Watch Dogs

 Xbox One
User Score
6.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 907 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 458 out of 907
  2. Mixed: 223 out of 907
  3. Negative: 226 out of 907
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  1. Joehdhsg
    Jun 30, 2014
    0
    I set up an account just to tell everyone how bad this game is.. Driving is horrendous, general movement is poor, get bored very quickly with the campaign this game is nothing special at all. I'm Constantly comparing it to GTA and it feels like a cheap spin off. I'd have more fun playing pac-man or asteroids not worth the money this will be going back I've only play 3 hours.
  2. megamigit23
    Sep 10, 2014
    0
    not game ive ever played!! endless glitches, repetitions, and overall the worst experience of my life. this isnot game ive ever played!! endless glitches, repetitions, and overall the worst experience of my life. this is sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!… Expand
  3. footysurfrat
    Jun 19, 2014
    2
    Argh....there's nothing worse than waiting eagerly for a game to come out, waiting a long time as well, then you load it up and within a couple of hours think....this is kinda dull! It looks pretty, it has some semi interesting ideas, but ultimately its been seen and done before...and better. Maybe if I stuck with it it would get better but I just found I didn't care, I didn't care aboutArgh....there's nothing worse than waiting eagerly for a game to come out, waiting a long time as well, then you load it up and within a couple of hours think....this is kinda dull! It looks pretty, it has some semi interesting ideas, but ultimately its been seen and done before...and better. Maybe if I stuck with it it would get better but I just found I didn't care, I didn't care about the character, I didn't care about the story and I couldn't be bothered to invest my time in the game when there is much better out there.… Expand
  4. usualben
    Oct 27, 2014
    0
    Once you have graduated from primary/elementary school you will have the required literary skills to quickly sound this game out as the most poorly written thing in the history of anything. You would have to be extreamly forgiving to suggest that this game in any way satisfies any of the basic requirements to make even a half decent story. It constantly contradicts itself and its awfulOnce you have graduated from primary/elementary school you will have the required literary skills to quickly sound this game out as the most poorly written thing in the history of anything. You would have to be extreamly forgiving to suggest that this game in any way satisfies any of the basic requirements to make even a half decent story. It constantly contradicts itself and its awful dydactisism make Aiden Pearce the most reprehensible moral dullard ever conceived by man. Some games, in their playability or design, make up for poor writing but this game does not - its plainly terrible.… Expand
  5. mustard_tiger
    Aug 20, 2014
    2
    Sub par graphics,
    Unlikable main character
    Boring story
    Crappy driving
    Dull gameplay

    On a side note, it really makes driving so much harder when you care about running down civilians. In GTA I couldn't care less but when that red negative notification really lets you know you did something wrong.
    Crappy soundtrack
  6. ransom34
    Jun 29, 2014
    2
    This has to be the most overhyped and overrated game this generation, and in addition to dumping/nerfing all the promised features, it literally plays like a dumbed-down, freedom-stunted version of the original GTA. No, not GTA V, as this game isn't even close to that, the original GTA. The promised "open world" is a joke, and you literally can't do anything outside the limited number ofThis has to be the most overhyped and overrated game this generation, and in addition to dumping/nerfing all the promised features, it literally plays like a dumbed-down, freedom-stunted version of the original GTA. No, not GTA V, as this game isn't even close to that, the original GTA. The promised "open world" is a joke, and you literally can't do anything outside the limited number of scripted actions. Driving is a joke (think an old PS2 arcade game), the story is idiotic and the mission selection is extremely limited. And worst of all, it looks like crap on next-gen systems, and is obviously a straight port from PS3/Xbox 360. Extremely disappointed and this game will tank at retail very soon.… Expand
  7. pmart4
    Aug 11, 2014
    3
    If this had been released before GTA V then I'm sure it would have done much better. Graphically it's great (I've played it through on XBox One and PC), but it just lacks that immersion of the Rockstar classics.

    The character is dull and unexciting - the story is very generic and the voice acting is lifeless. We've seen the dark enigmatic types a million times before! On top of this,    If this had been released before GTA V then I'm sure it would have done much better. Graphically it's great (I've played it through on XBox One and PC), but it just lacks that immersion of the Rockstar classics.

    The character is dull and unexciting - the story is very generic and the voice acting is lifeless. We've seen the dark enigmatic types a million times before!

    On top of this, driving is clunky (compared to GTA) , movement is awkward (compared to say - Assassins Creed) and the overall experience is a just... 'meh'.

    A decent game, but very over-hyped and no real punch.    … Expand
  8. KletassVanDam
    Jun 4, 2014
    2
    Uck! More of the same aggravations from GTA-style sandbox clones. Driving gets annoying because of the camera shifting around if you have to reverse, which you'll do a lot getting stuck in the environment or traffic pileups. What can't any of these games have a "lock camera view" option? If i could adjust the camera to zoom out, etc. like in GTA, have one of the views be "locked facingUck! More of the same aggravations from GTA-style sandbox clones. Driving gets annoying because of the camera shifting around if you have to reverse, which you'll do a lot getting stuck in the environment or traffic pileups. What can't any of these games have a "lock camera view" option? If i could adjust the camera to zoom out, etc. like in GTA, have one of the views be "locked facing forward" so it doesn't try to pan around when i'm reversing and turning at the same time.

    Saints Row 2, 3, and 4 were great and fun to me anyway, but Watch Dogs takes itself too seriously and many the missions aren't fun and feel more like chores. The one i rage-quit on, and gave up was an "enemy convoy" where you have to stop a target and know it's path. Would be fun to use one of my new hacks to slow him down, but sure enough, the path they take has no blocker, explosions, bridges, traffic lights or ANYTHING to use so i'm stuck ramming him with my car. Then he just backs away, and takes off not stunned or damaged at all, while i struggle to turn around and catch up. Can't even jump out of the car fast enough to use my gun - and, you apparently can't shoot while in the car. I guess this hacker can't figure out how to lower the window in any vehicle to stick his gun out and shoot?

    The WORST tho, is having other players randomly appear in your game and mess with you. I tired to figure out if this could be turned off but doesn't look like it. Sorry, but i don't want random strangers jumping in my game and tyring to hack my phone or put a bounty on my while i'm trying to chase down this target in his invincible car without the use of any hacks.

    So far, Dead Rising 3 has been the only game i'd consider good or great on Xbox One.    … Expand
  9. SimonSaysRage
    Jun 24, 2014
    0
    Do not buy!!! This game SUCKS!!! Rarely do I ever play a game that I immediately try and take back after only playing for 3-hours. I lost $80 yesterday because Best Buy wouldn't take it back even though I had it for literally 3.5 hours. Do Not Waste Your Time Or Money On This Game. Terrible story, worse gameplay, and the driving...oh my **** god! How the **** can they not figure out theDo not buy!!! This game SUCKS!!! Rarely do I ever play a game that I immediately try and take back after only playing for 3-hours. I lost $80 yesterday because Best Buy wouldn't take it back even though I had it for literally 3.5 hours. Do Not Waste Your Time Or Money On This Game. Terrible story, worse gameplay, and the driving...oh my **** god! How the **** can they not figure out the simplest of mechanics that have been around since the dawn of gaming. Ridiculous!… Expand
  10. SciFiDreamin
    Jun 8, 2014
    4
    Single player is great. Nothing is done as well as I would like but the sum of the parts is an enjoyable experience. Online play which was a focus of the hype of this game is the huge let down. More often than not online play turns into a single digit fps (frames per second) crap that will leave you angry and frustrated. Occasionally you can get a sense of the greatness that onlineSingle player is great. Nothing is done as well as I would like but the sum of the parts is an enjoyable experience. Online play which was a focus of the hype of this game is the huge let down. More often than not online play turns into a single digit fps (frames per second) crap that will leave you angry and frustrated. Occasionally you can get a sense of the greatness that online play could be, but 30 seconds later your screen will be jerking in random directions and you'll be left wanting to spike your controller into the ground. Im taking my copy back to gamestop while it still has good value.… Expand
  11. silversun101
    Jun 20, 2014
    3
    A highly disappointing, mixed bag affair that claims to be about using clever hacking skills to outsmart your enemies but quickly devolves into rote shoot/drive GTA-style gameplay without any of the personality or flare. Watch_Dogs brings nothing new or interesting to the table, aside from a distracting and invasive multiplayer mode that I couldn't turn off fast enough. And on a personalA highly disappointing, mixed bag affair that claims to be about using clever hacking skills to outsmart your enemies but quickly devolves into rote shoot/drive GTA-style gameplay without any of the personality or flare. Watch_Dogs brings nothing new or interesting to the table, aside from a distracting and invasive multiplayer mode that I couldn't turn off fast enough. And on a personal note, Aiden is the most unlikable protagonist I have ever had the misfortune of playing; a sleazy hypocrite who is touted to be some sort of vigilante hero for the people all while stealing cars, emptying bank accounts, and invading people's personal lives via hacked webcams and phone conversations.

    Do yourself a favor and give this a pass.    … Expand
  12. Armis
    Nov 14, 2014
    6
    Horribly overhyped dull piece of crap. Add to that the horrible police rubberbanding (which makes it utterly impossible to ever, EVER lose the cops unless you have a gadget to prevent them spotting you in the first place. Just not fun.
  13. Keledron
    Jun 20, 2014
    4
    There is no denying that there is fun to be had in Watch Dogs, but that fun is short lived.

    The graphics are decent, though I really wouldn't call them "next gen". The Xbox One version (which is the version I played) was far from the mind blowing graphics that we saw in E3 trailers (this is common knowledge at this point). But graphics are something easily forgiven when a game is    There is no denying that there is fun to be had in Watch Dogs, but that fun is short lived.

    The graphics are decent, though I really wouldn't call them "next gen". The Xbox One version (which is the version I played) was far from the mind blowing graphics that we saw in E3 trailers (this is common knowledge at this point).

    But graphics are something easily forgiven when a game is great. Watch Dogs really isn't anything new or ground breaking. There are LOADS of mini games and side distractions, and they're each fun on their own. The problem is that there really isn't any "reason" to do them in the game. This is more a fault of the plot than anything. And that, to me, is where Watch Dogs utterly fails.

    There needs to be SOME story in a game like Watch Dogs. It's touting an open world, which is completely revealed to you after the first hour of playing, right down to points of interest that you should explore... so how exactly is that exploring and finding cool stuff if you're told where to go? The story should drive that somehow, and this story doesn't.

    Normally I wouldn't even bother factoring in the story for review to impact it so negatively, but Watch Dogs plot is SO bad, so utterly strung together with clichés and wanna-be hacker jargon (the devs must have brushed up on that by watching Hackers several times), and the story itself makes little to no sense at all. I won't put any spoilers in this review, but play through the main missions and by the time you're halfway through you're probably asking yourself, "Wait, why am I busting into a sex slave ring to get a guys cell phone to track down an arms dealer?"

    The online integration is definitely fun, and probably the only real bright spot in the game. You could be in the middle of going to the next mission or a side quest, and all of a sudden you're notified that you're being invaded. Another player is coming after you to steal information. This becomes a rather awesome game of cat and mouse and staying hidden from the invading player.

    Like the mini-games, the multiplayer is fun, but the problem is ALLLL this stuff to do doesn't add up to any coherent whole. Watch Dogs is a jumbled together mess of bad (make that horrible) plot and tons of distractions, but that doesn't make it a good game. And let's not forget the horrible main character. Aaron is easily the worst main character of any video game. You will end up hating him within an hour or two, be warned. This is more a fault to the game's awful writing, as the voice acting is pretty good.

    In summary, Watch Dogs is fun for a few hours, but is ultimately a forgettable game. The Open World aspect gives you no real reason to explore, the plot is horrible, and it's definitely not the "Game that will herald in the Next Gen consoles" as it was so touted. You're better off waiting until this thing hits the bargain bin. After playing it to its confused, muddled and inane conclusion, I can't honestly recommend this game.    … Expand
  14. Rollie
    Jul 20, 2014
    3
    A nun watching porn has more logic than this game...

    Okay, so... I didn't even finish this game due to the simple fact of how bored I become very quickly! It's an infuriating game, so repetitive. Either I completely sucked at this game or it's very difficult. The driving completely sucks! I had more fun doing the RC helicopter mission on Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and I'm pretty    A nun watching porn has more logic than this game...

    Okay, so... I didn't even finish this game due to the simple fact of how bored I become very quickly! It's an infuriating game, so repetitive. Either I completely sucked at this game or it's very difficult.

    The driving completely sucks! I had more fun doing the RC helicopter mission on Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and I'm pretty sure that was made by the devil himself!

    The hype over this game was big and judging by people the hype didn't live up to its expectations (Just like GTA V). I think Ubisoft (Personally) got their concepts and ideas from GTA V. (Just an opinion)

    Watch Dogs seemed to be one of the best games of 2014, however... Flopped.

    It has its moments in the game that makes you laugh, well... When I say laugh, I mean blow more air out of your nose than you usually do.

    Very disappointing game, would not recommend.    … Expand
  15. cwcoverick
    Jun 25, 2014
    3
    Watch_ Dogs had a lot of hype when it was at E3. But when it was released, there was mixed reviews either hating it, loving it, thought it was okay, or just didn't care for it. I was scared of buying this game so I borrowed it. I played, and I hated it. The experience was dreadful, online sucked, the free roam isn't as fun as well, and the hacking was dumbed down. It's just press X to win.Watch_ Dogs had a lot of hype when it was at E3. But when it was released, there was mixed reviews either hating it, loving it, thought it was okay, or just didn't care for it. I was scared of buying this game so I borrowed it. I played, and I hated it. The experience was dreadful, online sucked, the free roam isn't as fun as well, and the hacking was dumbed down. It's just press X to win. When you hold X, you could get thousands of dollars in just a few seconds! In the end, Watch_Dogs is a disappointment. It sad to know that this game is not a good game. I wanted it to be, but it wasn't...… Expand
  16. macwade
    Jun 8, 2014
    0
    I actually decided to sell this game within a day of buying it. The graphics are no where near up to standard for the 360, never mind for the Xbox One! To sum up this game, it's just a poor man's GTA. Very unoriginal game with average graphics. Would not recommend buying
  17. ssheldon
    Jun 1, 2014
    1
    Let's start with the positive, I really like the maps in this game. The variety from one map to the next is great, you get the feeling of moving through a real city with believable landscapes.

