Review
Roderick Scott 0

Ahhh, yes.  Watch Dogs.  The free world, hacking phenomenon made by Ubisoft has arrived to a world of gamers who already done w/ GTA V and looking for the next big thing.  After being teased at E3 a few years back & a 6-month delay, its finally ready to gamers to take control of the underground world of hackers.  But its actually more depth to the story than that but we'll get into that shortly.  

Taking place in a bit more technologically-advanced Chicago, where like London, has camera surveillance throughout the entire city called ctOS.  Ergo making the ability to hack everything a whole lot easier - all from a smartphone.  It is essentially a terrible idea makes for great entertainment.  But Watch Dogs is more than just hacking + cyber-terrorism, that's just the outer layer of the game.  Let's talk about it.  

You play the role of Aiden Pearce who was a hacker and after the events of the opening scene becomes a hacker/vigilante.  Think a cross between a Batman + Oracle (also from Batman mythos) who isn't afraid to kill.  You guide Aiden throughout the ins-and-outs of Chicago under surveillance in search of those responsible for the death of his niece. This is the result of a job that kicks off in the opening scene of the game and leads to a web of conspiracy and etc.  
 
Controls are more or less the a-standard layout.  The default layout is a bit backward in the sense what many gamers might be used to but you can always customize it your own liking.  The cars are life-like so don't expect to drive vehicles like you would on other open-world games.  So if you were expect to drift all over the place to get to your destination, it won't be as easy as it is on other games.  Believe it or not, the cops are quite easy to lose.   Remember this is NOT GTA where the mayhem is the underling of the game.  The sense of realism in Watch Dogs is higher than most.  Shooting multiple baddies ins't an easy task w/ the recoil involved.  Even the characters you meet throughout the game, not real good or bad guys just a bunch of folks who have made certain choices in life that lead them to their current path on their destiny.  
Thanks to the psychotic sociopathic antics of your 'partner' Jordi Chin, he does help in making the game a bit more entertaining than the serious tone the game carries.   Sarcasm, wit, & savagery describes Jordi the best.   Clara is a more or less defected member of Ded Sec (huge underground hacker collective) who's assisting Aiden but has more involvement into the story than we think.  And Damien is your former partner in hacking but has a huge amount of resentment form the botched job in the beginning and take revenge on Aiden. 
 

Multiplayer

One player secretly joins your campaign and attempts to install a "back-door virus" to steal your acquired data.  Watch Dogs multiplayer game features an eight-player mode that allows you to roam free.  The bad part is that people can kind of jump in and out of campaign at any given time.  I hope this gets fixed in an upcoming update.  

Hacking As A Weapon

Other than the array assault rifles you have the ability to hack into the ctOS - all from your smartphone.  You can utilize the Profiler (smartphone app more or less), which scans all nearby electronics allowing you to steal cash form Chicago citizens via smartphone or surveillance camera, disrupt traffic lights, create diversions, stop trains, raise security barriers + draw bridges, and black out the entire city.   Now don't expect to go crazy w/ this as your only have a limited battery for any hijinks involving tapping into the ctOS system.  As the game & your stats progresses, so do Aiden's skills + hacking abilities. 

watch_dogs review grade

Watch Dogs is a great 1st outing as I think the sequel will be a true contender.  

TG 2 Cents

Watch Dogs is a good mesh of Grand Theft Auto and a twist of Tomb Raider/Metal Gear in regards to solving puzzles (unlocking access to hack).  It's not perfect but a very solid game from Ubisoft.  I think the narrative throughout the campaign is a lot less interesting than you might think.  Maybe a little boring to some as you don't feel any real connection to Aiden but don't fret, the game makes up for it in all of the anarchy you can do.  The actual side missions are bit more entertaining and more versatile than the campaign missions  BTW.  It reminds me of the 1st Saints Row game where it shows potential to be an even better game for the sequel along w/ carving its own lane in open-world gaming.  Great 1st outing Ubisoft!
 

To Buy Or To Rent

Not sure if this matched up w/ the hype that's been building for years but it is still a great game.  This can go either way.  It is good enough to buy or to rent.  
 
Chris Mason contributed to this review.
 
Big thanks to Ubisoft for providing us w/ a review copy of Watch_Dogs for the Xbox 360.
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Categories: gaming Review

Author: Roderick Scott

Father. Husband. Creative. Mild foodie. Batman in my dreams.