Topic: Watch_Dogs

Okay here we go, one more day until official release. I was always skeptical about this game but after seeing it at a friend (yep someone broke the street-date) I can only say: I Immediately pre-ordered it on PS-store (as I want to go fully digital this gen). So if everything goes smoothly I'll be playing tonight at midnight! Let's share our experiences here!

Btw... what I've seen from my friend (also on PS4) the game runs well and looks good, but not gorgeous. Many people online will take this as an opportunity to moan and complain. I only want to remember that prior to the launch of the next gen consoles, many of us had a conversation that was a little bit like this: "I hope not everything next gen is just eyecandy, that they use the new power not only for new shinies but also for bigger worlds, more interaction and better gameplay." - and after the 30 minutes I've seen of the game so far, this is exactly what we got and technically Watch_Dogs is still a "cross generational " "first wave" game. I think the high fidelity will arrive with The Devision... just my 2 cents!

I've been hyped for a good while now, and some reputable reviewers have reviews up already, and so far it seems like they love it
http://www.gamepur.com/news/14782-early … take-.html
Even though these should be looked at with a wary eye, I'm still pumped for it. It's kind of like our GTA fix before the more-than-likely GTA V next gen announcement, but this should still be held in its own category.

From what I've seen so far, I know I'm going to enjoy the hell out of this game.

EG review is up:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014- … ogs-review
Less than an essential purchase for me, I still have Assassin's Creed, I'll happily take my time with Wolfenstein now.

It's getting around 8's around the board, but as always I've to read between the lines to really find the kind of fun I enjoy. And so far I do enjoy it!

Metacritic users are already embarrassing themselves (not sure if it's a fanboy war of 'my version is better than your version' or something else). Game is averaging a 5.9 user score on PS4 and 4.9 on Xbox One. Having only played the game for a couple hours, two stories missions and a few side missions, I won't come to any conclusions yet,but I will say the game shows promise. Like Assassin's Creed, it's an open world game with a story that takes itself a bit more seriously than GTA or Saints Row so I do it is important that that part of the game ends up being decent. I like ti so far, but again very early. Graphics are nicer than I was expecting though it does look more like a last-gen game with a new-gen coat of a paint, but given what I was expecting, it's not bad. Gunplay and on-foot controls in general seem solid. Driving bothers me a bit, I don't mind a more arcade feel but with the way the map is set up I have to get used to using the break a lot more than I want to but once I spend more time with the game I'm sure this will be something that doesn't bother me.

All in all, good start. Too early in to give a real impression but I enjoyed what I played so far and the side missions, another important part of this type of game, seem decent enough.

Dont try to see too much meaning into reviews nowadays, they used to focus on how you can enjoy playing a game and not on the games identity and other kind of BS

I've noticed that metacritics shit as well. I don't get the ZERO point reviews from users, however you might think the game turned out, it's never ever a ZERO. I so hate those idiots. Can't there be some "approvement"-system in place, some kind of moderation? A ZERO game, for me, would be like having gamebreaking bugs, losing all your progress, toasting your PS4, not able to start it at all, frames constantly below 20... something like that. But hey thats just me...

I wouldn't even have given Battlefield 4 a zero and that game was a broken, sh*tty mess.

Dang this game is pretty and it runs really smoothly, I don't get why people were moaning about it.

This!

Im like 10 hours in, more to come, had my initial reservations but so far so good, I really enjoy it. I'll post my extended impressions in here today or tomorrow. I want to point out things that the general media was highlighting as flaws which I just can't see, maybe some people get a different angle on this game which clearly, shouldn't be missed by anyone!

@Scollurio Looking forward to your impressions, buddy. I really enjoy reading your stuff.

Thanks mate, just summed it up, will post in a minute.
PS: I also don't rob poor folks, I love how I can "roleplay" my char a bit by only taking money from politicians, criminals and bankers (basically all the same).

