Watch Dogs

 PlayStation 4
User Score
6.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 3903 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,988 out of 3903
  2. Mixed: 1,104 out of 3903
  3. Negative: 811 out of 3903
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  1. djrussell
    Jun 22, 2014
    8
    I must admit, Watch Dogs didnt grab my attention like the hype did for a lot of people. Maybe thats why I enjoyed it more, but I honestly thought this was a fantastic game. Its not without its flaws though; the campaign becomes boring and repetitive after a while and goes from "uber cool hacking" to "generic 3rd person shooter" by about mid Act II, but it has so much more going for it.I must admit, Watch Dogs didnt grab my attention like the hype did for a lot of people. Maybe thats why I enjoyed it more, but I honestly thought this was a fantastic game. Its not without its flaws though; the campaign becomes boring and repetitive after a while and goes from "uber cool hacking" to "generic 3rd person shooter" by about mid Act II, but it has so much more going for it. There are tons of side missions and the map is huge. It seems to me the game suffers from a bit of an identity crisis at times; not sure whether to push the areas which make it great (the hacking) further or to return to the shooter-formula. This is the kind of game that really does need a sequel to fully realise its potential but as it is it's still a great game.… Expand
  2. drlowdon
    Jun 25, 2018
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Watchdogs focuses on Aiden Pearce, a hacker that can access many of the cities electronic systems (such as traffic lights and bridges) and use them to his advantage as he attempts to track down the people responsible for the death of his young niece.

    The game is based around an interesting central concept and features solid shooting, stealth and driving mechanics. The majority of the campaign missions are pretty entertaining, often offering the player some flexibility in how to complete them, and taking out or escaping enemies using the variety of electronic devices found in the environment is always great fun (although can I ask for no more missions that involve slowly following someone!).

    The bewildering array of side missions on offer are also mostly just mundane mini-games and item collection and, while the hacking tech adds a nice puzzle element to proceedings, accessing towers to unlock points of interest on the map is hardly original anymore. There are a couple of more interesting ideas, such as tracking down a serial killer, but even these amount to little more than going from point to point on the map.

    In the end the biggest frustration is that Ubisoft have just played things a little too safe with their insistence on sticking to the over used structure first seen in Assassins Creed about a decade ago. Had the developers been willing to take a bit more of a risk Watchdogs could have been something really special instead it has to just settle for being a good, if slightly too long, game that most people will only play through once.    … Expand
  3. 53bload53
    May 29, 2014
    7
    I can understand people are hating on this game because of the E3 2012 and the trailer which caused a little too much hype for it but it's not a bad/horrible/unplayable game either. I've played for a while now and yes, it's not the greatest game I've ever played but in terms of fun for me it's pretty enjoyable, I don't understand people saying it's controls are awful because I find themI can understand people are hating on this game because of the E3 2012 and the trailer which caused a little too much hype for it but it's not a bad/horrible/unplayable game either. I've played for a while now and yes, it's not the greatest game I've ever played but in terms of fun for me it's pretty enjoyable, I don't understand people saying it's controls are awful because I find them pretty easy to control and the A.I is not bad at all. All in all I will give this game a 7/10 because Its original idea of hacking and action that you can do, besides, citizens profiles are hilarious LOL… Expand
  4. JPG127
    Jun 16, 2014
    8
    Anyone who gave this game less then a 5 needs to stop writing for metacritic and stop calling themselves a gamer. Watchdogs is a good game. Yes, it is repetitive at times and does need to get a graphics enhancement. That being said, the game is generally fun, good looking and expansive. I can understand some disappointment. But the low scores only hurt innovation. If you want companies toAnyone who gave this game less then a 5 needs to stop writing for metacritic and stop calling themselves a gamer. Watchdogs is a good game. Yes, it is repetitive at times and does need to get a graphics enhancement. That being said, the game is generally fun, good looking and expansive. I can understand some disappointment. But the low scores only hurt innovation. If you want companies to keep making Resident Evil 6 and Call of Duty: Cashgrab 2015, keep it up. Or, if you want things to improve, then stop hating on new games with franchise potential and take them as they are. A first game in a potential series. RE 1, GTA and the original Tomb Raider were not that good. But they got better. Watchdogs deserves the same chance and is a stronger game then the aforementioned titles.… Expand
  5. FrostyReviews
    May 31, 2014
    7
    When I first saw the trailers, the gameplay, and all of the interviews titled for Watch Dogs, I found myself yearning for this game every day up until the release date. When the company announced it would be holding off the release of the game, I was content with the news, and here's why:

    The news of its delay affected people a lot more than it did me, because I knew a delay meant more    When I first saw the trailers, the gameplay, and all of the interviews titled for Watch Dogs, I found myself yearning for this game every day up until the release date. When the company announced it would be holding off the release of the game, I was content with the news, and here's why:

    The news of its delay affected people a lot more than it did me, because I knew a delay meant more work, which 99.9% of the time leads to a better gameplay experience. The gaming community covered most of what was a highly anticipated game all up until its official release on May 27th. I, myself, bought the game the day it was released. Truthfully, I honestly played it for the rest of the night. However, during the time I played it, I noticed some very clear flaws in what was supposed to be promised. Ubisoft promised a game of an open world, highly detailed, realistic future-view of Chicago while bringing you a new, long awaited physics engine with a fresh image of what will be the future of Ubisoft video games featured on the next-gen consoles. In my opinion, they did not deliver all that they promised. Part of me believes it was the hype that made the company rush the game to its release, regardless of a delay. Here are some of the problems I experienced while playing the game:

    I was glitched under the map or out of the map around three or four times, I found myself stuck in a tight space that I guess Ubisoft assumed players would not find themselves in. This is an easy fix, but it's an annoyance most definitely.

