Scared of Watchdogs

[sXeth]

The rest of the graphics aren't competitive with the big performers of last gen (Last of Us, GTA 5, etc), but serviceable. The main thing I noticed off the bat (other then driving pop ins) was the lighting seemed terribly undynamic, with no or few shadows (this being one of the things you look for in stealth sections).

Do shadows actually effect stealth in this game? I'd imagine they aren't very dynamic because what I've seen from the trailers seems to indicate that the stealth is mostly based on line of sight, and the only time light seems to even matter is when the blackout power gets used, and that seems to function more like a fancy flashbang than actually effecting the stealth in any meaningful matter.

Thanks to you and Kingsgambit by the way, the original leaked review sucked ass, it's nice to actually see some useful breakdowns starting to leak out.

They don't affect it as far as I noticed. It seems basically line of sight, Arkham or Hitman style with crouching behind stuff (though with hacking instead of bat-gadgets or hitman disguises)

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I'm just a little scared Watchdogs may not be the game we got hyped for back in 2012. Opinion?

Of course it isn't. Have you seen gameplay videos? Shooting mechanics are outdated and lazy as fuck, car handling is abysmal and every car accelerates from 0 to 60 in less than a second and hacking is not even a minigame. Just a press of a button.

It's another Ubisoft game. By that I mean it's a free roaming game with absolutely zero challenge, broken mechanics and it relies entirely on overabundance of meaningless collectibles. These people don't know what good game design is. Granted, Blood Dragon is an exception because it was a product of love and it was too short to have all those issues. But overall, every Ubisoft game in the last 6 years had followed the same pattern. You keep doing meaningless things to unlock meaningless upgrades and get meaningless collectibles in order to feel like you've accomplished something. Instead of focusing on balance and challenge when they design equipment that players can use, Ubisoft thinks that putting a bunch of similar shit all over the place is a better idea. So you have 10 assault rifles in Far Cry 3 that do the exact same thing, just with slightly different stats and you have dozens of swords in Assassin's Creed games that do the same shit with slightly different stats. And then you have to collect a bunch of other crap to craft a bunch of crap so you could carry more crap. They even managed to put a little bit of this awful game design in Splinter Cell. They are insane!

To make the matters worse, instead of making collectibles important and challenging to find, they scatter hundreds of "hidden" chests filled with meaningless crap all over their worlds, and then they even tell you where to find them. I am willing to bet that Watch Dogs will have something similar, just disguised in a different way because it's a different setting.

I thought Black Flag was pretty good overall, bar the tailing missions. Boarding ships had the right balance of fun, challenge and pay-off. I wasn't just pirating for fun, most of the time pirating was a necessity fueled by the game. That's why I loved it so much.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

Not many games tend to live up to all they hype generated for them, but I'm sure it will do well since Ubisoft games seem to sell well. My brother is getting it for his PS4 so I should be able to have a look, but I'm honestly just expecting a modern day AC game more or less.

It's not as good as older titles like Mafia 2, The Saboteur, Saints Row 3/4 or Far Cry 3 and TBH

You just lost all credibility ...

Out of curiosity, do you have reasons to back up that statement? The only two posts you have made here are critical of others thoughts without any actual discussion value (as to why they're wrong etc).

Just a warning but people that do that a lot don't tend to last too long here. We also have an edit function to avoid double posts, so feel free to use that and welcome to the Escapist

 

[CrazyBlaze]

It's not as good as older titles like Mafia 2, The Saboteur, Saints Row 3/4 or Far Cry 3 and TBH

You just lost all credibility ...

Giving a reason as to why he lost all credibility would be helpful. As it stands that post just makes you look like you are trolling.

 

[pilouuuu]

I am also scared of Watch Dogs. It may bite! Hard! It looked like a good dog, but now it doesn't look so nice.

But even if that's the case we still have the loyal and fluffy Sleeping Dogs which may be the underdog, but what a nice dog it is! Sleeping Dogs never lets us down.

 

[spacevagrant]

I found it to be mostly boring for the points already raised by KingsGambit. One thing I found surprising and not cool on any level is the random acts of violence against women you stumble across while walking through the city. An example would be a guy and girl are fighting and she says she is going to leave him. Then she pushes him to hit her and says that is all he is good at doing or some such then WHAM he hits her and she runs off crying. This happens randomly and I ran into it several times with different couples. Not my idea of a good time. Ubisoft seems tone deaf when it comes to sensitive issues likes this.

