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This thread has been linked to the game 'Watch Dogs'.
Imagine a game that truly redefines gaming - that truly exemplifies Next Gen gaming. Then forget about it, because Watch Dogs is basically Grand Theft Auto with a few extra bits chucked in. Okay, maybe I'm being a bit harsh, but for a game that was trumpeted by both the press and the company behind it as being next gen, Watch Dogs is frankly disappointing. And indeed, it does come across as something that could have been done with a mod for Grand Theft Auto 4.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Watch Dogs is an open world game that casts you as Aiden Pierce, a hacker who stumbles across something he shouldn't have and ends up being hunted down by shadowy figures. Unfortunately, rather than bumping him off, the shadowy figures in question arrange a car action that ends up killing his niece. This is no doubt meant to fill us, the players, with a sense of righteous vengeance, and it might, in any other circumstances.
Thing is, Aiden is a thief who can, throughout the game, syphon the bank accounts of various people for no good reason at all. So it's really kind of hard to get behind him. It's a bit like Nico Bellic in GTA 4, who was constantly moaning about wanting a fresh start, but was happy to deal drugs and off people at a moment's notice. Regardless, Aiden sets out on a quest for vengeance which involves gunplay, driving around in assorted vehicles, and hacking his way through the city.
The last is probably the most interesting aspect of Grand Theft - sorry, Watch Dogs. You can use your hacking skills to muck about with the city's machines and so forth, including security cameras etc. There's a rather cool feature - which crops up in a few missions - whereby you take control of a camera, look at another camera, jump to that one and so forth, usually with the aim of seeing some other control panel that you can hack. You can also muck about with traffic lights and even cause things to blow up, though I've no idea how the latter works. It's probably the same movie logic that means that shooting a monitor with a gun will bring down the whole system.
As the game progresses, you get to spend experience points on various skills, although it's best to put the points all into hacking. Granted, you can use them to improve your driving abilities, but given the game's focus, that isn't a great option to pursue. Also, the handling of the cars in the game feels a bit wonky - maybe it's the physics, but it's not on a par with GTA 4/5 or Saints Row.
However, Watch Dogs just isn't going to set the world on fire, nor is it worth more than a rental. The graphics are decent enough - I played the PS3 version - though I did encounter a frame rate drop quite a few times. The hacking aspect is a gimmick at best and the Saints Row and Grand Theft Auto series offer more entertainment value. The story's also fairly mediocre, with twists you can pretty much see coming. It's worth a rental for curiosity's sake, but as a full priced release, it's not really worth the money. It's interesting, but far from amazing.
Score: 6 out of 10.
Pros:
The hacking aspect is kind of fun for a while.
Cons:
The rest of the game isn't particularly great.
Aiden Pierce is a strangely unsympathetic 'hero.'
The car handling is a bit off.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Watch Dogs is an open world game that casts you as Aiden Pierce, a hacker who stumbles across something he shouldn't have and ends up being hunted down by shadowy figures. Unfortunately, rather than bumping him off, the shadowy figures in question arrange a car action that ends up killing his niece. This is no doubt meant to fill us, the players, with a sense of righteous vengeance, and it might, in any other circumstances.
Thing is, Aiden is a thief who can, throughout the game, syphon the bank accounts of various people for no good reason at all. So it's really kind of hard to get behind him. It's a bit like Nico Bellic in GTA 4, who was constantly moaning about wanting a fresh start, but was happy to deal drugs and off people at a moment's notice. Regardless, Aiden sets out on a quest for vengeance which involves gunplay, driving around in assorted vehicles, and hacking his way through the city.
The last is probably the most interesting aspect of Grand Theft - sorry, Watch Dogs. You can use your hacking skills to muck about with the city's machines and so forth, including security cameras etc. There's a rather cool feature - which crops up in a few missions - whereby you take control of a camera, look at another camera, jump to that one and so forth, usually with the aim of seeing some other control panel that you can hack. You can also muck about with traffic lights and even cause things to blow up, though I've no idea how the latter works. It's probably the same movie logic that means that shooting a monitor with a gun will bring down the whole system.
As the game progresses, you get to spend experience points on various skills, although it's best to put the points all into hacking. Granted, you can use them to improve your driving abilities, but given the game's focus, that isn't a great option to pursue. Also, the handling of the cars in the game feels a bit wonky - maybe it's the physics, but it's not on a par with GTA 4/5 or Saints Row.
However, Watch Dogs just isn't going to set the world on fire, nor is it worth more than a rental. The graphics are decent enough - I played the PS3 version - though I did encounter a frame rate drop quite a few times. The hacking aspect is a gimmick at best and the Saints Row and Grand Theft Auto series offer more entertainment value. The story's also fairly mediocre, with twists you can pretty much see coming. It's worth a rental for curiosity's sake, but as a full priced release, it's not really worth the money. It's interesting, but far from amazing.
Score: 6 out of 10.
Pros:
The hacking aspect is kind of fun for a while.
Cons:
The rest of the game isn't particularly great.
Aiden Pierce is a strangely unsympathetic 'hero.'
The car handling is a bit off.
I play a relatively limited selection of games at the moment and Watch Dogs happened to be the only forthcoming release that had me genuinely excited.
After reading the review posted by yourself and some other video reviews on YouTube and alike, I feel entirely underwhelmed by the finished product. Looks like I may be giving it a miss for now.
