. Machiavelli_Esk
    Oct 7, 2016
    4
    Beautiful city with nice hacking tools but after reaching ca. 4 hours of gameplay the euphoria is gone and there is less that keeps you in game. Just classie ubisoft tasks, like capturing an outpost(CTOS Tower) or defeating some gangsters, very repetitive and uninspired. Story is just disastrous.
    Story 2/10
    Graphic 6/10 Gameplay 3/10, too easy, at an early story point you got already    Beautiful city with nice hacking tools but after reaching ca. 4 hours of gameplay the euphoria is gone and there is less that keeps you in game. Just classie ubisoft tasks, like capturing an outpost(CTOS Tower) or defeating some gangsters, very repetitive and uninspired. Story is just disastrous.
    Story 2/10
    Graphic 6/10
    Gameplay 3/10, too easy, at an early story point you got already overpowered skills and really repetitive
    Sound 7/10
    Driving 5/10
    Atmosphere 5/10
    In fact i didn't remember particular parts of the story or other missions, so it wasn't waste of time but i hardly recommend to hear some good music(or other things, to have some distraction) while playing watch dogs.
    So the only thing that motivates you to end the bad story, is the city of chicago. But this isn't enough for a AAA title so 4/10 is appropriate.    … Expand
  4. MrMicrochip
    Aug 10, 2018
    7
    I liked this game! Obviously there are issues, starting from the failed promises the E3 Demo made. I played the game last year (2017) with graphical mods so I propably had a little better experience on technological wise than the gamers that played the game when it was released. Mouse is still terrible in this game, fortunately they fixed it for Watch Dogs 2.

    Anyway, the game was better    I liked this game! Obviously there are issues, starting from the failed promises the E3 Demo made. I played the game last year (2017) with graphical mods so I propably had a little better experience on technological wise than the gamers that played the game when it was released. Mouse is still terrible in this game, fortunately they fixed it for Watch Dogs 2.

    Anyway, the game was better than I expected. Graphics are nice (with "E3" mods) , story is weak, but not annoying at least. Gameplay is the best part of the game, there could be more ways to hack etc but for the most part gameplay is just what can be expected, it is the first game of the series after all.    … Expand
  5. andermaan
    Aug 24, 2014
    9
    Многие говорили что игра не оправдала своих ожиданий но я щитаю что игра получилась очень хорошей , тем более чего вы еще ожидали графика есть ,мини игры , взломы, открытый мир, да согласен что сюжет можно было зделать интереснее но все остальное классно получилось!Многие говорили что игра не оправдала своих ожиданий но я щитаю что игра получилась очень хорошей , тем более чего вы еще ожидали графика есть ,мини игры , взломы, открытый мир, да согласен что сюжет можно было зделать интереснее но все остальное классно получилось!
  6. Theblackhawk658
    Dec 14, 2016
    6
    PRO:-Good mechanic(the hacking is suprisingly good)
    -Good gameplay
    -The city is full of stuff to do -Some of the minigames are pretty cool -NPC that walks around actually have personality with the hacking system -Good animation CON:-Poorly optimized -Main Character is uninteresting and boring -Many of sidequest is pretty much the same -Graphics look good but nowhere near the E3    PRO:-Good mechanic(the hacking is suprisingly good)
    -Good gameplay
    -The city is full of stuff to do
    -Some of the minigames are pretty cool
    -NPC that walks around actually have personality with the hacking system
    -Good animation
    CON:-Poorly optimized
    -Main Character is uninteresting and boring
    -Many of sidequest is pretty much the same
    -Graphics look good but nowhere near the E3
    -Story isn't that good, it's actually rather boring
    -Lack of interesting character to make you feel care    … Expand
  7. wootwoot
    Jun 1, 2014
    9
    Excellent game. I dont understand why the people hate it. Is amazing, inmersive, good sound, excelente open world full of life, and the graphics are fantastic. Please, dont hate, give a try a this good game.
  8. Zhael
    May 28, 2014
    10
    Tully amazing game! I've played it all day and am constantly impressed with the diversity, imagination and attention to detail. Worth every penny I paid. The best thing about this game is the immersion.
  9. reichmeister
    Jun 2, 2014
    9
    I must be playing a different game to most reviewers. All settings maxed out on ultra, 1920x 1080 and getting 75/80fps, no lag. Using 2 Wind force OC3 GTX780 in SLI and 16gb ram with I5 4670 running at 4400.Graphics and controls are excellent, maybe the game has been updated since launch. Buy the game and draw your own conclusions !
  10. XenozViews
    May 27, 2014
    8
    Game is fun and graphics are beautiful. Packs more fun than the latest two main GTAs. Although it's not perfect, like any game out there, it has potential to be a great franchise. For a first entry in a franchise, I think they did a great job.

    Car driving should be improved. I agree it's **** right now. Feels I'm driving with a d-pad rather than analog. Runs fine on my hardware too.    Game is fun and graphics are beautiful. Packs more fun than the latest two main GTAs. Although it's not perfect, like any game out there, it has potential to be a great franchise. For a first entry in a franchise, I think they did a great job.

    Car driving should be improved. I agree it's **** right now. Feels I'm driving with a d-pad rather than analog.

    Runs fine on my hardware too. Some people are upset because they don't know how to adjust the settings of the game to suit their machine and have good performance. They think adjusting = everything ultra + should run @ 60FPS. I've seen even people with low end machines complaining they cant play at max settings with 60 fps... smh.

    Go play on consoles then, the experience will be worst by a far margin.

    Running at max settings here @ 45 - 55 FPS, 1080p.    … Expand
  11. arkaram1990
    May 27, 2014
    9
    This game is great. Comparing it with GTA5 is a silly idea beacause these are two different games. Yes they both got sandbox in them and you can drive around and do things but you shouldnt forget that Watch_Dogs is more about the atmosphere and the story line. Moreover GTA5 is a bit of a silly/ funny game. Yes its fun to play but its not as serious as Watch_Dogs. Watch Dogs is more of aThis game is great. Comparing it with GTA5 is a silly idea beacause these are two different games. Yes they both got sandbox in them and you can drive around and do things but you shouldnt forget that Watch_Dogs is more about the atmosphere and the story line. Moreover GTA5 is a bit of a silly/ funny game. Yes its fun to play but its not as serious as Watch_Dogs. Watch Dogs is more of a mature game for mature players and GTA5 is more for school boys who want to have fun killing people, blowing stuff and etc. The game is great even with its minor bugs which will be fixed soon (optimization especially)… Expand
  12. 23skidoo
    Jun 2, 2014
    10
    I usually don't write reviews unless I feel strong about the consensus. That said, I think that Watch Dogs is amazing and has a great future ahead of it. The biggest complaints involving performance and graphics have not been an issue for me. I am running an I7-2600 and a 4 GBEVGA GTX 760, 8GB or Ram, Win 7 64. I mention all that because it would be considered a upper tier systemI usually don't write reviews unless I feel strong about the consensus. That said, I think that Watch Dogs is amazing and has a great future ahead of it. The biggest complaints involving performance and graphics have not been an issue for me. I am running an I7-2600 and a 4 GBEVGA GTX 760, 8GB or Ram, Win 7 64. I mention all that because it would be considered a upper tier system compared to most of the reviewers. I am running smooth with not glitches. Driving can be a bit wonky at times but is still fun. Hacking while not complicated is still enjoyable, I really like the building spying hacks.

    A lot of people compare this to GTA 4 but I cannot compare because I skipped GTA 4 since the story did not appeal to me. Even though it is light I like the subterfuge involved with Watch Dogs,the character is a criminal but a smart one.

    As for those complaining about performance it seems no different than years back when the Wing Commander and Ultima 7 came out and required a 386 processor. I remember a lot of people complaining back then but it drove people to upgrade so that other game companies could push their limits further. Anyway, while there are some people disappointed by broken promises of even more features, I am happy with the package that was delivered, and I am excited to see what kind of improvements are made in the future.    … Expand
  13. FlareFL
    Jan 16, 2021
    8
    It's a good game, not as good as GTA series games, but this is the Ubisoft game after all.
    I hope that in the following part of this game Ubisoft will improve physics of damages of cars, will make driving by more realistic, will work with shadows and reflections more carefully.
  14. ljpunksdad
    Jun 2, 2014
    9
    I really enjoy the game and have no technical issues, this is not an inflated score either. There were some hiccups in the beginning with servers but that is pretty much the norm lately. I also took my time and set up my settings so that I would get a beautiful and fluid game, and I am only using an i5-3570k (stock) with a gtx-760 ( current drivers). I enjoy the cars, the hacking, andI really enjoy the game and have no technical issues, this is not an inflated score either. There were some hiccups in the beginning with servers but that is pretty much the norm lately. I also took my time and set up my settings so that I would get a beautiful and fluid game, and I am only using an i5-3570k (stock) with a gtx-760 ( current drivers). I enjoy the cars, the hacking, and the multiplayer stuff that seems to work seamlessly for me.… Expand
  15. DN345U
    May 27, 2014
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Я сейчас не буду писать о том что игра забагованная, плохо оптимизированная, что физика плохая, интеллект плохой как пишут большинство нытиков. Вот про саму игру. Особо ее не ждал. И не сильно ждал крутости от нее. И конечно же первая часть не будет самой лучшей(Assassin's Creed I). Но это достаточно интересная игра. Несмотря что мне встречались глюки и некоторые баги играл я достаточно долго, потому что я встретил достаточно редкую возможность все взломать: счета, светофоры, отключение света и не только взломы. Игра достаточно живая с людьми. Можно наблюдать за их реакцией, какая у них жизнь, что они делают обычно. Некоторые из них обсуждали главного героя, в новостях его обсуждали и даже я умудрился нескольких фанатов встретить и сфотографироваться или они тебя(Делал много добрых поступков). Насчет оптимизаций я думаю это из-за контракта с Nvdia, я так думаю т.к. после 3 части AC 4 часть запускал в 720 пикселей. Ах да насчет взломов, я хотел бы посмотреть на ваши лица когда вам бы пришлось бы взламывать на различных программных языках в игре. Больше половины людей в мире не смогла бы пройти игру до конца) Подумайте это же единственная игра в которой ты можешь взламывать мобильником большинство объектов. Сюжет игры он одновременно простой и одновременно интересный, конец конечно не хэппи энд, но нормальный(кстати намеки на 2 часть есть). Не знаю как вам ребята, но для первой части достаточно хорошую игру смастерили, а значит есть надежда на то что 2 часть может быть шедевром. PS: 10 балов ставлю за все вышеперечисленное.… Expand
  16. jgr94
    Mar 26, 2016
    7
    Despite all the bad reviews I actually enjoyed the game, the story was great. Yes its not optimized wary well but I was still able to run it on high with about 60 fps with my 770. Assassin’s creed 4 was far worse. And I agree Ubisoft needs to focus more on optimisation WAY MORE. But still I think this game was great and it defiantly does not deserve a 0.
  17. Noolah
    May 28, 2014
    10
    It's Assassins' Creed meets GTA, with some Far Cry 3 and Deus Ex thrown in. Although it can't really be compared to anyone of these on their own.

    The story is rather generic, but that can be forgiven in place of game play. Yes the hacking is simplistic for the most part. But how much more annoying would it be if you got dropped into a mini-game every time you clicked the hack button    It's Assassins' Creed meets GTA, with some Far Cry 3 and Deus Ex thrown in. Although it can't really be compared to anyone of these on their own.

    The story is rather generic, but that can be forgiven in place of game play. Yes the hacking is simplistic for the most part. But how much more annoying would it be if you got dropped into a mini-game every time you clicked the hack button to empty someone's bank account. The driving seems to be about the same as in other games of this type E.G. Saints Row. Something I've never really gotten the hang of. I expect there's going to be a fair amount of repetitiveness too, but when isn't there in an open-world game like this.

    I can't comment on any of the technical problems that some seem to be having as I'm working fine at 60+ fps on an i7 with a sing GPU. Although U(don't)play wasn't working last night it didn't stop me loading the game in offline mode. It seems there are a fair number of complaints from people running 32bit OSs that didn't pay attention to the requirements.    … Expand
  18. forceinfinity
    Jun 12, 2014
    9
    The ridiculously low score has nothing to do with the actual quality of the game itself. Only people who cannot play it and are having issues which Ubi are addressing.

    I am giving a review score based on THE GAME ITSELF, NOT THE BUGS AND ISSUES this game has, unlike almost everyone else. The game itself is pretty good. I have no complaints about it besides they rushed it out the door    The ridiculously low score has nothing to do with the actual quality of the game itself. Only people who cannot play it and are having issues which Ubi are addressing.

    I am giving a review score based on THE GAME ITSELF, NOT THE BUGS AND ISSUES this game has, unlike almost everyone else.

    The game itself is pretty good. I have no complaints about it besides they rushed it out the door without much testing which is unfortunate.

    Aside from the stuttering frames, being forced to play in 720 with low-medium settings on a decent AMD rig, the loading issues, and the occasional bug, it's a great and fun game. This is a great idea for a new IP and was pulled of very well.

