Windcaler said:
Having been playing the game off and on over the last day I have some mixed feelings about it. Although it needs to be said Im probably only 10 hours or so into the game. However the bottom line is I do enjoy it.
My biggest problem with the game is that we have to play as Aiden pierce instead of being able to create our own character. I just dont see a reason why we couldnt have a character creator to put our own avatars in. It makes sense to have a single character tell their story in assassin's creed but not really for watch dogs. Maybe this will change down the road but I doubt it.
Sometimes the hacking does feel like its a magic superpower due to how easily you can use it in most situations. Some hacking effects like blown steam valves dont even make a lot of sense though. I know "everything is supposed to have computer chips" in their world but really, blowing up a steam valve from your phone just shatters my suspension of disbelief. It reminds me of a really bad movie where there was this master hacker killing people by injecting them with something everytime someone went to their site. Then later he somehow stops the detectives car and locks her in because of the computer in it. Theyre very silly premises really and I feel like rather then this stuff we could have been given a larger variety of traps to lay. I get what they were going for I just feel it could have been done better without going onto the funny farm
The gunplay is, I feel, good and bad but mostly bad. Its very reminiscent of Alpha protocols stealth gunplay without the strong run and gun elements of it or weapon specialization (which is good). The problem is the active firefights become more tedious then fun. Also on that note, I really dislike anytime a game lets me play a stealthy character and then through no fault of my own forces me into a gunfight because the story demands it and Watch dogs has done that...I want to say twice so far. If I screw up ok make there be consequences for my screw up. Dont force me to fight a bunch of bad guys because the game/story says its time to do it. Dont punish me for the characters screw up and then demand I bail them out of it.
The driving is...driving. I really dont know what to say there. The driving by itself is as medicore as open world driving gets. Yes you can hack things like steam vents and traffic lights while driving which is cool but the driving is still just driving.
I do like the player invasions though. Its very dark souls esque in a player can invade you and you bsicly have to chase them down. I had an invader come in which lead to a cross city chase as both of us were trying to use the various hacking tools to stop the other. IMO its one of the most interesting things the game has to offer
The police system is bloody strange though. There was a point where I went in to take out a gang and someone called the police when they heard gun shots. The police showed up while Im fighting these gangsters and what do they do? Start shooting at ME! It was just a WTF moment, here we had gangsters armed with clearly illegal weaponry while I have a 1911 (a legal firearm that I presumably purchased legally) and their first instinct is get the guy with the pistol instead of the guys with automatic weapons and gang tattoo's/colors. There are also cases where when you steal an occupied car the person will call the police but if I back into them slowly they'll suddenly forget about the police and the call never goes through. However during an invasion I accidently drove through what I assume with a news stand, murder 5 or 6 people, run from the scene and no cops were called. Not only that but when the police do show up they often shoot on sight. I can have no weapons out and they shoot at me rather then doing the lawful thing and trying to detain me without use of force.
Finally I have a problem with the game that I have in almost all of these open world games. I have a hard time playing it like its supposed to be played. Instead of going through the story missions I easily get sidetracked hunting down criminals, eliminating gangs, and queing up for invasions. However I think its a mark of a good open world game when you can get easily sidetracked. It means theres lots to do.
Is it wasted potential? Yeah I think so. It often goes into call of duty territory of its silliness where the laws of physics and logic dont apply. However, that doesnt mean its a bad game either. Its interesting enough and fun enough to have kept me interested so far.
IMO the best thing that could happen to the game right now is releasing modding tools because theres a ton of potential for mods in that game. However this is ubisoft so thats unlikely
Funny thing is, handguns are banned in chicago. It has strict gun laws to try to fight organized crime, but organized crime is still winning by sheer money power and influence.
Of course, they for some reason needed official gun shops instead of secret back alley shops like in GTA IV. Would make much more sense.
The cops don't care for gun shops selling illegal guns, gangs with illegal guns, but some matrix wannabe with a single handgun is the biggest threat to Chicago.
Of course, since they have about 5(?) studios working on it I wouldn't expect real thought put into it.
