So I bought Watch Dogs on the PS4 on a whim while it was on sale for $30, fully knowing the hatred and vitriol that surrounded this game during its launch, and I have to say, its not bad.
I started the game with no expectations, knowing that the general gaming population seems to have written it off as a downgraded and totally meh worthy title. I just figured it would be a decent time sink for not a lot of money, and for the most part, it is. Its very Ubisoft, from the sleep educing dialogue, to the "radio tower" mechanic, and of course the completely cluttered map filled with samey side missions. Driving is atrocious and the protagonist Aiden, is a total douche.
But there is a lot of good in this game too. The combat is actually quite excellent and is one of the best for an open world game. There is a lot of strategy involved in taking down gang hideouts and approaching different combat scenarios. It handles stealth and action quite well and feels like either option is a viable way to go (most of the time).
Escaping the police feels more realistic than GTAs way of doing things and feels much more tactical when you are trying to hide from the cops while they search down alleys with floodlights (at least until you figure out the boat trick).
I also like the environmental puzzles. Since your character is not a parkour master, you have to figure out ways to scale buildings to reach radio towers and vantage points which adds a bit more depth to the experience since there are usually a couple ways to do this.
The hacking mechanic also puts a nice spin on the usual open-world missions, like tracing power lines back to control boxes to hack or using security cameras to spy on targets.
If anybody out there is looking for a decent, cheap open world romp to keep them busy for a while, I think Watch Dogs is a pretty good fit now that the dust has settled from the hype train derailment.
I started the game with no expectations, knowing that the general gaming population seems to have written it off as a downgraded and totally meh worthy title. I just figured it would be a decent time sink for not a lot of money, and for the most part, it is. Its very Ubisoft, from the sleep educing dialogue, to the "radio tower" mechanic, and of course the completely cluttered map filled with samey side missions. Driving is atrocious and the protagonist Aiden, is a total douche.
But there is a lot of good in this game too. The combat is actually quite excellent and is one of the best for an open world game. There is a lot of strategy involved in taking down gang hideouts and approaching different combat scenarios. It handles stealth and action quite well and feels like either option is a viable way to go (most of the time).
Escaping the police feels more realistic than GTAs way of doing things and feels much more tactical when you are trying to hide from the cops while they search down alleys with floodlights (at least until you figure out the boat trick).
I also like the environmental puzzles. Since your character is not a parkour master, you have to figure out ways to scale buildings to reach radio towers and vantage points which adds a bit more depth to the experience since there are usually a couple ways to do this.
The hacking mechanic also puts a nice spin on the usual open-world missions, like tracing power lines back to control boxes to hack or using security cameras to spy on targets.
If anybody out there is looking for a decent, cheap open world romp to keep them busy for a while, I think Watch Dogs is a pretty good fit now that the dust has settled from the hype train derailment.