    Now the bad... The problem with Watch Dogs, isn't the idea, it's the execution. First let's talk about gameplay, yesterday morning I bought the game, 30 minutes later I had the best weapons from    Let's start with the positive, I really like the maps in this game. The variety from one map to the next is great, you get the feeling of moving through a real city with believable landscapes.

    Now the bad... The problem with Watch Dogs, isn't the idea, it's the execution. First let's talk about gameplay, yesterday morning I bought the game, 30 minutes later I had the best weapons from each category and a huge amount of money I had no idea what to do with. It's not that I am really good at video games, it's that the cost of items relative to how much money you make running around hacking peoples phones make it way too easy. Since this is the case, many of the side missions don't really matter because you don't need the money. Now let's talk about those missions - again they have potential but the watch dog concept leaves you with too much power. You look at a camera, swing around to tag all the bandits and after that they are forever lit up through walls. Their AI is also not the best, they seem to come at your position in a very predictable manner and since you now have them lit up like a christmas tree you can take them out with your already overwhelming arsenal of firepower you picked up in the first 20 minutes of play.

    For me personally, probably the biggest failing of Watch Dogs comes from the controls. Let's see, when I start a new first person game like this, probably like many others the first thing I do is crank up the sensitivity in anticipation of multi player so I am not a sitting duck to all the other players. If I did this on any modern well executed first person, there's a small dead zone then small stick movements are still super slow but pressing the stick all the way out will make you spin so fast you can barely see what's going without practice.

    In watchdogs, there dead zone was large, then after a tiny amount of movement it went from no movement to instantly too fast. This didn't feel polished to me at all. Another thing I found is that in battle, I could hide behind a wall and just place the cross hair where I would eventually want to put a bullet then just wait for the stupid UI to stick it's head out.

    When driving, oh, geez - believe the rest of the views. The problem is that cars behave like they have no mass. They instantly accelerate but brake like they weigh nothing. You can also be going full speed in something which looks like a Lamborghini and feels that fast but you can hit a brick wall or an oncoming car and keep going. The controls again also have responsiveness issues. They go from nothing to everything really quickly so you find yourself constantly over correcting.

    One last thing I found is some missions are simply thoughtless. I got stuck in one right before I gave up where after taking out all the CTOS towers in an hour this last mission I took mean taking down without using deadly force 2 guys from a convoy of 20 guys in 5-10 cars. The second they stop they all start firing assault rifles and sub machine guns, they throw a ton of grenades so you can't stay in cover but if you kill any the mission is over. I just had this WTF moment, where it felt real life sensibility was lost by badly thought out mission constraints.

    In the end, this felt to me like a game where they spent a ton of time creating the map then rushed the gameplay and controls. It's like a mashup of Assassins Creed, a Driving Game and Call of Duty without any of the finesse. The controls aren't worthy of a shooter, the physics aren't worthy of a driving game and missions and merit/reward system aren't close to Assassins Creed.

    In the end, it doesn't work and doesn't deserve a good review. The only reason I gave it a 2 was because the maps are great, in the end that wasn't enough.    … Expand
  18. Magicalseal
    Jun 10, 2014
    4
    For me as I'm sure it was for many of you the game seemed to be a complete disappointment from the first cut scene. Below par graphics for a next gen console and a far below par storyline for such an anticipated game. It falls short of everything I expected it to be. Most games I get grabbed and pulled in to but with this it was just a chore to play with the never ending plain mundaneFor me as I'm sure it was for many of you the game seemed to be a complete disappointment from the first cut scene. Below par graphics for a next gen console and a far below par storyline for such an anticipated game. It falls short of everything I expected it to be. Most games I get grabbed and pulled in to but with this it was just a chore to play with the never ending plain mundane objectives. Waste of time and money and I didn't even finish the game.… Expand
  19. lordeleo
    Jun 9, 2014
    0
    DOES NOT WORK.
    Simple as that.
    We pay for a game that doesn't load.
    We get stuck on loading screen at about 90% FOREVER ...
    I'm sure Ubysoft didn't had TIME to TEST their game.
    Score? ZERO!
  20. SirLube
    May 30, 2014
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I ordered a copy of this 'game' on the 25th May thru Amazon UK for release date. It arrived three days late (so thanks Amazon for adding to the tarnish and contempt I feel for this game) and to tell you the truth I wish it never arrived at all.
    First of all, installation times and load times. Watch-Dogs is ridiculous on both charges. It is not much more than a 360 game in graphics terms but, as usual because it is on the Xbox One the installation and loading takes four **** times longer than anything on the 360 ever did (as does every Xbox One game. So much for having to install everything on the hard-drive)
    Then we get the cut-scene that sets up the whole game. Who wrote this **** A seven year old? Really? Who at Ubisoft decided the core target audience for this game? The opening cut-scene has all the depth of a Haribo advert.
    So, I am a hacker. Which means I am a spineless lowlife criminal. And I hacked the wrong person, who takes exception to my activities. And that person arranges the killing of... - not my loving wife - not my sick mother - no. My niece. What? I'm all broken up about my **** niece that I have to adopt a mis-guided sense of justice and take personal revenge on this person who I pissed off in the first place? Like I said, the plot is... contrived and thin and not worth the time of anyone who possesses more than two brain cells.
    So to the start of the game. You start in a stadium changing room digging a confession out of some guy your character 'suspects' is involved with your nieces' death. You soon have to get out because an accomplice you never knew you had has just called the cops as a diversion. REALLY? You're a lone hacker and suddenly you've got friends? REALLY? Then, this friend just **** off, and you have to work out how to get past the cops who your friend had obviously just wandered past without arousing suspicion even though your friend had just murdered someone in the cut scene you just watched..
    The AI is really dim. Using your smartphone (which is never explained why this **** phone is so powerful, but one of the first upgrades you have to get for it is batteries...duh I would never have thought not to run out of a battery pack) you can create diversions of such intensity that the local police never look away for a cause while you creep around un-observed.
    The worst thing about this game - more than any other sandbox game is it is as linear as reading a book. You get to points in a game where it REFUSES to proceed unless you do what the game needs you to do, like in the spending of skill points. I didn't want to spend my skill points (just yet) but the game, after a short cut-scene refused to progress until I spent them. What was that that went out the door? oh yeah - any sense of remaining realism.
    I had played for just over an hour of 'gameplay' at this point when I tore the disc out and decided I was trading it in.
    If you want a mature game, with a decent plot - go get Max Payne on the ORIGINAL Xbox.
    Ubisoft. This game blows.    … Expand
  21. nickytheford
    Jul 21, 2014
    0
    boring and forces you to wait all the time , the camera mechanic makes you search for minuites the driving is stiff and you get an annoying lens flare every five seconds
  22. Gasheater
    May 29, 2014
    5
    In one word, disappointed.
    The gameplay is ok, reminiscent of assassins creed with the many, many tasks and unlocking towers to reveal further collectables and side missions, however, the graphics are a HUGE let down that have ruined the experience for me, nothing like the E3 trailers and definitely not next gen.
    A poor attempt at open world, it all feels very bland and unrealistic and    In one word, disappointed.
    The gameplay is ok, reminiscent of assassins creed with the many, many tasks and unlocking towers to reveal further collectables and side missions, however, the graphics are a HUGE let down that have ruined the experience for me, nothing like the E3 trailers and definitely not next gen.
    A poor attempt at open world, it all feels very bland and unrealistic and cumbersome.
    The wait for a true next gen title continues    … Expand
  23. me-0815
    May 30, 2014
    0
    Another example of the typical media hype. The graphics aren't close to the level shown in those famous previews. Add to that the generally mediocre quality of the game, which doesn't keep many promises of the publishers, and the game isn't worth the original price. Wait until it drops significantly or ignore the game, you won't miss anything essential.
  24. someusername
    Jun 6, 2014
    5
    The game is pretty fun, but hacking gets repetitive. The car controls are EXACTLY the same as in Saints Row 2, which came out in 2008. I was shocked at how horrific they were. The story was not unique or special, and I couldn't relate to the main character. As far as graphics, cut scenes are okay but the general game doesn't look any better than a 360/ps3 game. I finished the game and didThe game is pretty fun, but hacking gets repetitive. The car controls are EXACTLY the same as in Saints Row 2, which came out in 2008. I was shocked at how horrific they were. The story was not unique or special, and I couldn't relate to the main character. As far as graphics, cut scenes are okay but the general game doesn't look any better than a 360/ps3 game. I finished the game and did all the side missions but was left with just a "meh" impression, nothing memorable.

    Oh I forgot about the police/enemy chases: whoever programmed them is sadistic. You run miles away from the enemy and they magically just spawn right next to you, and rubber band to you no matter what you do. It's practically impossible to get away from them, even when I changed the game to easy mode. I wanted to break my tv quite a few times.    … Expand
  25. Gcforce
    Jun 12, 2014
    5
    Does not live up to the hype. The game is full of boring characters, boring story, boring side-missions, and dull gameplay. The story is bland and predictible, the only good part is the fun open world.
  26. SimpleMethod
    May 31, 2014
    5
    Sigh. It is not the worst game of the past year or two, just one of the most disappointing. I have the feeling that on the PS4 it may be ever so slightly better, but on the Xbox One in it's current condition, Watch Dogs looks like Grand theft Auto 4 on an Xbox 360. That is only the beginning of the issues. The driving, while you do get semi used to it, is atrocious. It feels like driving aSigh. It is not the worst game of the past year or two, just one of the most disappointing. I have the feeling that on the PS4 it may be ever so slightly better, but on the Xbox One in it's current condition, Watch Dogs looks like Grand theft Auto 4 on an Xbox 360. That is only the beginning of the issues. The driving, while you do get semi used to it, is atrocious. It feels like driving a roller coaster down a paved road, or as if you were driving a sports car on ludes. The gunplay is tense and shockingly realistic, and car crashes are also realistic. The city of Chicago is reflected here with a high degree of accuracy and is convincing, but generally looks very poor and hollow. At night and when it's raining, this game looks decent. The framerate drops are absolutely crippling, though. It's really, really bad and they have messed up a lot of my sessions. The story is fine, I didn't love it but I had no issue with it, Aiden Pearce is a decent protagonist but the people surrounding him are much more interesting. The multiplayer is really cool, actually, it's just surrounded by a buggy game. Encryption mode is really tense and great, hacking into other players world's is fun, and open world online is unique. Overall Watch Dogs is a decent idea but not a great game, and unless they patch it, is worth nothing more than $20. Sorry, guys.… Expand
  27. rahzel
    May 29, 2014
    5
    Tearing, framerate drops, 792p resolution, no ambient occlusion, low shadow resolution. Game is not a looker on XB1. Game is pretty good though.

    If you own a PS4 though, that is definitely the better version.
  28. earbus
    May 27, 2014
    1
    Boring who ever let the dogs out shame on you a carbon copy of so many other games out there , protagonist is dull zzzzzz just made me think of what else I have to play will be trading this as fast as I can .
  29. Shaft62702
    May 27, 2014
    2
    Feels like a cheap GTA clone. Hacking gets boring after 10 minutes. Vehicles are laggy to respond to controller input. Story is slow and boring. Game lacks excitement. Graphics feel like a 360 port. Not worth 60 bucks by any means.
  30. blackballx
    May 31, 2014
    5
    This is a bad game. I bought it and returned it for Wolfenstein (which is class). The graphics are terrible, the controls are awkward, the driving is useless. Do not buy!!!! No fun to play. GTAV does it all so much better. In fact I even enjoyed sleeping dogs more than this.
  31. JamesDeLuca
    Jun 26, 2014
    5
    Lousy GTA clone + interesting concept = Watchdogs

    Watchdogs offers some original content to the GTA clone genre, but its still just a lousy GTA clone. I would call the driving physics in WD awful, but that would be an insult to games with awful driving physics. Not only do the cars drive like N64 but they look like N64. There is no texture, detail or appeal of any kind. The    Lousy GTA clone + interesting concept = Watchdogs

    Watchdogs offers some original content to the GTA clone genre, but its still just a lousy GTA clone.

    I would call the driving physics in WD awful, but that would be an insult to games with awful driving physics.

    Not only do the cars drive like N64 but they look like N64. There is no texture, detail or appeal of any kind.

    The cityscape is okay, but lacks realism. Overall, GTA 5 on 360 looks better than WD on 1.

    The only exceptional aspect of this game is character and plot progression. Ubi Mtl always nails it.    … Expand
  32. ghola
    May 27, 2014
    1
    Just a bland GTA. Too much hype for nothing. You´ll get bored in an hour. Just rent it and you´ll forget this game. Lower resolution than PS4 ...................................
  33. DrakeBristow
    May 28, 2014
    5
    I don't know why we have fanboys putting 10s on this game, and I don't understand why we have trolls putting a 0 on it!

    Here is an unbiased opinion from the standpoint of the marketing of this game; what was promised and what was delivered. The concept of this game intrigued me from the very beginning, and the possibilities seemed endless, it didn't seem like this would be another GTA    I don't know why we have fanboys putting 10s on this game, and I don't understand why we have trolls putting a 0 on it!

    Here is an unbiased opinion from the standpoint of the marketing of this game; what was promised and what was delivered. The concept of this game intrigued me from the very beginning, and the possibilities seemed endless, it didn't seem like this would be another GTA clone but something that would expound upon and create its own name in the sandbox open world genre. This game falls just short of that! With a cumbersome hacking component, ineffective driving experience and a story lacking substance. This all combined creates a less desired experience although the game isn't a bomb, but it isn't the masterpiece some users are saying. I would say rent the game, or wait till it drops in price. Its just blah...    … Expand
  34. sw2002
    May 27, 2014
    0
    Graphics are ugly, and not "next gen" as promised.
    Story is boring. You have to take revenge because of a fact you have never seen before, the only thing you know that it was important for the protagonist.
    Side missions are boring too. Steal a random car and take it from point A to point B. Kill a random pedestrian (if you pull it your gun normally the pedestrians call the police in a    Graphics are ugly, and not "next gen" as promised.
    Story is boring. You have to take revenge because of a fact you have never seen before, the only thing you know that it was important for the protagonist.
    Side missions are boring too. Steal a random car and take it from point A to point B. Kill a random pedestrian (if you pull it your gun normally the pedestrians call the police in a blink of an eye, if you do it during the side mission they act that nothing happened), or be a paparazzi from a distance, watch people until they commit a crime then beat/kill them.
    The driving is awful, I can not believe that Ubisoft never played their game to realize this.

