Watch Dogs, the latest open-world game from developer Ubisoft Montreal was released on 27 May. The game allows players to control Aiden Pearce, a highly skilled hacker, and hack the central system in the fictional Chicago.
Watch Dogs has a moral system that will take players on the criminal or the vigilante path. Aiden uses his smart phone to basically manipulate the city's central operating system (CtOS) to his gain. It can be used to deter and create diversions when the player is combative. The game also has stealth elements where players will be able to use hacking methods to steal their way through the guards.
The skill tree is divided in five sections - Hacking, Combat, Crafted Items, Driving and Notoriety. The smart phone has applications like profiler and crime prevention system.
The game was released for PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. It will also be rolling out for Wii U at a later date.
Below are some of the top review roundups:
GameSpot – Rated it 8/10
"But while I can't say who Aiden truly is, I can confidently say that Watch Dogs is a lushly produced and riotous game with an uncanny ability to push you from one task to the next, each of which is just as fun as the last... Hacking gives car chases and combat encounters an additional element of freedom," and added that the game's tone and lead character is inconsistent. It also said that the reputation and in-game money were not valuable enough. Read the complete review here.
IGN – Rated it 8.4/10
"One-button hacking might be overly simplistic, but it does give you abilities that make playing through Aiden's story feel powerful and fun. Doing side missions and multiplayer as you make your way through the dark and lengthy story makes it feel like a huge adventure, and stealth options let you play smart if you prefer. Car chases aside, Watch Dogs is fundamentally very well made, and has more than enough unique ideas to make it a great and memorable open-world action game." Read the complete review here.
Eurogamer – Rated it 7/10
"It certainly entertains, but mostly through borrowed concepts, and the central notion that could have made it stand out - the hacking - is the most undercooked of all. It doesn't get anything horribly wrong, but nor does it excel at any of the genre beats it so faithfully bangs out. It's good, and yet that always feels like a criticism when a game comes weighed down by this much hype. You won't regret the time you spend in Aiden Pearce's world, but nor will it be saved as a precious memory when you reboot." Read the complete review here.
Gamesradar – Rated it 4 out of 5 Stars
"It's these state-of-the-art thrills, combined with a genuine desire to investigate and fiddle with every inch of Chicago, that'll push you to play until the bitter end; until the game has spilled all its secrets. The story is unlikely to keep you logged in, and the missions will often feel annoyingly familiar, but if you connect with and really explore this high-tech world, there are plenty of virtual--and emotional--rewards to harvest. Read the complete review here.
Polygon – Rated it 8/10
"As an open world game, Watch Dogs provides 'enough' — enough sidequests, enough space, enough of a playground — to qualify, but it doesn't quite place. Other games have nailed a better balance in optional activities and large-scale ambiance, including other games from Ubisoft Montreal itself. But when Watch Dogs focuses on the things it does better than anyone else, it finds an identity worth developing. As a hybrid open-world stealth-action game, it's in a class by itself." Read the complete review here.
PC Gamer – Rated it 87
"At times, Watch Dogs can seem like a game we've played before, just another open-world city to speed through in a series of stolen cars, another crowd of hoods and hitmen to add to your body count, another moody, growling protagonist to endure in cutscenes. When it deviates from the familiar, however, it really soars: hacking the city of Chicago and all its cameras, utilities, and communications is freeing and fun, and invading the games of unsuspecting players is an unusual and welcome thrill." Read the complete review here.
CVG – Rated it 9/10
"That makes all the recent internet hand-wringing over resolution and frame rates doubly egregious. Watch Dogs is smart, punchy, HBO-boxset-worthy storytelling spun together with solid stealth, responsive gunplay and voyeuristic power fantasy. It isn't perfect, and it isn't the graphical supermodel that Ubisoft showed at the game's announcement. But as the 'next-gen' poster child we were promised, Watch Dogs delivers and then some." Read the complete review here.
Destructoid – Rated it 8/10
"Despite the fact that Watch Dogs hasn't made any meaningful impact on the genre, I found myself having a ton of fun with it. Between the deep levels of customization and the sheer breadth of content, there's no shortage of things to do. If Ubisoft can take the game's core fun factor and marry it with an actual "next-gen" experience the next time around, they'll have something truly special." Read the complete review here.
Gameranx – Rated it 8/10
"Watch Dogs is a great video game and a worthy sandbox title. It got a lot of the fundamentals right and added a few new things to spice things up a bit. However, it failed to meet the overwhelming hype that followed the game until its release. It's not the game changer everyone thought it was going to be. The good news is that they are off to a good and solid start. It might not be the game we entirely wanted, but it's certainly enough to make people look forward to a sequel that'll hopefully be the title to blow our minds." Read the complete review here.
Joystiq – Rated it 4 of 5 Stars
"These online invasions are arguably the smartest realization of what Watch Dogs is about: the fear of being violated, and the principle of identity protection. Even when it skews toward bigger actions and questionable bouts of busywork, though, Watch Dogs is a more fluid and modern power fantasy than we're used to. Somewhere, in its vague, fantastical version of hacking, there's a lesson about the power and the naughty temptations that lurk in our networked, selfie-loving world." Read the complete review here.
