Watch_Dogs: Game Review

Watch_Dogs seemed like it would be a hugely unique and enthralling sandbox-game. It seemed like it would merge the open-world depth of the Grand Theft Auto games with the interesting concept of hacking a fictional Chicago to your every will. Although the game doesn't completely disappoint, it's quite far from what could have been. 

The story revolves around a damaged, moody hacker by the name of Aiden Pearce (Noam Jenkins). Aiden's niece is murdered after a job he carries out goes wrong, and he's determined to discover the course of events which led to this tragedy, and avenge his niece's death. To achieve this, Aiden enlists the help of fellow hackers Clara (Isabelle Blais) and eventually the crazy 'T-Bone' (John Tench). However, things inevitably become tangled and Aiden's sister and nephew are soon being threatened by some sinister characters from his past. 

Aiden Pearce

If it sounds like a fairly average, stereotypical story, it's largely because it is. Aiden himself comes off as a fairly dislikeable character, and his overly-gruff voice is more comical than anything else. His strange, borderline incestuous relationship with his sister is regularly off-putting, and his nephew is nothing more than an irritating inconvenience. Thankfully, some of the supporting characters in this monotonous story actually salvage certain portions of the game, such as Aiden's 'assistant' Jordi Chin (Aaron Douglas), who is criminally under-used, but for the majority of the story, nobody really stands-out as memorable. 

The game has a few things working in its favour, though. The hacking, although very limited compared to it's initial prospect, is at times very fun and really makes Watch_Dogs feel like a genuinely unique experience. Whether you're raising a bridge to use as a ramp and slow your perusers, or hacking through security cameras to get a feel for your surroundings, the ability to infiltrate into the city's infrastructure is an engaging aspect of the gameplay. This also contributes to an issue I have with the game however, as the hacking options really boil-down to a mere handful of choices, usually either to distract or harm your enemies. 

This lack of meaningful choice flows over into the combat and driving of the game as well. You can amass a fairly hefty arsenal of weapons and vehicles, both of which are very enjoyable to use, but neither are even slightly customisable which just feels out of place in a modern sandbox experience. This becomes especially noticeable when carrying out one of the many stealth sequences contained within Watch_Dogs, as you can only use a couple of silenced weapons or a single-button take-down to dispatch enemies. That's not to say these segments lack enjoyable gameplay, but some sort of customisation would be hugely beneficial in such a huge, detailed world. 

Clara

And it is certainly detailed. Thanks to Aiden's phone having the capabilities of a super-computer, every single citizen of the city has a small biography available whenever you hover your reticule over them. Some may be porn-addicts, and others may spend thousands of dollars on cleaning products, but all of this culminates to a truly 'living' city. These are no longer just empty members of the public for you to gun down, but instead individuals, each with a unique (if slightly limited) personality. Sometimes you may even eavesdrop on a phone call through the use of the 'CTos' system which ties the whole city together, which will then automatically locate a side-mission for you to take part in. It becomes slightly underwhelming after a while, but early on it's a cool feature which adds more depth to the bustling city.

I suppose in that lies my main issue with Watch_Dogs. If I had reviewed the game a few hours after owning it, I probably would be singing its praises to no end. Unfortunately, the content which is featured becomes stale before too long, which is surprising considering how much content there actually is. There's a breadth of variety within the game, but there's almost too much to remain coherent. You could potentially spend hours between one story-mission and the next, which makes the lacklustre plot seem even more mundane. 

Verdict
Watch_Dogs is initially a very fun experience, but one which is eventually let-down by a boring story and intimidating amount of familiar content. One aspect which remains fun however is the "seamless" multiplayer which is integrated into the single-player game, but even this isn't enough to justify the large next-gen price-tag. I'd recommend Watch_Dogs if you manage to pick it up for a considerably reduced price, but otherwise, I can't say you'd be missing out if you gave this one a miss.