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. 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.
  2. JCXdsonic
    May 9, 2023
    6
    Potencial desperdiciado, es un buen juego después de todo pero al ver su trailer ves el gran Downgrade
  3. JJ2FAS4U
    Dec 29, 2021
    7
    Atmosphere: 8
    Enjoyment: 8
    Gameplay: 7
    Graphics: 7
    Music: 5
    Story: 7
    Total: 7.00
  4. 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
  5. 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
  6. 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
  7. 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
  8. 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
  9. 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
  10. CenkAlp
    Jan 2, 2018
    6
    Hikaye = 7
    Oynanış = 6
    Grafikler = 7
    Sesler = 7
    Keyif = 6
    Atmosfer = 7
    Süre = 6
  11. 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
  12. 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
  13. 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
  14. 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
  15. 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
  16. 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.
  17. 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
  18. 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
  19. 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.
  20. 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
  21. 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
  22. 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
  23. 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
  24. 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.
  25. 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
  26. 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
  27. 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
  28. 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.
  29. 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
  30. 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
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews

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