 

[pntaylor]

I was planning to pre-order but held off once it was delayed. After watching some of the game play trailers and reading community feedback I'm going to wait and see how it's perceived after it's been out for a few days. In all likelihood I'll still buy it as it does seem like a fun an interesting game.

 

[Atmos Duality]

The graphics were never going to be what was promised considering that the game is still coming out on 360 PS3 and WiiU, unless Ubisoft could have accomplished something no other game company has ever done, there was always going to be a graphics downgrade compared to what was shown.

If they aren't capable of delivering what they promise and what they show, they shouldn't be bothering showing it in the first place.

There really is no excuse for that.

 

[EternallyBored]

The graphics were never going to be what was promised considering that the game is still coming out on 360 PS3 and WiiU, unless Ubisoft could have accomplished something no other game company has ever done, there was always going to be a graphics downgrade compared to what was shown.

If they aren't capable of delivering what they promise and what they show, they shouldn't be bothering showing it in the first place.

There really is no excuse for that.

I would agree with you on this, but it is a problem that a large chunk of the video game industry faces in one form or another, especially the triple AAA industry, while it is not a good thing, it is folly to still be surprised when it happens.

This instance isn't even the worst case of graphics downgrade, there have been far more deceptive tactics in the past (Aliens: colonial Marines being one of many), and Ubisoft was careful to pick their words to not actually come out and say the early trailers would be exactly how the final product would look.

It's dumb, and it shouldn't happen, but at this point, we as consumers should know better than to trust a developer when they market graphics for a cross-platform title, as soon as Ubisoft announced that the game was being made for the 360 and PS3 it was easy to tell that Ubisoft would not deliver on the initial trailers shown, or really even come close.

 

[sXeth]

This instance isn't even the worst case of graphics downgrade, there have been far more deceptive tactics in the past (Aliens: colonial Marines being one of many), and Ubisoft was careful to pick their words to not actually come out and say the early trailers would be exactly how the final product would look.

I think the earliest one I remember was all the commercials and magazine ads plastered all over for Final Fantasy Seven.

That showed all the FMV scenes exclusively. I think maybe you got 1 or 2 frames of the actual models while FMV explosions or the like were going on in the background to distract you. I distinctly remember wanting a PSone to play it, then seeing it on my cousins and being like... yeah nope.

 

[Smiley Face]

Oh, from the title i assumed you were scared of actual dogs, to which i could've related, since i was Cynophobic most of my life and the mere sight of a larger dog causes my body to freeze and my heartrate increase

I had the same thing, with an extended family who pretty much all had dogs. Made some visits uncomfortable. It's gone now because about 4 years ago, my mum came home with a surprise birthday present for herself/my brother - a puppy. I swear, for a whole year, I walked through the door, dived for the couch, and didn't let my feet get anywhere near the ground, as it wasn't big enough to jump on the couch at that point. Eventually, I calmed down, because you psychologically can't maintain that state of fear for that long, and at this point I'm sort of comfortable around some larger dogs - but those were an uncomfortable couple of years.


Vis a vis the game, I'm also trepidatious, but I'm not going to treat a bunch of random people on the internet as a reliable source - I'm going to wait on reviews, get a look at some gameplay, then make up my mind on it. Gotta say, I really want it to be good, because I liked the idea of it when I first heard about it, and I'm itching for something new for the PS4, so if this isn't good, I may go out and grab a copy of Wolfenstein rather than waiting for a price drop.

I will wait at least a couple of days before making the decision though - first I'm going to play Episode 4 of The Wolf Among Us, hell yes.

 

[drummond13]

So far the footage looks like a GTA clone to me. I don't believe every game has to be original, provided it's good, and I LIKE the GTA games, but all the hype made me feel this was supposed to be something new. Not the same thing we've seen dozens of times before with a small hacking gimmick.

The Clueless Gamer footage made it look like just another AAA title. Not bad, but nothing worth getting excited about. I guess we'll all know for sure in a few days.

 

[Something Amyss]

Oh, we already know that's going to be in the game. They bragged about it. You'll have to hack certain security centers so you could hack other parts of the city. Why? Because you gotta give players something to do, and the illusion of challenge is better than nothing.

Well, nothing says "fun" like "pointless busywork."

That's why I Kickstarted "Spreadsheet Hero!"