    It's a big turnoff that they offer day 1 DLC and the game is unplayable on day 1. day 1 DLC sucks ass.    … Expand
  19. saadrehman
    May 27, 2014
    8
    Everyone cares too much about the graphics and although they are not what looked like at E3 they are certainly not horrid as everyone suggests, It looks nice, the gameplay is where it is at, the stealth system is great that along with the hacking possibilities make it very fun, the online is very good too. I had been really looking forward to this game for the past 2 years and now that itEveryone cares too much about the graphics and although they are not what looked like at E3 they are certainly not horrid as everyone suggests, It looks nice, the gameplay is where it is at, the stealth system is great that along with the hacking possibilities make it very fun, the online is very good too. I had been really looking forward to this game for the past 2 years and now that it has come out, I am NOT disappointed, not including the campaign, there is a lot to keep you entertained, it seems as though people now a days have very short attention spans and things have to be flashing in front of their faces for it to count as entertainment. One thing however that I don't like are the driving physics, that's the only thing that let me down, the cars feel like they have no weight whilst being indestructible, you can easily plough down telegraph poles. All in all it is a very nice game that needs some tweaks in terms of performance but that CAN be patched, the campaign is solid, the online is satisfying and the city feels alive.… Expand
  20. Wyzak
    May 28, 2014
    8
    Bare through the game for the first 20-30 minutes and you'll be rewarded richly.

    The hand-holding tutorial is a bit too much and you aren't given any time to adjust your settings without missing some parts of the story which caused me to have to restart the campaign. Which meant I had to sit through the entire unskippable intro movie one more time than I would have liked, but    Bare through the game for the first 20-30 minutes and you'll be rewarded richly.

    The hand-holding tutorial is a bit too much and you aren't given any time to adjust your settings without missing some parts of the story which caused me to have to restart the campaign. Which meant I had to sit through the entire unskippable intro movie one more time than I would have liked, but fortunately it was only one time and not with every save/load.

    The driving takes some getting use to, it is different from what I would have expected. I crashed into everything at first but after 30 minutes or so I was weaving through traffic like a pro.

    The story is better than I expected so far, and I'm enjoying it.

    The in-game minigames are awesome fun - especially the carmaggeddon and spider tank games. I also enjoyed Alone.

    The multi-player is amazingly fun. I still remember the feeling when the first person invaded my game. The ensuing panic was just epic! Couldn't wait to return the favour.

    There are some issues with the game however. The vehicle damage model doesn't update properly in the event of a major collision. If I crash head-on into a truck the car should be totalled, not just have a tiny scratch. The game definitely supports more collision models as your car will look really bad after a few minutes of crashing into things, but it needs to jump to this state faster for bigger collisions.

    There are still some framerate issues as well which I hope they resolve soon. I was using the Watch dogs ready drivers from Nvidia.

    The graphics looks really good and I am spoilt for choice.

    Current review is 8, but I will make it a 9 once the frame rate issues are resolved and the collision models jump sufficiently on a high magnitude collision.    … Expand
  21. Eide
    May 28, 2014
    8
    As always the community is much more negative than the game deserves. It's quite a solid game, if overly simplistic in its approach to hacking.

    The game revolves around the main character using his magic phone to get around in the city of Chicago. As said, the approach is very simplistic but still fun as you walk around, learning tidbits, watching along with camera's a learn the secrets    As always the community is much more negative than the game deserves. It's quite a solid game, if overly simplistic in its approach to hacking.

    The game revolves around the main character using his magic phone to get around in the city of Chicago. As said, the approach is very simplistic but still fun as you walk around, learning tidbits, watching along with camera's a learn the secrets the city has to offer. Movement, combat and usage of the phone feels solid and well developed. Driving however is woefully undeveloped and can't even stand in the shade of GTA or Saints' Row. The driving aspect of this game in reality needs to a rework and deserves to be patched asap.

    The city feels ok. People are less extreme than they are in GTA but in my opinion they reflect reality better than GTA pulls that off. To continue with the obvious comparison to GTA, story progression is similar with different " acts", each with a set of missions. WD offers missions along the side like its competition. Do jobs for fixers, prevent crimes etc and do mini-games. The mini-games are hit or miss. You like them or never look at them. The side jobs feel fine, have bearing to what the main character us doing and preventing crimis does feel rewarding.

    There's a lot of complaints about performance. On my AMD Athlon 3Ghz, ATI HD7770 and 8Gb Ram setup the game runs flawlessly on medium settings. I haven't tried running it higher but considering my system is quite outdated I was pleasantly surprised by the game's performance.

    Conclusion
    It's not as huge or polished as GTA V, but Watch_Dogs is a good game in it's own right. It does al sorts of stuff very, very well but is held back by the underdeveloped driving aspect and simplistic approach to hacking, both in terms of gameplay as in terms of ethical considerations.    … Expand
  22. 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
  23. Venari
    May 31, 2014
    9
    Notice how 9 times out of 10 the first thing these negative reviews mention is the game's graphics? The answer to this is simply that everyone is super "butthurt" about the "downgrade" in graphics compared to E3 2012. I've seen people claiming that it looks like Saints Row 2 on high, are you **** kidding me? WD on max settings is easily one of the greatest looking games of all time, fromNotice how 9 times out of 10 the first thing these negative reviews mention is the game's graphics? The answer to this is simply that everyone is super "butthurt" about the "downgrade" in graphics compared to E3 2012. I've seen people claiming that it looks like Saints Row 2 on high, are you **** kidding me? WD on max settings is easily one of the greatest looking games of all time, from the lighting, textures, rain, smoke and wind, to the gorgeous explosions and the astounding character models, this game is absolutely gorgeous, it's still pretty damn good looking even on low settings as well. When hacking cameras I often thought I was looking at real life, especially when spying on the character Iraq, he looks like a real person. Now that I've addressed the elephant in the review, let's get to the actual game.

    The campaign is not the longest, but it's considerably longer than most games nowadays. I beat the game in 45 hours of gameplay on my first playthrough, and a lot of that was side stuff and free roam, I'd say the campaign by itself is between 17-23 hours or so, give or take.

    Gameplay is fun as **** gunplay is fluid, animations are excellent, stealth is incredible, better than Assassin's Creed's by far. Hacking is definitely the highlight of the gameplay, hacking security cameras to get a better view of the situation, setting off traps, controlling the city at the tap of a screen, it makes you feel powerful and successfully executing a plan using hacking is extremely rewarding. Driving, in my opinion, really grew on me. It's different from most games and cars can be difficult to control, but once I got used to it I found that I was driving better than I was in GTA games. To top gameplay off, there is a difficulty mode called realistic mode, play on this, seriously. Enemies die in 1-4 shots without armor, you die in about 3-5 shots, it makes gameplay really tense and definitely rewards careful planning and stealth, and discourages balls to the wall shootouts, because your face will get shot up. Speaking of shootouts, I don't know specifically, maybe the animations, the fluid combat controls, parkour, just make it so fun to be in a shootout. Hacking isn't as complex as it could be, but would you really want anything more complicated? The way hacking is makes it very accessible and fun to use, anything more complicate and people would be whining about how it's too complicated. One complaint about realistic mode however is that armor is OP. You'll get hitmarkers with a Barrett if they're wearing bullet-proof vests. Armor is unrealistic in this game and realistic mode will become frustrating and a bit cheap later in the game, but that just made it more fun for me.

    The story may become confusing at times, and there are many anti-climactic moments, such as taking down couple of antagonists, some of them just end in an in game shootout, not very cinematic and a bit disappointing on that part, but there is one antagonist death that is just so **** cool and outside the box, I'll let you discover that if you get the game. Overall the story is good, combine the ridiculously good character models and graphics with the absolutely amazing voice actors and you get some very touching and emotional moments. Although, Aiden is by far the weakest character in the game, while his voice actor sounds nice, gravelly voice and all, execution of some lines lack emotion sometimes, kind of comparable to male Commander Shepard, Mark Meer, in Mass Effect, although nowhere near as bad. Aiden definitely doesn't lack the depth though, he has a great backstory and history. The supporting cast is really where they shine. From the French accent stereotypical young punk hacker girl with a partially shaved head Clara Lille, the charming, often hysterical and great guy Jordi and even your sister Nicole to the interesting and cold Iraq, the Deadmau5 wannabe Defalt and the manipulative monster "Lucky" Quinn, there is no shortage of lovable and incredible supporting characters and antagonists.

    In the open world there is a LOT to do, preventing crimes, criminal convoys, gang hideouts, fixer contracts, they add a lot of depth and variety to the game, and definitely do not get old quickly. Even after 50+ hours of gameplay I am still giddy when I get a gang hideout alert, those are my favorite. The game has a reputation system that can quickly change depending on your actions. You will either be a revered vigilante or a feared monster in the public's eyes, and this affects gameplay. If you're on the latter side of that spectrum you may walk into a store to find you're in a news broadcast on the TV in the back, making it difficult to complete a nice and legal purchase.

    Over the past few years, I've learned not to trust user reviews anymore. From the less than 1 rating of Mass Effect to the whiny **** bashing this game, user reviews aren't to be trusted anymore, read the reviews of the people who are PAID to review games, please.    … Expand
  24. Dkorn45
    Jun 2, 2014
    9
    I liked the game, it had some kind of humour, and some kind of story, and I had a great feeling, with the opportunities of hacking electronic devices. But the gameplay was not very good...
  25. Blackstarhalo4
    Jun 6, 2014
    10
    Absolutely amazing! This game exceeds expectations, and I would definitely play the story again! Seems a bit like a GTA clone at first, but its totally unique! 10/10
  26. jrandolph1200
    May 28, 2014
    9
    This game is great! Game play is fun and extremely interactive. Can't wait for the patches to smooth things out. That is why I give this game a 9 and not a 10, is because of the technical sloppiness.
  27. whatever523
    Nov 12, 2014
    8
    First of all, this game requires an online activation and the servers were down on the release day. It was fixed after a few hours, but the Ubisoft servers are still not fully functional again, four days after release. Ubisoft doesn't have the server resources to launch such a game and Uplay sucks. Now, about the game itself. I need to add some text here, so metacritic gets the line breaksFirst of all, this game requires an online activation and the servers were down on the release day. It was fixed after a few hours, but the Ubisoft servers are still not fully functional again, four days after release. Ubisoft doesn't have the server resources to launch such a game and Uplay sucks. Now, about the game itself. I need to add some text here, so metacritic gets the line breaks right...

    Good:

    - Great visuals, with a few exceptions. Especially when it's raining (which is often, because it's in Chicago), the game looks ridiculously good.
    - World design. The city feels mostly authentic.
    - Interesting characters.
    - Engaging story, but with a few weak points.
    - Hacking of objects in the world is well implemented and makes the game, especially car chases, more interesting.
    - Driving physics. I actually prefer the WD driving to GTA5, because it's less floaty and cars stick properly to the road.
    - There's a lot to do in the open world (finished the story after about 50 hours and 100% after 70-75 hours).
    - Some very nicely done and fun mini games (poker, chess, shell game, mobile games).
    - Good interface design. Everything is easy to find.

    Bad:

    - Some graphic settings are badly implemented (Vsync, ultra textures/multisampling AA [directly related]) and need more performance than they should.
    - Some of the content is a little bit too repetitive
    - Bad hacking puzzles. Assassin's Creed is from the same publisher and has much better hacking mechanics... d'oh.
    - The driving camera sometimes adjusts too slow in corners and you have to use the mouse to readjust it.
    - Aim assist can't be disabled.
    - Drinking minigame is very boring and almost impossible with mouse/keyboard.

    Ugly:

    - Pretty bad mouse controls. If you put mouse acceleration in an action game in 2014, you have basically failed as a game developer. The game also has two or three different mouse speeds, depending on which menu you're in and it generally feels a bit sluggish.
    - AI is cheating. Enemies and cops always know where you are and police scans stop scanning when you're out of range, relocate you and then continue scanning. It's still easy to escape, but feels pretty cheap.
    - Your notoriety points are only saved if you have online invasions enabled at all times.
    - Multiplayer is easily hackable... quite ironic.

    Rating this game is difficult. I really enjoyed it, despite all the flaws, and it has a lot of good content. But once again, it also feels that Ubisoft released a rushed and unpolished game and I hate when games could be better and are released too early. Watch Dogs is good, but it could have been great with a little more development time and fixing of some obvious problems.    … Expand
  28. mileafly
    Jun 1, 2014
    8
    I think this have been the biggest turnaround in my opinion of a game ever. I first saw the footage of Watch Dogs on its press release and was totally blown away by how great it looked, it looked like one of the next truly next-gen titles. Right then it was a must play and I went into a "media blackout" of the title after that (I like to avoid seeing footage of a title I already know II think this have been the biggest turnaround in my opinion of a game ever. I first saw the footage of Watch Dogs on its press release and was totally blown away by how great it looked, it looked like one of the next truly next-gen titles. Right then it was a must play and I went into a "media blackout" of the title after that (I like to avoid seeing footage of a title I already know I will get so to not build up my hype to much)

    Now fast forward to the release date, I install the game and begin to play. Almost the first thing I notice is how bad the game looks compared to my expectations. The graphics feel sterile and the animation of characters and car physics feels very wooden. I almost give up on playing after an hour or so. I would probably score the game a 5 at this point.

    I persist to play though and after a while the game really starts to grow on me. Now I honestly think this is probably my favorite "gta clone" out there if you don't count La Noire or The Getaway.
    The mix of sneaking and shooting in combat feels very fresh and it is imo the best combat system ever in a gta style game. I even started to get used to and like the car physics after a while.