    Police do not chase you when you are swimming and there are no police boats, they simply stand at the edge of the water and fire at you while a police helicopter circles the vicinity you are in.

    Emergency vehicle lights do not remain on if you turn them on and get out of the vehicle.

    You can not fist-fight anyone in the game, regardless of who they are.

    Citizens die in one shot, no matter where you shoot them.

    Hollow buildings that you can not enter have blank textured windows on them that only reflect light. (see next point for light issues)

    The sunlight can be seen reflecting on the blank textured windows (see previous point) during daylight. Even when the sun is hidden behind the mountains, the windows show the sun high in the sky. The lighting is not as dynamic as I expected.

    It is nearly impossible to get hit by a car, and absolutely impossible to get hit by a train. In regards to the train, no matter how far away you are from it, it will instantly stop if you step out in front of it. This seems to add a futuristic safety feature of the city, but was a useless feature in my opinion. If players want to get hit by trains, let them get hit by trains.

    The ragdoll and world prop physics are terrible. When I was playing, I drove my car into a streetlight and the entire structure of the light-post broke into several pieces. In regards to the ragdoll physics, this is mainly directed towards when you are on a train and you shoot a passenger. The passenger simply falls back in their seat and stays in that position for the remainder of the time you are there.

    Cars disappear after so many feet, as seen in many other games.

    You can not fly any aircraft.

    Driving doesn't feel real.

    Excessive and repetitive radio alerts and breaking news alerts from the city. Occasionally when you are out in the streets/on the sidewalk, a breaking news alert will appear on your screen, and it will speak of the main character, Aiden Pearce. The news refers to Aiden as a "vigilante," and citizens tend to say things such as: "I think that's the guy they are (or "were") talking about on the news!" They will then proceed to call the police.

    The city takes on average 5-10 minutes to drive through.

    Hacking is useless unless you are using things for cover, police chases, or taking an enemy down. Shocking an electric gate is one way of taking an enemy down. Players have also stated that missions are easier and quicker without hacking.

    Cliche voice acting and characters.

    Previous-gen consoles do not experience bullet effects on water.

    Bugs have been reported that Uplay passes are not activating, but Ubisoft is working on this issue.

    Bugs have been reported that mainly on the PS4, the loading screen reaches nearly 90% progress and freezes.

    Those are the problems with the game.

    I wanted to make sure I touched up on the main issues of the game, but there are good aspects to it such as the graphics on the next-gen are pretty good. The world around you is also extraordinary, and the campaign was well developed. Don't let the scare of the issues keep your from getting the game. If Ubisoft has enough intelligence, they will update the game and try to satisfy players.

    The multiplayer is great from what I've heard. It's a fun open world with friends.

    I believe I'm scoring the game fairly based off of its release. With that being said, I'm giving the game a 7/10.

    To make some light of it, enjoy your experience in the city of Chicago    … Expand
  6. Headmeister
    Jun 27, 2014
    6
    It seems that every review I put on here is negative and right or wrong I think we all like a good moan so here I go again: everything I dislike about wd has already been mentioned by others. The sluggish driving, constant collisions etc but I can deal with these shortcomings if the overall package was less dull. Once again I wanted to enjoy this- I'd paid my money and was looking forwardIt seems that every review I put on here is negative and right or wrong I think we all like a good moan so here I go again: everything I dislike about wd has already been mentioned by others. The sluggish driving, constant collisions etc but I can deal with these shortcomings if the overall package was less dull. Once again I wanted to enjoy this- I'd paid my money and was looking forward to a decent title for the ps4 at long last. I really tried to enjoy it. Kept playing and coming back to it but you shouldn't have to; it shouldn't be a chore to play and for me that's what it was. The city is big but feels so repetitive. The characters are uninteresting and the gameplay doesn't hook me. Overall I found it pretty but boring.… Expand
  7. thekillergreece
    Jun 24, 2014
    8
    Watch Dogs has excellent graphics, weather system and a lot more. But the only 2 drawbacks are, A.I has problems on reactions and car physics are terrible unlike Driv3r another game made by Ubisoft.

    The weather is excellent and well made that it makes graphics look stuning.Design is great, Ubisoft focused on bringing real Chicago to the game. Driving is also nice and hacking..    Watch Dogs has excellent graphics, weather system and a lot more. But the only 2 drawbacks are, A.I has problems on reactions and car physics are terrible unlike Driv3r another game made by Ubisoft.