Brilliant review however and it seems consistent with most other opinions around the net.
After reading the review posted by yourself and some other video reviews on YouTube and alike, I feel entirely underwhelmed by the finished product. Looks like I may be giving it a miss for now.
Brilliant review however and it seems consistent with most other opinions around the net.
watch dogs
Imagine a game that truly redefines gaming - that truly exemplifies Next Gen gaming. Then forget about it, because Watch Dogs is basically Grand Theft Auto with a few extra bits chucked in. Okay, maybe I'm being a bit harsh, but for a game that was trumpeted by both the press and the company behind it as being next gen, Watch Dogs is frankly disappointing. And indeed, it does come across as something that could have been done with a mod for Grand Theft Auto 4.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Watch Dogs is an open world game that casts you as Aiden Pierce, a hacker who stumbles across something he shouldn't have and ends up being hunted down by shadowy figures. Unfortunately, rather than bumping him off, the shadowy figures in question arrange a car action that ends up killing his niece. This is no doubt meant to fill us, the players, with a sense of righteous vengeance, and it might, in any other circumstances.
Thing is, Aiden is a thief who can, throughout the game, syphon the bank accounts of various people for no good reason at all. So it's really kind of hard to get behind him. It's a bit like Nico Bellic in GTA 4, who was constantly moaning about wanting a fresh start, but was happy to deal drugs and off people at a moment's notice. Regardless, Aiden sets out on a quest for vengeance which involves gunplay, driving around in assorted vehicles, and hacking his way through the city.
The last is probably the most interesting aspect of Grand Theft - sorry, Watch Dogs. You can use your hacking skills to muck about with the city's machines and so forth, including security cameras etc. There's a rather cool feature - which crops up in a few missions - whereby you take control of a camera, look at another camera, jump to that one and so forth, usually with the aim of seeing some other control panel that you can hack. You can also muck about with traffic lights and even cause things to blow up, though I've no idea how the latter works. It's probably the same movie logic that means that shooting a monitor with a gun will bring down the whole system.
As the game progresses, you get to spend experience points on various skills, although it's best to put the points all into hacking. Granted, you can use them to improve your driving abilities, but given the game's focus, that isn't a great option to pursue. Also, the handling of the cars in the game feels a bit wonky - maybe it's the physics, but it's not on a par with GTA 4/5 or Saints Row.
However, Watch Dogs just isn't going to set the world on fire, nor is it worth more than a rental. The graphics are decent enough - I played the PS3 version - though I did encounter a frame rate drop quite a few times. The hacking aspect is a gimmick at best and the Saints Row and Grand Theft Auto series offer more entertainment value. The story's also fairly mediocre, with twists you can pretty much see coming. It's worth a rental for curiosity's sake, but as a full priced release, it's not really worth the money. It's interesting, but far from amazing.
Score: 6 out of 10.
Pros:
The hacking aspect is kind of fun for a while.
Cons:
The rest of the game isn't particularly great.
Aiden Pierce is a strangely unsympathetic 'hero.'
The car handling is a bit off.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Watch Dogs is an open world game that casts you as Aiden Pierce, a hacker who stumbles across something he shouldn't have and ends up being hunted down by shadowy figures. Unfortunately, rather than bumping him off, the shadowy figures in question arrange a car action that ends up killing his niece. This is no doubt meant to fill us, the players, with a sense of righteous vengeance, and it might, in any other circumstances.
Thing is, Aiden is a thief who can, throughout the game, syphon the bank accounts of various people for no good reason at all. So it's really kind of hard to get behind him. It's a bit like Nico Bellic in GTA 4, who was constantly moaning about wanting a fresh start, but was happy to deal drugs and off people at a moment's notice. Regardless, Aiden sets out on a quest for vengeance which involves gunplay, driving around in assorted vehicles, and hacking his way through the city.
The last is probably the most interesting aspect of Grand Theft - sorry, Watch Dogs. You can use your hacking skills to muck about with the city's machines and so forth, including security cameras etc. There's a rather cool feature - which crops up in a few missions - whereby you take control of a camera, look at another camera, jump to that one and so forth, usually with the aim of seeing some other control panel that you can hack. You can also muck about with traffic lights and even cause things to blow up, though I've no idea how the latter works. It's probably the same movie logic that means that shooting a monitor with a gun will bring down the whole system.
As the game progresses, you get to spend experience points on various skills, although it's best to put the points all into hacking. Granted, you can use them to improve your driving abilities, but given the game's focus, that isn't a great option to pursue. Also, the handling of the cars in the game feels a bit wonky - maybe it's the physics, but it's not on a par with GTA 4/5 or Saints Row.
However, Watch Dogs just isn't going to set the world on fire, nor is it worth more than a rental. The graphics are decent enough - I played the PS3 version - though I did encounter a frame rate drop quite a few times. The hacking aspect is a gimmick at best and the Saints Row and Grand Theft Auto series offer more entertainment value. The story's also fairly mediocre, with twists you can pretty much see coming. It's worth a rental for curiosity's sake, but as a full priced release, it's not really worth the money. It's interesting, but far from amazing.
Score: 6 out of 10.
Pros:
The hacking aspect is kind of fun for a while.
Cons:
The rest of the game isn't particularly great.
Aiden Pierce is a strangely unsympathetic 'hero.'
The car handling is a bit off.