    Now while I really enjoy the game at this point there are many things that needs to be improved if I would consider this to be a 9 or even a 10. My main gripe is that the world does not really feel like a real place. It all feels very artificial in a way, the people wandering the streets don't feel like real people. The way they talk feels very "comic booky" and unreal. When news are reported on the news and the people of the street are interviewed it feels extremely wooden and amateurish, almost like when you where young and found a tape recorded and starting to tape yourself and your friends playing you where doing a newscast.

    Also the game seems to have a major identity crisis and not really trust itself. The game is full of silly mini games that does not fit at all. You can play drinking games or "find the ball under the cup" and other silly things that does not add anything of real value or feel thought out at all. There is also a bunch of minigames where you shoot VR aliens or run around collecting VR coins. I will say that the more expansive mini games where you take some kind of drug that makes you hallucinate are quite well made (at least two of them), but they still feel a bit out of place.
    There is also a feeling the developers try to hard to be "edgy" with language and sex scenes in some places that just feel out of place and just feels like they try to put in to be "cool" and "edgy" but end up being just pathetic. Also the whole conspiracy thing and shell of the game feels very comic bookie and its hard to take any of it really serious.

    All in all despite all these things I really enjoy the game and the core game mechanics are very very enjoyable. I really think a sequel that takes itself a bit more serious and adress some of the major problems could be really amazing. Also I want to throw in as a last thing that I don't understand why more games don't use the Euphoria engine that Rockstar uses in all their games. This is an engine that make everything int he world, including the player have beliviable physics. A big reason other games feels so wooden after playing a Rockstar game is the lack of using this engine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphoria_(software)    … Expand
  29. Whity
    May 30, 2014
    10
    It may not be as good as people was waiting for, but it's a great game to put on the same level as Assassins creed.
    It has it's load of bugs but the story is great, the freedom feeling is great too. The multiplayer mode is truly immersive and innovative.
    I wish a few other game take example on their online mode (^_^)
  30. 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
  31. gustavorios2
    May 27, 2014
    7
    first of all: Don't let the low user score scare you from this title. It's a good game.
    Ubisoft made people wait a hole year for this game, and after that, another year. That made impossible surpass the expectations. That probably happened because the game is too ambitious.
    The game lacks its own style and looks like a copy of GTA, but that don't make it a bad game.
  32. MaskedMetal01
    Jul 7, 2014
    7
    I'll be honest. I didn't like this game all that much. I didn't get into depth with all the main characters. The hacking was a good concept but the story was lackluster. The driving mechanics were passable.
    The graphics downgrade was disappointing, but at least it could be re-enabled through a mod for PC.
    I liked the gunfight mechanics. I liked how you could go for either guns blazing    I'll be honest. I didn't like this game all that much. I didn't get into depth with all the main characters. The hacking was a good concept but the story was lackluster. The driving mechanics were passable.
    The graphics downgrade was disappointing, but at least it could be re-enabled through a mod for PC.

    I liked the gunfight mechanics. I liked how you could go for either guns blazing or choose stealth.
    The cut scenes are some of the best I've seen in a video game, very cinematic. Animations are really good, especially of that of NPCs, disregarding some.

    Side missions, at first, seemed nice, but they get really repetitive later on.

    Overall, the hype surrounding the game kinda made it a disappointment, but it was definitely enjoyable.    … Expand
  33. GTXMUQSIT
    May 27, 2014
    10
    Best game play the orignal game not pirated. Game with Nvidia hardware looks awesome install 337.88 driver then see it is not very heavy game GTX 760 can play it ultra but with latest driver . Consoles and amd looks same but with Nvidia it looks so much good.
  34. mcbix
    May 27, 2014
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I read that someone has triple 780 gtx ^^ and has lag problems...i play it on the 670 gtx 2 gb edition and a 4670k i5 on ultra settings and i have an average frame of 36. Don´t play the game with a 500 EUR computer and if you have the three cards you get mikro drops cause of sli! I think that u are lying but thats not whats my review about.

    The game looks pretty nice and i like all the popouls world they created. The story is good and you have a lot of side quests optional to do. It´s not like GTA but I think it's a fresh and good change for an open world game. I love the interaction with the enviroment and the skill system. Just try the game and enjoy it :).    … Expand
  35. owwo
    May 28, 2014
    10
    UBISOFT created an amazing masterpiece. Watch Dogs runs great without any issues. Most people that complain are most likely people that know nothing about gaming PC's or have sub par gaming rigs. I run the game on ultra at 55/60fps using an I7 2700, GTX780, 16Gig Ram.

    Story is amazing, plenty of stuff to do in this vast open world to keep you busy for hours and hours. Give it a shot!    UBISOFT created an amazing masterpiece. Watch Dogs runs great without any issues. Most people that complain are most likely people that know nothing about gaming PC's or have sub par gaming rigs. I run the game on ultra at 55/60fps using an I7 2700, GTX780, 16Gig Ram.

    Story is amazing, plenty of stuff to do in this vast open world to keep you busy for hours and hours.

    Give it a shot! its an amazing product!    … Expand
  36. CasimirIII
    Jun 3, 2014
    7
    When Watch Dogs works, it works really, really well; when it doesn't work it flops spectacularly. The game is seemingly getting a lot of bad press for no real reason, but it isn't quite that bad. However, it isn't particularly great either.

    The game's selling point (and its best moments) all come from the new hacking mechanics, which are quite well implemented. Those of you who complain    When Watch Dogs works, it works really, really well; when it doesn't work it flops spectacularly. The game is seemingly getting a lot of bad press for no real reason, but it isn't quite that bad. However, it isn't particularly great either.

    The game's selling point (and its best moments) all come from the new hacking mechanics, which are quite well implemented. Those of you who complain about its simplicity need to keep in mind actual hacking is incredibly time-consuming and not suitable for a blockbuster video game. The ease of actually hacking things combined with a simple control scheme make jumping from camera to camera exceptionally easy, and the game shines in combat sections where you can scope everything out- maybe even knock a couple enemies off the battlefield with a generator explosion, or distract one by texting him about his heart transplant. These smaller conflicts can also be avoided entirely through stealth and there is a lot of freedom in each individual combat situation. I would have liked to see more segments with vertical movement involved, but overall the smaller combat missions with hacking are very fun: hacking brings something new to the table and is well implemented.

    The rest of the game suffers. not only because it is mostly imitation of other open world games but because sometimes elements are poorly implemented. The driving system could seriously use some work; cars are slow to respond and rarely work as you want them to, making some of the driving missions frustratingly annoying. The side missions are unremarkable: you have the choice of ambushing a convoy, more small combat missions, incapacitating a criminal, or driving a car somewhere. They seem to repeat themselves over and over (I think there is seriously only 3 scenarios for the 'crime detected' side missions), but they can be a welcome reprieve. The rest of the minor missions are hit-or-miss: some, like the 'phone apps' NVZN and Cash Run, fit well with the game's theme and are enjoyable for a brief amount of time. Others, like a cup game and poker, make no sense in the context of the game.

    The campaign is passable overall, but it has some seriously low points. Starting around Act 3 (out of 5), things become fairly cookie-cutter, and the ending left a bad taste in my mouth. It's really nothing you haven't seen before.

    Overall, Watch Dogs would be a pass if not for the excellent hacking mechanics that play such a big role in only certain parts of the game. I would try it and see if you enjoy it; if you can get past some of its open world shortcomings it's good fun.    … Expand
  37. 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
  38. jww25
    May 30, 2014
    7
    No matter what people say this game is not worth a 0 yes, it may not be breaking the boundaries of gaming but it is one thing, fun. Hacking is fun and satisfying in my opinion and the different methods of completing missions are awesome. The profiler on your phone is entertaining as well as stealing from peoples bank accounts, the story is good not on the level of bioshock or the walkingNo matter what people say this game is not worth a 0 yes, it may not be breaking the boundaries of gaming but it is one thing, fun. Hacking is fun and satisfying in my opinion and the different methods of completing missions are awesome. The profiler on your phone is entertaining as well as stealing from peoples bank accounts, the story is good not on the level of bioshock or the walking dead though. The driving takes a while to get used to but it does the job. Overall the game is fun and i would welcome a yearly sequel because i like playing it and want more the only thing i feel that lets the game down is some bad porting over to PC and Aidens voice acting which feels boring and generic.… Expand
  39. kingdodee
    Jun 3, 2014
    9
    Do not believe the haters, this game is absolutely great! I've had very high expectations of it, and it delivered almost flawlessly. The PC version's graphics ranges from nice to spectacular, with the nicest water and rain effects I've seen so far in a game. The world of watch_dogs is amazingly detailed, I often deviated from my destination just to have a look at some interesting newDo not believe the haters, this game is absolutely great! I've had very high expectations of it, and it delivered almost flawlessly. The PC version's graphics ranges from nice to spectacular, with the nicest water and rain effects I've seen so far in a game. The world of watch_dogs is amazingly detailed, I often deviated from my destination just to have a look at some interesting new place. In my opinion the locals in here are much more interesting than in any other sandbox game.NPCs are really living their lives, taking pictures, making phonecalls (most of which you can even tap into and listen!), making out, or almost anything you can imagine. It's fun in itself to just pick a place and hang around, watching all that happens around you. And about the gameplay: it has a learning curve, but this can be expected as the game introduces some groundbreaking mechanics. But after a few hours you will get the hang of it, and you won't play GTA again without the urge to manipulate your surroundings the way you can in this game. Every bit of this game is fully realised and works perfectly, from the driving and shooting to the smallest minigame. I can't understand those who say that "its boring, there is nothing to do", my god, the only game you could do even more was GTA V, which was a little overabundant in my opinion (e.g. I've never used the stock exchange minigame, or played golf in it). Its ridiculous when someone starts flaming for the hacking part not being like real... People cannot appreciate the unbelieveable amount of effort that clearly went into this game, instead they whine because they don't have 3GB of VRAM and they cannot play it in full ultra visual settings (it looks good on lower as well). All in all, if you want a sandbox driving/shooting game and you appreciate quality, you cannot go wrong with this one!… Expand
  40. cain3482
    Jun 2, 2014
    9
    It is a good game and although everyone keeps ranting about bugs I haven't come across ANY. I actually care about the story and the characters in the game and I want to know what happens.

    The driving mechanic is different but all you have to do is get used to it. I did get frustrated on the first mission a couple of times but once I got used to driving it was easy. I especially like    It is a good game and although everyone keeps ranting about bugs I haven't come across ANY. I actually care about the story and the characters in the game and I want to know what happens.

    The driving mechanic is different but all you have to do is get used to it. I did get frustrated on the first mission a couple of times but once I got used to driving it was easy. I especially like that I actually have to think about avoiding civilians

    The only reason it gets a 9/10 rather than a 10/10 is that they could have added dynamic lighting/shadows as well as follow up on a lot of the game-play that was revealed as to what he game would look like.    … Expand
  41. Eroticus
    May 31, 2014
    7
    This game is great! Game play is fun and extremely interactive. Can't wait for the patches to smooth things out. That is why I give this game a 9 and not a 10, is because of the technical sloppiness.
  42. Axiomatic
    May 29, 2014
    8
    Short review of the game, but more of a review of the bad reviewers. The game is really good. (Not great but solidly good) as far as the art, graphics, premise, story. Clearly this is a hastily created port but it doesn't really ruin the fun. As far as the technical issues go. I had about two hours of forum searching and I had 2560x1600 working on a GTX 780 2x SLI system with all theShort review of the game, but more of a review of the bad reviewers. The game is really good. (Not great but solidly good) as far as the art, graphics, premise, story. Clearly this is a hastily created port but it doesn't really ruin the fun. As far as the technical issues go. I had about two hours of forum searching and I had 2560x1600 working on a GTX 780 2x SLI system with all the graphics settings up to ultra or high.

