Well, I played for a few hours last night and I'll give my initial impressions.
It's a good game. Not a great game, but a good game. The mechanics are solid, it's a very pretty game for the most part (more on that in a bit), and the hacking/profiling stuff adds a layer of interesting to what would otherwise be your standard open-world game. Not that it's overly revolutionary or anything, but I'm pleased to say that the hacking/profiling appears to be more than just a gimmick and makes it feel a bit more fresh. That said, if you're expecting it to blow you away, it won't and you'll be disappointed. It's fundamentally not that different than GTA, but the overall quality/depth in the game makes it belong up there with the GTA series. Basically, if you're still into this kind of game, you'll enjoy Watch_Dogs, but if you're sick of games like this, you probably ought to skip it or wait.
Graphically, it's not E3 2012. (I'm playing the Xbox One version on a 55" 1080p Samsung, FYI.) However, it mostly looks like a next-gen game should. I say "mostly" because some parts of the game simply don't look as good as the rest. The daytime lighting tends to appear a bit washed out, and some of the car models have some flat-looking paint that's not as reflective as it should be. The good news is that the reason this stuff is apparent is that most of the rest of the game looks pretty excellent. I had moments where I was legitimately wowed by how slick it looked. As mentioned above, it really shines at night and when it's raining (I'd throw in some of the late-day and water effects as well). This isn't exactly the "showcase" game many hoped for, but it still looks damn good most of the time.
Gameplay-wise, your typical cover/climb mechanics work reasonably well. Pearce isn't Edward Kenway, for better and worse. He's more realistic in that he doesn't do the whole uber-parkour thing at all times (and it's honestly refreshing to not run up walls you aren't always even trying to), but he feels sluggish by comparison as a result. I'm not a huge fan of the controller layout, either. It's a bit awkward and will take some getting used to, because the game doesn't appear to offer button assignment, disappointingly. The driving mechanics are appropriate. It's still pretty arcade-y in terms of physics, but cars generally drive like they should and have enough variance in their speed/handling. Shooting is your standard fare and needs no real description.
Now I'll list a few random cool/weird/frustrating things I ran across. I was driving a motorcycle through this construction yard to play around with the physics a bit, and as I was motoring over this girder Trials-style, one of the guys on the construction crew deadpanned "that's not a road, jackass". It was funny and fitting. The NPC reactions/chatter seem pretty great so far. On the frustrating end, I rolled at 1 mph into a random gas canister while parking a motorcycle and got blown to hell. I went back and found that canister that I exploded upon touching it, and there happened to be two guys standing there shooting the shit by it. I couldn't help myself, so I pulled out my pistol and shot the thing. It started shooting out a cloud of flame, which precipitated an "oh SHIT!!" from the NPCs and an attempt to run away moments before they blew up. Notoriety down, but totally worth it. Later on, there was a series of explosions at a gas station nearby that I'm guessing I caused. I imagine that at some point I'll be in the middle of some mission and will explode by grazing some gas can, and that's gonna suck. That said, I'm digging the world so far. It's more interesting/chaotic than I expected, without being Saints Row batshit crazy.
One thing I don't like right now is the police. I'm really struggling to make getaways. I'm a GTA veteran and have played a ton of driving games. I can drive pretty damn well. That said, I just cannot shake the police straight-up. Not with darting between alleys, not with finding a spot and hiding, and not with trying to outrun them on the freeway in a Lamborghini. Even when they don't have a chopper, they seem to magically know where I am even if I should have given them the slip. I had one in particular where I made a few truly brilliant turns to open up a bit of space to where they were a few streets behind me, found a house with a gated, hackable entry, hacked the gate, closed it behind me, and parked in a suburbia driveway and activated the "hide in car" mechanic. There is no way the cops saw any of this, and I sat there "hiding" for about five seconds before they even caught up, yet somehow they stopped, got out right in front of the place, and started blasting away. This sequence should have been an awesome getaway, but it was bullshit instead. I've found two ways to evade police. One is to put up those barricade things, because the same cops who can weave effortlessly between oncoming traffic all day apparently get baffled by the idea of going around the barricade, and the other is to head for the water and get in a boat. Both are cheese strats I don't really want to use, and if I can't figure out a better way, that's going to take away from some enjoyment. Still, at least it's challenging.
Overall, Watch_Dogs is pretty much what I expected and reasonably hoped for. It's not a masterpiece, but it's worth owning unless you just hate open-world stuff. I haven't spent a great deal of time with the game yet, so this may be subject to change, but so far, I'm falling in line with most reviews and would put this somewhere between an 8-9. I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish the graphics were more consistent, and I wish the scattered gameplay issues had all been ironed out to put this in truly special territory, but this is still a good game. It's the kind of effort that makes me really excited for The Division, Watch_Dogs 2, et al. and the future of the latest-gen consoles, because while it's not quite all there, it's clearly a step in the right direction.
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