    I have the biggest buyers remorse right now.    … Expand
  35. DarrMunny
    Jun 3, 2014
    6
    Terrible driving mechanics worst ive played its like they have chucked it in for the sake of it, meaningless police chases for whatever reason just annoying really.To me there is no structure in the storyline it seems very haphazard, it just put me off completely.
  36. Bloodyrus
    May 27, 2014
    0
    Watch Dogs - a major disappointment in 2014 . However hello.

    Game like tomorrow goes on the shelves . And I can tell you one thing - your money is not worth it at all. The fact that Ubisoft , looking at the success of the GTA series , decided to make your GTA , not whores , but with smartphones . Especially that the engine team and the concept is - benefit yubiki make very pribilny    Watch Dogs - a major disappointment in 2014 . However hello.

    Game like tomorrow goes on the shelves . And I can tell you one thing - your money is not worth it at all.

    The fact that Ubisoft , looking at the success of the GTA series , decided to make your GTA , not whores , but with smartphones . Especially that the engine team and the concept is - benefit yubiki make very pribilny game series about Asasinchikov that impinge on all living things .

    But one thing to come up with crazy story about the evil Templars, there PARKUUUUR add a little historical events spice this thing the free world and beautiful locations , beautiful stuff in a box and sell every year by 49.99 per copy .

    Another thing is to make a project from scratch. And here the problems begin the game . Let's start with the fact that the physics of the game a little more miserable than full. People behave like a sack of potatoes , destructible cars at ... GTA 3! To **** , I have not seen such a long time. You like it crashed , but the machine does not appear dents, no chips, no scratches (as in GTA 5 , where physics and destructible cars on top) and just fall off the doors, hood , trunk and so on. It's ... it's ... it's just ****ed up ! 2014 in the yard.

    Physics cars like iron. Such as in GTA 5 is not here. You crashed into an SUV on a sports car , and he flies to a dozen meters. Stupid cops impassable . They will stand in place, will not you try to go around the flanks (like GTA ), and so on. And along the way they sobyut everyone they see , demolish all the posts and fences , and even a couple of times will get in an accident .

    The plot, good old tradition - crazy and just like the students , whose mothers abused in DotA . SG with a single tap on the ip calculates villains , hacks urban services , uchinyaet apocalypse and so on. In general, the whole plot revolves around revenge to all and sundry. Follow him bored and he needed here more for show .

    And part of the game when you are hacked urban services just did not bad. You switch between cameras , switching between various devices exploding transformers . But NOT to do such feature around the whole game. It rolled in the 90th , but in 2014, not a ride . You can not make a game , for example, around the time dilation.

    And in the best traditions Yubisofty here clocked up a bunch of unnecessary svistelok - perdelok . Kraft any useless **** , TONS of unnecessary weapons , which is not very different from each other. Pumping , shifted to the Left ups , and lots and lots and lots of things that , in principle, you do not need .

    In GTA 5 was an awesome character animation . Zingy videos, interesting and colorful characters . There is nothing like that . Character animation during cutscenes standard and blows the roof (as in the same GTA 5) , interesting characters here especially and not. All of them ... well, whether that standard . And you've seen them a hundred other game series .

    And yes, for some reason, here are tightened bunch of unnecessary missions , such as gathering , damn , 16 bit coins, or shooting svetoponosom . What, why , why? Why not GTA5 plot tasks sometimes better than the plot , and then decided to fake and do **** like that ?

    Game lacks class plot, interesting fichey memorable characters , whether that balance . Lacks some of its concepts . Game sulfur, boring and not interesting. You can not simply take the concept Asasina , cram a bunch of svistelok perdelok and hopes that the player skhvataet this **** (well he skhavataet anyway) . GTA 5 smartphones failed.

    Do not buy in any case . Swing or not to swing ... your business. I would not .    … Expand
  37. Masterhummel
    May 27, 2014
    6
    There's not that much to say about the graphic controversity. The game looks good, no doubt, but not nearly as good as in the E3 Trailers, Launch Trailer or Steam Shop Page Screenshots. By all means, this form of false advertising has to stop. Also, getting hours less of playtime because i didnt bought the "Digitale Deluxe" Edition is just wrong and should not be supported.

    For the game    There's not that much to say about the graphic controversity. The game looks good, no doubt, but not nearly as good as in the E3 Trailers, Launch Trailer or Steam Shop Page Screenshots. By all means, this form of false advertising has to stop. Also, getting hours less of playtime because i didnt bought the "Digitale Deluxe" Edition is just wrong and should not be supported.

    For the game itself, its your average GTA style game. The story is very odd and inconsistent. The one moment i beat someone up with a basbeall bat, then i'm visiting my nephew, then i'm suddenly Badass McBadBat again. The side Missions are extremly dull and usually consist of dozens of heavily armed dudes getting thrown at you. You have whole military-like mob convoys driving trough the city. Whoever runs the city is probably the worst police state in the history of gaming.

    The gameplay is uber-realistic. You have a three meter turn radius, every car handles like a formula one car that has tanked cerosine and the gunplay is quite odd. That said, there are good things in watchdogs and its fun to **** around with the city, but its not enough to keep me want to play it.

    In the end, Watch_Dogs is not a bad game. Its just extremely average.    … Expand
  38. boomfac3shot
    May 27, 2014
    10
    amazing game. best looking open world game to date graphically. plenty of new game mechanics give a definite next gen fell. multiplayer online hacking surprisingly heaps of fun. heaps to do in terms of side missions/activites
  39. EatableBread
    Jul 13, 2015
    5
    What is Watch Dogs? After being showcased at E3, and everyone's minds being consecutively blown, the game is finally out. How is it? Terrible. I've spent awhile trying to think of a single good thing about Watch Dogs, but I just can't. The driving is bad, so much so that I would rather play Grand Theft Auto 4 (a game with really weak driving) or even Saints Row 4 (a game with tackedWhat is Watch Dogs? After being showcased at E3, and everyone's minds being consecutively blown, the game is finally out. How is it? Terrible. I've spent awhile trying to think of a single good thing about Watch Dogs, but I just can't. The driving is bad, so much so that I would rather play Grand Theft Auto 4 (a game with really weak driving) or even Saints Row 4 (a game with tacked on driving). The handling feels terrible, and its a chore to drive (not good in an open world game with cars as the main prospect of travel). The gunplay is even worse. Shooting feels stiff, unchallenging, and unsatisfying. When you shoot in a game, you should feel powerful. In Watch Dogs, I just feel like I'm shooting a nicely skinned Nerf Gun. Hacking is over-simplistic where most of the time it's just hitting 'X' and something happens. The open world is boring, dull, uninteresting where the only thing happening is popping up your phone so you can listen on people's conversations, see criminal records, and personal information. If you want see examples of good open worlds see: Witcher 3 or Grand Theft Auto 5 (just to name a few). The game is looks utterly uninspired. I'm not speaking of the clear downgrade in visual fidelity from E3. The game just looks about as fun as it is to play. Chicago is a boring landscape to look at in Watch Dogs, I have no interest in actually going there because this game does absolutely no justice for it. Lighting is pretty good at night (to be fair), but other than that the game looks dull, and looks like it came from the early PS3/360 days (and this is on current gen hardware). Multiplayer is empty on the Xbox One, hardly anyone ever plays it. But when you do get in a game, you're met with a long list of technical issues including a steady sub 20 frames, extremely terrible lag, and sometimes even hard crashing (note that this game also came out on 360/PS3, and I played on a Xbox One so there problems might even be worse on the 360/PS3). The story..is bland. It tries to teach you something with its message, but ultimately contradicts itself with gameplay, and its uninteresting main character. Digital trips are a feature where you can take 'digital drugs' and trip and have some wacky adventures! Sound like fun? Too bad, it's nothing more than to compete with Saints Row 4's wacky activities. The Spider Tank is simply destroy this, destroy that. The Psychodelic trip is bouncing from flower to flower (which wasn't even fun the first time, let alone the 17 times you had to do it to be rewarded). The other two aren't even worth mentioning. In the end, Watch Dogs tries to be another great open world game, but doesn't do enough with its own ideas to be even noteworthy. Instead it would rather compete with the other great open world games by sloppily trying to mimic them, but its too busy rolling around in its own mediocrity to be as good as the other games. So Watch Dogs can be summed up as a Sloppy GTA V/SR4 clone, seeing as everything done in it was pretty sloppy.… Expand
  40. Thompson83
    Oct 7, 2014
    5
    A poor man's GTA, Watch Dogs is hamstringed by both it's lack of vision and execution.

    There is much more wrong with the experience than is right, and it turns out that a cellphone is a poor substitute for a handgun. I swallowed my hesitation (after reading the user reviews) and went out and picked up the title, I sincerely wish that I'd saved my money. The    A poor man's GTA, Watch Dogs is hamstringed by both it's lack of vision and execution.

    There is much more wrong with the experience than is right, and it turns out that a cellphone is a poor substitute for a handgun. I swallowed my hesitation (after reading the user reviews) and went out and picked up the title, I sincerely wish that I'd saved my money. The driving/parkour/combat/gunplay are all loose and gimmicky. The stealth system is a borderline joke and the minigames are so lacking in context/fun that I'd rather spend the time flossing.

    Aiden has to be the least likable protagonist I've encountered in quite some time. He's a standard 'gruff & nondescript white guy' without a glimmer of charisma or nuance. A real lowest common denominator portrayal of a tough guy. His motivations are contrary to themselves (I've got to stop this criminal from beating on this woman, but on the way there, I'm going to steal all this single mother's money from her bank account) and on the whole, it's not a pleasant on convincing experience to embody him.

    Given the hype machine for this game prior to its release, I was very disappointed with the graphics/story/characters/gameplay. Perhaps this is the first in a long series of games in which the sequels will be able to build upon the source material and create compelling experiences, ala the Assassin's Creed franchise. Right now, it's a failed tech demo, that doesn't have enough (read: any) redeeming quality to merit a recommendation.    … Expand
  41. conmon99
    Aug 31, 2014
    5
    If Ubisoft had developed this game as much as they had hyped it, the final product would've been a much greater success. Instead Watch Dogs is more of a game rental than a buy. It's good fun but quickly deteriorates into repetitive events and drab missions. There wasn't any spice that kept it going. As for the multiplayer, it too is good fun at first. But with larger matches quicklyIf Ubisoft had developed this game as much as they had hyped it, the final product would've been a much greater success. Instead Watch Dogs is more of a game rental than a buy. It's good fun but quickly deteriorates into repetitive events and drab missions. There wasn't any spice that kept it going. As for the multiplayer, it too is good fun at first. But with larger matches quickly devolving into glitchy messes, the game is just overall unsustainable. So go ahead and rent it or borrow it to play the game, beat it, and have a little bit of fun while you're at it. But once it's finished, you'll probably be looking for a store to trade it in for something better and longer lasting.… Expand
  42. Mudgee
    Nov 19, 2014
    5
    Over-hyped and a poor clone/wannabe of GTA5. Whilst it functions freely and is generically not that bad of a game. It shortly following such a masterpiece as Grand Theft Auto and the extensive hype surrounding this game, let it down greatly. I remember purchasing it some months back, and by the end of the day, it was back in it's case. It is now growing cobwebs out of my cupboard. TheOver-hyped and a poor clone/wannabe of GTA5. Whilst it functions freely and is generically not that bad of a game. It shortly following such a masterpiece as Grand Theft Auto and the extensive hype surrounding this game, let it down greatly. I remember purchasing it some months back, and by the end of the day, it was back in it's case. It is now growing cobwebs out of my cupboard. The problem with Watchdogs is that whilst nothing about it is significantly bad, nothing about it is good either. It's a very ho-hum, quite dull train ride to mediocrity. Like the greatest of ideals, like communism; it appeared and read great on paper, with revolutionary sounding ideals - It just couldn't make it work in reality.… Expand
  43. saibear12
    Sep 10, 2014
    5
    It was pretty to look at and had some interesting ideas but the story just could not hold me. I never was able to finish because I just got bored. And the hacking from online people or hacking people online was quite frustrating. I suppose I was just bad at it.
  44. VGHS
    Sep 12, 2014
    5
    Even though the single-player story is thrilling (mostly), the open world is not all of what was expected, getting players easily bored. I also had really high expectations about the multiplayer mode, which is a total disappointment for not only having not a thing to do, but also by not being fun at all. Compared to GTA 5's fun multiplayer and larger, full of possibilities world, it getsEven though the single-player story is thrilling (mostly), the open world is not all of what was expected, getting players easily bored. I also had really high expectations about the multiplayer mode, which is a total disappointment for not only having not a thing to do, but also by not being fun at all. Compared to GTA 5's fun multiplayer and larger, full of possibilities world, it gets only worse, overcoming only at its better, revenge-seeking campaign.… Expand
  45. Daelus
    Sep 13, 2015
    7
    First and foremost, anyone that rates any game a 0 is an idiot....period.....and to be fair, most people that rate games 10 are as well,,,,but I digress.

    Watch Dogs I feel missed on on being a very good game by a thin line. The story was cliche but good, a lot like Witcher, if you choose to ignore the contradictions it is easy to become immersed....if for what reason, you are not    First and foremost, anyone that rates any game a 0 is an idiot....period.....and to be fair, most people that rate games 10 are as well,,,,but I digress.

    Watch Dogs I feel missed on on being a very good game by a thin line. The story was cliche but good, a lot like Witcher, if you choose to ignore the contradictions it is easy to become immersed....if for what reason, you are not immersed, the story can seem uninspiring and nonsensical.

    Pros.
    Story has flow and the game is well paced,
    No shortage of open world activities to partake in.
    Casual driving is far more realistic than GTA V (see cons)
    Hacking is a great concept and they didn't miss pulling it off in a gamechanging way by much.....it never quite got there though as hey made too much hackable which took from he experience.

