First Impressions Of "Watch Dogs"

      "Watch Dogs" is a new game developed by Ubisoft in which the city of Chicago becomes your hacking playground. The game provides you an open sandbox world in which nearly anything electronic is exploitable: from signs to cell phones, bridges to traffic lights. All of this provides an excellent modern world in which some strong narrative can come out.

      I'm not going to spend too much time talking about the narrative. As I am only through the first act of the game, but I will give a synopsis. You play Aiden Pearce, a middle aged man who due to some poor choice blames himself for the death of his niece. Aiden will stop at nothing to get revenge against the people who caused the death of his niece. In his travels Aiden will come across a unique cast of characters all of which are interacting in this wired version of Chicago which is now run on ctOS, an all encompassing municipal surveillance system.

      The gameplay will feel very familiar to those who played GTA V or Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Gunplay is smooth, chases are fun and active and as you would expect, hacking is a central theme for this game. You can hack to gain control of devices like cameras, trigger explosives, and a myriad of other tactical and fun things.

      The game also incorporates a morality system that apparently determines how likely he public will ID you and identify the cops (should you steal a car or use a gun, etc.) Beyond that, I'm not sure of the morality system will play much more of a factor.

      Also to note is how intense the AI is in this game. While not the brightest I have seen (hiding behind a barrier not easily accessed will allow you to escape the cops, major water exploits) the AI is very aggressive. This makes car chases in particular very satisfying as you have to use all he tricks in your arsenal.

      I have not played much online or through the mobile app however it all seems to be secondary to the main single player experience. This is disappointing, however until I have given it a fair shake I won't jump to complete conclusions.

      In the next week or so I will be doing a review of "The Art of Watch Dogs" from Titan Books, and will be writing up a full review of he game once finished so stay tuned!