    The weather is excellent and well made that it makes graphics look stuning.Design is great, Ubisoft focused on bringing real Chicago to the game. Driving is also nice and hacking.. excellent! Blackout, jam comms and a lot.

    The problem is, the A.I. They are so stupid that their cars just crash to the walls or anywhere. Cops are dull as well, they love to shoot over than arrest and crash their cars to other cars or walls, they have no life. Car physics are lame, if you crash to a wall, the car gets little to no damage..

    Well meh, it's worth game especially on PS4 only. 8/10    … Expand
  8. gyigyo2
    Jul 10, 2014
    9
    pros: Aiden Pierce,voice acting, hell yeah i love aiden he is so real and finally not a ezio character! i never understand why most of people whinig aout aiden, i love when every game have different type of hero but sadly ubisoft is listen to those whiners :(, gameplay,story,music

    cons: sometimes is boring,graphics heaviliy tweaked DOWN from e3 2012 version.no e3 2012 demo mission in    pros: Aiden Pierce,voice acting, hell yeah i love aiden he is so real and finally not a ezio character! i never understand why most of people whinig aout aiden, i love when every game have different type of hero but sadly ubisoft is listen to those whiners :(, gameplay,story,music

    cons: sometimes is boring,graphics heaviliy tweaked DOWN from e3 2012 version.no e3 2012 demo mission in the game, the HUD, and some skill is totally differrent from e3 2012 version.    … Expand
  9. Nobilis1984
    Dec 30, 2020
    0
    Today you actually notice how boring the first part was compared to the sequels. The story was good but it was told so tough and the side missions were almost all lame.
    The worst part is the control of the cars which has never been improved.
  10. Elucidate
    Oct 3, 2019
    5
    This game is far from a 0 and from a 10. I picked it up for $5 because I really enjoyed playing Watch Dogs 2. Of course, I was expecting it to be worse, which it absolutely is. The graphics, while not horrible, are subpar and look more like a PS3 game. The driving is really poor, with nonsensical physics/collisions wherever vehicles are concerned. The NPC drivers are also awful and crawlThis game is far from a 0 and from a 10. I picked it up for $5 because I really enjoyed playing Watch Dogs 2. Of course, I was expecting it to be worse, which it absolutely is. The graphics, while not horrible, are subpar and look more like a PS3 game. The driving is really poor, with nonsensical physics/collisions wherever vehicles are concerned. The NPC drivers are also awful and crawl along at 5 mph and stop for no reason all the time. This is a big deal for me personally as the driving experience has always been a big part of my immersion into the game world. With such unpleasant driving, I wasn't really interested in doing all the collection/side quests (unlike in Watch Dogs 2).

    Speaking of side quests, it's a shame that Ubisoft opted to include only epeatable side missions that have nothing memorable about them. And for the most part, the rewards for side missions/collectables are mediocre and not worth the time.

    Also, AIden Pearce is perhaps one of the worst protagonists in any video game I've played. His complete lack of personality and comically flat voice acting make it hard to root for him or care about the things that happened to him. Having to deal with this annoyingly dull player character was another reason I didn't bother sticking around for much of the activities beyond the campaign. On the other hand, the side/supporting characters are decent (although riddled with cliches) and better than those in WD2.

    The story was pretty good at the beginning, but soon turned into an overly predictable revenge tale. It felt like it was trying too hard to be serious, especially given the game's lapses in quality.

    In terms of the game's strengths, I thought that the hacking element was rather fun (mostly the campaign and the ctOS towers). It's not as powerful as in WD2, but killing enemies by blowing up electrical boxes through your cell phone never got old. I tried playing the game like I did in WD2 -- without killing, instead relying on hacking and stealth to complete the missions. I quickly found out this wasn't possible. The game regularly forces you to kill an inordinate number of enemies, which is fine, since the combat is fairly good (and certainly better than the clunky car chases). On this note, there is a much greater variety of weapons than in WD2.

    Finally, the game world felt lively, detailed, and well crafted. If the driving weren't so insufferably bad, and the graphics were a bit better, I could easily see myself doing more of the side activities/collectables as I did in WD2.

    Oh, and play it on realistic. Otherwise it's just way too easy.    … Expand
  11. flax0174
    Jun 23, 2014
    10
    I originally didn't like this game but i have become really attached to it's world. There plenty of side quests and collectibles to soldier on through, also a plethora of weapons and gadgets to cater for every gamer's playstyle. The main campaign is wonderfully intricate and extremely entertaining, it is long as well and emotionally pulls you in.
  12. Dfreeney
    Jun 6, 2014
    7
    Hello, this game is good, but i dont feel hooked at all, i have so far done almost all sidequests, and im at act 2. And im progressing slowly, if a game needs to get a higher score, i need to be hooked, and this just doesnt do it for me.
  13. Game_Row
    May 31, 2014
    7
    The game has potential. But sadly all this game is a modern Assassins Creed (first game) mixed in with Grand Theft Auto added some hacks and PRESTO, you have Watch Dogs. The gameplay is pretty much like Grand Theft Auto except you have hacks to help you with your missions, and there are tons of mini side quest that can be done. And if you are OCD about these side quests, then this gameThe game has potential. But sadly all this game is a modern Assassins Creed (first game) mixed in with Grand Theft Auto added some hacks and PRESTO, you have Watch Dogs. The gameplay is pretty much like Grand Theft Auto except you have hacks to help you with your missions, and there are tons of mini side quest that can be done. And if you are OCD about these side quests, then this game will drive you nuts! haha. Besides taking the elements from 2 different game franchises and creating one, it's still a fairly decent game to play. I have not gone far on the story (due to my OCD...got get all the hacks!), but knowing Ubisoft, it'll be good. For now there is nothing else to play out there, so take a chance and give it a try.