    As far as the low scores for this game. It doesn't warrant it. Trust me, I loath DRM but uplay is no more in the way than Steam or Origin is and its where the industry is at, so just deal with it. If you read between the lines here most of these low score reviewers are just upset that this game is going to require a patch or two before its fully baked. Can you name any game out in the last 5 years that didn't need patching? I can't either. Buy the game.    … Expand
  43. bwheatley
    Jun 1, 2014
    10
    This game is an amazing must buy. Great NPCs. Plenty to do in the city and the online play is awesome. I've played non stop for multiple days and i'm loving it. And it plays great on my 1 nvidia card.
  44. CAMSHAFT
    May 27, 2014
    8
    I think the people giving this game a 5 and under are being pretentious and just need something to complain about because in NO WAY does this game deserve a 6 or lower.
    IF YOU ACTUALLY PLAY more than 2-3 hours, the pace picks up.
    The cover system is more than fine, the options during gunfights are varied. The driving is fine, I have a feeling people just accelerate and expect the    I think the people giving this game a 5 and under are being pretentious and just need something to complain about because in NO WAY does this game deserve a 6 or lower.
    IF YOU ACTUALLY PLAY more than 2-3 hours, the pace picks up.
    The cover system is more than fine, the options during gunfights are varied.
    The driving is fine, I have a feeling people just accelerate and expect the driving to be perfect.
    The chase scenes are more than just chasing and catching, you can use the world around you to manipulate the way it plays out, also with slow motion it makes it easier to observe your sorroundings amidst the chaos.
    So far the storyline is ok, its definitely picking up (played about 5 hours so far)
    The graphics might not be as good on consoles as was showcased , but on pc, they are just as good as was shown in E3.
    Some side missions get repetitive but there is ALOT to do.    … Expand
  45. Archangelz
    May 27, 2014
    8
    I don't take sides while reviewing an usually review games with an open mind. Watch dogs indeed did not live up to the hype which was provided at E3 but it still provides a fair experience worth $60.
    The pros.
    1. It's nice to see a new concept such as hacking being introduced into a game like this. It can though get somewhat repetitive. 2. The graphics are quite nice at high settings    I don't take sides while reviewing an usually review games with an open mind. Watch dogs indeed did not live up to the hype which was provided at E3 but it still provides a fair experience worth $60.
    The pros.
    1. It's nice to see a new concept such as hacking being introduced into a game like this. It can though get somewhat repetitive.
    2. The graphics are quite nice at high settings and I get a steady 45 FPS with my nvidia 650 ti boost. If no one has been watching there was a driver released optimism watch dogs.
    3. The open world and the sheer volume to explore is astounding. Many times I find myself just wandering off from the story mission to explore the open world.
    4. Relatable story. I found I had quite a number of hair raising situations during the story. The feeling of just was ting to slap Damien( the antagonist) was constantly there.
    The cons.
    1. The driving as many said was absolutely horrendous. I found many cars were either over steering or under steering. It becomes an absolute headache at times during fixer contracts and story missions. It does become easier with a controller such as an xbox controller.
    2. The MENU is atrocious. It was clearly made for consoles. Many times during fire fights I switch to guns I don't want and the phone is also hard to navigate. How hard is
    It to put a mouse there?
    3. Enemies apparently have pixel perfect accuracy especially snipers who seem to hit you with every shot even while running.
    4. The uplay service is just...ugh I won't even say it. I also get hackers into my game like way too often so much so that I disable it.
    5. Citizens over react 90% of the time. EVEN WHEN BEHIND A WALL. I hid behind a wall with a spec ops 1911 they apparently spotted me through the wall and called the police.
    6. Unrealistic guns. I had a M107 and it took 2 damn shots to kill an elite? It's a damn .50 bang round not even the best body armor can protect against that. So much for realism. This brings another point, elites absorb bullets like BBs and even a goblin with a with a whole mag won't being them down. This fondly reminds me of a review done on ride to hell where only headshots do anything.
    Conclusion.
    It was still a fun game but many flaws pull the whole rating down. I still enjoyed it though much like saints row.    … Expand
  46. 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
  47. Retpally
    May 28, 2014
    8
    The game is good, the only problem I have is the low fps.
    I am playing on a good machine ( 12 gb ram, i7 3770 4-cores, r9 290) and the fps range from 29 to 80+.
  48. Beepinheimer
    May 28, 2014
    8
    I don't believe that this game deserves all of the hate that it's getting, Nvidia, AMD, and UBI will release patches or updates to fix performance and game engine problems.

    Good -Graphics are great -Story is interesting -Overwhelming amount of optional activities -Fairly large open world area Bad -Cars admittedly could handle a lot better -"At the moment" you need to have an    I don't believe that this game deserves all of the hate that it's getting, Nvidia, AMD, and UBI will release patches or updates to fix performance and game engine problems.

    Good
    -Graphics are great
    -Story is interesting
    -Overwhelming amount of optional activities
    -Fairly large open world area
    Bad
    -Cars admittedly could handle a lot better
    -"At the moment" you need to have an insane system to play this on mid-high graphics.

    It's definitely something new, I personally would place it on par with something like Far Cry 3. Give it time, bugs will get fixed and performance updates will be released soon just like they were with the last Far Cry.    … Expand
  49. dtlmunkey
    May 28, 2014
    8
    I've been playing this game on a low-mid range pc (AMD quad core and ATI HD 7 Series GC), and haven't had any of the graphical issues that others have listed. Make sure you aren't pushing your rig too hard and getting some artifacting. To Teratron1, sorry, but it doesn't sound like you know too much about gaming rigs. It doesn't surprise me that you aren't getting very good graphics withI've been playing this game on a low-mid range pc (AMD quad core and ATI HD 7 Series GC), and haven't had any of the graphical issues that others have listed. Make sure you aren't pushing your rig too hard and getting some artifacting. To Teratron1, sorry, but it doesn't sound like you know too much about gaming rigs. It doesn't surprise me that you aren't getting very good graphics with integrated graphics, or on a laptop (not a poke, just an observation). The game concept is solid, and it is really a lot of fun to make it through scenarios using different methods. Using hacking to take out guards instead of going in shooting, or just sneaking around is a good change of pace. Uplay is crappy, as usual, but there is the option to play offline. I haven't even messed with multiplayer yet, but so far I think it is a pretty solid game that will only get better with time. Many people who are downing this game are comparing it to GTA4, and insist the latter is way better. I, for one, was not that big a fan of GTA4 or 5, but am so far enjoying this game. Not groundbreaking, but solid. I'm really not sure why people are giving this game 4's and below. Remember, when Crysis came out, it ate top end computers for lunch for a year or two before the hardware was cheap enough for everyone to play on ultra!… Expand
  50. Mordaith
    Jun 3, 2014
    9
    Fantastic game. Uplay, excessive DLC, and 'exclusive content' put out by a shady company makes it not get the 10/10 it deserves.

    Graphics are great. I'm never bored running around the city. Always something to do. Was very excited about it, happy to see the hype is real. But seriously - drop Uplay. And that 'dlc' you are offering after the first week. That sounds to me like it likely    Fantastic game. Uplay, excessive DLC, and 'exclusive content' put out by a shady company makes it not get the 10/10 it deserves.

    Graphics are great. I'm never bored running around the city. Always something to do. Was very excited about it, happy to see the hype is real.

    But seriously - drop Uplay. And that 'dlc' you are offering after the first week. That sounds to me like it likely should have been in the original game. Treat your customer base with more respect.    … Expand
  51. AndreRLZ
    Dec 26, 2016
    7
    (SENZA SPOILER) Questo gioco secondo me é stato criticato cosí aspramente per 2 cause: l'eccessivo enorme hype (soprattutto a livello tecnico, dove Ubisoft ha chiaramente mentito) e la qualitá della storia, che soprattutto all'inizio del gioco da molto poco grip. Nel complesso peró, non é affatto un titolo da buttare, anzi! La trama si, ok, non é la migliore che abbia mai visto, ma non é(SENZA SPOILER) Questo gioco secondo me é stato criticato cosí aspramente per 2 cause: l'eccessivo enorme hype (soprattutto a livello tecnico, dove Ubisoft ha chiaramente mentito) e la qualitá della storia, che soprattutto all'inizio del gioco da molto poco grip. Nel complesso peró, non é affatto un titolo da buttare, anzi! La trama si, ok, non é la migliore che abbia mai visto, ma non é neanche cosí male come si dice, se si ha la pazienza di superare la fase iniziale. Verso la fine si scoprono intrecci, si conoscono nuovi personaggi (T-Bone su tutti) che riescono a fare apprezzare di piú il tutto. Ha sicuramente dei difetti, tra cui alcune incongruenze che lasciano un po' perplesso il giocatore , e sembra mancare di "fondamenta", cioé non si riesce bene a capire il perché Aiden (il protagonista) stia facendo tutto questo casino per la nipote. Andando avanti col gioco peró impariamo a conoscere meglio il personaggio e chi gli sta intorno e capiamo che Aiden non é normale, é una persona paranoica, che conosce gente strana e pazza come Jordi e Damien. Aiden stesso é un hacker che hackera tutto ció che gli capita sotto mano rubando soldi alla gente e perfino alle banche, facendo scherzi telefonici anche macabri e scurrili, oppure infiltrandosi all'interno delle case delle persone per spiarle e derubarle. Ció che il gioco fa male é rendere chiaro al giocatore che stiamo controllando un pazzo circandato da pazzi, secondo me. Al di lá di questo comunque il gioco, su PC , é ottimizzato molto male. Per poterlo fare andare decentemente e per potere usare la vera grafica per PC occorre modificare un file .ini nei documenti , se non si fa questo il gioco ha questi problemi: mouse lag severissimo, mouse acceleration, texture e qualitá grafica generale identica a quella di One/PS4 (che su PC rende veramente male), fov bassissimo. Modificando il file si puó ovviare a tutti questi problemi, anche se rimane in generale un leggero stuttering (non rovina l'esperienza di gioco). Una volta risolti questi problemi comunque graficamente é un titolo valido. La colonna sonora é molto buona. La capacitá di hackerare praticamente ogni cosa non annoia mai ed é sempre divertente. Gli inseguimenti sono senza armi , si puó solo hackerare la cittá per poter seminare i nemici, il che li rende abbastanza piú difficili che su GTA. Dialoghi scritti abbastanza bene, scene anche molto fighe a volte. Longevitá buona. Nel complesso un bel gioco, rovinato da alcuni difetti che si potevano tranquillamente evitare con un po' piú di chiarezza da parte degli sviluppatori, meno downgrade grafici e un porting diverso su PC. Comunque un titolo da provare, consigliato! 7.5/10… Expand
  52. Arno20
    Sep 10, 2014
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. بازیش خوب بود
    ولی ای کاش
    یوبی انقدر هایپ نمیکرد
    من به نسخه های بعدی خیلی امیدوارم چون تجربه یوبیسافت زیاد میشه و میتونیم شاهد وا داگز فوق العاده بود    … Expand
  53. antoniofernando
    Jan 28, 2017
    7
    Watch Dogs é o típico jogo com ótimo conceito e promissora inovação, mas que perde seu "brilho" por conta da básica optimização e desenvolvimento, para PC pelo menos.
  54. nyeven
    Nov 5, 2018
    7
    I pre-ordered this game and I am thankful for the launch **** because it taught me not to pre-order games...

    That being said, I overall liked the game. Hacking was a nice add-on to a GTA-esque style gameplay. The world felt alive due to your ability to hack people to overhear about their personal lives, and the driving aspect was OK. I loved Aiden's style also. That coat is cool!    I pre-ordered this game and I am thankful for the launch **** because it taught me not to pre-order games...

    That being said, I overall liked the game. Hacking was a nice add-on to a GTA-esque style gameplay. The world felt alive due to your ability to hack people to overhear about their personal lives, and the driving aspect was OK.

    I loved Aiden's style also. That coat is cool!

    I also liked the dystopian critique technology inside the game's story.

    But there were a lot of things I didn't like. For starters, the fact that multiplayer didn't work for the first three days after launch...

    Then, the story starts really interesting but then gets clichéd to oblivion.

    So overall, I liked the game, hacking invasions were the best thing ever -- I loved seeing the "You're being hacked" message -- the graphics were awesome even though they were downgraded from the demo, and freaking loved that slow motion event when the police's car gets destroyed.    … Expand
  55. JN1306
    May 28, 2014
    7
    I really like the night-time Graphics, but I expected way more of the story. that being said it is still a somewhat enjoyable game with an interesting mechanic
  56. EnerTomasino
    May 30, 2014
    7
    It's a first attempt by Ubisoft to create a game with free world based on modern city. Most of us compare this game with GTA Series. Before GTA 5 released on PC, i can't say what is better, but as i sad, for first attempt, Ubisoft made pretty good game. It looks nice, it has interesting features.
    But the worst thing about this game is car control and physics. Anyway the only negative    It's a first attempt by Ubisoft to create a game with free world based on modern city. Most of us compare this game with GTA Series. Before GTA 5 released on PC, i can't say what is better, but as i sad, for first attempt, Ubisoft made pretty good game. It looks nice, it has interesting features.
    But the worst thing about this game is car control and physics. Anyway the only negative thing i found in cars, so i give score 7 for Watch Dogs.    … Expand
  57. ploppo
    May 30, 2014
    7
    Shallow game - no real immersion - nothing at all to the immersion of GTA 5, etc. Go Google 'things to do' in GTA 5 then check what this game offers. Features a broken moral system to be a menace or a vigilante. Yet, the player is always a menace because Ubisoft wanted it to be that way. Hacking is automatic and RANDOM. You hack a target and get a random result - the game willShallow game - no real immersion - nothing at all to the immersion of GTA 5, etc. Go Google 'things to do' in GTA 5 then check what this game offers. Features a broken moral system to be a menace or a vigilante. Yet, the player is always a menace because Ubisoft wanted it to be that way. Hacking is automatic and RANDOM. You hack a target and get a random result - the game will automatically rob a NPC of their money - no option to choose to rob them or, perhaps, give them money. Shallow gameplay - other than hacking, the game has nothing new - it's like a grinning turkey that cost £45.00 just to press a key and auto-hack a target to get their money, whether you want their money or not. You don't buy houses/hideouts - the game auto-magically creates them for you across the map. The game gives you the option to make money - but you have so little to spend the money on. Shallow, shallow, shallow game. I don't hate the game - I just truthfully believe that it fails to deliver anything other than the 'shallow' hacking element - take that away and the game is a fail. Without the 'shallow' hacking element, this game would be DOA. Other than that, I had no problems running the game - minor log-in problems. Just astonished at the lack of immersion - yeh, you can play poker, solve chess puzzles, come across a talking moose head - but just check the things to do in other games compared to what you can do in this game. I know to avoid a Watch Dogs 2 until it goes on sale.… Expand
  58. root_san
    Jun 2, 2014
    8
    Игра довольно хорошая, но со своими недочётами. Пожалуй я начну с плюсов данного шедевра.