    Cons
    God the soundtrack was horrible....I rarely notice soundtracks but this one mut have had almost no budget and we wound up with 50 or so really bad songs.
    Driving at speed and specifically turning is bugged. The camera never catches up with the turn and you invariably crash.....unbelievable this didn't get fixed.
    Moving out of hiding/ crouching position is far too difficult....died far too many times as the character wouldn't stop hugging the wall!    … Expand
  46. essay708
    Jan 10, 2016
    9
    This was an enjoyable game and the story line wasn't so bad afterall. I feel like the user score made me feel like this game was a piece of crap and it wasn't. Yes the hacking process is a bit gimicky but what game DOESN'T have a gimicky element to it?

    It's open world comparable to GTA in a futuristic Chicago. I dig it.
  47. oldmaster1818
    Oct 15, 2021
    7
    Watch dogs was a surprising good game that did most things quite well. Set in an awesome location, it was a lively city with plenty of activities, and with the ability to hack most things lent itself to a good experience. Sure, the game could have been better, but for a new Ubisoft brand, I was happy enough.

    Pros- Very well designed city (with nice rendering, reflections, chimney    Watch dogs was a surprising good game that did most things quite well. Set in an awesome location, it was a lively city with plenty of activities, and with the ability to hack most things lent itself to a good experience. Sure, the game could have been better, but for a new Ubisoft brand, I was happy enough.

    Pros-
    Very well designed city (with nice rendering, reflections, chimney smoke effects and water)
    Voice acting is top shelf
    James Dean lookalike in that coat!
    Hacking games are great fun
    Jumping camera to camera is brilliant
    Texas Holdem/Chess is a nice diversion
    Storyline/Campaign was nicely serious in tone, and not over-the-top like GTA/Saints
    Weather-Rain system rocked!
    Chicago looks lovely at night
    Heaps of weapons

    Cons-
    Driving felt floaty and simple, although I did get used to it
    Clothing options are only reskins
    Npc's faces and modelling gets very repetitive
    Song-track listing should have been so much better
    No customization on vehicles or weapons
    The final mission had both good parts and poor parts unfortunately.

    Also note that the dead zone on the control pad was so tiny that my worn out Xbox kept making the character auto walk everywhere. With no option to change the dead zone or a second controller the game soon became a chore. Only play this this game with new devices!

    Game Content- 8 out of ten
    Fun Factor- 7 out of ten

    Overall- 7.5    … Expand
  48. azgoodaz
    Jul 8, 2015
    6
    Watch Dogs? Well, it was a very very interesting game. The storyline could have been worked on, the driving sucked (it feels uncontrollable), the shooting is decent, and the hacking.. well you press "X". Hacking really would have been worked on, a lot. They should have put in more hacking buttons into the game to make it more challenging like a puzzle but it felt like "Press X to PayWatch Dogs? Well, it was a very very interesting game. The storyline could have been worked on, the driving sucked (it feels uncontrollable), the shooting is decent, and the hacking.. well you press "X". Hacking really would have been worked on, a lot. They should have put in more hacking buttons into the game to make it more challenging like a puzzle but it felt like "Press X to Pay Respects" (COD: AW joke) type of thing. Where you do it over and over again. But the loved the combat style of the game, you can do missions stealthy or you can just do it run and gun. I felt like it was a mix of GTA and Assassins Creed.

    If you loved this game and you gave it a 10/10. And if you have a Uplay account, you could use your points to unlock special gear/clothes. You can even use your points to buy a in-game car which is pretty cool, but again the driving in the game sucks. Lastly, they have a Watch Dog companion app which you can use that and play/race against the clock to out hack the user. For example, a player in-game can load of this gamemode and you the one the car have to race through checkpoints and get to the finish line. But on the app side, another player controls the city pipelines, cops, helicopters, and more to try and take you down.

    For some reason, if they do make a Watch Dogs 2. I wont be buying it, but I will be surly playing the companion app if they make another one because that was pretty fun.    … Expand
  49. AliGSix
    Sep 9, 2014
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I don’t understand why I have left it this late to write a review? Possibly because I have just got over the huge disappointment that is Watch Dogs. This game offered so much in original plot, next gen graphics and open world but failed deliver in every area. I have to feel people giving this game any higher than a seven must disillusioned and people giving it lower than three are just being a little bit harsh.

    A linear storyline that manipulated you into thinking you could hack anything but in reality it was all scripted anyway and the story lacked any real originality and quite frankly watching paint to dry is more engaging. Aiden Pearce the main protagonist has the personality of a brick wall. And the dramatic, emotional music which prolonged after a main character’s death was just cringe worthy.

    So why haven’t I given this a lower rating you may ask. Well this game did have some interesting features if built upon could seriously have improved the game. The online was quite enjoyable entering someone’s game and hacking them was extremely tense and quite fun

    I am just hoping now that Ubisoft redeem themselves with Assassin’s Creed Unity and Far Cry 4    … Expand
  50. ToddAwesome
    Aug 8, 2014
    9
    If you like the openess of the GTA series, but wish it had a story line that was worth playing all the way through you want watch dogs. It's a really good open world game.
  51. BohicaSNAFU
    Jun 4, 2014
    6
    Game gets monotonous quickly. Has a lot of similarities to its Assassin's Creed counterpart but not done as well. Driving mechanics are hideous and lack of original missions make for a game with very little replay value. Overall a disappointment for as long as we had to wait for it to come out.
  52. SimpleReviewz
    Aug 1, 2014
    7
    Reviewing this game will likely be difficult. While Watch Dogs does indeed have some good stuff in it, there's just one fact I can't get over with this game: Watch Dogs is not the game that was advertised or promised by Ubisoft. However, it wasn't hard for me to find good stuff in Watch Dogs, and vice versa. Let's start with the story. The main plot here is that Aiden Pearce's (mainReviewing this game will likely be difficult. While Watch Dogs does indeed have some good stuff in it, there's just one fact I can't get over with this game: Watch Dogs is not the game that was advertised or promised by Ubisoft. However, it wasn't hard for me to find good stuff in Watch Dogs, and vice versa. Let's start with the story. The main plot here is that Aiden Pearce's (main character) niece gets killed, and he basically goes on for revenge. Don't worry, it gets deeper from there. However, while the depth of the story strengthens, it also becomes slightly jumbled. It also takes notes from other revenge stories, like Batman. It can also get generic. How are the characters? The supporting cast is very, very unique. T-Bone will go down as one of my favourite characters in games this year. Another great one is Jordi, even though he was heavily under utilized. There are many others, too. Watch Dogs' biggest fault with its characters is that the one you play as is the most boring one. Aiden Pearce has absolutely no personality whatsoever, and I found most of his lines to be generic and stupid. Heck, I even began to hate Aiden. Overall, I found the story, plot, and characters of the game to be 70% positive, and 30% negative. Now let's get to the things that truly matter: GAMEPLAY. Watch Dogs does have new ideas to introduce to the open-world genre, but I did slightly feel like I've played games like it before. The one mechanic that made people get extremely excited over Watch Dogs was the hacking. You can hack cameras, grenades, communication comms, city bridges, doors, blockers, steam pipes, and much more. I found the game to have a good balance between basic action gameplay, and hacking. Overall, the hacking is just hold X to hack, but I did feel it added a great element to the game. Hacking was shown more dynamic before the game was released, though. The third-person shooting of the game is pretty good. I found the cover system of the game to be great and simple. You can also approach the combat in varied ways. Let's talk about the driving. Overall, most of the cars handle differently. However, some of them handled like the roads were covered in soap, which I disliked. The game's missions also have many car chases, and the car combat is meh. The only way you can approach it is to hack the city's things to make the enemies' cars crash. You can't shoot out the window. The game has a wealth of side activities that I found to be entertaining, too. I didn't like the game's graphics, though. On Xbox One, it honestly looks like last-gen. It irritated me that Ubisoft will show the game to look so amazing in the E3 demos, but downgrade it in the full game. WTF? Yes, Watch Dogs was NOT the game we were promised. Then again, there's fun to be had in the game. In my opinion, the game is a little better than the average open-world title. It will take you a long time to do everything. If you're a quantity over quality kind of person, the game is worth $50. If you're vice versa, the game is worth $20.… Expand
  53. Steelselecta
    Jun 29, 2014
    6
    Watch Dogs is a fairly competent open world game, and tries to bring in fresh ideas, but ultimately it doesn't quite hit a the mark. The introduction of being able to manipulate objects in the world via hacking is quite fun, and some interesting things happen especially with car chases which are very good fun in the game. It just works well and adds a layer of depth to the driving.Watch Dogs is a fairly competent open world game, and tries to bring in fresh ideas, but ultimately it doesn't quite hit a the mark. The introduction of being able to manipulate objects in the world via hacking is quite fun, and some interesting things happen especially with car chases which are very good fun in the game. It just works well and adds a layer of depth to the driving.
    Unfortunately , hacking aside, the rest of what the game has to offer is lacklustre in parts. The shooting, stealth, the missions, story and characters are all too much of what we have seen before. All in, the gameplay is solid and works very well including the "free running" pinched from Assassins Creed, it just doesn't excite you & doesn't feel fresh. GTA done the whole thing better, and I was hoping that Watch Dogs would beat it, or at least match it.
    I think what really lets Watch Dogs down is the characters/story and the actual playground of Chicago. It just seems very bland and uninteresting and you never really get to appreciate either as it is so generic. Typical revenge plot that really fails to grip you, soulless characters and an open world that we have seen over and over.
    It may seem that I am very negative toward the game, but it does have some merits.
    The living world created is better that GTA I believe, the people of Chicago are more varied to the daily routines as opposed to what GTA done and is rare when you find people doing the same thing. It feels more natural and realistic, people calling police on you etc. Plus there is tons to do in the game and keep you occupied with a variety of things, if only to get repetitive after a while.
    All in all, I think you wouldn't do wrong to play the game, but after the deceptive unveiling of the game by Ubisoft 2 years ago at E3, don't expect to find anything ground breaking.

    PROS:
    Hacking is great fun, and opens up the game to some interesting ideas.
    Gameplay is solid and polished
    Tons & tons of things to do!!

    CONS:
    Story and Characters - Same old same old I'm afraid
    Chicago looks too familiar from what we have seen in other open world games
    Graphics are not a bit like what Ubisoft showed at E3 a couple of years ago, GTA looks better..
    Aiden Pierce's voice will grind you after a while.

    Overall I give the game a 6. Here's hoping the sequel knocks it out of the park!

    Honest and unbiased reviews from Steelselecta!!    … Expand
  54. Wastemaster24
    Aug 2, 2014
    7
    Watch Dogs is Ubisoft's brand new IP. It is set in the near future Chicago, where technology has completely taken over. And, everything is controlled by the CtOS (Central Operating System). You play as Aiden Pearce who sadly has the personality of the trench coat he wears. Anyway, Watch Dogs is a good game but not an amazing game by any stretch of the imagination. The story is ratherWatch Dogs is Ubisoft's brand new IP. It is set in the near future Chicago, where technology has completely taken over. And, everything is controlled by the CtOS (Central Operating System). You play as Aiden Pearce who sadly has the personality of the trench coat he wears. Anyway, Watch Dogs is a good game but not an amazing game by any stretch of the imagination. The story is rather simplistic but becomes a bit more complex as it goes on. But like in almost all Ubisoft games the story isn't the only thing you can do in the game. Watch Dogs has a number of varying side missions, my favourite by far is the gang hideouts, which contains the do as you like mentality when you could stealth the entire place not killing anyone or run in taking them one by one or run in gun blazing. When, I play Watch Dogs it isn't the story or the side missions or the characters that bring me back it is the city. Chicago is beautifully represented in the game and just walking around looking at the architecture and the landmarks is just overwhelming. Overall, for the first game in this franchise I think it is ok and I look forward to exploring the cities Ubisoft recreate in the next Watch Dogs.… Expand
  55. Na7Viac
    Jun 16, 2014
    6
    This game under-delivered. With all the hype around it, I was expecting it to be much more immersive and diverse than what I got. The story was interesting, but the characters (especially Pierce) didn't seem that deep. I loved the concept and the ability to hack a lot of things in the world was fun, but did get repetitive. The world was expansive and visually really neat. But I've lived inThis game under-delivered. With all the hype around it, I was expecting it to be much more immersive and diverse than what I got. The story was interesting, but the characters (especially Pierce) didn't seem that deep. I loved the concept and the ability to hack a lot of things in the world was fun, but did get repetitive. The world was expansive and visually really neat. But I've lived in Chicago and the game honestly did not feel like you were in a major city.. Here are a couple examples for my comments [spoilers below]

    Hacking: You can hack a ton of stuff in game, sometimes it's fun just running or driving around changing lights or blowing up stuff. But I felt like there were several times (especially late in the game) when hacking is completely unusable. For instance, one late-game mission you are being chased by cops (who have the amazing ability to never stop coming and chase you down time and time again). At most points in the game, you can outrun them an hide, just not this mission. You have to reach several points on the map and deal with cops chasing you WITHOUT the ability to hack anything. The whole point of the game is hacking, then it's randomly taken away?

    Combat: I thought the combat was done pretty well, some of the side missions with gang hideouts, convoys, and getaways were fun. But I felt like the stealth component was lacking pretty bad. It seemed like most missions you start out trying to stealthily take down someone only to be spotted and have to change to a guns-blazing, grenade throwing, and IED setting madman. Oh, and sniper rifles are just about completely useless in game.

    Story: The story was alright, but nothing outstanding. A man seeks vengeance for the death of his niece, ends up making matters worse, then saves everyone and walks away at the end. I was never impressed with any of the characters (TBone was probably the best). There were a couple plot twists that didn't make a whole lot of sense and left me thinking "well, that was dumb." But I did feel like they made some good connections with why Pierce was on his vengeful quest.

    There were some good points, overall it was enjoyable to play. It was engaging, the hacking was a cool feature, the online interactions with hacking other people was fun, the world was fun to look at and explore, and combat was pretty engaging once guns started firing. The enemies aren't complete idiots, and will hide behind cover and try to flank you.

    Overall, I give it a 6, almost 7. The 6 only because I felt like I was told this game was going to be the next big thing. But it wasn't. It was a decent game, not extraordinary. Keep going Ubisoft, I know you can make quality stuff, I believe you can make this better.    … Expand
  56. DarthGoogle
    May 30, 2014
    6
    I was hopeful when I opened the packaging that this would be the best game ever. Sadly - Ubisoft forgot to pay gamers to leave favorable reviews. I'll take you through the good and the bad as I see them and you can decide for yourself.