    Instagram: Game_Row    … Expand
  14. xOmegAx
    Jul 3, 2014
    9
    Watch Dogs, brought to us by Ubisoft, is an open world adventure set in Chicago. After being delayed for what felt like forever, I finally got to experience all the hype. And it was well worth the wait.

    Story: You play as Aiden Pierce, a hacker who is dealing with the tragic loss of his family and is seeking justice for those responsible. Your biggest weapon, the city itself. Chicago is    Watch Dogs, brought to us by Ubisoft, is an open world adventure set in Chicago. After being delayed for what felt like forever, I finally got to experience all the hype. And it was well worth the wait.

    Story: You play as Aiden Pierce, a hacker who is dealing with the tragic loss of his family and is seeking justice for those responsible. Your biggest weapon, the city itself. Chicago is connected to a network called ctOS and everything connected to that network can be used for your own desires. From traffic lights to individual cell phones, you are able to hack them for personal gain ($$$) or to escape any heat that might be after you.

    Gameplay: Think of GTA and you have Watch Dogs. It's a large, open map of Chicago and you can practically go wherever you want on foot or in a vehicle. Obviously, the only difference is the ability to hack anything that's connected to the ctOS. Also, you do have a reputation to uphold. Harming civilians hurts your reputation and if you are perceived negatively, the higher chance that if you commit a crime, someone will call the police on you. Whereas if you have a positive reputation, the higher chance civilians will turn their cheek. During missions, you also have the choice of going in guns a blazing style, or more stealth based. Both are fun in their own right but, I found myself going Solid Snake on more people than blowing them to pieces, as it's more satisfying sneaking up on unsuspecting enemies and beating them down with a police baton. Plus, you get more experience for doing so. (Who doesn't like more experience?) Which brings me to the other part that's different than GTA, the skill tree. By performing missions and vigilante contracts, you gain experience and you can use skill points to allocate towards improving your hacking ability, your gun ability, driving ability, and item creation ability. I recommend focusing on hacking cause the more you are able to hack, the easier it will be to escape the police or enemies chasing you as you will have more access to hackable things.

    Combat: If you do find yourself in a firefight, you have a decent choice of weapons to choose from ranging from pistols to sniper rifles and things in between. Weapons are graded by stars and obviously, the more stars the weapon has, the better it is. Each weapon handles differently than another in that class so, it's fun to use each one and find one that suits you the best. I found myself using mostly silenced weapons as I mentioned previously, I enjoyed completing missions and contracts with stealth over explosions. It's third person so, gunplay is just like GTA but you have the ability to "Focus", which reminds me of bullet time from Max Payne. Time slows down for as long as you have Focus, which allows you to aim easier while in the heat of battle, or to make sniping targets easier. You can also use it while driving to help navigate some tricky roads if on the run or to make sure you hack a steam pipe behind you at the perfect timing to remove some pesky cops.

    Driving: I found driving in Watch Dogs to be a little difficult to master at the beginning. Cars each react differently and more realistically so, unlike GTA where you could be driving an Astro van and have it handle like a Porsche, that isn't the case in Watch Dogs. Sports cars handle a lot better than your typical commuter cars but at the same time, I still feel like each car is a little sluggish and hard to master, like I previously stated. But with practice and time driving each type of car, you'll get the hang of it and will be flying through downtown as if you were Jimmie Johnson.

    Voice Acting/Dialogue: I thought the voice acting was well done with all of the characters. Each felt unique and I felt like I could connect with them when a stressful situation was occurring or just during regular chatter. I found the dialogue in general to be well done as well as each conversation sounded well scripted and I found myself laughing during some of the humorous talks between random civilians or after hacking someone's computer.

