Watch_Dogs is a game set in Chicago, a city run by an operating system known as ctOS. It runs everything in the city, including traffic and trains. Everyone seems to have a smartphone and you depend on your smartphone to get around town and survive the challenges that make up the plot of this game.
You are Aiden Pearce, a man who is haunted by his tragic past and is looking for revenge. Aiden has quite a boring personality, but he is trying to uncover a conspiracy that involves an underground cyberterrorism organization bent on hacking the ctOS, government corruption, and organized crime. Aiden’s smartphone is the key to uncovering the wide conspiracy, as it contains creative apps for hacking.
The smartphone app that is in constant use is the Profiler app, one that profiles every citizen roaming the streets of Chicago. You can learn their names, their incomes, and their hobbies such as child porn or what kind of business they own. It’s pretty scary that a mobile app would disclose such sensitive info about other people, but the most useful info is the bank account info. You can hack their phones to download the bank account info so that you can withdraw their cash from one of the local ATMs.
Watch_Dogs is an open world game like the Grand Theft Auto series, Assassin’s Creed series, and Far Cry 3. There are many side missions to complete including convoy, human trafficking, missing persons, and racing. Convoy requires you to pursue a target being escorted by his convoy. You must either knock down or kill the target. It can be fun, but it gets a little repetitive after several missions. Human trafficking requires you to find info on human traffickers that will ultimately lead to the main human trafficker in an exclusive contract upon completing all human trafficking missions. Missing persons missions require you to find dead people scattered around town who were killed by a serial killer. Racing requires you to deliver vehicles while evading police.
In the main story you are guided by a guy named Jordi Chin, a “fixer” who is apparently friendly but his association with Aiden is strictly business. The main story is reasonably interesting and requires quite a bit of creative hacking to complete multiple objectives. The smartphone is relevant because many of these missions require infiltration of secure locations guarded by armored guards. There are usually multiple ways of completing each mission, but the most creative way is by using your smartphone to hack into surveillance cameras. It is possible to hack into one camera, then hack into another nearby camera. You can also hack into a camera an armed guard is carrying so that you can see what’s ahead of him as you plan your next move.
The cover feature in the game is crucial to survival on both the main and side missions. Using cover is useful during firefights and while using stealth. I used cover while hacking into a nearby junction box with my phone so that the junction box would explode near an armed guard. However, the only problem with the explosion is that it will alert other armed guards. Other hacking methods include disrupting communications of armed guard that would send a such a loud blast of music that would enable you to sneak past him without him ever noticing and triggering a grenade to explode in the guard’s possession while he frantically gets rid of the grenade before explosion.
There are hacking mini-games that allow you to intrude the servers of the city’s buildings, allowing you to see exactly what a resident is doing. This hacking requires to transmit data flow from one node to another by directing a blue stream of energy by rotating nodes until the data flow is blue. You must reach a determined endpoint as you rotate the nodes. Some of these hacking puzzles are more complex than others and there are some nodes with red outlines that are timers that require you to solve the puzzle in short time before the network is reset.
There are many weapons Aiden can access for combat and can be purchased at the various local gun shops. There is a combat skill tree like skill trees for all other abilities on your smartphone, including hacking. The combat skill tree allows you to upgrade your ability to use each firearm. There is no rocket launcher for you to blow anything or anyone up, but the grenade launcher can definitely get you out of a tight situation. The grenade launcher really helps you out in a battle against enforcers, the most powerful and most armored guards in the game. An interesting ability in the combat skill tree is Focus, which allows you to slow down time while shooting it out with other enemies. The AI of the enemies is reasonable, as they will react if they see a downed comrade or if they hear an explosion. They will take cover and flank you if they know your location.
There are online multiplayer activities that you can undertake such as online hacking and online tailing. These activities are contracts that affect your notoriety. Notoriety is a points system that can fluctuate according to how successful or how bad you are against other players. After reaching a threshold notoriety number, you can gain features such as anti-vehicle rounds and jam coms boost. Jam coms are special equipment you can use to keep the police or fixers from determining your location. Your mini-map may show yellow circles that indicate the police are trying to find your location. You can use jam coms to thwart their ability to locate you. At any time during the game you can be invaded by another player who is trying to hack your data. You will have to locate that player and shoot him before he steals 100% of your data. It always feels appropriately unsettling when you’re trying to start a new side mission or story mission only to realize that you are suddenly being invaded by another player.
There are regular notifications about a crime detected on a particular street. Some searching around the area with your smartphone will show either the potential criminal or victim and you must hide so that the crime can be committed. Once the crime is committed you can chase after the suspect, neutralize him and increase your reputation. Your reputation will affect how civilians will treat you. If you increase your reputation to vigilante, civilians will be less likely to report you to police, thereby making life easier for you on the streets of Chicago. The streets of Chicago look very realistic with skyscrapers, middle-class neighborhoods, and run-down neighborhoods that look like ghettos.
Other online activities include chess, poker, shell games, and drinking games. These extracurricular activities test your skills related to Focus and help earn you cash if you win. There’s also a “digital trip” that allows you to ride a spider tank so that you can engage in city destruction and kills cops without damaging your reputation.
The vehicle handing is not very good, especially with the mouse and keyboard. Making turns with cars tends to feel like driving on ice even when it is not raining. I do not know how vehicles handle with a controller, but the vehicle handling leaves a lot to be desired.
While I found Aiden’s personality and the vehicle handling disappointing, it does not mean it is a bad game. Watch_Dogs is still a good game with a plot that includes interesting characters such as Clara Lille and T-Bone. Jordi could have been more interesting with more screen time. Clara and T-Bone really help flesh out the story and keep it from being bland. The diverse ways of creative hacking in the game and the beautiful graphics portraying Chicago make this game worth your time.
My Score: 8/10