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. 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.
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. 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.
  5. 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
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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
  9. 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
  10. 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.
  11. 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
  12. 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
  13. 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
  14. 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
  15. 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
  16. 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.
  17. 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
  18. 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
  19. 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
  20. 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
  21. 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
  22. 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.
  23. 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
  24. 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
  25. 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
  26. 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
  27. 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
  28. 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.
  29. 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
  30. 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
  31. 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
  32. 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
  33. 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
  34. 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
  35. 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
  36. 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
  37. 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
  38. 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
  39. DirtierNewt
    Jun 21, 2014
    7
    Entertaining, but lacking any certain zeal to separate it from Grand Theft Auto. The story line and objectives were very similar, and, if given more time, I'm sure that the team creator could have made a very memorable and pleasing game.
  40. AuzzGames
    Jun 5, 2014
    7
    An enjoyable and graphically stunning game, but is let down for it's poor/confused story and lack of content, with a boring plot setup and little to nothing to do outside of the campaign, it can be easily overlooked and is nothing special for Next-Gen gaming.

    Should you play? Yes. It is fun for a while, but games like GTA V and Saints Row are no doubt better games when it comes down to    An enjoyable and graphically stunning game, but is let down for it's poor/confused story and lack of content, with a boring plot setup and little to nothing to do outside of the campaign, it can be easily overlooked and is nothing special for Next-Gen gaming.

    Should you play? Yes. It is fun for a while, but games like GTA V and Saints Row are no doubt better games when it comes down to content and overall enjoyment.    … Expand
  41. Valdanator
    Jun 5, 2014
    7
    I'm writing this for the Xbox One version. The game looks great and the gameplay is ok. It does get a little repetitive and it does feel a lot like an unpolished Assassin's Creed. The driving is absolutely horrible, the vehicles are stiff and the damage they take is unrealistic. The story line is cheesy If you think you're buying a futuristic GTA V, then think again, this game is a lotI'm writing this for the Xbox One version. The game looks great and the gameplay is ok. It does get a little repetitive and it does feel a lot like an unpolished Assassin's Creed. The driving is absolutely horrible, the vehicles are stiff and the damage they take is unrealistic. The story line is cheesy If you think you're buying a futuristic GTA V, then think again, this game is a lot different than that. I think I bought it because I wanted something different to play and was expecting something more closely related to GTA. However, the game is somewhat fun and I'm looking forward to playing it again and see what happens. I have yet to beat it, but I don't think it's going to get much better than what it is now. I do not think that it is worth the 59.99 I had to cough up for it. If possible, I think one should rent this game. Overall, the game looks great and it plays ok. It does seem as if it needs more time on the development department.… Expand
  42. TheQuietGamer
    Jul 15, 2017
    6
    Ubisoft's latest open-world series puts players in the role of a hacker fighting crime as a vigilante in a city where everyone and everything is connected by technology. With the help of your trusty cellphone the world becomes your playground. You can interact with various parts of the world around you in new ways. You can do some nifty stuff, but unfortunately Ubisoft Montreal failed toUbisoft's latest open-world series puts players in the role of a hacker fighting crime as a vigilante in a city where everyone and everything is connected by technology. With the help of your trusty cellphone the world becomes your playground. You can interact with various parts of the world around you in new ways. You can do some nifty stuff, but unfortunately Ubisoft Montreal failed to come up with any new, inventive scenarios to capitalize on this. At the end of the day the game just boils down to another open-world experience filled with tailing missions and bland side-activities.

    There's a lot of content in this game. However I found none of it to be very interesting. The side-activities are dull and the story missions are the same chase and infiltration challenges we've seen time and time again. To make matters worse they rarely make good use of your cool hacking abilities. I do appreciate how outside of a few mandatory stealth levels you are given the freedom to approach objectives how you would like. Both the stealth and the guns blazing approaches feel great. Choosing to go all stealthy is where the hacker theme really shine. Systematically taking out enemies by hacking cameras from a distance and screwing with the environments is a lot of fun and encourages smart thinking and creativity. It's a lot like the Batman: Arkham games. Combat is smooth and even features a bullet time ability that feels ripped right form Max Payne.

