Fun and different, yet flawed and bland
Most of all, I had a lot of fun playing Watch Dogs. It’s really cool to have all so much control over the city, through your hacking abilities. A couple of examples of these are: using camera’s to view hard to access places, controlling traffic lights, raising bridges, controlling metro’s, opening gates, blowing up gas pipes. Also, there are also a lot of things to do at any given time, ranging from side-missions to collecting things. The RPG-like way of upgrading your character is nice too. A small notable downside is that a lot of interesting hacking abilities have to be unlocked through this system. I wished I could have used some abilities earlier on in the game.
The creator did a great job on the controls. Driving took me some getting used to but running, climbing, shooting and sneaking around are all really easy to do and well integrated with each other. More importantly, I’m amazed at how well the creators integrated the new element, your city-hacking abilities. The hacking is easy to control, using just one button. They practically nailed it on their first try, if you ask me.
I liked how the missions in the game involve a lot of sneaking around. That, combined with the power granted by your hacking abilities, makes Watch Dogs feel different from other similar type games. That said however, the missions themselves are pretty much standard fare, making them feel a little uninspired to me.
The story was hit or miss for me. The dialogue is often cheesy, feels pretty unrealistic and just a bit off most of the time, to be honest. Emotional strings seemed to be missed practically every time (sometimes they came close, at other times not at all). Also, a problem that I personally have with the story, similar to in Assassin’s Creed actually, is how it makes you feel like too much of a hero. A dark and troubled one but still a hero. Considering the things Aiden Pearce does and gets involved in, his person and his actions should feel a lot more grey and doubtful, if you ask me. Instead the creators have basically made him to be like some sort of Batman. I’ll admit though, that it could be that It’s just me who’s getting a little to old for this type of story and I’m just expecting too much nuance. Plus I have to add that the story does get a little more nuanced towards the ending. I positive thing is that the hacker-Chicago-world of Watch Dogs feels like its’ own, new, thing. I’m not joking as well when I say that the game actually made me think about our increasingly digitalized and monitored society. Having said all this, the story is filled with thrills, mysteries and conspiracies in such a way that it kept me wondering what would happen next.
In my opinion the game looks really good (I played the PS4 version). I feel that the complaints of unimpressive graphics and missing graphical effects from its’ first E3 showing are exaggerated. The overall sharpness, solid framerate and lighting-effects make Watch Dogs look pretty good. The art-direction on the other hand is not that great, in my opinion. Overall, Watch Dogs Chicago felt a bit bland to me. The same goes for the music and sound design. They have their own feel but they also feel bland.
In summary, Watch Dogs is a fun game, that looks and plays great and has a story that has some holes but also ties the actions together in an interesting way. Missions can feel uninspired but your hacking abilities add something entirely new. If you’re looking for a new type of, or just another modern-type open world game after GTA5, Watch Dogs is your best bet.
Grade: 9.0