    Summary: Overall, I give Watch Dogs a 9/10. A brilliant, deep experience with plenty of things to do from stopping crimes to racing and everything in between. I enjoyed the story, even though many didn't find it that special, and thought it was gripping and found myself immersed in giving those responsible or just common criminals the right foot of justice. Probably some downsides was the fact that graphically, it wasn't as good as E3 showed it but it was still impressive and I wish there would have been some customization involving weapons but other than that, I don't really have any other complaints. If you haven't experience Watch Dogs yet and want to enjoy the feeling of being able to control a whole city at your fingertips, do yourself a favor and go to your local game shop and pick this up. You won't be disappointed.    … Expand
  15. redrx8gt2005
    Jun 12, 2014
    8
    Fun Game Overall , Lots Of Replay Value With All The Side Quests & Long Story Mode , The Only Disappointment Is The Graphics Could Have Been Even Better But It Still Looks Good , It Features A Mix Of Driving , Shooting And Balances It All For Great Experience , Definitely Better Then A 6.0 Its Averaging
  16. Yagrold
    Jun 27, 2014
    10
    The truth is: PC Gamers are angry with this game because bad perfomance, they don't understand that in this generation, the only platform for games is the PS4; don't matters how powerful is your PC, developers still aiming in the consoles. The game is perfect on PS4, but a crap on others platforms, except PS3.
  17. BluPez
    Jul 11, 2014
    7
    Watchdogs provided hours of entertainment but left me wanting a better experience. This game offers a decent twist on an open world game but lacks refinement in the gun play, driving and character movements. This doesn't make the game unplayable but it does hinder its immersion and serious tone for which it tries to portray.
    A decent enough find, but with a 8 month delay I was expecting a    Watchdogs provided hours of entertainment but left me wanting a better experience. This game offers a decent twist on an open world game but lacks refinement in the gun play, driving and character movements. This doesn't make the game unplayable but it does hinder its immersion and serious tone for which it tries to portray.
    A decent enough find, but with a 8 month delay I was expecting a more fuller experience and missions that weren't a copy and paste situation with minor differences. Mind you hacking individual civilians in the game is fun for a while but it quickly becomes boring. Watchdogs is a fun romp for a time but this isn't a game that has broken the mould.    … Expand
  18. ericjohn004
    Jun 18, 2014
    10
    Looking at the average user score of this game makes me embarrassed to be a gamer. This game is SO much better than that.

    If you like open world games then this games for you. The world in Watch Dogs is HUGE, I mean I was surprised by how big the world actually is. If you compare it to another popular open world game like Infamous: Second Son, Watch Dogs is about 3-4x's as big. And    Looking at the average user score of this game makes me embarrassed to be a gamer. This game is SO much better than that.

    If you like open world games then this games for you. The world in Watch Dogs is HUGE, I mean I was surprised by how big the world actually is. If you compare it to another popular open world game like Infamous: Second Son, Watch Dogs is about 3-4x's as big.

    And it's not like the entire world is just the city. The middle of the map is the huge city of Chicago, the top left side of the map is nothing but out doors, trees, dirt bike tracks, and trails, along with boats to ride in and all that run stuff. If you go a little lower on the map, it's sort of a rural area with some nice big houses and kind of like a smaller city with theatres and different stores and stuff. And if you go to the south side of the map, you get the kinda gangster neighborhoods, and you also get the industrial complex type of place.

    Another thing that's awesome about this city is you can basically get anywhere's you need to go on the entire map, by using a car or boat. Meaning that a body of water is never too far away

    I love the variation and different settings in Watch Dogs. Half the fun I have in this game is just exploring the city.

    Let me discus a pretty popular topic about this game, It's graphics. The graphics on PS4 and PC(I own Watch Dogs on both)are pretty good looking graphics. The graphics were downgraded a little, but the game still looks pretty impressive. The lighting and reflections at night are VERY impressive, and this game looks SO awesome when it's raining at night, and all the lights are reflecting off of the puddles of rain water. And thankfully, in Watch Dogs, it rains a LOT.

    Another VERY impressive thing about this game is the water simulation. Assassins Creed 4: Black Flag's water looked SO amazing. So it's only natural that Watch Dogs would have body's of water that looked just as impressive, because Ubisoft makes both games. Simply put, I've never seen such realistic water in any game I've ever played, it looks THAT good. While your riding in a boat the waves react like they would if you were really in a boat. And if your driving in a boat through the city, you can literally see all the city lights reflected in the water.

    The textures of the buildings in the city and the textures or rocks and mountains also look good and seem to have high poly counts. And during the day you'll frequently see the sun, with numerous light shafts shining through trees. The only part of Watch Dogs that I feel could have had better graphics is when it's day time, and the sun's light shafts aren't present, or the suns not shining. In those circumstanes the game seems to be missing something, it's not missing textures or shadows, it just needs a little more lighting during the day and more reflections.

    Despite not looking absolutely perfect all the time, Watch Dogs is a CLEAR generational leap forward when comparing it to games like Grand Theft Auto V. GTAV is clearly a last gen looking game, and Watch Dogs is quite obviously a lot better looking titles.

    I'm sure if Watch Dogs would have only been released on the PS4 and Xbox One, it would look even better than it does in it's current state.

    Besides the graphics of the game, the gameplay is quite fun. I like idea of the cover shooting/hacking gameplay. It reminds me of those "over the top" perspective shooters in a way. And I love the way you can get the perspective of the cameras that you hack, and from that cameras perspective you can hack grenades in enemy's pockets, or blow up an electronic right next to an enemy to kill them. I think the gameplay in this game was really just a great idea by Ubisoft, I've never seen a shooter like this at all. I also love the stealth aspect of it, and I found it addictive to want to stealth your way through areas other than going guns blazing. But the gun play is good too. There's nothing really new about Watch Dog's gunplay, but it's solid nonetheless, and this game has a really good selection of interesting guns.