    - Отличный и реалистичный паркур; - Большой ассортимент оружия; - Очень хороший и трогательный сюжет; - Множество дополнительных мини-игр и заданий; - Крутые и брутальные персонажи; - Хорошо продуманный ИИ; - Множество одежды; - Отлично реализованные элементы RPG, в которых стоит отдельно    Игра довольно хорошая, но со своими недочётами. Пожалуй я начну с плюсов данного шедевра.

    - Отличный и реалистичный паркур;
    - Большой ассортимент оружия;
    - Очень хороший и трогательный сюжет;
    - Множество дополнительных мини-игр и заданий;
    - Крутые и брутальные персонажи;
    - Хорошо продуманный ИИ;
    - Множество одежды;
    - Отлично реализованные элементы RPG, в которых стоит отдельно отметить прокачку главного героя;
    - Большое количество предметов и девайсов которые можно взломать;
    - Большое количество действительно хорошей музыки;
    - Очень хороший мультиплеер, с множеством интересных задумок и режимов, которые на моё удивление хорошо продуманы и так же хорошо сделаны.

    А теперь пожалуй перейдём к минусам игры.

    - Плохая физика машин;
    - Небольшое количество багов;
    - Некоторые проблемы с Uplay;
    - Графика - в этой игре она неплохая в некоторых моментах лучше Grand Theft Auto V и Battlefield 4, однако это не обещанный Ubisoft Next Gen.    … Expand
  59. Azriam
    Jun 8, 2014
    6
    I guess my score is a bit generous relative to other reviews, but I'm trying to judge this game fairly without the expectations that I had drawn from the overmarketing.

    Firstly, the story was a bit stupid; I'm not going to reveal any spoilers but the story had me running in circles. It tried to be original but it was ironically predictable. The idea of a vigilante who tries to avenge a    I guess my score is a bit generous relative to other reviews, but I'm trying to judge this game fairly without the expectations that I had drawn from the overmarketing.

    Firstly, the story was a bit stupid; I'm not going to reveal any spoilers but the story had me running in circles. It tried to be original but it was ironically predictable. The idea of a vigilante who tries to avenge a death throughout the whole story is a bit bland. If you're looking for a colorful story, you shouldn't touch this game...

    Secondly, I really liked the gameplay. Don't get me wrong though, the gameplay is straight out of multiple gaming textbooks. For example, the whole hacking system is just another way of giving the main man some advantages, whether those advantages are vision of enemies, exploding random stuff, etc. This whole notion about using hacks to give the main man leverage can easily be replaced with another notion that gives the same advantages (e.g. magic). After a couple of infiltrations, the gameplay gets kinda bland. But I guess if you're still planning to get this game, the gameplay did satisfy my love for stealth. Oh yea, some cars are just undriveable; the driving can suck.

    Thirdly, this game is advertised as open-world; however, you won't do much roaming after the story is over. There is nothing to stick around for.

    So..... if you're still looking to buy this game, go ahead. But be warned, once you're finished with the story (maybe 15-25hrs?) you'll never touch this game again. Oh and another warning, be sure you have all the specs for this game; it gets throttley at times...    … Expand
  60. Pandaconda
    May 29, 2014
    8
    Let's be clear here: Haters are going to hate.
    Watch_Dogs is an interesting, as well as enjoyable take on the open world genre. There is never a loss as to what to do; there are so many side quests and online hacker vs hacker matches to compete in, it feels almost limitless. Stealth and hacking are done spectacularly in this game. Why anyone would want to do an arbitrary mini-game any    Let's be clear here: Haters are going to hate.
    Watch_Dogs is an interesting, as well as enjoyable take on the open world genre. There is never a loss as to what to do; there are so many side quests and online hacker vs hacker matches to compete in, it feels almost limitless. Stealth and hacking are done spectacularly in this game. Why anyone would want to do an arbitrary mini-game any time you want to hack something is beyond me. One button is fine. There is no problem with the GAME itself if played the way it was meant to be played.

    The problem lies with the players. If you play this game on the lowest difficulty, with the lowest intelligence possible, it becomes nothing better than your average run and gun slugfest. The cars are not meant to feel like an arcade game; of course if you drive recklessly, you will not be able to control the car. If you expect an open world game to have the textures of Crysis 3 and not easily go over the vram limit of your card, you're foolish. The demands I'm reading from so many reviewers just do not make any sense.

    The only realistic complaints are about drivers not being optimized enough for video cards, and server issues with Uplay. Uplay is a poorly implemented excuse for a marketplace when compared to Steam or even Origin. However, let us all remember that even the mighty steam servers are sluggish when summer sales and the like come around. Uplay's servers will balance out when they aren't being slammed by millions of players.

    You think the storyline is cliche? Sure. Explain yourself.The characters aren't developed enough? Perhaps. Explain yourself. However, so many complaints i'm reading are so asinine and vague, how can anyone possibly take these user reviews seriously? Oh, you couldn't even start up the game? How do you have the right to review the game? You never played it. That is a server or driver side problem, not a reflection of the game itself.

    Bottom line, the game is great. Perfect? Of course not.
    Play the game on the realistic setting, take it slow, and soak the good parts in. Stop whining about every detail that doesn't fit into your scope of what you felt entitled to.    … Expand
  61. robdarian
    May 31, 2014
    10
    I'am just adding a 10 to offset stupid scores. When posting a review about a game and giving it a horrible score because your pc sucks and can't run it, it means nothing. They game could be amazing and you wouldn't know because your peace of junk pc is underpowered. How is it the developer's fault your pc sucks? That's the worst reason to score something bad. Would you buy a hondaI'am just adding a 10 to offset stupid scores. When posting a review about a game and giving it a horrible score because your pc sucks and can't run it, it means nothing. They game could be amazing and you wouldn't know because your peace of junk pc is underpowered. How is it the developer's fault your pc sucks? That's the worst reason to score something bad. Would you buy a honda civic and score it a 1 out of 10 because it isn't as fast as a corvette even though you didn't buy a corvette? Makes no sense.… Expand
  62. Orhunkk
    Jun 16, 2014
    8
    I don't know what people expect this game to do.It's a very good open world action game with awesome graphics especially when it rains.It is really fun to play as well and I hope ubisoft will make a better one when the day comes to publish a new watch dogs game.I see a very good potential in this game and even this is the first watch dogs game it is very good.
  63. ACagg
    May 30, 2014
    7
    Alright, for starters, watch dogs is A game manly based on hacking, which it performs smoothly in. The story is developed enough to make me feel like I'm with Aiden Pierce. Then we come to the driving. The driving is mediocre and leaves much to be desire. This sucks because 60% of the game you're in a car so illlll.........
    In the end Watch dogs has a great story and bad mechanic yet    Alright, for starters, watch dogs is A game manly based on hacking, which it performs smoothly in. The story is developed enough to make me feel like I'm with Aiden Pierce. Then we come to the driving. The driving is mediocre and leaves much to be desire. This sucks because 60% of the game you're in a car so illlll.........
    In the end Watch dogs has a great story and bad mechanic yet makes up in the games emersion. 7/10    … Expand
  64. 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
  65. CardPack
    May 30, 2014
    8
    It seems like most of the negative comments here focus on the glitches and graphic flaws. I use a Nvidia card and I have had no problems with the graphics. In fact, Watch_Dogs is perhaps the most beautiful game I've ever played, in my opinion surpassing even GTA V (which it is often compared with). The lightning and the weather make you feel like you actually were in the living city ofIt seems like most of the negative comments here focus on the glitches and graphic flaws. I use a Nvidia card and I have had no problems with the graphics. In fact, Watch_Dogs is perhaps the most beautiful game I've ever played, in my opinion surpassing even GTA V (which it is often compared with). The lightning and the weather make you feel like you actually were in the living city of Chicago. Often I just like to forget that its a game and start walking aimlessly around the streets.

    Now, the gameplay. Hacking is a truly original idea for a game this scale. Even though it might not feel that realistic, it does give the "I am GOD" -feeling. Yet it maintains the challenge and vulnearibility, especially in certain play styles. Sneaking in the game works brilliantly, and head-to-head combat is OK too. The AI is a bit too predictable while on foot, following certain paths systematically, but when it gets behind the wheel, you're in trouble. It can intelligently predict your movements and block your path. The driving mechanics left me a bit dissatisfied, as I was looking for something more realistic than an arcade.

    It's a shame the story is so short as it actually is the only thing not repetitive in the game. But if you balance the story play and the sidequests its shortness should be no problem. There are only a few types of sidequests, aside from some random encouters.
    The random encouters are what gives the game its life. You can never know when a fellow pedestrian is going to get shot, and thus you must always be aware of your surroundings. There are also random crimes, but they are actually not so random, and often end up the criminal noticing you before the crime even has taken place, thus ending the encouter short. The game also has many sorts of cool details, such as when you shoot an enemy in the knee it neutralizes him instead of killing him. Roleplayers will love this game.

    Also to mention, in some missions and sidequests, using heavy weaponry is almost an obligation. Iit crumbles the feeling of sneaky rogue-like hacking vigilante. I prefer to use a silenced pistol whenever it is possible to maintain this theme.

    In conclusion, it is a brilliant-looking game (9,5) and the hacking is cool (8,0) as is the story (8,0) but the game crashes on too many arcade-like attributes. 8/10    … Expand
  66. SpeedProg
    May 30, 2014
    10
    Game is fluent on my PC (i7-3770K, GTX 770 4GB), I have a constant 55-70fps. Never drops below that which in my opinion for the Graphic displayed is very good.
    If your PC isn't high end especially if your do not have a lot of Graphic RAM you shouldn't use ultra settings.
    Is uses 3,4GB of my Graphic RAM on Ultra, so yeah even if you have a good graphic card, but one with only 2GB of RAM    Game is fluent on my PC (i7-3770K, GTX 770 4GB), I have a constant 55-70fps. Never drops below that which in my opinion for the Graphic displayed is very good.
    If your PC isn't high end especially if your do not have a lot of Graphic RAM you shouldn't use ultra settings.
    Is uses 3,4GB of my Graphic RAM on Ultra, so yeah even if you have a good graphic card, but one with only 2GB of RAM you can't use Ultra, don't try it and then complain about stuttering, it is your fault for not choosing the right settings, not the games.
    They seem to have done a very good job at making the game use multiple cores, there are 5-7 cores on ~40-80% load, so yeah it does use a lot of computing power but they managed to use the cpu effectively!
    Game play it self is very interesting, played it 16 hrs now, and didn't really find a need to follow the many story since there is a lot of other stuff to in the World, how it should be in an open world game!
    About the handling, well it is different how you control a lot of stuff like menus, but once you figured it out it is very intuitive and easy to use! It is a lot easier, than I thought before playing the game, to to choose the target you wanted for the hack while you are driving
    tldr; Game is great, ppl who complain about performance should choose appropriate settings. Controls are different but easy to get used to.    … Expand
  67. Mickusey
    May 27, 2014
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Sadly, just as I had expected, Watch Dogs and all of its legions of obsessed, blind fans would fall victim to the hype train. It was clear when how much controversy surrounding the graphical downgrade of the game when Ubisoft had done the same thing with nearly every single demo they had done in recent memory (Far Cry 3 immediately comes to mind) that this would be different. Even if the game was absolutely perfect, people would still have been disappointed and angry because, for two years, they were being so ridiculously hyped up that Watch Dogs would never live up to their expectations.

    For PC, running a Superclocked GTX 770 2GB with a 4.3GHz 4670k, it is fairly unoptimized. I DID fix a lot of my stuttering issues, however, by changing from fullscreen to borderless window so that could help a lot of people having issues. The game is still quite amazing looking with textures on high and everything else maxed, the water and reflections in particular are gorgeous and the lighting during overcast can be absolutely beautiful. The downgrade from E3 is noticeable, but I'm pretty sure that was going to be obvious judging by Ubi's previous exploits. The most major issue graphically has to be the pop-in though. That needs to be sorted out.

    Now, for gameplay. Watch Dogs definitely thrives on how fun it is. Combinations of shooting, hacking, and stealth all provide incredibly rewarding ways to complete missions, gang hideouts, etc. I found many of this more comparable to Splinter Cell than anything else, in fact, which combined with your hacking abilities definitely isn't a bad thing. I am neutral towards the driving; it is very slidey and arcadey, which some people will love and some people will hate. I find it fun at times but it can also be very frustrating to handle, especially on KB/M. The progression system involves getting XP by doing various things in the game, and similar to the latest Deus Ex going stealthy will net you much more XP than going in guns blazing, which some may dislike. I personally found it a good incentive as I normally dislike stealth games but found it fairly enjoyable in this one. There are skill trees that range from hacking to combat to crafting, all of which you can invest in with skill points gained as you level. These provide a good sense of progression.

    The coolest part about the game is probably the digital trips, which are extremely Saints Row-esque silly mini games where you'll blow things up in a spider tank or run over demons in a muscle car, among others. Some of these games even have their own skill trees and leveling systems. Definitely very fun and zany departures from the main game which, oddly enough, you can invest hours in at a time. Now, to one of the worst parts of the game.

