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Watch Dogs: A new beginning?

5/6/2014

21 Comments

 
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My first 'wow' moment for Watch Dogs came when I saw the first loading screen of the main character; Aiden Pearce. A still and steady shot in which Aiden is looking directly and intently at us through the screen. There appeared to be a determination in his eyes that made me feel full of anticipation about playing this game. The texture on the peak of his baseball cap looked incredibly real whilst donning that 'slightly tattered look'. It was easy to pick out the reflections from within his focused eyes, that made me question 'what is he looking at?' As a gamer, I was raring to go before the game had even progressed passed this screen.

Upon entering the virtual world of Chicago, I felt a slight sense of agitation as the graphics didn't appear to be as slick as I had wanted. THAT was my first thought about the actual gameplay and particularly as the first loading screen had teased me with such immense detail. Despite this, I soon adjusted and found that I became very satisfied with the graphical ability that Ubisoft had provided.... to a point. I would have preferred to see more texture in certain areas of the game play. The vehicles in Watch Dogs adopt a high tint from light sources when stationary and in transit. I tested this by smashing the crap out of door panels
on cars in the hope that I would see some intricate detail from damage. BUT STILL, the damage maintained the high tint as though it had just been waxed. I am being picky here but this is the truth.
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Hacking, hacking and more hacking. This sandbox experience is littered with plenty of hacking opportunities ranging from pulling basic information about civilians, emptying their bank accounts, hacking traffic signals to cause an accident, opening locked gates to switching between city surveillance cameras. This experience feels endless from which I found a freedom that I had not found in any other sandbox game. Let's elaborate. I tested how far I could go from my main character by hacking city surveillance cameras. I switched from one to the next before I could not find a further camera to dive in to. I counted a total of six cameras before this happened. Geographically, this was PRETTY far away from where we left Aiden stood, blending in to the crowds in the streets below which makes for a fun experience. I'm certain that I could go further. Here's a test for you guys. Try this and count how many cameras you can go. Leave a comment below!

Hacking is incredibly simple. It's all done from Aiden's smartphone and is 'one touch' in third person mode.
I would have preferred a more challenging experience. In reality, hacking (note: I do not condone hacking) is a tricky affair so it would have been nice for the game to allow for this. A broader range of hacking mechanisms would have made for a more immersive experience.

Stealth, parkour style movements and the plain old 'run and gun' approach are all present in Watch Dogs.
In my opinion there is nothing unique about the combat system. Weapons are easily accessed using the weapon wheel; crouching, standing, auto-aim, running, vaulting, swimming and hacking are typically resting under one button all depending on how you choose to approach the game. For some players this is satisfying. For me, it was neither.

Driving seems to be where Ubisoft have applied more than a measly level of effort to the gameplay. Each vehicle has a category, for example, 'heavy' and 'sports car' to name two. Your vehicle category will affect your driving ability so CHOOSE WISELY. I didn't do so well when trying to evade police detection in my cement truck! Additionally, WE HAVE BULLET TIME in vehicles!! I can hear some of you say "thank fuck for that". I certainly did. It really helps during the high speed chases in which you are caught weaving in and out of a labyrinth of vehicles on the highway. What didn't help me was the transition! The transition in and out of bullet time is very rigid. There appeared to be a crystal clear 'beginning, middle and end' when I activated my slow motion driving ability. I totally preferred Franklin's bullet time driving in Grand Theft Auto V. Oooopppss!! I made a comparison to GTA V. Like so many other reviewers, it is difficult to avoid this natural comparison between these two games. I suppose the ultimate and most obvious question is which game is better? That is for you to decide.

There is an average of 20 hours of campaign time but I preferred to address the side missions and even lose myself from within a digital trip. WOW! I found this to be a very clever way in which I could escape from the main campaign missions for an hour. I enjoyed approaching the shady looking guy in the street in order to purchase this digital narcotic experience in which I came a HUGE spider trashing through the city. I was guided by prompts on what to do next and, if passed, I was awarded with XP to upgrade my next trip! An all around winner here!

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Watch Dogs is a tactical vigilante sandbox extravaganza. A lot of my peers have said comments like 'I'm holding off on this one'. Yes the game has it's flaws. Watch Dogs doesn't even claim to be Grand Theft Auto V. It is its own experience in which you play as a hacker hero that is trying to seek revenge on those responsible for killing his niece. It lacks polish as I have pointed out but overall, I am loving this game.