    This game will quite literally keep you busy for well over 100 hours. I've been playing this game for over 100 hours already and haven't 100% the game yet. Of course if I really tried I could have completed it in around 100 hours probably. I just have so much fun messing around the this vast open world that it's taking me this long to complete it. But yes, there's a quite a LOT of content, but it is kind of repetitive, but it's also fun.

    Then of course you have the "Digital Trips", which are in effect a game inside the Watch Dogs game. In one mini game, your a giant spider tank, and you basically just have fun destroying cops and scaling the building of Chicago. In another mini game, your sneaking around the city and shutting down generators one by one while trying to evade these robot looking things with spot lights for eyes constantly searching for you.

    This game is easily an 8.5/10    … Expand
  19. 1CarsonBurke
    Jun 7, 2014
    6
    Watch_Dogs....well watch dogs is a great. But its missing the ''Fun Aspect" that use gamers like to go to when we are tired with call of duty and madden. Watch dogs has missions that seem very repetitive. If you want to play a game that is fun that is open world I would stick with Grand Theft Auto. I would not suggest buying watch dogs if you want to have fun. BTW I have completed theWatch_Dogs....well watch dogs is a great. But its missing the ''Fun Aspect" that use gamers like to go to when we are tired with call of duty and madden. Watch dogs has missions that seem very repetitive. If you want to play a game that is fun that is open world I would stick with Grand Theft Auto. I would not suggest buying watch dogs if you want to have fun. BTW I have completed the whole game and not once while I was doing this did I think that this game is going to redefine gaming. Thank you- Carson… Expand
  20. Zenzukai
    Jul 19, 2014
    6
    Play gta 5. This game is nothing more than a blatant rip off of gta, except way less to do, worse mechanics. Hacking is reduced to hold BUTTON to hack. And boring, man does this game lack character or engaging plot.

    The one element I liked at first was the characterization of NPCs, but it is entirely undeveloped into anything meaningful. Its just randomized flavor text that changes    Play gta 5. This game is nothing more than a blatant rip off of gta, except way less to do, worse mechanics. Hacking is reduced to hold BUTTON to hack. And boring, man does this game lack character or engaging plot.

    The one element I liked at first was the characterization of NPCs, but it is entirely undeveloped into anything meaningful. Its just randomized flavor text that changes nothing, the same NPCs will have entirely different hobbies and jobs just randomized by the game. What at first seemed cool, lost its appeal an hour into the game.

    Driving is ok, but incredibly underdeveloped again. This game is an even better advertisement for GTA 5 than the actual GTA 5 advertisements.

    I love the genre and played all GTAs, and Saints Rows (also great but unlike this game has actually differentiated itself).    … Expand
  21. jameskaveh
    Jun 22, 2014
    8
    This game is wonderful, unique, large, beautiful, but it is not a title that should be considered a console seller. On the Playstation 4, it is immensely beautiful. The city of Chicago is alive. The story mode may be considered cliche, but it plays out well in the Watch Dogs universe. The game play mechanics are pretty generic for a third person game except for the hacking. Hacking inThis game is wonderful, unique, large, beautiful, but it is not a title that should be considered a console seller. On the Playstation 4, it is immensely beautiful. The city of Chicago is alive. The story mode may be considered cliche, but it plays out well in the Watch Dogs universe. The game play mechanics are pretty generic for a third person game except for the hacking. Hacking in Watch Dogs adds a whole new style of tactical game play whether the user is a stealth player, or run-n-gun type. There are plenty of side missions and collectibles, but over time it seems they can be pretty redundant. They are great though for those who like to know every detail of what's happening in the Watch Dogs world. Overall, despite the hype that was produced throughout it's development, it is a must have and must play for any platform a user plays on.… Expand
  22. andoarias
    Jun 18, 2014
    8
    First of all, I must say I was skeptical to this game. Since it was first announced back in 2012, the game had changed its initial promise to bring stunning graphics, so I thought it could have also got worse in its gameplay.

    Fortunately the game is fun to play and the story is enjoyable. Chicago feels alive and the hacking powers are awesome, though the "uniqueness" of each NPC isn't    First of all, I must say I was skeptical to this game. Since it was first announced back in 2012, the game had changed its initial promise to bring stunning graphics, so I thought it could have also got worse in its gameplay.

    Fortunately the game is fun to play and the story is enjoyable. Chicago feels alive and the hacking powers are awesome, though the "uniqueness" of each NPC isn't eventually what we first feel.
    Although being fun to play, the game stays short in many things when comparing in to some other sandboxes (gunplay, plain characters, car collisions and driving...) and Aiden Pierce himself isn't at the height of a title like this.