    The Good: The graphics are great. Some of the best and the close up perspective makes you feel immersed in the game world. The amount of things to    I was hopeful when I opened the packaging that this would be the best game ever. Sadly - Ubisoft forgot to pay gamers to leave favorable reviews. I'll take you through the good and the bad as I see them and you can decide for yourself.

    The Good:

    The graphics are great. Some of the best and the close up perspective makes you feel immersed in the game world.

    The amount of things to do is unlimited. There are so many things you could forget the side missions and do your own thing without the story. This could be good or bad.

    Diversity - there are a significant number of diverse characters with different ideas and professions. However after about 5% into the game you'll start getting repeat conversations and find people with the same issues.

    The Bad:

    I am a stickler for gameplay. Being a former video game producer I can tell you that bad gameplay will always kill a game. Of course you'll get the fanboys who love it no matter what but if you thought you were getting a modern day Assassins Creed you are in for a rude awakening.

    The games AI is dreadful. You are always the focus. If enemies shoot at you and some passerby calls the police, the police show up to shoot you. Not arrest you, detain you, but full on shoot to kill. I had one point where a guy shot at me robbing a woman and the police officer standing there just turned and shot me.

    The Police always know where you are even when you are hiding. I was hiding behind a wall when someone heard shots and called the police. The police showed up and even though I was hiding they all walked pointing their guns towards my hiding spot.

    The game forces you to play its way. I don't like open world games that tout freedom to do things as a way to force you to do things that make it impossible. Forcing you to use melee to take down an enemy surrounded by armed thugs seems a bit on the dumb side without even giving a reason for it. You can kill all the enemies but shooting that guy is off limits.

    Why did Namco make this game? Everything about this game feels like you are playing a Konami light gun arcade game. From the large yellow bullets to the campy game dialogue that is almost cartoony. The game is right up there with Lethal Enforcers... I mean they could have named it that and it would have been true tot he name.

    Everyone recognizes you. Why? Isn't the purpose of being incognito to not be recognized yet everyone on the street knows who you are?

    You can walk around and shoot people but melee is out of the questions unless you are taking down a scripted bad guy. It's like melee was an after thought.

    Multiplayer - nothing says fun like being constantly interrupted during your game by people randomly hacking you without a choice. Don't want to be online? Well then you don't get anything for online and it resets everything.

    Steal from everyone - Here's this guy who is a vigilante, but he has no issues robbing people who are foster parents, cub scout leaders, and social workers. Also if you find someone with a criminal record and you kill them... nope that's your bad. You should not have been a vigilante on that. It's like the information given to you is so you could ignore it and it's pretty much useless. You NEVER use any of it. The good guy shouldn't be stealing money from the accounts of someone who is a charity worker or someone who just got diagnosed with cancer.

    Vehicles handle like crap.

    Getting into cover and then trying to get out of it is impossible at times. This is especially noticeable if you are use to playing GTA and trying to sprint after the guy.

    CONCLUSION - All in all this is an okay game. It's not world changing or even worth playing over GTA. The game sets a new low for gameplay. Kids under 16 will like it, but anyone with a true affinity for games will not. If you like being limited in your gameplay this is probably the best game for you.    … Expand
  57. Kazlowe
    Jun 1, 2014
    6
    It's a fun game, but after you play a bit, you realize it's just a reskin of the same systems and mini-games found in AC and Far Cry. There's iteration but not as much innovation as they claimed in the pre-release. There also seems to be little character motivation to do any of the stuff outside the campaign, but that sandbox has it's own charm as well. Wait for a sale or rent it.
  58. ezerik
    Jun 11, 2014
    6
    I was excited for this game in light of the small selection of games on Xbox One. Gotta say I'm disappointed. It feels like Watch Dogs tries to do GTA but it doesn't come close to doing GTA as good as GTA does GTA (if that makes sense). Hacking is unique and brings a good amount of cool features. Otherwise, it feels like a poor man's GTA. That's the best I can describe it. Multiplayer isI was excited for this game in light of the small selection of games on Xbox One. Gotta say I'm disappointed. It feels like Watch Dogs tries to do GTA but it doesn't come close to doing GTA as good as GTA does GTA (if that makes sense). Hacking is unique and brings a good amount of cool features. Otherwise, it feels like a poor man's GTA. That's the best I can describe it. Multiplayer is clumsy - you can invite friends to the same game, but I haven't figured out how to assure we're on the same team. Driving isn't as smooth as you'd like. Graphics are straight, not spectacular. Haven't felt like playing it much, already back on Titanfall more regularly. It's not awful but it's ok.… Expand
  59. Nataraja
    Aug 19, 2014
    7
    General Overview: This game does a decent job of creating an open world with stealth and action options for completing missions. The story is decent, but not incredible and Aiden is a bit flat as a protagonist and the NPC's really carry the story, not the somewhat monotone main character. The AI can go brain dead or be over the top aggressive and incapable of missing or spotting you.General Overview: This game does a decent job of creating an open world with stealth and action options for completing missions. The story is decent, but not incredible and Aiden is a bit flat as a protagonist and the NPC's really carry the story, not the somewhat monotone main character. The AI can go brain dead or be over the top aggressive and incapable of missing or spotting you. The graphics are decent but not the quality as shown in demos, never the less the graphics are well done. The side missions are a mixed bag but there is a TON to do within the game. Not a must play but worth it if you want something slightly different from other open world titles.

    TL;DNR: 7; A decent open world game with a mix of stealth and action. It doesn't do anything really revolutionary but is a fun game with many things to do. The online challenges are great and a welcome addition. The story is decent although Aiden Pearce is NOT the star of the show - instead its the NPC's along the way that make the game intriguing. Shooting is decent, driving is a bit off and too "floaty" and the forced chase scenes are so variable and often can be frustrating with a lack of check points. Its a decent alternative to other open world titles and can be a lot of fun despite its issues in certain areas.

    Technology/engine: 6; The engine used is decent for the most part... but then you hit the stuttering and frame rate drops for no apparent reason, just at a critical moment and there were at least 6 complete crashes during the campaign.

    AI: 7: its okay and some of it can be challenging although it can also fluctuate wildly from brain dead to omnipotence in various missions in the campaign.

    Graphics: 7: Not the quality shown in demos but certainly not the worst either. There are places where the textures breakdown for no apparent reason and pop-in later. Cinematics are decent.

    Sound: 7: The sound is okay but there are somewhat frequent volume issues with news reports being jarringly loud or whisper silent. Occasionally there are real source to reception distance issues and your own sounds can be over the top loud when moving in stealth or completely absent with not justification for the variability. Over all the sound is acceptable, but there are some places with big issues that were clearly not resolved prior to release.

    Soundtrack: 6: Mediocre at best.

    Voice acting: 7: probably the best part of the game and again the NPC's steal the show with HUGE variability in Aiden and the constant repetition of phrases from the enemy NPC's and the distinctive mismatch of vocal ethnicity and model ethnicity mismatch is jarring in places. The NPC's have done a great job with the majority of the lines and really make the game entertaining.

    Crafting: 5: Its there but not in anyway unique or ground breaking. It fits for the title but that is about it.

    Customization: 7: There are some custom outfits for Aiden and certainly enough skills to be had, although you will have most if not all of them prior to finishing the campaign, especially if you complete the Gang Hideouts as you go that award a skill point per completion at a minimum.

    Game play systems: 7: Fairly standard fair but I will say that the cover system works very well. The driving is perhaps the worst and that you are given the WORST cars to choose from in the forced chase sequences takes what could have been fun and transforms it into a chore. The stealth and hacking are okay and the firewall hacking mini-games are occasionally a pain and overly repetitive.

    Controls: 7: the controls are generally responsive unless you have hit one of the frame rate drops in the game and then it becomes difficult. The general layout is okay and is mostly frustration free EXCEPT the driving which is poorly implemented.

    Story: 7: Its a decent story but not one that will set the world on fire. There are some genuinely sad moments and tough choice in the end but its the NPC's and their part in the story that elevate the game. Had the story about Pearce been on par with say T-Bone or Clara this would be a 9.

    Multiplayer: 8: The multiplayer mini-games are fun and a good addition to the title.    … Expand
  60. ignostia
    Jun 26, 2014
    6
    When I first started playing Watch Dogs, I went in with high hopes, desperately anticipating a revolutionary open-world shooter unlike anything the gaming community had seen before, as this was how it was advertised. This might be a reason why I, personally, didn't like this game as much as most people. At first, it seemed very good. The stealth elements partnered with the large scale andWhen I first started playing Watch Dogs, I went in with high hopes, desperately anticipating a revolutionary open-world shooter unlike anything the gaming community had seen before, as this was how it was advertised. This might be a reason why I, personally, didn't like this game as much as most people. At first, it seemed very good. The stealth elements partnered with the large scale and highly detailed environments made for a largely enjoyable opening sequence. Then it all went downhill from there. The missions following were tedious and boring. The freemode didn't have enough things to do, and overall, the random online PvP's that would happen during freemode or while starting missions were the icing on top of the pile of crap advertised as a cake.… Expand
  61. Justmatt101
    May 27, 2014
    8
    The people scoring this game a "0" are...in my opinion....proof of just how socially retarded and petty a lot of folks in the gaming "community" have become.

    Watch Dogs is a very well made game that's a lot of fun to play. It's quite polished. It doesn't break the mold. It takes a developed concept (open, sandbox world you can explore however long you want) and adds a few new ideas.    The people scoring this game a "0" are...in my opinion....proof of just how socially retarded and petty a lot of folks in the gaming "community" have become.

    Watch Dogs is a very well made game that's a lot of fun to play. It's quite polished. It doesn't break the mold. It takes a developed concept (open, sandbox world you can explore however long you want) and adds a few new ideas. Maybe Ubisoft didn't introduce all the innovation gamers were looking for. But take the thing on its own merits and it is definitely worth the purchase. I don't CARE about GTA V. I don't care if basement dwellers feel they were misled regarding the graphics. The graphics are solid. And I can't understand giving a game a "0" out of some sense of socially inept, acne driven rage. Or how people can actually root for companies providing them with games to FAIL. Lame. All you've done is convinced me to stop looking at game site forums or metacritic user reviews. You have nothing constructive to say. You got nothing HONEST to say. And you're coming across as hateful to people who have done NOTHING to you. You don't want a product, then don't buy it. For the rest of ya, it's worthy of addition to your game library.    … Expand
  62. Werd5273
    May 27, 2014
    10
    Watch dogs is not a bad game. Sure their may be 2 sexual references but their is 48 hours of gameplay. You cannot see people having sex through their webcams. Every big name game has a few bad things but they're not entirely bad. It's a good game with a great story that's not intentionally bad.
    You play as Aiden Pearce a character whose niece was taken from him due to his criminal past.    Watch dogs is not a bad game. Sure their may be 2 sexual references but their is 48 hours of gameplay. You cannot see people having sex through their webcams. Every big name game has a few bad things but they're not entirely bad. It's a good game with a great story that's not intentionally bad.
    You play as Aiden Pearce a character whose niece was taken from him due to his criminal past. In the game you try and protect the rest of your family by hacking into CTOS he central operating system. You can hack virtually anything through it because everything is connected in modern. Distract guards, create blackouts, steal cars,or hack bank accounts you can do it all.
    The game is basically a mix of Assassins creed and Gta. Whenever you start the game you get put right in the action. You can hack into other players games and do mini games. You can also play multiplayer free roam and do games with other players. WATCH_DOGS is just a really good modern next gen game that everyone is playing appropriate for tweens and teens.    … Expand
  63. MythicRare
    Jul 15, 2014
    9
    This is a fantastic game, and the only thing that I can think of that's bad it about it is how hilariously inaccurate the map is. Even then, the setting of Chicago is a refreshing change to the boring settings of New York, Los Angeles, and occasionally Washington D.C. The hacking mechanic is fantastic, and adds many more things to do. There's plenty of things to do after the campaign isThis is a fantastic game, and the only thing that I can think of that's bad it about it is how hilariously inaccurate the map is. Even then, the setting of Chicago is a refreshing change to the boring settings of New York, Los Angeles, and occasionally Washington D.C. The hacking mechanic is fantastic, and adds many more things to do. There's plenty of things to do after the campaign is over, and even the multiplayer hacking is exciting, and can lead to a few ridiculous moments. I'm certain that if Ubisoft made an online mode for Watch Dogs, it would be much better than the GTA online garbage that Rockstar spewed out. I'm fairly certain that all of the negative reviews are from people who somehow thought that this game wouldn't about hacking. The driving takes a bit of getting used to, but is on par with GTA V. 9/10.… Expand
  64. SuperJoystick
    May 27, 2014
    8
    This game is great, though it doesn't reinvent the wheel. Do not pay attention to the trolls giving it zeroes. Check out the reviews of Joystiq, The Escapist, Destructoid, and even IGN to get a better impression.
  65. HorseHead247
    May 27, 2014
    8
    Let me begin by advising all of u on the fence about buying this game, throw out all the zeroes. These are most likely people still hung up on the "misleading graphics" from e3 2 YEARS AGO!! I've played quite a few true zeroes and this is absolutely NOT one of them. Pc gamers always claiming "fanboys" yet line up to give any and every console game a goose egg. I digress, this is a veryLet me begin by advising all of u on the fence about buying this game, throw out all the zeroes. These are most likely people still hung up on the "misleading graphics" from e3 2 YEARS AGO!! I've played quite a few true zeroes and this is absolutely NOT one of them. Pc gamers always claiming "fanboys" yet line up to give any and every console game a goose egg. I digress, this is a very good game. Driving may take some getting use to but is solid overall. I don't even know why I'm wasting my time writing this, a hundred more morons will be scoring it a zero by weeks end.... Best advice, watch some real reviews from established reviewers. Metacritic has become unreliable due to people like this.... enjoy!… Expand
  66. steelcurtaingam
    May 27, 2014
    8
    Watch Dogs is a game that almost needs no introduction but shouldn't be taken completely lightly at all. From the start it seemed like this game would have to much hype going into its release, but once you get into the game you will start to notice the journey it takes you on isn't what you probably expected but is still breath taking and a fresh idea none the less. Being set in aWatch Dogs is a game that almost needs no introduction but shouldn't be taken completely lightly at all. From the start it seemed like this game would have to much hype going into its release, but once you get into the game you will start to notice the journey it takes you on isn't what you probably expected but is still breath taking and a fresh idea none the less. Being set in a futuristic city of Chicago I feel the best things going for Watch Dogs has to be the innovative story it has set, along with decent character developments that will keep you wanting more even after the story is over. The only things that truly held this game back from being the best it could be was due to a bit of rushed story plot lines, quality control and a tad of repetitive gameplay. None the less Watch Dogs is truly a next gen experience that you will want to play at some point and that is why I feel this game deserves a 8.5/10!… Expand
  67. JiveTurkey06
    May 27, 2014
    10
    Giving this game a 0 is completely unjust, it amazes me that some of these people are even allowed to go on the internet. A zero would mean this is the worst game you have ever played (which this clearly is not). It's fine if you want to rate it a 0 but just know I'm going to give it a 10 just because. All you but hurt little kids need to grow up. This game is clearly not for you.