    The story simply isn't up to par. It's a classic revenge story overplayed time and time again, with most of the characters lacking any interesting or compelling traits. Aiden is the generic, grainy voiced action hero, who gets caught up in a larger plot as his quest for revenge gets him involved in even more trouble as his sister is kidnapped by his old partner. Its not a horrible story, and it is wonderfully voice acted and is extremely solid in length (~35 hours) but it is definitely not very memorable. The real star of the game is probably the city and its pedestrians.

    The game world has a surprising amount of variety. There are poor slums, rich high rise districts, quiet suburban sprawls, and dark, secluded backwoods areas. There is a sufficient amount of creepy mysteries. easter eggs, and collectibles spread throughout the game world along with a ton of varied side missions for you to do. Each pedestrian has their own story that you can access using the profile, where you can see their age, occupation, income, and any hobbies or unique traits they have. I thought there would be obvious repetition after an hour or so but it is very few and far in between and I still find new traits that I often laugh at.

    So, Watch Dogs did not live up to the hype, but that was next to impossible anyway. It is still a very fun and enjoyable open world game with a solid amount of content and fun refinements to the genre.    … Expand
  68. theMillen
    May 28, 2014
    8
    First and foremost... Update to the latest Drivers if you are using Nvidia... it has helped aloooot. Basically went from huuuge drops to smoothing things out. With a 3770k and gtx 780 (overclocked) I am now able to actually play at decent fps with only slight dips here and there on Ultra, tweaking a few things down has made it completely playable. Is it still poorly optimized? Yes. ButFirst and foremost... Update to the latest Drivers if you are using Nvidia... it has helped aloooot. Basically went from huuuge drops to smoothing things out. With a 3770k and gtx 780 (overclocked) I am now able to actually play at decent fps with only slight dips here and there on Ultra, tweaking a few things down has made it completely playable. Is it still poorly optimized? Yes. But after reading a few technical things it seems to point towards a port from "nextgen" consoles having ~8gb ram available for vram. And to address some of the 0's talking about playability.. There is a leaked copy that has a Altcoin miner attached (alternative to bitcoin) sooooooo yeah, take that for what it is worth.

    Nowwww onto the actual gameplay.

    Hacking - Fun at first but kinda wish there was more to it than just press and hold a button. I can see it for straight video cameras but eh, its a nice feature that could've used some tweaking. It is however fun to use as far as the stealth aspects; be it checking all security cameras to plan out your route, distracting gaurds, or even blowing them up with their said explosives.

    Driving - Personally i wasn't expecting Forza, GT, or anything else. Does it feel kinda an afterthought, and put on the back burner? Yes. Does it break the game? No. After i switched from KB/M to Xbox 360 controller i found it a lot easier to get around, and love cruising around on a motorcycle. The damage to the car is hyper-non-realistic but meh, not a game breaker for me.

    Story - As someone else said a bit cliche' but it has heart, and makes you feel for what is going on, has happened and what is going to happen. Does it pull you in bioshock-esque? negative.. Did I want to skip it or run through it with no regard? No. It has heart, and is pretty well written and acted.

    Gameplay - So much to do can be a bit overwhelming, but you can choose to what you want to do, and there is a variety of stuff to do outside of main campaign and sometimes ill hop on the game just to do some of the side quest stuff (AR Mini games, hunt down criminals, etc) and ill have fun doing so.

    Graphics - While i don't feel the graphics are truly "next-gen" but if anyone remembers when 360/ps3 came out, they weren't leagues apart either. It takes time to catch up. Having said that, the water, rain, and textures are amazing. Just don't expect the Ultimate OMG Best GFX EVERRR and you'll be pleasantly surprised. Don't believe the hype and don't believe the debydowners. It is a nice middle ground.

    Fun - Simply put, the game is fun, and for that, Ubisoft gets my vote and my money!

    Wrap-up: Could it have used a couple more months of polish, definitely but they had that. I am glad they delayed the game because i could only imagine had they not. I am sure after a patch or two some of the optimization quirks will be had and i can go back to Ultra @ 1440p. But for me, the game is fun, immersive and a good time, quirks be damned.    … Expand
  69. Huffmann
    Jun 1, 2014
    7
    I think it's wrong to give this game 4 or less score...
    I know this game was overhyped by it's trailers and presentations... but I don't want to focus on that.
    I played the whole story, I have done A LOT of side-quests, and you know what? - I liked it, I think the game was fine/great. Good story (not epic like Bioshock: Infinite etc. though) and medium game mechanics (some bugs who    I think it's wrong to give this game 4 or less score...
    I know this game was overhyped by it's trailers and presentations... but I don't want to focus on that.
    I played the whole story, I have done A LOT of side-quests, and you know what? - I liked it, I think the game was fine/great. Good story (not epic like Bioshock: Infinite etc. though) and medium game mechanics (some bugs who keeps show up from time to time).
    Let's face it:
    - Uplay ruined the game with their servers, but that isn't Watch Dogs' fault.
    - The PC Optimize - wow, just wauw. Luckly I have a SLI GeForce setup, but others haven't - it just doesn't work. A high-end graphic-card can't even play Watch Dogs stabil at 30 FPS on medium/settings. Hope they will fix it like they did with AC4: BF on PC.

    Overall I think the game is okay/great at this point. We all get the plot about the hacking, but it's not mind-blowing, unfortunately. We all hoped for something more or some of next-gen experience - which we didn't experienced.    … Expand
  70. knivestv
    Jun 5, 2014
    9
    I can only assume, the metacritic score is so low because the people enjoying the game are too busy playing. Giving it a zero would be comparable to Big Riggs or Desert Bus. That seems ridiculous, because it is ridiculous.
  71. GT640_on_Medium
    Aug 23, 2014
    10
    so, to start off... to the ppl who say that they have GTX 780 with an i7 who barely run on medium or are having problems on the lowest setting... stop with the BS and get on with your lives. as my name suggests i'm running the game on medium with my GT640 with an i5 at 60 fps...also for the ppl that say they have sensitivity issues, there is a setting to lower the sensitivity when youso, to start off... to the ppl who say that they have GTX 780 with an i7 who barely run on medium or are having problems on the lowest setting... stop with the BS and get on with your lives. as my name suggests i'm running the game on medium with my GT640 with an i5 at 60 fps...also for the ppl that say they have sensitivity issues, there is a setting to lower the sensitivity when you drive aswell as another for the menu cursor if you even took the time out of your worthless life to check. so please you 0 rating **** don't discourage people about how high end your pc is but cannot run THIS game with no logical reason.… Expand
  72. zx_zone
    Jun 7, 2016
    6
    Lots of things to do. - A decent illusion of choice regarding how to approach missions. - Multiplayer invasions are fun for a few times. Cons: - The story. My brain, it hurts. So many cliches. I thought the first two acts were bad
  73. Stalkermaster
    May 30, 2014
    8
    This is an in progress review so please don't criticise me
    I'm only about 10% through the game but have played about 10 or so hours
    Honestly I'm not gonna lie I don't have any optimisation issues, no crashes no bugs nothing My specs Nvidia 660 Ti, I7 3770 8 core, 8gb ram, 64 bit so, windows 8 I get about a 60 Fps when I'm not driving and 45-50 when driving with most things either    This is an in progress review so please don't criticise me
    I'm only about 10% through the game but have played about 10 or so hours

    Honestly I'm not gonna lie I don't have any optimisation issues, no crashes no bugs nothing

    My specs Nvidia 660 Ti, I7 3770 8 core, 8gb ram, 64 bit so, windows 8

    I get about a 60 Fps when I'm not driving and 45-50 when driving with most things either high or ultra

    The game is great soo far, the city is full of life's and the hacking is great.
    The story so far is great you play as Aiden pierce who is out for revenge because of his niece dieing and I won't go any further with that. At first on pc I found the controls wired and confusing. But now it feels second to none on how this game plays out.

    The npcs all have a story behind them. You can learn about their age, job,how much money they earn and any recent events they were in which is fantastic. It changes for everyone in game as well, during co op we ID the same person and there was two different profiles which is unique.

    The hacking is seamless compared to what some people may say as long as you have the battery you can hack it instant and there is quite a few things to hack which all change up the pace of the game during a chase with the cops such as hacking the traffic lights to make all the cars and such crash is a great sight.

    The gunplay is limited to a few rifles, pistols, snipers and such but it's fine as most of the missions can be played stealthy that's right in killing involved and because of this you can be seen as a good guy or a bad guy.

    Now the Mp is also fun. I've only played 5 of the modes but 1v1 hacking is just soo dam addictive and co op is great fun as well

    Will write the rest of it the more I play and when I think I'm done but on a side not co op is disappointing because of the lack of things to do in co op apart from drive together, heck you can not even hack and tail your own friends on your list

    The pros and cons will also come later so stay tuned    … Expand
  74. augurseer
    May 27, 2014
    8
    This isn't your grandfather GTA. Its darker. Nicer looking and has a fairly creative new game mechanic. That mechanic is simplified hacking of Chicago. Play the game as a run and gun it all it is is GTA. play it like a zero-cool punisher and your golden.
  75. thefastone
    May 27, 2014
    7
    Watch_Dogs is an ambitious effort from Ubisoft. For the most part the game succeeds but in ways it fails. I gave it a 7/10 because I do enjoy the game quite a lot but at the same time I expected so much more out of it. Graphically the game is amazing, however it seems to crash when in SLI/Crossfire. I had to take my cards out of SLI in order to avoid random crashes. Game still plays onWatch_Dogs is an ambitious effort from Ubisoft. For the most part the game succeeds but in ways it fails. I gave it a 7/10 because I do enjoy the game quite a lot but at the same time I expected so much more out of it. Graphically the game is amazing, however it seems to crash when in SLI/Crossfire. I had to take my cards out of SLI in order to avoid random crashes. Game still plays on everything High with some Ultra settings and I only have 2x 560ti's. In one sentence this game is similar to AC but is a fresh start on a new story. Here is my list of pro's and cons.

    PROS:
    -Large(ish) open world.
    -Controlling the city is a blast.
    -Good story
    -Graphics are great.
    -Control scheme is intuitive and easy to use. Maybe too easy. Especially if you have a controller.
    -Missions are varied in context.

    Cons:
    -Driving is atrocious. Like a newborn behind the wheel atrocious.
    -While mission context varies, the way with which you approach them rarely changes.
    -Open world is big but not GTA5 big.
    -Hacking is fun but is far too simplified. Though this is good during chases or combat.
    -Doesn't standout from the open world crowd.
    -Crashing bug in SLI/Crossfire

    While I had high hopes that this games was going to be a new and exciting entry to the open world genre it just feels like another game in the long line of games in this genre. The story is pretty well told and fleshed out. The core mechanics work well. The game plays well. However, when playing you just don't get sucked in for hours on end like a big AAA title should. It is a good game that I would recommend to anyone. However, if you're on the fence then I would wait for a sale before purchasing.    … Expand
  76. SilverStone
    May 28, 2014
    7
    Good stuff: Cool main character, somewhat interesting villains, the city feels alive, the phone feature supports that feeling, graphics are good if you play around with the settings (takes time though), descent story, game in game feature (mini-games in the game with rewards), good atmosphere, Soundtrack is good, Voice acting is good too, motion capture is well done!, game forces you toGood stuff: Cool main character, somewhat interesting villains, the city feels alive, the phone feature supports that feeling, graphics are good if you play around with the settings (takes time though), descent story, game in game feature (mini-games in the game with rewards), good atmosphere, Soundtrack is good, Voice acting is good too, motion capture is well done!, game forces you to think from time to time, things you do reflect on the game world and you hear people talk about them.
    Now the bad stuff, brace yourselves: Execution of the story is simply childish and feels like bull#hit (ubisoft does not evolve in story telling since AC2, on the contrary, it degrades). It's a good story but the way it's told and the way events happen in the game feel anything but realistic. Especially police chases. The Enemy AI is veeeeeeeery poorly written and does inhuman things from time to time. For ex: a sniper in a helicopter, who gives you headshots with 100% precision while the helicopter is flying with great speed. Plus it's almost every time one guy vs 20-30 in open combat. That. is. not. real. Ubisoft, get it already. On such serious idea of story telling and serious character the childish one man army idea does not fit. He's a hacker, not Chuck Norris. And then you find yourself not needing the hacking skills because you have to shoot the guys. And the hacking itself is as stupid as it gets. Now it would be fine if they just invented it that way, but they bragged that they'd talked with famous programmers and they do the hacking as realistic as possible - bull#hit again!