    This sort of brings me into my next point. You'll notice that Watch Dogs is borrowing from a lot of better games. You can feel traces of Grand Theft Auto in the world and even Ubisoft's own Assassin's Creed series in the very structure and activity design. This all leads to a sense of déjà vu and over familiarity that keeps Watch Dogs from ever really taking off. You've seen a lot of this before and it was better there. Especially since the game gets a lot of little things wrong. For example, driving is loose, awkward, and imprecise making chases and tail missions a pain. Getting chased by the police is a much too aggravating experience due to how annoyingly persistent they are and how long it takes to for them to loose interest once you finally due manage to slip out of their view. Oddly enough, there's also a reputation system that seems to serve no purpose at all. It's inclusion is a mystery that only seems to be in place because other open-world games have had them. Despite high production values and excellent work from the voice actors, the story is bland and uninteresting.

    To go with the always connected theme the game carries, you have the ability to jump into multiplayer content at any time while playing the game. You can access this stuff from your phone or stumble upon it randomly while exploring. Like the rest of the side-content I gave it a try but just wasn't compelled to actually do any of it. That's the game's real problem. There's nothing to actually hook you here.

    Ubisoft Montreal chose to stick to the standard open-world tropes. There are some good ideas here and fun moments, but the majority of my enjoyment came from just randomly walking around the incredibly detailed and well-made open-world and hacking people's implants for free stuff. The actual missions and challenges left me wanting as they usually failed to take advantage of the hacking abilities the game gifts to players. A shame, because when you are using them the game can be pretty fun because that's when it's at it's most original. As it stands, Watch Dogs is a standard open-world experience that gives you cool hacking abilities and largely fails to make them feel special at all. It's not bad, but you simply have a lot of better options out there.    … Expand
  43. Phil133
    Jul 3, 2017
    7
    Worth a playthrough just to see the different hacking mechanics. The story wasn't fantastic and the 'side missions' were just time fillers - the gameplay itself was fun however It suffers from the usual ubisoft open world formula.
  44. Lilbutter
    Mar 17, 2015
    7
    I had fun with Watchdogs, but it doesn't even come close to fulfilling it's potential. The world just feels empty, the driving is awful and the story is forgettable. But the shooting is really satisfying and there is tonnes of content! I'd get it when it's cheap.
  45. twos
    Sep 22, 2014
    6
    Good story and really well executed game mechanics, but just didn't live up to the hype or potential of the overarching idea, I just felt like the solution to every problem was exactly the same and really simple, press x (hack) or shoot it. It's worth playing but I think you'd be best of leaving til it sits in the bargain bin.
  46. criticcymru
    Aug 25, 2014
    7
    Great game to "pick up and play" a good size story to progress through and more than enough side missions and objectives to complete. The actual storyline is slow and slightly repetitive with the side missions. Great start to a new franchise and looking forward more watchdog games in the future. Even though it didn't live up to the "hype" it received from its appearance at e3 in 2013.
  47. Carlinhoscwbr3
    Sep 9, 2014
    7
    Watch Dogs, much hype game that turned out to be average. I liked the campaign but the main campaign is short and has too many unnecessary side quests that might have served for the campaign not?
    And in a matter of Multiplayer was very bad, we tried to mimic the GTA Online did not work, it was horrible, very lag, horrible!
  48. blazerX
    Oct 5, 2014
    7
    It's a great game overall, but there are somethings that doesn't make it a keeper. It is a great game, the story is not that good, but the gameplay is awesome. Sadly it doesn't feels like a next-gen game, but is worth your time.
    Worth playing, but not buying.
  49. MultiJWalking
    Dec 3, 2014
    7
    This game was extremely over hyped, for something that could have easily been a Grand Theft Auto copy, turned out to be a rather disappointing game. It has some good ideas for multiplayer, giving the player the idea that only they are main protagonist, Aiden Pearce. I thought the multiplayer was entertaining for at least a couple of rounds of hacking, a weird variation of capture the flagThis game was extremely over hyped, for something that could have easily been a Grand Theft Auto copy, turned out to be a rather disappointing game. It has some good ideas for multiplayer, giving the player the idea that only they are main protagonist, Aiden Pearce. I thought the multiplayer was entertaining for at least a couple of rounds of hacking, a weird variation of capture the flag where one team has to corrupt a download to stop it from downloading and the opposing team does what the other team doesn't. The driving was stupid. Even though Aiden gives himself the title of 'The Best Driver In All Of Chicago,' he can't take one had off the wheel to shoot the enemy A.I. Instead, you can only use your phone to hack nearby stoplights, steam pipes, draw bridges, etc. I assume they wanted it to be a more of a hacking game, which is what the game is supposed to be but hardly is. The hacking part looks pretty cool, and I don't hack but i'm pretty sure hacking is not like dumb turn the thing to connect to the end objective. The story is mediocre at best, its about a thug who loses his daughter to a shooting and goes on a vendetta to hunt down and kill everyone responsible. The End! We'll be taking that 60 dollars now. All in all, this game is not that bad if you like open world sandbox games. I suggest you wait for this game to go down in price to maybe the 29.99$ - 19.99$ range. The most important point of any game is to have fun, and I did. I bet you will too if you don't mind the main protagonist having a lack of personality, you should be fine.… Expand
  50. Viralsnake
    Nov 12, 2014
    6
    A game that can be fun at times, but has so many problems it's unbelievable.

