So, I just finished watchdogs and this is my review of it.
Overall experience: 91/100-I loved the game so much. The gameplay was very emersive and the storyline was very easy to follow. Not to mention, all of the amazing extra features the developers placed in the game.
Gameplay: 15/20
-I loved most of the mechanics in the game. Bullet damage was realistic, hacking took time and precision, and driving was not a first-try-success type of thing. However, the game was lacking in a few fields.
First off, despite bullet damage being realistic in most cases, bullet resistance and effects were both lacking. There are cases where armored enemies would appear and Aiden would have to fight them off, however, those armored enemies had high bullet resistance which meant that it took a ton of body shots or even 2 or 3 grenades to kill them. My issue is not their bullet resistance, but their imunity to headshot kills. I tried with every weapon from the 9mm to the .50 cal and headshots don't work on these enemies. Furthermore, the stealth takedown does not work on these enemies either, which almost drops the possibilty of taking them out stealthily to zero. Thankfully, they rarely show up in scenarios where stealth is involved.
My second issue is movement and driving mechanics. As Aiden Pearce, movement is well coded and fluid, however, if you bump into a trash can or another person, they get knocked down instantly no matter how fast you are moving. Similarly, when driving, your car can take down almost anything. Light posts, power lines, other cars, guard stations, etc. This is helpful when you're chasing someone or being chased, but it's a nightmare to deal with when its accidental because enough public damage can lower your reputation. Other than those small mechanics issues, the game plays smoothly and fluidly.
Graphics: 20/20- I don't have much to say about the graphics other than that they were very good. A 20/20 doesn't mean that they looked like real life, but it does mean that I didn't encounter any graphical errora or glitches. Other than a few minor fps drops, I didn't have any issues with the graohics.
Storyline: 18/20- The only reason I took two points off of the storyline is that the base for it was very cliché. Without spoilers, this is the basic idea behind it. Aiden lost his neice in a car accident because someone put a hit out on him. His motivation for every action in the story is to protect people and to get revenge. It feels overused, but with all of the plot twists, the story gers very different very fast. The concept of having hacking as a tool in the game was an amazing choice by the writers. Either way, the storyline is interesting and easy to follow, but only really 95% original (which is still incredible).
Online: 18/20- Good fun if you want to play, however, it can keep you from completing objectives in the campaign. There were several time in the game where I was very immersed and I get go an objective and...boom. "Theres an enemy on my tail, I need to lose him". Whenever you hear that, it basically leads to running around looming for your enemy for up to a minute and then chasing them down, which can sometimes lead you several thousand meters away from your objectice and also lead to trying to escape the police. Other than that, the online is fun and original, which makes for an interesting experience.
Bonus features: 20/20- This game is pacjed full of so many bonus features that it could keep you playing for several hours after you beat the main campaign. Things like hacking bank acounts, hunting for gang leaders, stopping crimes, stopping convoys, unlocking ctOS locations, and of course, hacking the city, are al features that make this game incredibly unique. The fast travel is also different in this game. There are two ways to fast travel; Either you can take the L-train to other stations, or you can fast travel directly to one of your hideouts. It makes getting around the massive map a lot quicker and a lot easier. If you're not fond of fast travel, there are other methods of getting around. Starring with the train again. If you don't want to fast travel, you can still ride the train. You can stamnd inside like everyone else, or you can stop the train, climb on top of it, and start it again. If you prefer to take the roads, then ther are tons of vehicle options. With one hack upgrade, you can steal any vehicle off the side of the road or out of any parking lot without arousing suspicion. If you would rather chokse what vehicle you drive, after completing the first mission, you can order cars and have them delivered near you as long as you are not mid-mission. One benefit of driving is that you can change what songs pkay while you are driving and if you want to listen to music while you wander the city, you can use Aiden's media app to play any song that you have aquired over the course of the game. How do you get this music? By completing missions and hacking phones. And if you play on PS3 (and soon, PS4) you get a bonus mission that you unlock halfway through the game and can play at any time after that.
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All in all, I really enjoyed Watch Dogs and will be looking out for dlc and possibly a sequel.
-K.G.