Watch Dogs is available for the Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U and PC.
You can purchase your copy here which helps to support the maintenance of this blog. Alternatively, you can click the graphic below.

21 Comments
Raziel Quorzar
5/6/2014 15:56:35

Excellent review Gemma,I'm loving the game so far myself & like you say its difficult to avoid comparisons to GTA V, yes the driving isn't great but you get used to how the mechanics work, I know quite a few people who are down on this game simply because of the driving, but Rockstar & Ubisoft are two totally different companies so they aren't going to play the same. The people who are pissed off with Watch_Dogs where probably expecting it to play the same as GTA V. Personally I think its awesome. Loving your blog/reviews, keep up the good work x

Reply
JuicyGameReviews
11/6/2014 15:18:29

Raziel, what an awesome comment! Thanks. Yeah I settled in to the game more and more as I played it. With GTAV I felt accustomed straight away.... Very different games as you pointed out.
Thanks again.

Reply
Stu
6/6/2014 04:39:05

Another great review. I'd give watch dogs an 8.7. You should give your reviews scores

Reply
JuicyGame Reviews
11/6/2014 15:15:00

I was considering it Stu :) Thanks for the feedback.

Reply
Greg
6/7/2014 00:00:29

Shame you didn't touch on the multiplayer because this is where the game shines in my experience.

Reply
Juicy Game Reviews
6/7/2014 04:56:19

Hi Greg,
Thanks for your comment. I hadn't played as much of the multiplayer as I had the main campaign. I guess I could now add a section about it?
Feedback is appreciated :)

Reply
Andrew Webster
24/8/2014 08:46:25

Great review, I know that the graphics can be made a lot better on the pc, The developers had a file in the program to make it go back to the graphics that we originally saw back in E3 all those years ago (seem like years) which PC owners can use, I believe they wanted all the consoles and PC to look the same and maybe the current gen couldn't handle it fully. The game still looks amazing and I love games that have stealth and parkour style gameplay and I didn't even know the game had bullet time. 20 hours of gameplay is quite good especially when you have all the side missions as well.

Reply
Juicy Game Reviews
24/8/2014 08:50:33

I heard about the graphics file. Hackers were unpacking it and showing the graphical difference between E3 and the final product. Rather shocking and embarrassing for Ubisoft!
Thanks for reading and you are now in with a chance to WIN a copy of the game :)

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jak jak
24/8/2014 09:01:51

Haven't played this yet but hopefully it's good. The fact that the graphics is not as good as advertised turns me off though. Especially as I was going to buy it for the ps3 but then decided to wait until I bought a Ps4 as I wanted to experience it with better graphics. Irony lol.

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Stuart
24/8/2014 09:02:32

Watch dogs in my opinion started well but got boring and was a chore to beat. I traded my copy in for wolfenstien coz i was skint. Wow loved wolfenstien

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robert jenkins
24/8/2014 09:08:06

Sounds interesting, i thought it was just a gta clone.

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Barney Stinson
24/8/2014 09:30:34

I actually looked forward to playing this game one day. I sort of liked that i didn't live up to its expectations because it gives me a chance to really experience the game for what it is. Great review! But you didn't answer one question, GTA 5 or Watch Dogs? Lol :)

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Gashed Steve link
24/8/2014 09:38:32

Think you may have just sold one of these box sets to me.... :) great vid and great review

Reply
24/8/2014 10:01:36

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Jordan Holloway
24/8/2014 10:28:34

Great review Gemma, I was looking forward to playing this game on the ps4 for Ages! Even after the drop in graphics from the previous e3 to retail! Anyway look forward to more great reviews. :-D

Reply
Declan
24/8/2014 10:55:41

Interesting and good review..any tips were the special edition was purchased :)

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Nichole
24/8/2014 11:09:05

Nice review, I agree with so many of your points :)

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leslie kerr
24/8/2014 11:18:38

I love this game I have on the ps3 . I love youtube videos keep up the good work

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Martijn de Tombe
24/8/2014 11:27:59

Great review! Looks like a great game to me!

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Macy
24/8/2014 16:20:54

Nice review, and nice unboxing too, definitely need to try this game!

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Frankie Loya link
26/8/2014 16:48:56

Looks like a great game to play and great review

Reply



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