    The hacking mechanic isn't as innovative as Ubisoft would like us to think, but I could deal with that. The main problems with the game though, are that it has a throw away story... and aside from that, the occasional boring event and some activities which you can perform (many of which you can't redo)    A game that can be fun at times, but has so many problems it's unbelievable.

    The hacking mechanic isn't as innovative as Ubisoft would like us to think, but I could deal with that.

    The main problems with the game though, are that it has a throw away story... and aside from that, the occasional boring event and some activities which you can perform (many of which you can't redo) there's little to this game. The graphics are not as impressive as we were led to believe, and we see now that the Xbone and PS4 can both do better.

    This is a fun game at times, and it is slightly above average in quality. Pick it up cheap and you'll be able to kill some time on it, but I wouldn't pay the original price for it.    … Expand
  51. Honoral
    Feb 19, 2015
    6
    I bought it from a sale and I didn't expect much from it after all the hype and after that, all the people let down by it. I thought I could give it a go as I enjoy open world games and I did not get enough from GTA V. Let me tell you, it is a solid game. It's worth playing but definitely not worth the full price. I'll tell you why.

    Driving. It feels horrible. When you have to get away    I bought it from a sale and I didn't expect much from it after all the hype and after that, all the people let down by it. I thought I could give it a go as I enjoy open world games and I did not get enough from GTA V. Let me tell you, it is a solid game. It's worth playing but definitely not worth the full price. I'll tell you why.

    Driving. It feels horrible. When you have to get away from the police or a band of gang members, it can be a real pain. Cars are floaty and don't have any feeling to them whatsoever. In a game where driving is in any role, I would hope that the mechanics were a bit better.

    Hacking. Extremely fun concept. Problem is it falls short and feels shallow. I admit, it IS fun to exploit the hacking mechanics in the open world, listening to people's phone calls, intruding their homes and just general trolling by messing up the traffic lights. For many people this gets old rather quickly and some might feel that the thing holding up the game doesn't interest them at all.

    Story. Not going to reveal any plot twists or any details, but if you're looking for a good story, move along. This was so predictable and generic that there were multiple occasions where I shook my head in disappointment.

    Activities. There is a lot to do in the world. The world feels alive enough and most of the activities I found engaging. If you are not a fan of these kind of games you will most surely skip all the extra content, but I recommend to try out the spider tank. It's a load of fun! After 30 minutes, though, you never want to touch it again. Ah yes! Don't forget the towers! The same towers you activate in every single Ubisoft game! Yes, they are back.

    Graphics. The city looks nice at night and even nicer when it rains, but there is a lot of pop-in in high speeds and the framerate sometimes dips. Watch Dogs does not look like the Watch Dogs we were promised, but in my eye it's good enough. I didn't buy an Xbox One to look at the most beautiful graphics in the world.

    Finally. This game is a 6 IF, and only if, you are a fan of these kind of games. If you are, you will enjoy all the content and spend maybe 25, 30 hours in the game. However, if you don't enjoy these type of games the grade is a 5. I don't recommend it for full price, albeit you should buy it for a low price. Do not expect this to be GOTY material (it really is not) and I'm sure you'll enjoy playing it.    … Expand
  52. Quietlionmusic
    Mar 25, 2019
    6
    Best open world game yet. This game never seems to have a dull moment. There are so many different things to do and you want to do them all. Multiplayer is very unique and merges seamlessly with the normal gameplay. There are tons of side quests, mysteries to solve and objectives in addition to the immersive story line.

    My favorite aspect of the game is the fact that you can accomplish    Best open world game yet. This game never seems to have a dull moment. There are so many different things to do and you want to do them all. Multiplayer is very unique and merges seamlessly with the normal gameplay. There are tons of side quests, mysteries to solve and objectives in addition to the immersive story line.