    Again    Giving this game a 0 is completely unjust, it amazes me that some of these people are even allowed to go on the internet. A zero would mean this is the worst game you have ever played (which this clearly is not). It's fine if you want to rate it a 0 but just know I'm going to give it a 10 just because. All you but hurt little kids need to grow up. This game is clearly not for you.

    Again this review is to only balance out the 0's. As for the game I have only just started but so far it's my favorite game I have for the One, and I see nothing deserving of a 0. Controls are tight and responsive and hacking thus far has been a blast.    … Expand
  68. SnitramOriaj
    May 28, 2014
    10
    Injustice!! This is the word for the reviews, profissional or not, that the people are giving to this game. This is simple one of the best games that I have ever played in my life. And I played a lot (I m talking about games like Half Life, Call of Duty 2, Mass Effect, Batman Arkham series, Diablo). This is a classic. It is innovative, with a lot of action, fun, adventure. What I can sayInjustice!! This is the word for the reviews, profissional or not, that the people are giving to this game. This is simple one of the best games that I have ever played in my life. And I played a lot (I m talking about games like Half Life, Call of Duty 2, Mass Effect, Batman Arkham series, Diablo). This is a classic. It is innovative, with a lot of action, fun, adventure. What I can say it is that the people like so much GTA V, that they are blind and don t want to give to another game the crown. But this game has everything that GTA V had, but much more. Enjoy my friends, this is a classic, I don t have doubt!!!!!!… Expand
  69. Bernardmcg
    Jul 10, 2014
    8
    People giving this game a 0 is unfair and a very biased view based on a lot of the internet's unfair opinions. There is no doubt ,however, that I feel let down by the fact that this game is not 1080p as first implied. But, when taking the entire game into thought, it is a fun, well balanced and intriguing game. Yes, the graphics aren't what they should be, but this is a fun game and unlessPeople giving this game a 0 is unfair and a very biased view based on a lot of the internet's unfair opinions. There is no doubt ,however, that I feel let down by the fact that this game is not 1080p as first implied. But, when taking the entire game into thought, it is a fun, well balanced and intriguing game. Yes, the graphics aren't what they should be, but this is a fun game and unless you base your opinion on others opinions or you are a graphics freak, you will find this game enjoyable.… Expand
  70. AkimboTitan
    May 27, 2014
    8
    This game has got the great Ubisoft open-world feel to it, and it works well. The graphics and gameplay mechanics are excellent, but nothing special. The story is the main let-down for this game. They could have taken it so far, but it turned out to be just your average revenge tale. The multi-player, frankly, is unnecessary, and failed to hold my interest for even half an hour.
    Now for    This game has got the great Ubisoft open-world feel to it, and it works well. The graphics and gameplay mechanics are excellent, but nothing special. The story is the main let-down for this game. They could have taken it so far, but it turned out to be just your average revenge tale. The multi-player, frankly, is unnecessary, and failed to hold my interest for even half an hour.
    Now for the positives! The game not only is very atmospheric with the bustling streets and sneaking around the city, but it also feels very busy. This adds the effect that you can't keep track of everyone, so you could miss your target. The story, despite being basic as I said before, does actually pick up towards the end, so I do recommend sticking with it. I will be having a second playthough, but my first "speed-run" took nine hours to complete, so the game, (if you do all the side content/missions) should take around 20 hours; an acceptable length. The map is beatiful and big (the same size as GTA 5's main city area), and is extemely detailed and deep. The game, lastly, is unique, and I must admit it is actually much better than similar games, such as GTA. Don't believe the troll reviews between 1-4, this is a top quality game, worth the money.    … Expand
  71. Bazongaman
    May 27, 2014
    8
    I have now played this game for about 3 hours now and have a feel for what the game brings to the table. The game is not as bad as many people like to think it is. It does have a few graphical issues, but what game doesn't? A lot of people are also comparing this game to GTA5. Although the games do have some similarities, that doesn't mean they should be compared. The real only thing inI have now played this game for about 3 hours now and have a feel for what the game brings to the table. The game is not as bad as many people like to think it is. It does have a few graphical issues, but what game doesn't? A lot of people are also comparing this game to GTA5. Although the games do have some similarities, that doesn't mean they should be compared. The real only thing in this game that is "realistic" is that the city of Chicago is a real place (duh). Other than that, it's like any other game where it extends reality and adds a twist. This game reminds me more of Saints Row than GTA5. The driving mechanics are not realistic as you can plow through a car and have little to no damage to your car. But stealth can be a huge factor in this game if you like being sneaky even when you don't have to. The story is captivating as far as I have gotten but I always find myself spending more time going into other peoples games and trying to hack them. Although it seems annoying when someone does it, it bring something new and fresh gameplay rather than just running through the campaign as fast as you can. Of course you can disable the multiplayer aspect whenever you wish, but by doing so, you're missing on something special that only Watch Dogs brings to the table. If you are only looking for a realistic game to play, this game isn't for you. This game is more to those people that enjoy goofing off in a game. To those asking "is this game worth the $60 price tag", I would say yes, but waiting on a game sale may not be a bad idea. But this is a game worth trying.… Expand
  72. Younanomous
    Jul 10, 2014
    8
    I'll just list the pros and cons of this game. My real score would be a 7 out of 10 but I gave it an 8 to offset the people that gave it a 0 just because of graphics. In summary, this game shows great potential for a sequel, much like the first Assassin's Creed. If you're not sure; rent, buy used, or just wait for a price drop.

    Pros: -The side missions are fun, especially the Sound    I'll just list the pros and cons of this game. My real score would be a 7 out of 10 but I gave it an 8 to offset the people that gave it a 0 just because of graphics. In summary, this game shows great potential for a sequel, much like the first Assassin's Creed. If you're not sure; rent, buy used, or just wait for a price drop.

    Pros:
    -The side missions are fun, especially the Sound Trip missions. I really like the gang hideouts as well.
    -For the most part, the game gives you the option to kill, knock out, or altogether avoid the enemies during missions.
    - The shooting mechanics are fairly tight and it has one of the best cover mechanics I've seen in any open world game, GTA could take some notes here.
    -The character models on secondary characters are really good.
    -The city is fun to explore and the visuals are overall really nice, especially when it rains.

    Cons:
    - The story is extremely boring, poorly paced, and forgettable.
    - The main character, Aiden Pearce, is not someone the player can relate to or even support.
    - The driving is terrible (though I've gotten used to it and can maintain control in almost any situation) especially surprising given that the guys from the Driver series cam in to help. Driving can be bad in some games, but almost every car in this game handles like the beaters from GTA4.
    - Random difficulty spikes, sometimes the AI can't hit the broad side of a barn, other times they have pinpoint accuracy with a pistol from afar.

    Yes, the game doesn't look like it's initial E3 trailer, but we have to remember that Ubisoft didn't know the final specs of the new consoles. I'm not saying we should let it slide, but don't pass on a decent game just for graphics. I initially wrote this game off, but I'm glad I gave it a try.    … Expand
  73. n8booya
    May 27, 2014
    10
    there is one word for this gam and it is amamzing 10/10 anyday because of its unique characters and 42 hour plus story and there is lot sto do in this city side missions and just messing about
  74. llMasterBetall
    May 27, 2014
    5
    Should you buy this game: YES
    Why?
    If you are an owner of a next gen console and you do not have access to other open world games, I believe that this game is really worth getting. This game is very disappointing to people who were super hyped for the game but I think that this game is a better buy than games such as BF4, Call of Duty Ghosts, and now even GTA V (Until Next Gen comes out    Should you buy this game: YES
    Why?
    If you are an owner of a next gen console and you do not have access to other open world games, I believe that this game is really worth getting. This game is very disappointing to people who were super hyped for the game but I think that this game is a better buy than games such as BF4, Call of Duty Ghosts, and now even GTA V (Until Next Gen comes out cuz idk what that'll be like). The game does one thing right, you can hack and you can hack your friends and strangers. The multiplayer aspect can be very annoying but very cool however the real game comes from all the side missions. The campaign is somewhat dull but I strongly believe the side quests and the city itself offer you the most fun in Watch Dogs at least in my opinion. I am still disappointed in Watch Dogs however I believe that Ubisoft can redeem themselves with a sequel to the game or through The Division.    … Expand
  75. GamerStream
    May 27, 2014
    10
    Some of the gameplay mechanic is similiar to PlayStation Exclusive, The Last of Us. However, some of E3 2012-2013 part were mising or cut by Ubisoft such as; Hand-stealth, Gun sequense, dramatic story, etc... The gameplay psychic was using a low-life engine, Havok (also used in TLOU). Face it, this isn't GTA, or Saints Row, or any other kind of familiar sandbox game. I was having so muchSome of the gameplay mechanic is similiar to PlayStation Exclusive, The Last of Us. However, some of E3 2012-2013 part were mising or cut by Ubisoft such as; Hand-stealth, Gun sequense, dramatic story, etc... The gameplay psychic was using a low-life engine, Havok (also used in TLOU). Face it, this isn't GTA, or Saints Row, or any other kind of familiar sandbox game. I was having so much fun with the hacking part, by stealing personal information, bank account, taking over a network, but you just waiting for this cool game, until you give a good, or bad respond....… Expand
  76. diablohitman
    May 28, 2014
    8
    Watch dogs a lot of fun and a solid start to what could be become a stellar franchise. Everyone has been saying this is another GTA clone but for me the similarity's ended at open world sandbox in a modern city it's like saying every MMO is a WOW clone. First off those saying the graphics are horrible and not next gen worthy i really dont know if were seeing the same game because thisWatch dogs a lot of fun and a solid start to what could be become a stellar franchise. Everyone has been saying this is another GTA clone but for me the similarity's ended at open world sandbox in a modern city it's like saying every MMO is a WOW clone. First off those saying the graphics are horrible and not next gen worthy i really dont know if were seeing the same game because this game looks great almost feel im in a movie at times and the collision detection they have set up for car crashes is great seen a few that are just brutal. As for the world it seems it vibrant and alive people react to you walk by and you hear them gossip and chit chat the issue i have though is it lacks depth. There is alot to do but i just feel like there's some underlining component that's still missing in the open world. As far as driving goes only issues i have with control are after hitting the gas too long and it becomes hard to steer but... that makes sense so doesn't make problem for me. Now where it is suppose to be similar to other games is causing a ruckus to anger cops to run from. Watch dogs as a bar that discourages you from killing random civilians or else you wil be labeled a menace and people will call the police on you. well some may be disappointed by this i feel it make alot more sense and in the way watch dogs does it adds more to the game. If aiden is seen as a hero you can largely get away with some things with people not caring shoot to many people though and those phones will come out quick(oh btw you can shoot the people making the call lots of fun). When the phones do come out and cops are called is where watch dogs begins to distance itself as running from the cops has never been more thrilling in any game. They start by scanning the area for you once they find you police cars are dispatched and chase is on. During the chase scenes aiden has his phone to have all kinds of surprises with a few skill up grades aiden can raise bridges to pas activate traffic lights as he goes under causing cars to ram into chasing cops disable helicopter or my favorite so far activate road blockers causing the cops to smash into them. All of it is a lot of fun and adds more then just driving to a cop chase. On foot aidens phone is just as fun he can use it to blow power boxes causing black out or using it to hack into devices of guards. The story isn't a blockbuster hit but it is still engaging and leaving me entertained and ready to see whats next. Aidens phone also allows you to become the biggest creeper on the planet as you can look up quick tidbits about peoples lives income and even ahck their bank accounts and listen to their conversations. This feature is cool although the first part about getting tidbits about people lives is something thats like "ha this is cool...but what do i do with that.." so the guy makes weird Google searches or is being treated for depression...while that makes the world feel real what is the use in all that? Another issue that could have added more to it was the skill tree. At first i saw it and thought oh this is cool i can choose if i want to be better at driving or hacking or combat but in reality you gain skill points so fast that i've already grabed all the skills on my tier and just waiting for next tier to unlock. Also although some skills point are cool ive already unlock most of the ones that i wanted. I think this this skill "tree" needs a bit more to it better skill and more depth so its not more of a skill shrub. The stealth system is fun but it works alot better at night when you can cut the power. There are plenty of way to take out armed guards but most of the cool hacking ways involves blowing a fuse or gas pipe which does the job but then alerts people there is someone nearby so more quiet ways would be cool. The mutiplayer system is alot of fun its cool to hack into someones game and try to stay outa sight while getting data its also satisfying to find someone doing the same to you and popping them in the head