    Verdict: 6.5 . Have to give 7 here because there is no 6.5. The idea of a god-like hacker in the city went to sh#t because Ubisoft clearly doesn't know how to execute such idea in a realistic and honest way. In the end you simply play as a headhunter who is pointed towards his targets buy other hackers. Just another assassin's creed. And there are a lot more things that suck about this game it's just getting too long. Thanks for reading, if you did :)    … Expand
  77. GhostPiggy
    Jun 1, 2014
    8
    (TL;DR at the bottom) This game is absolutely wonderful, the mechanics of the game are nearly seamless and easy to use, anyone who complains that the concept of hacking is dumb should turn away because it's not supposed to be an in depth tutorial for hacking. The graphics catch flak from people yet I have no idea why, the graphics are wonderful any problems the game is experiencing will be(TL;DR at the bottom) This game is absolutely wonderful, the mechanics of the game are nearly seamless and easy to use, anyone who complains that the concept of hacking is dumb should turn away because it's not supposed to be an in depth tutorial for hacking. The graphics catch flak from people yet I have no idea why, the graphics are wonderful any problems the game is experiencing will be fixed soon as there are to be some bugs due to the fact that it has just come out. The story is great but my only complaint is that they are really trying to stretch for something that is hard to achieve due to the serious responses of some insignificant events. Multiplayer is a very enjoyable aspect of the game such as the online hacking game mode which, no matter how many times you play it, is always a different experience and allows for longevity of game play. Iv'e seen a few reviews about the games :terrible car physics" but to be honest they are wonderful, a few bugs here and there but overall very great. I have noticed that sometime I will shoot through the windshield of a car or be getting shot and two things occur, the windshield does not immediately shatter into a million pieces and sometimes is even able to stop the bullet in varying instances, I also have to say the impact between cars of different sizes and weight are pretty well .performed. I think I have gone on long enough, buy this game it is amazingly fun, it only lost two points for two reasons, one for the story and another for the digital trips psychedelic and madness...those games are really difficult. TL;DR - game is fun, falls short on story, car physics are good, bugs but still good, psychedelic and madness are hard.… Expand
  78. naomha
    May 27, 2014
    9
    Game is graphically amazing. Superb on pc with everything cranked up. Plays flawlessly. Story is really good until later, however, even then, it is still decent enough. The set design is just fantastic. Blows any GTA game out of the water in terms of immersion and reality.Gunplay and stealth is solid. Hacking is quite fun. You can hack everything to get anything. From money, to tunes forGame is graphically amazing. Superb on pc with everything cranked up. Plays flawlessly. Story is really good until later, however, even then, it is still decent enough. The set design is just fantastic. Blows any GTA game out of the water in terms of immersion and reality.Gunplay and stealth is solid. Hacking is quite fun. You can hack everything to get anything. From money, to tunes for your vehicle to stopping a crime and more.
    I don't understand why people are saying there is nothing to do in the city. It is, quite literally, littered with side quests and missions to accomplish. I was only 3 to 4 missions in when I ended up spending about 6 hours just doing side missions. Voice acting is top notch and so is the sound design. Weapons have a really good feel and hit targets squarely and with nice effects.
    Upgrades and perks are really good as well. You get a vast array of upgrades tied to contant perks your doing in game. You also get upgrades for side missions and other things as well. To be honest, there's so much to upgrade you'll be choosing wisely.
    Don't believe the haters. There's a LOT to do in the city. A lot. There's a plethora of vehicles to be had and some really nice weapons to attain. The story is done well enough and the cars handle about the same as GTA V or Sleeping Dogs. Motorcycles are done much better. If you're looking for something fun to play with an interesting premise then give it a try. Rent it if you must. The game is not breaking any barriers in the adventure/shooter department but it is really fun to ride it out and find everything you possibly can to do. I never ran out of missions on my first playthrough and I had quite a few missions give me a run for my money. All in all, I'm quite happy with my purchase and will be playing it again tackling different objectives from a different angle.
    Between Watch Dogs and the release of the new Wolfenstein it has been a great two weeks or game releases. Decide for yourself, do NOT read into all these negative reviews. One thing is very certain on forums such as these. 99% of the posts will be angry, illiterate and nonsensical. While 99% of the posts are bad, that 99% only makes up 1% of actual players. The rest of the 99% playing the game is enjoying it immensely and have no reason to even post anything because they're not having any problems of any sort. I'd give Metacritic a few weeks until some positive reviews from people that are actually playing the ame with no problems and wickedly enjoying themselves put in their two cents. Bunch of haters on here to be honest.    … Expand
  79. AcidCasualty
    May 27, 2014
    8
    First of all, it appears as if all the negative reviews here were written by the same mouth-breathing simpleton who lacks any sort of command over English grammar. This game is far from a 0. The graphics could be better, but the gameplay is top-notch. Driving is a bit more difficult than in GTA V, which I'm sure is why some people are complaining, but with practice even the dullest noobFirst of all, it appears as if all the negative reviews here were written by the same mouth-breathing simpleton who lacks any sort of command over English grammar. This game is far from a 0. The graphics could be better, but the gameplay is top-notch. Driving is a bit more difficult than in GTA V, which I'm sure is why some people are complaining, but with practice even the dullest noob can master it. The biggest downside here is the uPlay, but the game itself is cool.

    Watch Dogs is a fun action game combining driving, parkour, an emotional storyline, sleuthing, and admittedly simplistic "hacking" (but if it were harder than pressing a button, how would you hack streetlights while driving? Hack gates in a hurry? The hacking style WORKS for this title), and lots of sleuthing. Set aside the knee-jerking going on here and give it a try.    … Expand
  80. hasherr
    May 27, 2014
    8
    Well, hype was definately built up for this one and i can see why ppl cry so much around internets. Lets put that aside. This game is far from perfect, but it is still very entertaining - detailed map, nice original music, lots of fun stuff to do. You can play the game both gta style with guns blazing or do stealthy - this alone ads nice replay value. On PC game got nice AA rooster withWell, hype was definately built up for this one and i can see why ppl cry so much around internets. Lets put that aside. This game is far from perfect, but it is still very entertaining - detailed map, nice original music, lots of fun stuff to do. You can play the game both gta style with guns blazing or do stealthy - this alone ads nice replay value. On PC game got nice AA rooster with plenty other graphical options. Perf-wise it runs evenly on all cpu cores meaning it will scale well in future (not like gta4 for example sitting on 3 cores and maxing one of them). Overall it runs 40+ fps on my gtx770 with high settings, hi textures and 2xmsaa. On the negative side characters are a bit flat, storyline could have been more interesting, graphics and physics could be better - for example hair and facialhair seems just lazy. Ofc this does not mean graphics sux, its still very good looking game. Its just not mindblowing, as expected from heavly advertized next gen title. I give it 8.… Expand
  81. Jope
    May 27, 2014
    8
    Watch Dogs is quite a good game. It has great graphics and sound, but Ubisoft could have optimised it better for the PC. I'm running a GTX680 (using the 337.88 driver) and the game runs +40 fps depending on what I am doing, sometimes it even jumps up to 60. The gameplay is good, but not excellent, and some people will feel disappointed, especially with the driving. I do still recommendWatch Dogs is quite a good game. It has great graphics and sound, but Ubisoft could have optimised it better for the PC. I'm running a GTX680 (using the 337.88 driver) and the game runs +40 fps depending on what I am doing, sometimes it even jumps up to 60. The gameplay is good, but not excellent, and some people will feel disappointed, especially with the driving. I do still recommend this game.
    PS. If you are having performance issues, check you drivers, it might help.    … Expand
  82. kingmaker
    Jul 10, 2014
    10
    i dont know why these guys are giving bad reviews about watchdogs.dear pc users watchdogs is a evergreen game try it ultimate hacking,huge open world,great vehicle handling.the last level of the game is chanceless.

    dear GTA users without playing watchdogs dont give bad comments.
    ubisoft rckzzzzz
  83. joelm
    May 28, 2014
    9
    Don't understand why so many bad reviews! I have a GTX 750 Ti and an i5 CPU with 8GB Corsair and the game runs perfectly fine under High graphic details. No glitches and didn't crash for more than 2h of playing on Windows 7.

    The game is exactly what I was expecting (forget the hype): no more, no less. You can drive around the city and interact with every single citizen and hack their    Don't understand why so many bad reviews! I have a GTX 750 Ti and an i5 CPU with 8GB Corsair and the game runs perfectly fine under High graphic details. No glitches and didn't crash for more than 2h of playing on Windows 7.

    The game is exactly what I was expecting (forget the hype): no more, no less.

    You can drive around the city and interact with every single citizen and hack their mobile + hack anything you can on the city. It is cool! No other game has this kind of interaction.

    This is definitely a revamped version of Assassin's Creed. I wouldn't compare it with GTA 5 at all.

    The only thing I am not very used ot (yet) is the driving: very hard to turn with the keyboard. Probably with a controller might be easier?

    Great game, amazing graphics (shadows / reflections / the rain - umbrellas - water ponds is quite cool).

    Hope more stuff is added up to the game soon.    … Expand
  84. meediocre
    Jun 1, 2014
    8
    Connection issues aside, this is a solid open-world game that feels and plays like Sleeping Dogs, but with a hacking theme, and a less interesting story and central character. There's some genuine fun to be had with the online invasion and ctOS missions, as well as some exhilarating escape from the cops/baddies driving action. The world itself is incredibly detailed and there are plenty ofConnection issues aside, this is a solid open-world game that feels and plays like Sleeping Dogs, but with a hacking theme, and a less interesting story and central character. There's some genuine fun to be had with the online invasion and ctOS missions, as well as some exhilarating escape from the cops/baddies driving action. The world itself is incredibly detailed and there are plenty of side quests and distractions to keep you going for hours and hours, as per AC and Far Cry etc ..

    Negatives, in my opinion, include the average main storyline and the fact that graphically, even on PC it doesn't seem next-gen. Happy to have bought this title though, as it offers great value for money.    … Expand
  85. Jebble
    Jun 1, 2014
    8
    This game feels like Assassin's Creed 1 felt at the time. The franchise has great potential and the game is pretty good, but it just misses a lot of extra's to make it completely awesome.

    I feel like Watch Dogs 2 (if ever made) will be insanely great. It's hard not to compare a game like this to the GTA franchise and GTA 5 gave us a lot that I therefor miss in Watch Dogs. Getting cars    This game feels like Assassin's Creed 1 felt at the time. The franchise has great potential and the game is pretty good, but it just misses a lot of extra's to make it completely awesome.

    I feel like Watch Dogs 2 (if ever made) will be insanely great.
    It's hard not to compare a game like this to the GTA franchise and GTA 5 gave us a lot that I therefor miss in Watch Dogs. Getting cars is too easy, there's a **** of money you can't use anywhere. There are barely any buildings to enter and there is just a lot of detailedd functions I miss. Think of property, garages, and random buildings to enter or whatever.

    For me the story was fine, gameplay is okay, could use a lot of polish with the vehicles.
    Also the cops in this game are kinda crap.

    You do A LOT of **** like stealing everyones money, but no one ever knows and youre still the good guy.
    That has to be fixed for the next version.

    Still a great game :)    … Expand
  86. Gumbomon
    Jun 1, 2014
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Review (kind of) contains spoilers... However, nothing that the trailers haven't already told you.

    Let's start with the technical aspects:
    I got the game along with my new computer (AMD 8x 4.0GHz processor, GeForce GTX760, 16Gb RAM, Win7 64Bit). I was very hyped and tryed to install it right on its release.
    It took me an entire day to get this thing to work. I had to download it two times (about 3h each) and I had to reinstall uPlay, which also deleted AC4 as well. Ubisoft just knows how to make for a special release experience.
    However, after hours of tinkering, it finally worked. My PC managed to run it at (almost) stable 60fps on high settings ( using TXAA Anti-Alias), with some frame drops during some police chase sequences.

    I haven't seen the E3 demo, thus I cannot tell if there was the graphical downgrade everyone keeps complaining about ( to which I might add: I don't think many player would have been able to access better graphics, because the game is demanding), but it looks (at least to me) marvelous. It by not means the best looking game ever, but it can compete with most AAA titles.

    Gameplay-wise, it felt like an "Assassins-Creed 2014-ish version". And this is not a bad thing. Sure it has some similarities (like the hackable ctOS-towers, which feel quite familiar to AC viewpoints - minus the obligatory leap of faith, which in this game will lead to your death), but the hacking is a nice twist, making it just interesting enough to be an IP of its own. Also, the Gunplay is excellent, even or especially with a Gamepad (I used the Xbox 360 wireless controller).
    (Speaking of Gamepads, you will probably need one, because the mouse accelleration differs in the various sections of the game, which is very irritating.)
    The driving sections are very floaty, reminding me of some of the early Need-for-Speed games (like Underground 2). It's not everyone's thing, but I found myself really enjoying it. Though the ragdoll-physics sometimes look just... weird. Not awful, but weird.

    The story is ... actually better than the trailer made it look. The actual plot is told quite well, but the protagonist himself is quite frankly, an a**hole. Its not the story of hero, not even close. But it's entertaining, although it sometimes takes itself to serious. The voice acting (at least in the german version) is well executed and, for the most part, in sync. But it tries to be like a Batman-like story - a little too hard.

    And I think this is the biggest pitfall. Each unit works almost perfectly in itself. The theme is fresh and fun, the story is solid, the mechanics work fine (I haven't experienced any glitches aside some strange ragdoll poses) - But they failed to make them work together. Thus the game feels just like the sum of its parts, not more, not less. The experience is entirely up to the player. If you take the game serious, its loads of fun. But if you play it like GTA your actions interfere with the tone and plot, making the game seem silly and pointless.

    Overall, it's a pretty solid game - not perfect, but fine. If the sequel, which is already hinted upon at the end of the game, fixes these issues, and utilized the games full potencial, I'm convinced this is going to be Ubisofts next big IP, out-shadowing the AC series by far. I think a lot of the hate this game gets is due to the extreme hype. People are disappointed that it is not as awesome as they imagined the last 3 years (And this is why Valve won't make Half-Life 3. Imagine 20 years of hype...). I feel people are just being unfair to Ubisoft-Montrèal (the studio, not the publisher; they shall burn in hell for what they did with uPlay), same goes for the AC series (AC2 is, in my opinion, inferrior to 4 and even 3).
    I am personally looking forward to the sequel... and the movie they announced.

