Watch Dogs

Disclaimer: The opener of this review is from a comment I posted to r/games.

"Watch Dogs represented one of those moments in gaming where I really tried to glean as little information as possible. I saw the original E3 bit and thought 'I really want to preserve a sense of mystery and excitement with this one.'

Now that I own it, I wish I'd studied up on it more, as I probably would've rented it or wait until it had gone on sale to buy it. It's nowhere near as dynamic as the "Vertical slice" that we were first presented with. It is, as the OP suggests, another stale Ubisoft AAA experience. It's an open world rife with repetition and meaninglessness.

Ubisoft has been one of my favorite companies for a long, long time. I have enjoyed almost all of the Splinter Cell and Tom Clancy games, I love the Rayman series, Far Cry 2 and 3 are some of my favorites, and the early Assassin's Creeds weren't too bad- but now? They've got a bunch of mechanics that they just sort of lazily press into their games and honestly, it's just starting to feel like busy work.

I want to write a review for this game so, so badly every time I find myself getting frustrated with its wasted potential. It feels like another "bait and switch" that we're seeing all too often in AAA games these days, and it also seems like anyone who bought the PC version is having their own issues with it as well. I'm in this weird limbo of enjoying some of the game, but then being completely apathetic about most of it."

So here I am, writing the review now. I am writing at the height of my anger with it. Some may say this is bad form, but I think it helps to express my opinion of it in the most honest way possible. Just a moment ago, I'd removed the disc from my Playstation 4 and put it in its case, resolving to never play it ever again. It was shortly after a convoy mission that had gone wrong for the 4th time.

Now, I've played and enjoyed Third person open world games with shooting elements for years now. My first was GTA 3, followed up by Mercenaries and many, many more. Blowing up vehicles isn't anything new to me. However, in this game, there are some caveats. One may be, for instance, knock out the lead bad guy. Ok- so I can blow up, kill maim all his crew, civilians, everything in my path, but this guy has to live? And a non-lethal takedown means knee-capping him and fracturing his skull with a baton? What?

There's a disconnect here. This is not to say that all the Convoy, Hideout, Whatever missions have non-lethal requirements, it's just that it's so arbitrary and frustrating that there is zero choice on how to complete a lot of them. The Reputation system is virtually worthless, and there is such a dissonance with how your character behaves and with how the story flows. Morality systems in video games are just poorly done and it's no different here.

In fact, there are lots of things in this game that are literally no different from things you'd find in other games. Hell, Ubisoft has been flippant about its open world game formula. Find tower, unlock map, allot skill points, rinse, repeat. Its a game whose premise was grand and seemed to pride itself in its dyanmics- but none of what you saw in the original footage is here. At least, not in the way it was presented.

You could say that "yeah, that's how these things go" or "that surprises you?" But I'd like someone to produce a strong argument as to why that's acceptable practice. Why is it ok to build these amazing "vertical slices", only to pull the rug out from under consumers when they begin to play the game they've been deceived into pre-ordering? Speaking of pre-ordering- Why is it ok for there to be so many special editions of a game to the point where content is held hostage by the superfluous "Ultimate Edition"?

This game is a sham. It was engineered to generate pre-orders. Its mired in old ideas, trial-and-error-based repetitive gameplay and complete lack of any fun and little player agency. This is not a sandbox to play in. It's a joyless ride through a hollow experience that could have been great, had its greatness not been a front to get pre-orders.

Speaking of its greatness, there are glimpses of it. I think it'd be unfair to not point that out. The online game modes are really interesting. However, their execution leaves a little bit to be desired, but its difficulties are understandable. The graphics are fine. I love driving through town on a stormy night when the rain has made everything slick and reflective. The soundtrack is mostly awful with a couple gems, but that's all on taste. Sound design is just fine. Guns and vehicles sound appropriate and the voice acting is reasonably well-executed.

The story in this game has some promise. Your antagonist is "typical, gruff, badass, white dude" but there are some standouts in the supporting cast. I wish it sold its premise with a little more maturity and humanity, but it is an action game, so this is to be expected.

And the action... It's kind of clunky. The shooting is kind of disappointing. The shotguns have almost no range, pistols work about as well as the assault rifles, which I found odd. That's thanks mostly to the pin hole aperture, which is kind of annoying. Character movement, both on-foot and in-vehicle meanders between bad and average. Your character doesn't have much of a run speed and your vehicles all handle sort of poorly. At its best, it's only average.

My vitriol for this game only exists because I wanted it to be awesome, because I wanted to experience the whole magic of the "next-gen." But so far, all we've seen is games that are copied from the last one (looking at you, Tomb Raider and AC 4) or so rife with problems (Battlefield 4) that their potential greatness doesn't even matter.

I am already weeping for the state of AAA gaming, but I don't think I'll miss it when it finally dies a long-deserved death.