 

[XDSkyFreak]

Coming in late after a serious run through the game. Want to add a few things to what KingGambit said:

The bad: -driving isn't actualy THAT bad when you get right down to it (at least it felt ... functional for me) however what sucks the fun out of it is the chases which basicaly resolve way to soon via you hacking something that blows off all chasers or the totaly random way you get flung of bikes (I tested it: ran into a the same pole 5-6 times. first 2 times the pole falls, the third I get flung of, 4th falls last 2 get flung off. And I was bassicaly coming at it from the same angle at max speed everytime)
-music: there are actualy no radio stations in this game. Yeah. You have a playlist of songs and you get more by hacking them from civilians. Why on earth I can't set up playlists with the ones I like or even use the songs from my own god damn computer is beyond me.
-shooting: this one ... is nothing you haven't seen a million times before. I will admit though I chuckled the first time I hacked the grenade a dude carried in his pocket and he went "ah shit" before blowing up.
-story: my god ubisoft ... get a new writing staff. "hey we have this cool game about how technology invades our lives and you get to play as hacker. Except instead of a moraly ambiguous character that exploits the system for his own gains we have a kind and noble family man with a tragic past for a hero, and instead of good intentions beeing corrupted by too much power we have

Spoiler

a mob boss basically financing the system so he can better control his enemies and friends

, removing all grey areas and making it a good guy vs bad guy.

Worst things in it?: -The hacking ... ironicaly. This isn't hacking ... it's ... it's a QTE that goes on for the entire game: press X to win (blow up enemies, prevent reinforcements, destroy cars chasing you, stop helicopters. Even when stealthing ... I expected more data-theft, investigation. Instead here it's a built in cheat code to make everythig dull and easy. You want better hacking you go play DeusEx: Human Revolution ... that had better implemented hackig in it.
-the reputation system: it's bullshit. Oh I was in high speed chase and that fucking idiot civilian jumped in front of my car: negative rep. Oh I had to cap a cop in the legwith my 9mm because he was driling me with an assault rifle: police officer homocide negative rep. What is that? I activated some bollards, making the cops crash and sending on of them flying through the windshield into a brick wall head first? Carry on stallwart hero of the city. what? you detonated a steam pipe, causing god know how much property damage, crashing several police cars and giving those in them severe burns? Eh, it's fine. Blew up a transformer, causing god knows how many accidents and deaths? You were just trying to sneak around, it's ok. The system is retarded and inconsisten is my point. And it adds alot of bussywork to repair the rep after basicaly evey driving mission or cop encounter. Oh and the worst thing? No form of punishment for beeing a total dick and hacking the bank account of a cancer patient, or of some people in bad shit. Yeah ... you can be a total shit stain and steal money from fucking cancer patients without any repercusion what so ever, but don't you date hurt a cop, or the city will hate you.
-Pointless bussywork: this game is full of it. First go hack a ctOS center to be able to do anything in said district, then go hack several more ctOS towers that unlock after the center so you get the hideouts, then go profiling (which was interesting at first, but quickly turned bland when I realised you can't actualy use it to learn anything important beyond a short blurb abut said person (like you scan one guys it says smoker, you scan the next it says he buys porn alot, but you can't really dig up data on these people ... to make them feel more than some walking bank accoun) to unlock side missions ... and I won't even get into how everything in this game is made more complicated by adding several stepts to what should be a simple proces (profile, hack account, find ATM, extract money from account) or how the map gets bukaked with collectibles way more than in any AC game to date. Most collectibles or side stuff don't even add much (aside the criminal convoy sniper rifle which is insane levels of OP). Really the only ones worth doing the the QR codes (if you want a tommy gun), criminal convoys (best gun in game), there is one that gives a silenced AR, and the privacy invasions for some gigles (they actualy recreate the plumber porn scenarion in one of them ...)

The good stuff?: -does the fact I'm still playing it count? I mean, it is most definetly NOT some new revolutionary game, but at it's most basic level it is still somewhat enjoyable, and it feels that at least some effort went into it. It's not a bad game, but don't expect your mind to be blown at anything in it.

 

[Atmos Duality]

I would agree with you on this, but it is a problem that a large chunk of the video game industry faces in one form or another, especially the triple AAA industry, while it is not a good thing, it is folly to still be surprised when it happens.

That's the most ridiculous part: Some people still act surprised when obvious bait-and-switch schemes work, even when the difference is plain as night and day.