    If you're intersted into the theme or just like open-world games, I'd recomend you to buy it for about 40$.    … Expand
  87. EclipseEx
    May 29, 2014
    8
    I guess I am one of the lucky ones who wasn't have any in game issues o.o
    My rig is not top tier by any means i5 4670 and a 760 OC'd and im not having trouble running the game in between high and ultra. Jordi is pretty hilarious c:
  88. Eglin
    Aug 7, 2014
    9
    I'm not a big fan of UPlay and I find it hard to excuse launch issues in a game with as much pre-release hype as this one had, but Watch_Dogs is still a game worth playing. Compared to most other open-world games (GTA series, Saints Row series, etc), the control layout (on a 360 pad) in this game is very natural and comfortable. Being unable to shoot without aiming means that the rightI'm not a big fan of UPlay and I find it hard to excuse launch issues in a game with as much pre-release hype as this one had, but Watch_Dogs is still a game worth playing. Compared to most other open-world games (GTA series, Saints Row series, etc), the control layout (on a 360 pad) in this game is very natural and comfortable. Being unable to shoot without aiming means that the right trigger can be used for sprinting, instead of the typical awkward left shoulder button. Being unable to jump at will frees up the A button. Not being able to shoot while driving eliminates even more awkward contortions. These are all compromises that didn't sound appealing to me going in, but after spending time with the game I find it to be a superior setup.

    In terms of gameplay, the main storyline is of adequate length and although there aren't as many side activities as there are in some rival games, there is always something to get into in Watch_Dogs' gritty Chicago landscape. The game world is bustling with people and a variety of traffic that (perhaps because of the diversity of vehicles compared to other games) feels very organic. Add in the hacking gimmicks and the amazing paranoia that the drop-in-at-any-time multiplayer spies and hackers inspire, and the result is probably the best open-world game available on PC behind Skyrim.    … Expand
  89. 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
  90. Sojum
    Jun 15, 2014
    7
    I had to update my review after completing the game. It's a solid experience. I don't agree with complaints about graphics or driving. But the missions can get a little tedious and repetitious, and the hacking is not nearly as deep as it should be. The voice acting is top notch and the direction is well done too. Plot complaints are actually addressed as the story ends - there's moreI had to update my review after completing the game. It's a solid experience. I don't agree with complaints about graphics or driving. But the missions can get a little tedious and repetitious, and the hacking is not nearly as deep as it should be. The voice acting is top notch and the direction is well done too. Plot complaints are actually addressed as the story ends - there's more self-awareness of the double-standards of Pearce's vigilantism than the negative reviews would have you know. There are even some poignant moments. Maybe not worth full price, but certainly worth picking up when it hits the $30 - $40 range.… Expand
  91. Clean
    Jun 16, 2014
    10
    This game had sold 4 million units worldwide in the first week of launch. What does it mean? It means that Ubisoft is now the best developer in the world, and this game is the master of all games in the universe.

    While everyone is parsing how great this game is, unfortunately haters are pulling down the score of this game here. Accept the truth, recognize the master piece of design    This game had sold 4 million units worldwide in the first week of launch. What does it mean? It means that Ubisoft is now the best developer in the world, and this game is the master of all games in the universe.

    While everyone is parsing how great this game is, unfortunately haters are pulling down the score of this game here.

    Accept the truth, recognize the master piece of design from this game! Everyone, join me!    … Expand
  92. Bobmonga
    May 29, 2014
    8
    I've only played it for a couple of hours, but enjoying it so far. I've not had any issues apart from the mouse controls. Removing the mouse smoothing by manually editing the config file helps loads. Performance is fine on my aging machine (I7, GTX460, 8GB).
  93. Xandercz
    Jun 3, 2014
    8
    New open-world IP with an underground hacking setting and a revenge plot. The writing could be so much better, some characters are underdeveloped, some are introduced only to get pushed aside, main villain lacks any real motivation.
    Gameplay mechanics are pretty straightforward - complete main story missions to move the story forward, like in GTA, however this game lacks in side    New open-world IP with an underground hacking setting and a revenge plot. The writing could be so much better, some characters are underdeveloped, some are introduced only to get pushed aside, main villain lacks any real motivation.
    Gameplay mechanics are pretty straightforward - complete main story missions to move the story forward, like in GTA, however this game lacks in side activities - there is quite a few of them but they do get old pretty fast and only keep you hooked if you're a die-hard completionist.
    The game doesn't look as pretty as the 2012 E3 demo but it's still gorgeous, certainly one of the best looking open-world games.    … Expand
  94. Mateuskb
    Jun 1, 2014
    10
    I love this game,I dont think that the bugs aren´t important,but you can walk in the streets of the game and feel there are life.
    The history are amazing.
    Forget the hype,play the game by the he give to you,dont play the game by the what he dont give to you.
    Dont create your opinion by the reviews,Play and see.
  95. politon2k
    Jun 15, 2014
    6
    + Acceptable story. + Good gameplay. + Lot's of things to do. - Obvious downgrade, and Ubisoft still not recognize it. - NAT error 100% of the times i try to play online (and it's not my problem, because for the first two days i've played perfectly online. Tried all Ubisoft suggestions/solutions, none of them worked, loss of time). - After the credits, the game was not responding. I close+ Acceptable story. + Good gameplay. + Lot's of things to do. - Obvious downgrade, and Ubisoft still not recognize it. - NAT error 100% of the times i try to play online (and it's not my problem, because for the first two days i've played perfectly online. Tried all Ubisoft suggestions/solutions, none of them worked, loss of time). - After the credits, the game was not responding. I close Watch Dogs, reopen it to complete some secondary missions, and surprise: Now my save file is corrupted and the game is unable to load it (it freezes during the process.… Expand
  96. jacobspeeds
    Jun 8, 2014
    7
    Really enjoyed this game. Getting it to run smooth took a while but it can be done with a lot of reduced settings...i had to run it at ultra low settings even having an SLI setup which on activating crashes the game (so i couldn't use)....reducing the textures removed all the stutter i experienced specially driving. Reminds you a lot of of splintercell's blacklist and assassin's creed.Really enjoyed this game. Getting it to run smooth took a while but it can be done with a lot of reduced settings...i had to run it at ultra low settings even having an SLI setup which on activating crashes the game (so i couldn't use)....reducing the textures removed all the stutter i experienced specially driving. Reminds you a lot of of splintercell's blacklist and assassin's creed. Plenty of side missions to unlock various weapons and abilities. The game is like a puzzle. Finding stuff takes some thinking and creativity making it a lot of fun! The cars look really good and the physics is awesome. I thought the plot was interesting too. I really recommend waiting for the game to be patched before experiencing the terrible and annoying lag. Even GTX titans can't run it smooth because of the bugs.… Expand
  97. tsg84
    Jun 7, 2014
    7
    I didn't like the game the first couple times I played it and my initial thought was that I wasted my cash. However, the more I played it the more it grew on me. I found myself having quite a bit of fun and even asking myself some far-fetched reality-based questions because of some ideas the game presents. I feel the negativity seen in these "reviews" is purely the fault of the hype. ThatI didn't like the game the first couple times I played it and my initial thought was that I wasted my cash. However, the more I played it the more it grew on me. I found myself having quite a bit of fun and even asking myself some far-fetched reality-based questions because of some ideas the game presents. I feel the negativity seen in these "reviews" is purely the fault of the hype. That isn't to say that some of it isn't justified, but i don't think many of the player reviews have been completely fair.

    Sure there were some technical issues at launch for PC, and sure the graphics aren't quite the leap into "next gen" as many of us had hoped. Sure the options are limited in terms of customization and online, but when you get past everything the game DOESN'T let you do that you thought or hoped it would, you CAN have quite a bit of fun with it.

    My major complaint with the game is that I wish the online would have been expanded and more thoroughly realized, but this is a first installment in a completely new franchise and as such it is highly conceptual. While it often falls short of it's potential, some of Watch Dog's strange choices (Strange as open city sandbox games go) do begin to make sense as you continue to play IF you keep and open mind.

    Now before I go any further, please notice that I only gave the game a score of seven. I am not arguing that it's a definitive next gen title, but rather that for what it is, it's nowhere near as bad as people have made it out to be. Once you filter through your pre-conceptions and get past all the pie in the sky promises and expectations your local Gamestop clerk indoctrinated you with to get you to pre-order, you'll find a fairly decent game that can actually pretty fun to mess around with.

    I will concede to one poster that the music choices you have while driving are limited. (And that they're meh!) Those of us used to GTA and Saints Row like our "radio stations" and the variety the offer. Instead you get whatever Aiden has downloaded to his mobile streamed in the vehicle. It was odd at first, but when you think about it most of us do the whole Bluetooth / Pandora thing these days anyhow. It sort of fits in a world where technological modernization is the norm. The exception being the interviews with the mayor you're randomly forced to listen to.

    The NPCs are nuts. I've enjoyed the shootouts so far, but every now and then you either hear something REALLY stupid said, hear dialogue repeated excessively or see clones everywhere. Once I intervened in a crime and while rushing to the victims rescue I realized both NPC's looked identical! It was a poor design flaw, but comical nonetheless. These types of things happened occasionally but not so consistently for me that it became a problem.

    The story so far hasn't really grabbed me. Its interesting to see the CTOS technological systems effect on the city, and it makes you think about where things are advancing for us in the real world. THE SINGULARITY! OH NOES! All craziness aside its enough to make you a little paranoid as to wonder who could be looking at your texts or listening to your phone calls...... Good thing we have the NSA to keep us saf--...... Crap....

    I think the biggest letdown for me was the online. Unlike other open world games like GTA, RDR and SR the online in watchdogs isn't separated from the game's story mode meaning no real customization, no great co-op, etc. lot of missed potential, but honestly I felt the game was more reminiscent of Far Cry 3 set in a city in third person. Hacking the CTOS towers to open up the maps, gang hideouts and convoys, and even the "crafting" felt a lot like FC3 to me in terms of the structure. Although the crafting was just... there... and the lack of customization to the weapons was very disappointing.. Ubi has implemented these types of features quite well with Far Cry 3 and Assassins Creed. it's a shame the same amount of polish didn't go into Watch Dogs.

    That brings me to combat. I seriously don't know what people's gripes with the cover system were about. I've had no issues. Also the driving is not as bad as the trolls posting red dot reviews on this game are claiming. just depends on the vehicle, and whether you drive sensibly or like a moron.

    The hacking isn't bad either. It's simple, and nothing you haven't seen before in some form or another in some other game, but I guess some people went and learned binary just so they could pwn Watch Dogs like a boss. It's not incredible, but its a bit deeper than your sisters facebook password.

    Regardless of what people would have you believe, the game is not a complete failure. It's no GTA or Saints Row, but I honestly don't think it was intended to be. It's a little bit like mashing up concepts from Far Cry 3, Assassins Creed, mixing in some awkward yet simple "hacking" mechanics and pouring it all in a Chicago shaped sandbox. it isn't the orgasmic experience some expected, but it is by no means horrible    … Expand
  98. blacktarmac
    May 30, 2014
    8
    Watch_Dogs is a great game with interesting characters, a big open world to explore and an interesting story. It offers lots of fun distractions like the digital trips. Multiplayer integration seems a little wonky at this early time, but overall it's a very satisfying experience. Give it a shot!
  99. Yuusou
    Jun 1, 2014
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is really good depending on how you look at it. Sure the graphics are good, but not as good as expected, the performance by now is ranging from smooth to barely playable, the hacking is way too straight forward, but this game has so many not so obvious good points.

    Let's start with the humor. I don't know how many people have checked the billboard text yet. I don't know how many have checked the ctznOS leaks by DedSec in the bunker (e.g. falling worker is called an UFO in the scan). I don't know how many people have listened to conversations between NPCs ("Since ctOS is watching everyone and everything I don't have the urge to jerk off that much anymore."). I don't know how many people have realized that there's social criticism in the whole game. If you think this game is just a cheap GTA with hacking, you're not taking a look to the right direction the game is aiming for. Aiden barely has eye contact at the bar or newspaper stand owner when he orders a drink. Instead he's paying attention to his phone. This is so annoying, yet one of the many behaviors that people show towards their fellow men. So many people / NPCs are just staring at the phone while walking along the street. So much technology is currently in place to make our life easier, yet you don't see that it could be easily abused by anyone who has the mind and the tools to do so.

    I don't think you learn much from a GTA game for your real life. But this here should make you think about your everyday behaviour, your everyday use of technology and your opinion towards surveillance of public and private life. If you still think that after playing this game your government should have access to your digital data to "protect you", then you're clearly missing the point here.    … Expand
  100. JimmyDamage
    Jun 7, 2014
    6
    A fun open world hacking game. Graphics are decent and so is the gameplay. However, the product suffers from performance issues that can bring high-end machines to its knees.
    The biggest downside of Watch Dogs is the Uplay DRM, being offline, failing to sync savegames and trying desperatly to mimic Valve's Steam minus all the great features. Basically paying customers are suffering    A fun open world hacking game. Graphics are decent and so is the gameplay. However, the product suffers from performance issues that can bring high-end machines to its knees.
    The biggest downside of Watch Dogs is the Uplay DRM, being offline, failing to sync savegames and trying desperatly to mimic Valve's Steam minus all the great features. Basically paying customers are suffering because of bad business and service from Ubisoft.    … 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

All reviews »
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

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