Launched with much hype back at E3 2012, Watch Dogs looked like the must-have title for the next gen. Now that it has released, it's apparent that the game hasn't quite lived up to its high expectations.
From: Ubisoft
For: PS4, XBox One, 360, PS3, PC
Three and a half stars (out of five)
Watch Dogs kicks off with protagonist Aidan Pearce undertaking a cyber-heist, which, predictably, goes horribly wrong.
Fast-forward a bit and the people he attempted to hack are out for revenge, and put a price on his head.
He survives the hit, but unfortunately his niece does not, and thus Aidan embarks on a mission to avenge her death.
Watch Dogs falls into that strange gaming caveat (also recently witnessed in Far Cry 3), where the main character seems to be a normal bloke initially, but is transformed into a deranged psychopathic murderer after some event.
It's all a bit strange.
Aidan walks the streets, steals cars, can randomly shoot bad guys (or passing civilians), it all just seems a bit unrealistic.
What is realistic about the game though is the city in which it takes place.
Chicago feels (and looks) like a living breathing city, one that could exist without your presence in it.
Particularly impressive is the range of unsuspecting non-player - characters that roam the streets, and carry out various day-to-day activities.
The main crux of Watch Dogs is hacking.
When it was announced at E3, the world was in the midst of the ''hacktivist'' phenomenon, with groups such as Anonymous and co running wild.
Nowadays the hype around that has dissipated, and this hurts the game.
The game is based almost entirely around the concept of hacking the environment and the people within the environment.
The first time you play it you'll marvel at the sheer number of things that are able to be hacked.
Traffic lights, bollards, steam pipes, ramps, almost every single person on the street, the list goes on.
But when you realise that the whole hacking exercise boils down to just pressing Square/X while looking at something, it loses some its lustre.
That brings me to the car chases.
The E3 trailer showed off a particularly memorable scene where cop cars are stopped dead in their tracks by raising bollards.
This would be great in the game if it weren't for the truly abysmal vehicle handling.
There feels like there's a second lag between your controller input and the car moving, and it ruins any chance of there being intense car chases.
You instead spend your time bumping into the various things littering the environment.
What Watch Dogs does have going for it is its longevity.
There are more side missions that you can shake a stick at, and most of them are actually more enjoyable than progressing through the main story.
Watch Dogs does have a lot going for it, but it just isn't a must-play experience.
It looks pretty, the game controls well (apart from the cars), and its good value for money.
Might be worthy of a look to tide you over until Grand Theft Auto V launches on next-gen platforms at the end of the year.
- Simon Bishop