It's dumb, and it shouldn't happen, but at this point, we as consumers should know better than to trust a developer when they market graphics for a cross-platform title, as soon as Ubisoft announced that the game was being made for the 360 and PS3 it was easy to tell that Ubisoft would not deliver on the initial trailers shown, or really even come close.

You'd think eventually, folks would take a hint when a company has to put a pile of disclaimers at the end of every demonstration. It's an obvious red flag because it means they are LEGALLY telling you that what is being shown isn't actually what they developed OR what they have developed they have no confidence in.

My policy is to treat disclaimer-laden demos as infomercials; overhyped and worthless.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

-the reputation system: it's bullshit. Oh I was in high speed chase and that fucking idiot civilian jumped in front of my car: negative rep. Oh I had to cap a cop in the legwith my 9mm because he was driling me with an assault rifle: police officer homocide negative rep. What is that? I activated some bollards, making the cops crash and sending on of them flying through the windshield into a brick wall head first? Carry on stallwart hero of the city. what? you detonated a steam pipe, causing god know how much property damage, crashing several police cars and giving those in them severe burns? Eh, it's fine. Blew up a transformer, causing god knows how many accidents and deaths? You were just trying to sneak around, it's ok. The system is retarded and inconsisten is my point. And it adds alot of bussywork to repair the rep after basicaly evey driving mission or cop encounter. Oh and the worst thing? No form of punishment for beeing a total dick and hacking the bank account of a cancer patient, or of some people in bad shit. Yeah ... you can be a total shit stain and steal money from fucking cancer patients without any repercusion what so ever, but don't you date hurt a cop, or the city will hate you.

Keep in mind that people don't know that you have unrestricted access to everything that is networkable in the entire city. When those bollards pop up and the police officer careens out the windscreen it is a tragic accident (or someone who raised the bollards too late to stop the suspect), when someone's bank account gets drained it is probably some scummy internet hacker and when the transformers blow up it is equipment malfunction. But when the Vigilante shows up and starts shooting cops or recklessly speeds through downtown without any care for who gets in is way that is directly attributable to the Vigilante. The reputation system reflects that; As long as you appear to do good stuff, keep innocents out of harms way and evade the cops people will respect you, go around acting like a loose cannon and people will fear you. But they can't base their opinion about you on things they don't know that you are responsible for.

 

[Ambitiousmould]

To be honest, I don't I think I could be disappointed. I just tend to ignore hype and ignore how good the devs say it's going to be because they aren't going to say otherwise. After all, hope is the first step on the road to disappointment. What I am expecting is a fairly standard sandbox shooter with one or two interesting (at least for a while) game mechanics, which I feel is a pretty safe assumption. And at £39.99 on steam it isn't any more expensive than games have been for the past fuck knows how many years, so with the technological advancement since then it feels to me like a pretty good deal.

What I want to know is about the multiplayer. I know that along with FPSs talking about such things is considered reasonably unholy on this site, but I want to know if I can go on it with a friend and have the choice of playing co op missions/campaign or arse about shooting/running over/blowing each other up in free roam. If it has those features, I'll buy it.

 

[TheAsterite]

I like how people complain about the driving in this game. I bet they're the same people that complained about the driving in GTA IV, which is why they made driving 5x worse in GTA V. They'll never be satisfied.

I'd also like to know what people thought when they saw the e3 reveal trailer. We're getting exactly what they showed, nothing more, nothing less (other than the graphics).

 

[Blitsie]

Grabbed my copy today, have to promote it this weekend so got myself a free PS4 copy hahaha, gawd I love my job.

Anyway, I can honestly say I'm glad I gave this game the benefit of the doubt. The graphics are of course a big downgrade but its still quite the looker at spots, there's a proper crapton of stuff to do and everything is quite well crafted (doesn't have that disjointed, gamey feel to it that AC games have) so going through the side content is actually genuinely fun. Hacking is pretty well done but not that big of a game changer, so far I can do pretty cool things like change traffic lights, pull up bridges and have those road blocker poles pop up, I see I can later get a blackout option which kills the whole city's power which sounds super cool.

Overall I'm impressed, its by far not the game changer they put it up to be but I'm immensely enjoying myself and finding it hard to put the controller down, so that's good. Definitely worth getting if you're interested in a solid sandbox game.

Oh, and the spider tank is the most fracking awesome thing I've ever played as.