    Summarizing, the game has some ups (humor, gameplay, story, innovative online multiplayer) but its downs (graphic details, driving is tough, characters are charmless...) prevent it from reaching the initial concept it was delivered. However, it's remarkable that Watch Dogs is easily the best AAA title available for PS4 and a recommendable buy    … Expand
  23. asafz
    Jul 13, 2014
    9
    I cant figure why people rated this game so bad.
    You have to understand that WATCHDOGS brings something new and refreshing with nice online features, amazing story and dynamic characters.
    Chicago is more alive then any other open world games I've seen. The only reason it gets 9 and not 10 from me is because after 20-30% in game, it gets pretty easy. easy game = short game, and before    I cant figure why people rated this game so bad.
    You have to understand that WATCHDOGS brings something new and refreshing with nice online features, amazing story and dynamic characters.
    Chicago is more alive then any other open world games I've seen.

    The only reason it gets 9 and not 10 from me is because after 20-30% in game, it gets pretty easy.
    easy game = short game, and before you notice its done.
    the thing is that i dont feel like getting the season pass, i dont belive it has something new to offer.

    this game is great. just get it.    … Expand
  24. Hi_Im_Game
    Jun 21, 2014
    8
    Just finished everything there is to do in this game. I found it to be enjoyable for the most part. The driving is below average but the motorcycles make up for it. The game also feels empty at times even if you can profile people and random crimes occur throughout the game.

    Here are some good and bad things about the game: Good + Story is not bad, keeps you engaged + Lots of    Just finished everything there is to do in this game. I found it to be enjoyable for the most part. The driving is below average but the motorcycles make up for it. The game also feels empty at times even if you can profile people and random crimes occur throughout the game.

    Here are some good and bad things about the game:

    Good
    + Story is not bad, keeps you engaged
    + Lots of different varieties in terms of missions/collectibles
    + Digital Trips are awesome, best part of the game in my opinion
    + Hacking and tailing people online is fun to a certain extent
    + Variety of gadgets to use for different situations

    Bad
    - Driving can be frustrating, unrealistic
    - Game gets very repetitive
    - Online racing is unplayable
    - Online free roam is boring, nothing to do with your friends
    - Hacking is boring and repetitive

    All in all a good game but for all the hype that followed it, this game did not deliver. There is a large disconnect between the game and the user which makes the game feel fake (not sure how else to really explain it) which is not good for a game trying to have a realistic feel to it.    … Expand
  25. Stang
    Jun 21, 2014
    8
    Is a good game. At GTA it is in my opinion not ran. Graphically it looks Tags from over pretty mediocre. In places, GTA even looks better. The story is also is in order, even if that is more standard.
  26. IntelligntGamer
    May 29, 2014
    6
    There’s a lot of other stuff which you could point to as an example of why Watch Dogs just isn’t that great. It has poor voice acting, particularly from the lead character. Long load screens are a problem too; I encountered a one minute load screen at one point. But overall, the game isn’t bad. It’s just not great. If you can look past the bad writing, the occasionally bad controls and theThere’s a lot of other stuff which you could point to as an example of why Watch Dogs just isn’t that great. It has poor voice acting, particularly from the lead character. Long load screens are a problem too; I encountered a one minute load screen at one point. But overall, the game isn’t bad. It’s just not great. If you can look past the bad writing, the occasionally bad controls and the last-gen graphics, you can probably have a good time in Watch Dogs. But for me, it wasn’t worth the effort. Read more of my review at my website, here; http://intelligentgamer.org/2014/05/30/review-watch-dogs/… Expand
  27. PedroRocks
    May 28, 2014
    7
    Amazing promises for a nice game.
    The game isn't revolutionary as Ubisoft promised us, but it still a great game. The dissapointing came from the false marketing which showed amazing graphics and a live and bright Chicago. Actually, the game just have fine graphics and a superficial chicago. The point of this game is the multiplayer..
  28. Normalstoohard
    Jun 13, 2014
    8
    Solid game. I haven't finished yet but I've put enough time into it to judge. I may be giving it a better review than others because I did not follow any of the hype leading up to its release. From what I hear, compared to what it was originally intended to be, Watch Dogs is a bit of a let down. Good open world, hacking the environment is original and fun if a little repetitive at times.Solid game. I haven't finished yet but I've put enough time into it to judge. I may be giving it a better review than others because I did not follow any of the hype leading up to its release. From what I hear, compared to what it was originally intended to be, Watch Dogs is a bit of a let down. Good open world, hacking the environment is original and fun if a little repetitive at times. Tons of side missions and things to find. I would still say GTA V has the best open world city if that helps anyone see where my point of view lies. Some of the music is good, i like how simple it is to change songs or turn music off. I wish I could play my own mp3s but that's neither here nor there.

    You can go stealth or full out warfare or a mix and match successfully. Lots of guns to play with and the gadgets are great if you remember to use them. I didn't utilize the slow motion as much as I should've but it's a cool feature. Good, solid game.    … Expand
  29. Guardian0404
    May 29, 2014
    9
    I can't really understand how someone could give this game a 0/1 unless it was for the pc edition and all of the bugs its experiencing. This game has it's faults of course, just like EVERY OTHER GAME, but it does a lot of things right. The gameplay is solid and the open world map provides plenty to do.
  30. inzolence
    May 31, 2014
    7
    These are some of the points I bring up in my full review: aidenlaw. blogspot. se.