    All in all while Watch dogs is a ground breaking hit that breaks bounds it does add alot of cool new features and twists to a genre that really makes it stand out on its own. It's alot of fun to to play and is a good change of pace. There are however always improvements to be made and i think if Ubisoft can add some more depth (like given us a reason its important that man looks up too much porn or she plays to much online gaming rather then just there) and improve their skills trees maybe even give us more sweet hacks this could be another hit franchise for them as it stands now great game and a solid start.    … Expand
  77. D1eselmech
    Jul 16, 2014
    7
    Had lots of expectations for this games especially for being delayed for six months!! At first the game is great but after a couple of hours it just the same stuff, if your into assassin creed u might like this game, missions are kind of the same with chase at the end or follow someone, I can't lie I spent many hours playing....here is the list of pros and cons
    Pros:
    Hacking ability is    Had lots of expectations for this games especially for being delayed for six months!! At first the game is great but after a couple of hours it just the same stuff, if your into assassin creed u might like this game, missions are kind of the same with chase at the end or follow someone, I can't lie I spent many hours playing....here is the list of pros and cons
    Pros:
    Hacking ability is fun and new
    Lots of gameplay with free world and missions
    Online is fun with integrated multiplayer with single player
    Cons:
    Graphics are last gen
    No In depth storyline
    Driving feels weightless and sluggish
    This game is not bad just been expecting a break through game for the next gen system and yet no one has yet to provide one. This could have been easily made for the 360, I am just ranting on how the new gen of systems seem like they are the same as the previous gen    … Expand
  78. Hex_01
    May 28, 2014
    10
    This game does horrible being a GTA V clone and that's because it isn't supposed to be. This game is a mix of AC and Splinter Cell with hacking and it is defiantly fun. Between the multiplayer, the story and the constant side missions it can be pretty difficult to get bored. After saying all that, this game may be fun for only a certain gamer. I could easily see how some people may notThis game does horrible being a GTA V clone and that's because it isn't supposed to be. This game is a mix of AC and Splinter Cell with hacking and it is defiantly fun. Between the multiplayer, the story and the constant side missions it can be pretty difficult to get bored. After saying all that, this game may be fun for only a certain gamer. I could easily see how some people may not really get into the game and just go through the motions of the game and never find it interesting to play. Since I am not one of those people, I give it a 9.5… Expand
  79. gx187
    May 28, 2014
    10
    this game is amazing! people are crying about it dose not look as good as GTA V and that watch dogs should blow it out the water well they are **** crazy. the problem is they have a crappy TV. if your playing on a TV that is 6+ yrs old YES the graphics will look the same.PEOPLE its not GTA the game play is different its suppose to be it does take a few mins to get use to. also this isthis game is amazing! people are crying about it dose not look as good as GTA V and that watch dogs should blow it out the water well they are **** crazy. the problem is they have a crappy TV. if your playing on a TV that is 6+ yrs old YES the graphics will look the same.PEOPLE its not GTA the game play is different its suppose to be it does take a few mins to get use to. also this is there first game the second one will be 10 times better. to give this game a neg review your just a jack ass. and the people who gave it a 0 kill your self lol. it has a great story line tons of things to do. the online part is fun to do. for me the hype of the game was met. they push the release date back for money why would they release 2 amazing games at once assassins creed and watch dogs at the same time DUH!!!… Expand
  80. oliminator123
    May 28, 2014
    9
    Fun game. The people putting 0's are just trolls. Enjoyable open world and if you're from Chicago it's a bonus. Hacking is fun and doesn't get old unless you have the attention span of a rodent. Like some said it does feel like GTA, which I don't see why that's a bad thing since it's a great game. Trolls trolling trolls trolling trolls.
  81. Lackin
    May 28, 2014
    10
    Bought it on release day and spent so many hours on it absolutely fab game, Fun to play and incredibly addictive. Graphics are superb and mind blowing.
  82. GlitterLicks
    May 28, 2014
    8
    Have you ever had a hamburger with peanut butter on it? Sounds kind of weird huh? Peanut butter and hamburgers are equally delicious on their own, but when you combine the two you have an unexpected delicious hamburger-peanut-butter-thing that you would have never thought would work so well together.

    Enter Watch Dogs. Watch Dogs is like a peanut butter hamburger, or in this case, a    Have you ever had a hamburger with peanut butter on it? Sounds kind of weird huh? Peanut butter and hamburgers are equally delicious on their own, but when you combine the two you have an unexpected delicious hamburger-peanut-butter-thing that you would have never thought would work so well together.

    Enter Watch Dogs.

    Watch Dogs is like a peanut butter hamburger, or in this case, a combination of Splinter Cell (stealth, take-downs, gadgets and gun combat) and GTA V (open world, vehicles and all out carnage)--two games you wouldn't think would go together well, but when combined make a most unexpected and delicious...er...awesome game.

    Don't get me wrong, the game isn't perfect, the driving mechanics aren't the best I've seen and some of the characters are a little dull, and the graphics in next-gen aren't quite next-gen (at times--water is gorgeous!). Besides that, there is a ton of fun to be had including a massive stack of main and side quests, phone games and city games. The game isn't short on content, and that's just the single player. Once you jump on to multiplayer you'll have a blast racing, hacking in to unexpected players, shooting your way to hack the objective from other teams or just raising hell in free roam.

    My review in a nutshell:

    Graphics: 8
    Sound: 8
    Gameplay: 9
    Controls: 8
    Singleplayer: 9
    Multiplayer: 8    … Expand
  83. LUFCXI
    Jun 26, 2014
    7
    Enjoyable gameplay. Sadly graphics don't live up to anything near what they showed at E3 2012. Tough levels, lots of hrs of gameplay. If you like GTA V, this will tie you over until Oct 2014 when GTA V is released on next gen consoles but it is only a stopgap sadly. Saying that, I am giving it a 7 because I love the multiplayer aspect of it and the ctOS app is brilliant for battlingEnjoyable gameplay. Sadly graphics don't live up to anything near what they showed at E3 2012. Tough levels, lots of hrs of gameplay. If you like GTA V, this will tie you over until Oct 2014 when GTA V is released on next gen consoles but it is only a stopgap sadly. Saying that, I am giving it a 7 because I love the multiplayer aspect of it and the ctOS app is brilliant for battling against friends, regardless of the console it is on.… Expand
  84. StewieGrif85
    Jul 7, 2014
    7
    Decent little game. I don't feel hard done by purchasing this game. now im 98% complete i feel its a good time to sum up my experience. I felt the controls for the game were a little clunky and the camera seemed to have a mind of its own from time to time. I felt the different missions:, campaign, fixer contracts, gang hideouts etc were great fun. Graphically pleasant and the overallDecent little game. I don't feel hard done by purchasing this game. now im 98% complete i feel its a good time to sum up my experience. I felt the controls for the game were a little clunky and the camera seemed to have a mind of its own from time to time. I felt the different missions:, campaign, fixer contracts, gang hideouts etc were great fun. Graphically pleasant and the overall concept a success. The only down sides i would say was the length of the game, compared to similars (GTA) i felt it was far shorter and map is probably a 3rd of the size. I expect this will increase on the second addition having all the hard work been put in to create textures, buildings, cars, and AI etc all done and some slight improves to be made the next time round. I felt the mini games such as digital trips and drinking games were a waste of time. i didn't get much if any enjoyment out of them. I merely participated for my quest to 100% completion.

    Overall a good game, worth a play but room for improvement in watch dogs 2 (which i hope happens) has the makings to be a great franchise.    … Expand
  85. corpal_hudson
    May 27, 2014
    10
    This game is a load of fun. The good games are rolling in now. Thanks Ubisoft! Hacking street lights is endless fun. Pow! Hijinks aside, there is a story. These negative reviews need to be deleted. We wanted a good sandbox game and it's been delivered. 70 negatives is stupid. The driving is solid; it's the single best sandbox driver I've seen in years. Then you have this wholeThis game is a load of fun. The good games are rolling in now. Thanks Ubisoft! Hacking street lights is endless fun. Pow! Hijinks aside, there is a story. These negative reviews need to be deleted. We wanted a good sandbox game and it's been delivered. 70 negatives is stupid. The driving is solid; it's the single best sandbox driver I've seen in years. Then you have this whole hacking element. Eavesdropping on conversations, there is a lot of content. This game should be in your library.
    It's a 10! They nailed it dead on!    … Expand
  86. AGrrrr
    Jun 5, 2014
    7
    Oh, what it could have been....Those are the words which continuously run through my mind while playing Watch Dogs, the new game from Ubisoft. To me, this reminds me of the Assassin's Creed series where the concept is great but the developers aren't able to fully utilize it.

    When I first picked up the game and started playing it, I was impressed by the realistic driving and the many    Oh, what it could have been....Those are the words which continuously run through my mind while playing Watch Dogs, the new game from Ubisoft. To me, this reminds me of the Assassin's Creed series where the concept is great but the developers aren't able to fully utilize it.

    When I first picked up the game and started playing it, I was impressed by the realistic driving and the many activities you are bombarded with out of the gates. However, none of the activities have lasting power and will shortly start to feel like work instead of play. There are the typical collection missions, puzzle missions and "go kill this bad guy" missions which all feel bland in general. Because of the hacking element, there is a different makeup for these side activities but are still obviously cookie-cutter molds from previous games.

    The online play is where Watch Dogs shines...at first. Hacking other players while they are in game is a great idea and I really wished they would've expanded on the experience. The idea is you can "hack" a random player while they are between missions on their single player campaign. You will be spawned into "their" city within close proximity of the player you are attempting to hack. Then you are assigned the task of hacking your opponent within a time limit of 5 minutes (which consists of getting close enough and within view of your target while holding 'X'). Once the hack is started, you must not be identified by the target while the process is finished and staying within the radius of the "hacking circle." This takes a reasonable amount of time and at every interval of %25, the search area becomes smaller which makes it more difficult to hide. This makes for a great game of cat and mouse and really gets the heart pumping no matter if you are hacking or the one being hacked.

    The problem is, much like single player, there's nothing to keep you coming back to do it again. Once you have learned how to effectively hack others and defend against hacking yourself, it becomes a chore to participate in these sessions. The other online modes give a good change of pace like online decryption and CTOS mobile, but suffer from the same fate. Ubisoft needs to understand multiplayer is the where the lasting power comes from and if a deep and immersive online experience isn't presented then interest will fade quickly.

    Hopefully, they will provide an update or DLC which will expand on the world they have created but as of now, they are in the same category as the Assassin's Creed franchise: Great idea but could have been so much more.    … Expand
  87. RE1SY
    May 29, 2014
    9
    I'm bumping my review up to a nine although it realistically is in the 8.5 range. Obviously I've had a blast playing so far and honestly don't know what all the stigma is about. The same kids that complain all shooters are the same are the ones trying to compare this to GTA. It has more of an arcade feel and that holds true to the driving as well. I recommend playing it.
  88. JonahGamer
    May 28, 2014
    10
    Watch Dogs is an amazing game. Don't listen to the people who give it a yellow/red. I was excited for this game ever since it was announced, and I can safely say I was not dissapointed. The game is amazing, fun, and addicting. Like any ubisoft game, it has a LONG storyline, which is good so there's more to do in the game. The hacking ability is very unique and useful. I played the game forWatch Dogs is an amazing game. Don't listen to the people who give it a yellow/red. I was excited for this game ever since it was announced, and I can safely say I was not dissapointed. The game is amazing, fun, and addicting. Like any ubisoft game, it has a LONG storyline, which is good so there's more to do in the game. The hacking ability is very unique and useful. I played the game for about 5-6 hours, and I'm only 6% done! That just SHOWS how much there is! The world of Chicago is MASSIVE, which is also good so there's more room for missions. The voice acting is great, and after I was done playing, I was left wanting more. The game is fun, that's just it. That's the word you use to describe an amazing game. And Watch Dogs DEFININTLY deserves it.… Expand
  89. MinorityBabble
    May 28, 2014
    7
    I've spent several hours playing Watch Dogs and I still don't feel like I know what I'm doing.

    It starts off solid with a bit of hand-holding, and prompts that get you acquainted with VERY basic game play. While this was useful it was both overbearing and inadequate at the same time. You're sneaking around through most of the introduction hunched over like Quasimodo, I wasn't (and I'm    I've spent several hours playing Watch Dogs and I still don't feel like I know what I'm doing.

    It starts off solid with a bit of hand-holding, and prompts that get you acquainted with VERY basic game play. While this was useful it was both overbearing and inadequate at the same time. You're sneaking around through most of the introduction hunched over like Quasimodo, I wasn't (and I'm still not) sure if I was even able to stand up straight. If I was, I have no idea what button does it. When you were standing up the movement seems sluggish and slow -- I'm not sure why this is how you're first exposed to the game, because it really like this later on.

    Once you've successfully slipped out of the stadium, you're thrown into an open world to just figure it out. You're told there is a car stashed for you, but since nothing is clearly explained it took me a moment to realize where it was on my map and when "how to" windows open, it's often mid-action, making it difficult to really take in what it's telling you.

    After walking a block or so (it took me forever to realize the RT was the sprint button) you hop in the car and head to your hotel room.

    I should have stayed on foot, even if it was going to take me all night. Driving in this game is a miserable experience. Every car is heavy, apparently lacks power steering, and is being driven with bald tires on iced over streets (which would explain why the streets seem to glisten). The button configuration isn't truly customizable and the driving mechanics/physics are awful; somebody needs to be fired over it. On the plus side, somebody realized that it's impossible to drive even a few feet without slamming into people, places and things, so they made the cars virtually indestructible.

    Your magical phone: For better or worse they don't really go into detail about how your phone works, but that isn't a huge deal, I don't want a bunch of laughably bad hacking jargon tossed at me for the sake of filling time. So, as far as I'm concerned, the phone works by holding the "X" button, and that's pretty much it.

    There are skill trees that are never fully explained and I have no idea how you build the points that allow you to unlock the tree.

    There is a story here somewhere, but hell if I can find it -- I've been wondering around exploring the city (on foot) almost the entire time.

    So many questions:

    When I go to investigate/prevent a potential crime, why are the criminals overly worried about me, but not any of the 987690378456 people walking by them? I'm just some dude looking at my phone.

    When they do commit the crime, am I supposed to kill them or just beat them? Does it even matter?

    Why is shooting at people so difficult?

    Why do two-bit thieves and purse snatchers have several cars full of armed mobsters on call?

    Am I supposed to feel bad stealing from people by hacking their phones? How am I any better than the small time criminals that are around every corner, and inordinately concerned about me personally?

    Can I change clothes or is everything just the same outfit with a different color scheme?

    Am I missing something? Why isn't the story progressing? Why isn't anyone calling me just to, if anything, nudge me towards progressing the campaign?

    SERIOUSLY: Why is driving so utterly frustrating?

    Contrary to the seemingly negative review, I don't hate the game, it's a really interesting concept, but still feels oddly limiting, considering how much is out there to find/explore. I'll certainly keep playing and try to see it through, but I feel pretty confident that no matter how much I end up liking it, I'll always feel that it has some serious game play mechanics issues that shouldn't exist in a next gen game, when games like GTA V and Saints Row 4 nearly perfected these things well over a year ago.    … Expand
  90. Agent-D
    Jun 4, 2014
    7
    Watch Dogs is a game that carries a lot of hype about being a true next gen game for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. I feel it's nearly impossible for anything to live up to the level of hype this game received. It is my intention to review this title fairly without any level of hype or hatred for this game as I never got in to the hype and I do not hate Watch Dogs.

