With just over a week remaining until Watch Dogs releases on next-gen consoles (not to mention PC, PS3, and Xbox 360), it’s time to make a very important decision: Are you going to buy the game?
Ubisoft’s open world title has come a long way since its 6-month delay back in November 2013, and if you weren’t intrigued then, you’d be hard pressed not to be now. Not only does its fictional rendition of Chicago look fantastic, but the the tale of renegade grey hat hacker Aiden Pearce strikes me as increasingly compelling each time I read about it.
Of course, you’ll want to be a bit more informed than that before parting with sixty dollars, and there’s plenty of info on the game to offload into brain storage before buying. Check out our information compilation below, make your decision count, and if all else fails, know that some pre-orders come with an Aiden Pearce figurine. Who doesn’t love figurines?
Watch Dogs: Everything You Need to Know
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Full access to the Central Operating System (ctOS)
You’ve probably heard about the ctOS if you’ve followed Watch Dogs thus far. Essentially, it’s an operating system that maintains and controls a city’s electrical infrastructure (Chicago’s, in this case). In addition, the system keeps tabs on citizens via surveillance, and records info it finds to profiles for each person in the city. As an experienced hacker, protagonist Aiden Pearce has found ways to manipulate and fully control the ctOS. As you may have guessed, chaos (and probably some hilarity) ensues.
A hacking collective called DedSec has brought ctOS’s flaws to the attention of the public, and its continued exploitation of the system plays a large role in the game’s plot. The whole thing sounds a bit Person of Interest-esque, and though DeadSec is not associated with Aiden, they both have similar “grey hat” intentions.
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Meet Aiden Pearce
Every tale needs a protagonist, and Aiden Pearce is a lot less typical than he may initially appear. Yes he’s a criminal, and yes, he’s somewhat of a “tough guy,” but trust us; Aiden is far from what you’d find in a typical open world crime story.
For all intents and purposes, Aiden is a computer hacker. Described as “grey hat,” which means he’s not afraid to break the law but will generally have an ethical or righteous goal in mind, Aiden’s main motivation is to avenge his murdered niece and eliminate those who threaten both him and his family. Of course, most of these threats exist because of his criminal history, but you can’t fault a guy for trying to right his wrongs, can you?
Whether or not revenge would fall under “grey hat” in real life is probably up for debate, but there’s undoubtedly lots more to learn about Aiden once we actually play the game. Ubisoft needs an excuse for Aiden to rampage through Chicago’s ctOS, after all, and a personal vendetta seems like a great place to start.
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A densely-packed Chicago
It remains to be seen whether or not Watch Dogs will be the largest open-world game to date, but some signs have pointed to no. Still, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Grand Theft Auto V included a city, countryside, mountains, and other areas that simply don’t make sense in a Chicago-based setting.
Instead, Watch Dogs aims for density rather than sheer scope, and that’s exactly what creative director Jonathan Morin has repeatedly pointed out. "You can stand still and profile people for ten minutes - you're playing without moving, almost. I think that's even more important to me than just adding size to it. I don't want size just becoming a space between A and B. We have a huge world, but it's more about the density."
Surely there’s truth to Morin’s words, but only if Ubisoft Montreal can pull it off. Toying with the ctOS, reading up on individual citizens (which alone offers a level of detail not found in past open world titles), literally altering and controlling the city’s infrastructure and integrated systems; the sandbox potential is staggering. Let’s just hope it’s as varied as Ubisoft is promising.
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Deadsec, a secret society of hackers
It’s probably accurate to think of DeadSec as fictional Chicago’s Anonymous equivalent, but perhaps a bit more formidable (and less focused on “lulz”). Despite being grey hat hackers themselves, DeadSec is not directly affiliated with Aiden Pearce: until he meets DeadSec member Clara Lille, that is. She’ the one who gets him into the ctOS.
DeadSec as a collective is wholly against the ctOS, finding it to be dangerous, vulnerable, and unnecessary. To prove this, they hijack it as often as possible, aiming to prove to the public just how vulnerable it makes them. Hackers obviously love ASCII art, so DeadSec replaced the ctOS website with their own logo in glorious English-alphabet form. If it were me I would’ve gone with this instead, but that’s probably why I’ll never be a DeadSec member.
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It’s *almost* full HD
Watch Dogs is a very pretty game. On PC it looks glorious, and on next-gen consoles, well, let’s just say only the most discerning of eyes will know the difference.
Still, as has been highly publicized, even the next-gen editions of the game won’t quite achieve the golden 1080p standard most folks have been hoping for. The PS4 version will see the game sampled at a still-impressive 900p, while the Xbox One will stick to tried and true 720p. I suspect the difference between 900p and 1080p will be quite difficult to discern, and though 720p looks just fine at the right distance from your TV, it can get a bit rough in more intimate play settings.
Even so, it sounds as though advanced lighting and edge-smoothing techniques have remained intact across both the PC and console editions. If Watch Dogs’ Chicago looks and feels immersive, convincing, and genuinely “next-gen,” then I’ll be happy to brush technical details swiftly aside.
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Multiple options for multiplayer
Open world games aren’t exactly champions of compelling multiplayer (opinions of Grand Theft Auto Online have varied, to say the least), but Watch Dogs looks to have a solid offering up its sleeve. The game contains both online and co-op multiplayer modes, and Jonathan Morin has confirmed via Twitter that free roam multiplayer for up to 8 players will be available when the game releases.
Additionally, there are specific online and local modes that have been confirmed. In one game mode, an online player will enter your world and upload a virus, and it’s your job to hunt him down and survive. If you track the other player before the virus finishes you off, you can choose to either hack him back, or kill him. Sounds pretty chaotic.
Another confirmed mode is a sort of co-op lite, where one player mans an Android or iOS tablet. From the tablet, an overhead view of the console player is shown, and the second player can assist Aiden via various hacking tools. This could include anything from accessing Chicago’s ctOS to fending off authorities, and plenty of other no-doubt useful tasks. This mode certainly sounds fun; I’m just glad free roam with friends will be available too.