    The first thing I noticed when I launched WD was that cars does not behave like cars, they behave like horses, and I thought "Hey.. this just a reskin of Assassins Creed", So turn a second before you think you do or you're in for a crash; or twenty, every time you're going somewhere and don't forget about    These are some of the points I bring up in my full review: aidenlaw. blogspot. se.

    The first thing I noticed when I launched WD was that cars does not behave like cars, they behave like horses, and I thought "Hey.. this just a reskin of Assassins Creed", So turn a second before you think you do or you're in for a crash; or twenty, every time you're going somewhere and don't forget about the otherworldly slides your car does after any turn. As your first observation that isn't really helpful when you want to enjoy a free roaming game.

    It also has the same problem as AC with "rocks" and "other rocks that look exaclty the same as the first type of rock". Some rocks are fine to just run over, while some act as an invisible wall even though any human with legs could run over them in real life, and you can't get out of water unless there's something like a ladder or a ramp to get you out of it. At one point there was tires hung up on welding steel for boat hull protection at a dock where I had to go to hack a camera. Clearly an easy way up for any human in the world with arms, but not Aiden Pearce. So I had to swim to another dock to get a boat and THEN hack my way in from the deck of the boat, beacuse invisible walls prevented any attempts to walk onto the dock.

    But enough of that, let us look at the game as a whole.

    Story:
    ...As the story goes on it gets better, I feel immersed, it's kinda funny and has some stellar dialogue. It has a lot of plot twists so it mixes things up. Maybe a bit too many twists but I can't complain really. But don't sit idle in the meny for to long because SPOILERS AHOY! stay too long and the coolest parts of ACT I is spoiled right before your eyes. (why would you do this, ubisoft?!!)

    PROGRESSION
    As a comparison to AC4's progression; they did completely different now. If you do side missions and fluff in AC4 you get more powerful than the enemies in the Main Story Missions, but in WD they scale with you every step of the way. When I was in the early stages of ACT 2 I went up against componds of ONLY elite soldiers. ELITES. Are you **** kidding me? I can agree that they should be a bit harder when I have almost every weapon, vehicle, item, and skill unlocked, BUT it's still ACT 2 for **** sake. Someone who just likes exploring and is a casual/average gamer have no chance at that point.

    AI
    The AI is decent but pretty **** wierd at times. People can see you through walls at times, which can be overlooked except for the fact that they also can shoot you through the wall. THE **** It isn't that bad really but can be frustrating when trying to be stealthy.

    Convoys also appear a bit overhuman because they crash into civilian cars frequently but the second you nudge them a little they instantly scream "IT'S HIM" and try to kill you even though they should have no clue who the **** is driving that car. At one point I drove like a normal civilian in the opposite direction to get a better point of approach, and the car at the front of the convoy crammed between me and another car to get past a stop and as he nudged me on the side he instantly knew it was me in that car; making the convoy panic. WHAT. He ran into me for **** sake. I didn't do **** to show I was on the aggresion or anything.

    Another point on how AI driving is how they say over the radio "I'm gonna ram him", and then never even try to ram me. I've never been rammed. They grace me a little on the side, sometimes trying to push me to the curb but thats it. Also, when I slow down, or they slow me down, they all stop and jump out of their cars even though I have made no intention of stopping. At least pin me down before abandoning your vehicles.

    To test the spawning I ran up a tower like structure with one way in and out, just trying to have some fun shooting cars with The Destroyer (Sniper that can one-shot vehicles). The police was after me pretty soon and i just kept shooting their cars but they were too many and I didn't want to hurt my reputation too badly. They rushed me so I tried to make my escape upwards the structure where it should be clear because there's only one way up, and that's when I saw that the engine had spawned a couple cops behind me and I got shot to death.

    aidenlaw. blogspot. se    … Expand
Page:

Awards & Rankings

37
#37 Best PS4 Game of 2014
4
#4 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2014
9
#9 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 80 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 64 out of 80
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 80
  3. Negative: 0 out of 80
  1. Softpedia
    Aug 6, 2014
    85
    Watch Dogs is a fun open world experience. However, the repetitive chases and the formulaic gameplay tend to get tedious and boring after a while. As such, you might want to enjoy the different multiplayer experiences and take frequent breaks to just roam around the city.
    Read full review
  2. CD-Action
    Jul 25, 2014
    70
    It’s a bold first step on the new terrain for Ubisoft. The game is enjoyable, offers some interesting mechanics and lasts for long enough, but is bland as a whole. The characters lack personalities, the city could use more distinctness and the story is instantly forgettable. [07/2014, p.46]
  3. SpazioGames
    Jul 18, 2014
    85
    Overall, it is almost without a doubt the best platformer that has popped up on the current generation of consoles and is a bedrock on which Ubisoft could build a brand to remember.
    Read full review
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