Well written Patrick. I was already leaning towards "will not play," but this piece sealed the deal. Ubisoft has had trouble with main characters lately. I have never hated any main character, in any medium, more than the guy in Far Cry 3. I just despised him. I blew through the story just to get back to doing non-story stuff.
And you're right about the cop out choice at the end too. I hate when games do that. In a purely creator-authored story, it makes no sense to hand over the reins at the last second. I get it, I'm a writer, endings are freaking hard, but don't pass it off to the player, have some courage and finish the story you set out to tell. Other games that do this include:
-Bastion
-Mark of the Ninja
-Far Cry 3
What else do those games have in common? A high degree of moment-to-moment choice. From movement, to strategy, to approach, those games (Watch_Dogs included) are filled with gameplay choices. I'm fine with the trade off of more gameplay choice for less narrative choice.
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