    My favorite aspect of the game is the fact that you can accomplish tasks in different ways. You can go in stealth and hack your way in, bring down your enemies with the environment or you can go in guns blazing (and there are many guns to choose from).

    Graphically the game is beautiful. There is an absurd amount of detail. When you go to a fast food place you can read the menu. I have never seen an open world game with so much detail. This game was worth the wait and the extra time Ubisoft Montreal spent on it.

    If the game fine tuned the bugs out, it would be much better.    … Expand
  53. tomcrew10
    Jul 21, 2017
    6
    The gameplay is average even with the hacking which adds a new element to car chases and combat although even with this its still just ok and doesn't really feel in depth. Next the story sucks its bland boring and has a main character that is terrible and is the main problem with this game Aiden pierce is a terrible character he walks around speaking in a deep tone has no personality orThe gameplay is average even with the hacking which adds a new element to car chases and combat although even with this its still just ok and doesn't really feel in depth. Next the story sucks its bland boring and has a main character that is terrible and is the main problem with this game Aiden pierce is a terrible character he walks around speaking in a deep tone has no personality or character development and monologues to him self yet other characters are quite likeable and have personality even if they do nothing with them . This isn't a bad game but nor is it a good one get it on a sale as its worth a try at a low price… Expand
  54. r1anmadden09
    Aug 8, 2017
    7
    Was super excited for this game before it came out, but didn't end up buying it right away. I just picked it up for free on Games with Gold last month, so my expectations were at a reasonable level. I have finished the story, done most of the side missions, and spent a decent amount of time with online modes. Overall, I think this is a solid game. There is great fun to be had in thisWas super excited for this game before it came out, but didn't end up buying it right away. I just picked it up for free on Games with Gold last month, so my expectations were at a reasonable level. I have finished the story, done most of the side missions, and spent a decent amount of time with online modes. Overall, I think this is a solid game. There is great fun to be had in this game, even if it doesn't live up to the massive hype. The story is one of the weaker elements in this game. Aiden hardly shows any emotion throughout the campaign, and it started to give me the impression that he doesn't care about anyone around him, even though the game constantly told me he does. His actions frequently put his loved ones in danger, and despite attempts to make Aiden show remorse or question his actions, they aren't convincing, as the dialogue is average and his character is so stiff.
    He and everyone else is well voice acted though. The side characters are much more interesting and give the story much needed personality and energy. The villains are also disappointing. The simple revenge story quickly unfolds and becomes more about the city and the crooks within it. However, the final twist, while I certainly did not see it coming, made the main villain look like an idiot, as his motivations were pretty unspectacular and small minded. The storyline was decent and did its job well enough. I did enjoy playing through it though, mostly because of the open world and the mission design and variety. The open world, while nowhere near the size of GTAV, is amazingly detailed. Ubisoft, love them or hate them, knows how to make an open world. The NPC's also give the city surprising life, as the little ctos blurbs tell a story about each person as you walk by them, and give each pedestrian character. They also do more interesting things like play recreational activities, protest, sell you **** and freestyle rap. The things people say, rap, or sell do repeat a couple times though. The game has great animations as well. Aiden especially. He stumbles and shies away when you blow up a fuse box close to him. He sidesteps and puts his hands out to protect himself when almost getting hit by a car. It's pretty cool. The driving can be annoying, however, as the driving physics could've used a bit more polish, as they are incredibly inconsistent. Driving motorcycles always feel great, however, which is really weird. The combat is also great, as most missions give players the freedom to take any approach. There were too many auto-fails for my liking, (my ideal number would be zero), but the ones that don't auto-fail leave it completely up to you. I chose the stealth approach, which works better imo, which includes using lures, silence pistol headshots, and hacking the cameras to take advantage of enemy weaknesses before approaching. You can disable their phones so they can't call in help, explode grenades on someone's body, or mess with their radio so you can take them down without them noticing. Or if you want to take the loud approach, you can. The gun arsenal is familiar but fun nonetheless. You craft endless explosives using materials bought from pawn shops and slow down time using your magic focus ability. Hacking works well with both of these approaches as well. The hacking is simple and refined, and it allows for fast hacking even in the middle of intense combat. The cover system is also amazing. I've never had a problem with it. It's quick and snappy. The side missions, while plentiful, are mostly the same, as the typical Ubisoft formula of the same side missions repeated throughout the map is on display here as well. While they are fun (gang hideouts are the best) I wish they were most thematic, like the tombs from old ac games or stuff from far cry. But they aren't, so stuff in the world, including the scenery, starts to feel the same after a while of play. However, side missions do give you skill points, which you can use on a surprisingly great skill tree. The online modes were another surprise to me. They were some great fun. 1v1 hacking is great, and the fun is completely different depending on whether you're the one getting hacked or hacking someone else. One is frantic, the other is intense and nerve racking as you pray the other player doesn't find you. It's almost felt like a silly horror game the first few times I played, as I knew if the other player found me I was screwed. Online decryption is also great, where you and your team hold a file to finish decrypting it, while the enemy tries to steal it from you. This mode is super hectic, as there are some truly wild moments that happen here, from running over an entire team with a car to constant trading with the file while decryption is at 99%. The other ones are decent. Online tailing is fun if you don't want to try. Online free roam is eh, as there are a ton of restrictions like not being able to punch people.    … Expand
  55. Xbox1Guy
    Nov 27, 2015
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The thing that bothers me the most is that there is really nothing to do much after you finish the game. The story line is really dull, it's about seeking revenge of a person's son or daughter dying (I forgot his name and which person in his family dies).… Expand
  56. NexusTsunami
    Jan 22, 2017
    6
    Warum spiele ich solche Spiele eigentlich? Bin ich doch hauptsächlich im RPG/JRPG Gerne unterwegs... Nun ich habe mich wohl von den Trailern dazu überzeugen lassen. Dafür das der Publisher mich so indoktriniert hat, muss dieses Spiel leider büßen :-)...