    The narrative in    Watch Dogs is a game that carries a lot of hype about being a true next gen game for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. I feel it's nearly impossible for anything to live up to the level of hype this game received. It is my intention to review this title fairly without any level of hype or hatred for this game as I never got in to the hype and I do not hate Watch Dogs.

    The narrative in Watch Dogs showed promise at first but quickly starts to fall apart and not just due to the cliche vigilante revenge story. Certain narrative decisions make it little to hard to believe that anyone would make that decision and Intelligent characters start acting irrationally at almost the on set of the Pearce family saga and many players will put together the entire story line about halfway through. It's not that it isn't a fun story, it's just painfully obvious.

    A game I originally thought to have more in common with Assassin's Creed, Watch Dogs is in every way an open world game in line with Grand Theft Auto and like GTA it falls victim to some of the common issues in almost all open world games. While it is obvious the game is also running on some last gen tech, I do not count off for that due to that being something of the norm at the moment, but we need to move passed this phase. Even with that said graphically I feel that it is a mixed bag. The game looks simply amazing at times, only to fall off at others. I perfect example of this is how almost every character outside of Aiden and Clara looks in game. Nicole & Jackson Pearce look like they had been ripped straight from Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood graphically and placed in a game with a next gen version of Aiden and that not even getting in to how other non-important characters look far worse.

    The city is very hit and miss as well, I am not 100% certain what version of Chicago this is but it isn't remotely close to the one I have visited. Look I am not saying we need this 1:1 ratio of the city, but things should at least be close. Chicago is graphically inconsistent as well. It has some real beauty at times then the quality suddenly drops to muddy/blurry textures and bad aliasing. I am a bit concerned about the lighting and shadows in the game outside of direct sunlight as many of the lights at night do not cast shadows. That said I think the game looks astonishing at night when it's wet from rain and no visible light source around, but that in itself is the problem as they are covering up their faults by adding a layer of water to a darker landscape. Reflections in this game are rarely ever even used and in almost every event they are faked out to try to add to the realism, the issue I take with this is that the reflections are almost 100% of the time not even close to accurate. You might be standing on a rooftop looking at a window of an intersection when in reality it is a city skyline. I have found myself on street level staring in to a building that shows a road running right through the city and in to the building I am looking at, I then turn around and find river and a bridge.

    While the game is set at 30fps it has some frame rate issues on the PlayStation 4 (900p) and the Xbox One (792p). The drops are not considerable enough to cause a panic but should be noted after the game was delayed to correct issues like this.

    The game controls well and has some good mechanics with the hacking but lacks any real combat. Melee combat is really non-existent outside of the a quicktime style take down and shooting is a very basic version of the mechanics found in Splinter Cell: Blacklist. It just always feels so subpar in combat driving scenarios. That leads to another issue, for a game that tries to allow the player so many options to achieve their goals the game tends to fall back on one of two things, firefights and car chases. Hacking was suppose to be the thing that makes it stand out, but then it falls back to being GTA kill everyone or escape and the hacking is a minute tool used to change traffic lights or raise barricades / bridges. most of the time it's not even needed as you can get away with little no no effort (until much later in the game). While on driving, the driving in this game takes the poor controls of cars in every other open world game and decreases handling to make them that much more of a chore. Motorcycles are almost flawless so I highly recommend using those or the special stealth car unlocked in 'uplay'.

    The multi-player is unique and feels genuine, but is basically a trolling simulator The main quest will take one to two days to complete and the game offers enough side missions to make any 80 hour players scream with joy. The issue with those side activities is that once again like most open world games, they are very repetitive and lack any real diversity. Overall I think Watch Dogs is a solid game that everyone owes it to themselves to try, I feel that it is a very strong rental but not worthy of purchase    … Expand
  91. SquallStrider
    Jun 28, 2014
    8
    Watch Dogs...Bem se tratando do primeiro game sandbox da Ubisoft, pode-se dizer que ela conseguiu cumprir o seu papel. Uma temática bacana, um conceito que embora demore a se desenrrolar é bom, um protagonista que de hacker não tem nada, mas que consegue conquistar o jogador com o seu objetivo embora controverso porém curioso. Acho que se não fosse pelo HYPE e pelo tão discutido eWatch Dogs...Bem se tratando do primeiro game sandbox da Ubisoft, pode-se dizer que ela conseguiu cumprir o seu papel. Uma temática bacana, um conceito que embora demore a se desenrrolar é bom, um protagonista que de hacker não tem nada, mas que consegue conquistar o jogador com o seu objetivo embora controverso porém curioso. Acho que se não fosse pelo HYPE e pelo tão discutido e contraditório DOWNGRADE feita pela gigante de Montreal, este game teria notas melhores e seria bem menos estilhaçado pela imprensa especializada e por que mais importa, nós jogadores. Mas numa geração que acabou de nascer, onde o que mais importa é resolução e rates, pra mim, o jogo está muito bom....… Expand
  92. ILikeEyeBalls
    Jun 24, 2014
    10
    I've never disagreed with the critics' reviews of a game more. I almost didn't by this game and am so happy I ignored all the reviews out there. Usually I agree with the critics but this game is a huge exception. It took about 10 hours to get used to because the gameplay is so unique but once I got the hang of things, my opinion of this game completely changed. It might one of the bestI've never disagreed with the critics' reviews of a game more. I almost didn't by this game and am so happy I ignored all the reviews out there. Usually I agree with the critics but this game is a huge exception. It took about 10 hours to get used to because the gameplay is so unique but once I got the hang of things, my opinion of this game completely changed. It might one of the best games I've ever played and it blows my mind that so many people are reviewing this game so poorly. Everything is extremely polished and it's obvious they put a ton of work into this game. The blackout move is one of the coolest special powers I've ever seen in a video game and the random invasions by other players through online multiplayer is such a cool concept. I couldn't recommend this game more highly and hope more people ignore the ridiculous reviews out there and give this game a chance. It's definitely the best next gen game yet.… Expand
  93. NinjaHamster
    May 29, 2014
    9
    I think that this game looks beautiful. It has a sense of atmosphere and weight while maintaining its fun to play feel.
    It does veer into the ridiculous conventions sometimes found in action movies, but I think that is part of its charm. I feel like I can be as serious or silly as I want depending on my mood.
    I thinks that the 0 ratings for this game are unwarranted. I understand that    I think that this game looks beautiful. It has a sense of atmosphere and weight while maintaining its fun to play feel.
    It does veer into the ridiculous conventions sometimes found in action movies, but I think that is part of its charm. I feel like I can be as serious or silly as I want depending on my mood.
    I thinks that the 0 ratings for this game are unwarranted. I understand that there was a lot of hype about this game, and that more than a few people feel letdown, but a 0 rating out of anger or misunderstanding makes no sense to me.
    This game may not be for everyone but I look forward to being immersed in it for days to come.    … Expand
  94. TTotully
    May 29, 2014
    10
    Idk why there are so many ppl giving not just negative reviews but 1's and 0's! Ridiculous! I gave it a 10 just to balance out the 0's but in reality it's a 9 in my book. Great graphics, smooth controls, movement, gunplay, etc. The driving is a little arcade like but all
    In all serves it's purpose and is solid. Tons of things to do besides main story line, decent main character and    Idk why there are so many ppl giving not just negative reviews but 1's and 0's! Ridiculous! I gave it a 10 just to balance out the 0's but in reality it's a 9 in my book. Great graphics, smooth controls, movement, gunplay, etc. The driving is a little arcade like but all
    In all serves it's purpose and is solid. Tons of things to do besides main story line, decent main character and really good supporting cast. Story is a generic revenge take but picks up steam and is good enough. Multiplayer is a good distraction and can be a lot of fun, mind you that it is not going to replace Titanfall but it is a nice addition. In the end if you like open world sandbox games and own and Xbox 1 or PS4 then this is a no brainer. If you still have a 360 or PS3 then I can't speak to those editions because I haven't played it on either console. Hope this was helpful to anyone on the fence and I wish we could all work together as a gaming community to give honest and accurate reviews of our opinions of the game but I digress. The trolls are not going away anytime soon but I wish certain ppl whom i will remain nameless, who has given over 50 games a 0/10 would be banned. Thanks for reading and have fun with the game or whatever game you choose to buy/play.    … Expand
  95. DownByTheRiver
    Jun 18, 2014
    8
    I'm happy that Watch Dogs sorta lived up to the hype in the end. This game does a lot of things right and some things can be better I feel. The story is actually pretty good and has a lot of good depth, with some pretty interesting characters. I love the hacking in this game it adds something new to the sandbox game and there are loads of things to do in this Chicago. The multiplayer is okI'm happy that Watch Dogs sorta lived up to the hype in the end. This game does a lot of things right and some things can be better I feel. The story is actually pretty good and has a lot of good depth, with some pretty interesting characters. I love the hacking in this game it adds something new to the sandbox game and there are loads of things to do in this Chicago. The multiplayer is ok it could've been much better. Though there are loads to do some of it feels like it's there for no reason, and the car chases/races are fairly boring. Overall I thought it was a good play and I think it would be worth a play, and has great potential for the future… Expand
  96. Swatriotcntrl
    Jun 2, 2014
    8
    The campaign was really solid especially towards the end. The graphics looked like last gen but last gen consoles did not have the power to run this game past low-medium settings, driving mechanics were a 5/10 compared to GTA V's 10/10 and shooting was real good felt natural like gta v
  97. Caraeza
    Jun 5, 2014
    10
    First of all, this game probably does not deserve a 10/10. But I give it a 10 just to make up for the extremely low user score. Yes, the graphics aren't as good as the E3 demo, and no, the story isn't all that amazing. But so far I feel like I got my money's worth with this game more than any Xbox One title so far. I've only played for a few hours, but i can tell it's a fun game to play,First of all, this game probably does not deserve a 10/10. But I give it a 10 just to make up for the extremely low user score. Yes, the graphics aren't as good as the E3 demo, and no, the story isn't all that amazing. But so far I feel like I got my money's worth with this game more than any Xbox One title so far. I've only played for a few hours, but i can tell it's a fun game to play, it has good graphics and seems to have a lot of content.… Expand
  98. FloydianSlip
    Jun 3, 2014
    8
    Gameplay very akin to GTA V, but with a lot of extra depth, hacking obviously being the main draw here. I'm a man of few words: Good, but not great; repetitive side missions, but gripping narrative.

    Graphics 10/10
    Gameplay 9/10
    Story 8/10
    Length 9/10
    Replayability 2/10
  99. niconline
    May 30, 2014
    8
    Watch Dogs is an unmitigated triumph. Considering the game is a new IP, it does a lot of things incredibly well and lays the foundation for a franchise that has the makings of being a potential Assassin’s Creed beater. Despite a bad environment and vehicle damage, Watch Dogs is worthy of your time. There’s no doubt about that.
  100. Nikola8
    Jun 1, 2014
    10
    This is a great game. I believe a lot of the negative reviews are due to the failure of the game to meeting people's expectations - if you saw the original E3 trailer, you wouldn't even know this was an open world - GTA style game. So, let it be said, this is an open world GTA style game. Now, that said, this game shouldn't be compared to the GTA series (especially GTA V, which was aThis is a great game. I believe a lot of the negative reviews are due to the failure of the game to meeting people's expectations - if you saw the original E3 trailer, you wouldn't even know this was an open world - GTA style game. So, let it be said, this is an open world GTA style game. Now, that said, this game shouldn't be compared to the GTA series (especially GTA V, which was a monumental achievement in gaming). Instead, this game should be viewed as what it is - a Ubisoft game.

    It is important to understand that this is a Ubisoft game, because you'll then understand the roots of the gameplay - this ISN'T GTA. This feels much more like the product of what would happen if Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell had a child (I've played every game in both those series, and I think the comparison is accurate). The open world mechanics feel like Assassin's Creed, but the gunplay and focus on stealth scream 'Splinter Cell'. For those less familiar with those two series, the game may LOOK like GTA on initial glance, but understand that this is AC+SC. And that isn't a bad thing. If you compare this game with GTA using GTA criteria, it will fail - the driving isn't very good (comparatively) and the run&gun approach that often takes place in GTA just doesn't work in Watch Dogs - as I said, this game is a stealth open world game.

    Where this game absolutely SHINES is the hacking/tech/inter-connectivity approach. Hacking traffic lights, barriers, and spike strips to get away in a chase never gets old, and there is a huge level of satisfaction in hacking an enemy base without ever setting foot in it (through the creative use of camera hack hopping and line of sight). Also, the street missions of 'Person of Interest'-style crime prediction is very fun (you are given a probability of crime, which leads you to follow potential criminals or victims until a crime is committed, where you have the opportunity to stop it). Finally, the integration of multiplayer into the single player is brilliant (at any time, you can jump into another player's single player game and try to hack them - which causes them to have a timed manhunt for you. You can spend hours and hours of the game doing side missions without touching the story.

    So, if you understand what Watch Dogs really is, I think it is an enjoyable experience. It admittedly falls short in every area that it compares to GTA, but the new stuff that it adds to the genre is truly unique and there isn't another game out there that does the stuff that you can do with this game all in one package.

    This is probably the best game for Xbox One, and I have most of the games for the system.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

32
#32 Best Xbox One Game of 2014
9
#9 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2014
16
#16 Most Shared Xbox One Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15
  1. Pure Xbox
    Oct 21, 2014
    80
    If you were expecting Watch Dogs to take the genre in new directions then you’re going to be sorely disappointed. With that being said, Watch Dogs is still an engaging and often times surprising action game.
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  2. The Digital Fix
    Jun 25, 2014
    70
    With this introduction to the world of hacking Ubisoft have created a behemoth of an IP, one that promises much. Like its predecessor though, we’ll have to wait for the tighter and more focussed second iteration, removing what didn’t work and improving that which did, to realise that full potential.
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  3. X-ONE Magazine UK
    Jun 3, 2014
    70
    Consistently entertaining but lacking in originality, Watch Dogs boasts a hugely promising concept but finds itself coasting along on the triumphs of others. You won’t be disappointed, but you won’t be surprised either.
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