    Na, ganz so schlimm ist es nun auch nicht. Ich habe es gespielt... es hat sich spielen lassen... Ende. Für mich kein Meilenstein...    Warum spiele ich solche Spiele eigentlich? Bin ich doch hauptsächlich im RPG/JRPG Gerne unterwegs... Nun ich habe mich wohl von den Trailern dazu überzeugen lassen. Dafür das der Publisher mich so indoktriniert hat, muss dieses Spiel leider büßen :-)...

    Na, ganz so schlimm ist es nun auch nicht. Ich habe es gespielt... es hat sich spielen lassen... Ende. Für mich kein Meilenstein... weder im Gameplay, noch in der Grafik oder der Story. Die Hackingaspekte waren nett mehr aber auch nicht.    … Expand
  57. eSchefer
    May 31, 2016
    5
    Estou muito desapontado com o jogo, os trailers mentiram, a história é desconexa e os bugs acontecem várias vezes, o jogo não é "injogável" mas também não é um bom game, recomendo a compra somente por um preço baixo e não esperem por algo parecido com GTA, longe disso, esperamos que a Ubisoft faça um melhor trabalho da próxima vez.
  58. AstralAssassin3
    Dec 3, 2016
    5
    Nice attempt at an open world game, but fails in the story aspect as well as some gameplay parts:

    Pros: -Despite the downgrade, the graphics still look solid -Open world is fairly large and looks nice. -Hacking mechanics are done pretty well -Soundtrack is really good -Police chases can be quite fun -Good variety of vehicles -Fun 'digital trip' missions, especially the spider    Nice attempt at an open world game, but fails in the story aspect as well as some gameplay parts:

    Pros:
    -Despite the downgrade, the graphics still look solid
    -Open world is fairly large and looks nice.
    -Hacking mechanics are done pretty well
    -Soundtrack is really good
    -Police chases can be quite fun
    -Good variety of vehicles
    -Fun 'digital trip' missions, especially the spider tank.

    Cons:
    -Story is quite poor, with one of the worst main protagonist ever
    -Despite the variety, vehicle physics suck
    -Being able to carry unlimited guns makes the hacking pretty pointless, except in missions and some areas of the map
    -Despite the good soundtrack, the music selection is very small and won't suit everyone
    -Fast food joints and newspaper stands are quite pointless unless you are robbing them
    - Weird skill point progression system
    - Pointless reputation system which changes nothing about the game or the world around you.
    - Bad ending

    In the end:
    Story: 3.5/10
    Gameplay: 6.5/10
    Graphics and soundtrack: 7/10
    Overall: 5.5/10    … Expand
  59. alexstunky
    May 25, 2018
    7
    No soy de los que les importa la capacidad gráfica que ofrece el juego, aun que si es un punto muy importante, pero no lo es todo, sin embargo aquí si debo de ser honesto, vaya mentira por parte de Ubisoft lo mostrado en gráficos para presentar esto.
    sin embargo no es un mal juego, es entretenido, aun que si faltaron demasiadas cosas para poder hacerle competencia a GTA V como ellos se lo    No soy de los que les importa la capacidad gráfica que ofrece el juego, aun que si es un punto muy importante, pero no lo es todo, sin embargo aquí si debo de ser honesto, vaya mentira por parte de Ubisoft lo mostrado en gráficos para presentar esto.
    sin embargo no es un mal juego, es entretenido, aun que si faltaron demasiadas cosas para poder hacerle competencia a GTA V como ellos se lo propusieron. Su historia esta entretenida, mecánicas muy interesantes por hackeo, aun que la conducción es muy mala en ciertas situaciones.
    Conclusión: Tiene potencial esta saga, ojala con entregas futuras mejores este concepto de hackeo que tiene buena pinta.    … Expand
  60. Rafizans
    Aug 8, 2017
    6
    Upon its E3 reveal, Watch Dogs quickly became one of my most anticipated games coming on 2014. Ultimately, I was disappointed, as the promises made (especially the graphics) failed to meet my expectations. It was not a downright terrible game, it was in fact decent, but there were glaring flaws that kept me from enjoying the game to its full potential. Firstly, driving around Chicago is aUpon its E3 reveal, Watch Dogs quickly became one of my most anticipated games coming on 2014. Ultimately, I was disappointed, as the promises made (especially the graphics) failed to meet my expectations. It was not a downright terrible game, it was in fact decent, but there were glaring flaws that kept me from enjoying the game to its full potential. Firstly, driving around Chicago is a hassle, as it is very difficult to handle your driving, making it easily to collide with pedestrians and vehicles. I don't really care that much for the characters because they seem one dimensional and poorly-written. The concept story is interesting but becomes mostly predictable and generic. On a positive note though, the gunplay feels solid and works well with the stealth mechanic. And although the hacking is simple (you only have to press 'x' most of the time), watching the effect it has on portions of the city is quite entertaining to say the least. Not a game I'd necessarily recommend because there are many other open world games that play much better than Watch Dogs. It's an average game that tries to be ambitious, but stays too true to the formula.… Expand
  61. EdwardG
    Jul 22, 2017
    6
    Watch Dogs was subject to a lot of controversy when it released three years ago due to failing to match the graphical capabilities it promised at E3. Having stayed well away from the game until now, I finally played it for free as part of June's games with gold.
    THE GOOD
    - The gunplay, although nothing new or original, feels solid and fun. There are quite a lot of guns to buy, although    Watch Dogs was subject to a lot of controversy when it released three years ago due to failing to match the graphical capabilities it promised at E3. Having stayed well away from the game until now, I finally played it for free as part of June's games with gold.
    THE GOOD
    - The gunplay, although nothing new or original, feels solid and fun. There are quite a lot of guns to buy, although some seem far too expensive. Gunplay also meshes well with the stealth aspect, and picking off enemies from a distance is great.
    - The hacking. What little hacking there is in Watch Dogs is one of the best aspects. Unfortunately, it often comes down to just pressing the 'x' button at the right time, but it never stops being cool. Activating an enemy's grenade and watching them struggle to get it off of them will always feel awesome.
    THE BAD
    - Driving is atrocious. Most vehicles handle terribly, resulting in lots of crashes and drifting off the road into civilians, harming your reputation meter that seems to be there solely to make you feel bad (I never discovered what it actually did).
    - The physics. Crashing into lamp posts , traffic lights and fences causes them to shatter into a million tiny pieces, regardless of how hard you hit them. This can be quite funny, but it also destroys immersion. Another example of the wacky physics is that when on a motorbike, some high speed crashes into other vehicles would do me no damage, whereas others would send me flying.
    - The characters are one dimensional. Bla bla bla my niece is dead. Aiden Pearce does a terrible job at making us feel any empathy. He is so bla bla bland that I couldn't care less about him. Maybe the whole revenge story would have worked better if it was his daughter? The story could have been far more interesting this way, if we felt Aiden's anger and saw him unleash on those responsible. Unfortunately, this never happens and killing enemies is fun but carries no emotional weight.
    - Map mess. In a game where everything is bland and boring, too much content becomes a problem. All of the side missions are clones of one another, and there are so many of them.
    - It's impossible to escape the police. They keep coming! I have to kill them and that hurts my reputation, and that probably means something bad. The police can really get in the way, especially during missions when you do something publicly. On the final mission, this was incredibly annoying. I was happy to finish the game but I couldn't until I had gotten away.
    - Missions with cameras. Boring boring boring. Searching a building for someone doing nothing other than jumping from camera to camera is so dull.
    THE BORING
    - The story is nothing exciting. It's predictable and generic. It could have been elevated by a cast of interesting characters but there are only a couple that I ever cared about, and they didn't get as much time in the spotlight as they should have. However, it's mostly fine, just don't expect anything impressive.
    - The world. It's plain.
    CONCLUSION
    A very average game that I'd give a 6 simply because of the hacking and decent gunplay. It's just slightly above average, but its hard to recommend when there are so many far superior open world games doing a similar thing. Try GTA V, or even Saints Row. This is fine to kill time, but is ultimately a very forgettable experience, and something I doubt I will ever come back to.    … Expand
  62. CenkAlp
    Jan 2, 2018
    6
    Hikaye = 7
    Oynanış = 6
    Grafikler = 7
    Sesler = 7
    Keyif = 6
    Atmosfer = 7
    Süre = 6
  63. calanga
    Nov 6, 2018
    6
    If you dont have nothing to play try this not to bad but not the best game ever, just a mediocre level of videogame with a open world
  64. zNeverSleeping
    Oct 29, 2020
    7
    ---{Graphics}---
    ☐ You forget what reality is
    ☐ Beautiful ☐ Good X Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{Gameplay}--- ☐ Very good ☐ Good X It‘s just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{Audio}--- ☐ Eargasm ☐ Very good X Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{Audience}--- ☐ Kids X Teens X Adults ☐ All    ---{Graphics}---
    ☐ You forget what reality is
    ☐ Beautiful
    ☐ Good
    X Decent
    ☐ Bad
    ☐ Don‘t look too long at it
    ☐ MS-DOS

    ---{Gameplay}---
    ☐ Very good
    ☐ Good
    X It‘s just gameplay
    ☐ Mehh
    ☐ Watch paint dry instead
    ☐ Just don't

    ---{Audio}---
    ☐ Eargasm
    ☐ Very good
    X Good
    ☐ Not too bad
    ☐ Bad
    ☐ I'm now deaf

    ---{Audience}---
    ☐ Kids
    X Teens
    X Adults
    ☐ All

    ---{Difficulity}---
    ☐ Just press 'W'
    ☐ Easy
    X Significant brain usage
    ☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
    ☐ Difficult
    ☐ Dark Souls

    ---{Story}---
    ☐ No Story
    ☐ Some lore
    X Average
    ☐ Good
    ☐ Lovely
    ☐ It‘ll replace your life

    ---{Game Time}---
    ☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
    ☐ Short
    X Average ☐ Long ☐ To infinity and beyond ---{Price}--- ☐ It’s free! ☐ Worth the price X If u have some spare money left ☐ Not recommended ☐ You could also just burn your money ---{Bugs}--- ☐ Never heard of X Minor bugs ☐ Can get annoying ☐ ARK: Survival Evolved ☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs    … Expand
  65. tom974
    Sep 9, 2020
    6
    Not a bad game, but I must agree with the reviews saying the game is under delivered. Graphics are good for 2014, there are some good gameplay ideas. But doing so little with so much of a concept is just a shame. The game is quite basic, period. The number of sidequests is disproportionate regarding the main story, and their variety doesn't bring a good point either. Characters are plain,Not a bad game, but I must agree with the reviews saying the game is under delivered. Graphics are good for 2014, there are some good gameplay ideas. But doing so little with so much of a concept is just a shame. The game is quite basic, period. The number of sidequests is disproportionate regarding the main story, and their variety doesn't bring a good point either. Characters are plain, main story expeditive.… Expand
  66. JJ2FAS4U
    Dec 29, 2021
    7
    Atmosphere: 8
    Enjoyment: 8
    Gameplay: 7
    Graphics: 7
    Music: 5
    Story: 7
    Total: 7.00
  67. spockivi
    Jul 19, 2023
    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.
  68. JCXdsonic
    May 9, 2023
    6
    Potencial desperdiciado, es un buen juego después de todo pero al ver su trailer ves el gran Downgrade

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

All reviews »
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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