The thing about… Watch_Dogs

So it's me again with quite a lengthy post, about Watch_Dogs. This is no review and I'm only about 20% into the game yet but already spent hours doing side-missions and activities, generally driving around, hacking the shit out of Chicago and being "high" on digital trips. This won't be as sophisticated as my Impressions about Project Cars or my writing about Killzone and Gran Turismo, as simply, I haven't played through the game yet.

What I can do though is give people that are still on the fence some insight on things most reviewers forget to tell you or paint in the wrong light. Let me start with the most controversial subject about Watch_Dogs. The graphics. Attached here you will find a screenshot that I took myself from an ordinary scenery in the game. This is from the PS4 version obviously, it's 900p (not 1080p). What do we see here. You see that the lack of resolution really is barely noticable, there is some nice anti-aliasing going on (I think its 2x or even 4x) and this takes care of the most jaggies in the game. A few weird fences here and there will still display jaggies though. But honestly. It's hardly noticable. The rest of the game, as you can clearly see, is by far not ugly. It has awesome lighting, wonderful weather-effects and you can see really far into the distance. Also the shadows are nice, the mip- and bump-mapping (road imperfections for example) look realistic and generally this game is well done. In cutscenes you can easily see the fabric on the clothes and the animations are beautiful. And yes it runs in only 30 frames per second. Poop. So what. Honestly. Those 30 frames are ROCK solid, I was not able yet to pull some crap that brought a slowdown or a stutter (and trust me, I've tried some weird stuff already). 30 fps if perfectly stable IS ENOUGH. Sure, better is always better but if you're holding out from buying this game because it might not look the part, don't wait any longer.

How does it compare to GTA5 graphically? How to Infamous? Well I'd say the general quality of the models and everything in the city is on-par with GTA5, only with bigger drawing distance, better anti-aliasing and nicer shadows. I'd say it's about 25% prettier than GTA5 which is by no means to be scoffed at, as GTA5 really was a masterpiece on the aging PS3 hardware. For some this might not be enough, but to be honest, a mediocre game will always be just that, no matter how pretty it is, and the „Ohhh shiny next gen graphics" effect usually wears off pretty quick once you dive into the game and focus on the gameplay and story rather than go pixel-counting. This game is by far NOT mediocre. It looks the part and plays really well. Infamous might look a bit better, but also had its fair share of framerate problems when you were using your powers and everything was blasted to bits. I could not see any slowdown in Watch_Dogs yet.

But how does it play? Pretty well. Amazing actually. People and reviewers alike were critical about things, that I just can't see. For example, there is no jump button. Repeat that in your head and then think what you just said in your head. There is no jump button. So what? You have your context-sensitive action button that you use for vaulting, takedowns, climbing ladders etc… there is no need for a jump button really. This doesn't mean you're somewhat limited in your movement. By far not. Quite the opposite, everything is fluent and quick. The controls take an hour to get used to and the tutorial mission sucks big time, but after that, if you give it a chance, this game really shines. Especially, and this is also the critics were all over, the cars, the fighting, the shooting, generally, the controls. They are - especially in the shooting part - by far superior to GTA5. Nothing is clunky, it's all spot on. You can play this game as stealthy as you want or as bombastic as you want. I used only my silenced 1911 spec ops for the most jobs in the beginning, as its easy to hide, sneak around, get into cover, place distractions, hack the environment to distract your enemies, etc… you have so much freedom. Again: SO MUCH FREEDOM. This is what this game is all about. The hacking? Awesome. Yes it's simplistic, but it has to be, people were asking „but how does it work"? Who cares! No one ever asked the demon how he was hurling fireballs. It's a game and of course a process like hacking (thats a really boring endeavor to watch if you're not a hacker yourself) HAS to be simplified to be applicable in a car chase or in other „fast decision making" gameplay elements. And it works wonderfully well. Due to the hacking you have options like you have in no other game. Surveillance and gaining intel is interesting, engaging and easy. You always can play as tactical as you want, fool with the enemies or have some fun in traffic. There are plenty plenty plenty of missions and side-activities, randomly generated and pre-defined alike. You can tackle most of them however you want.

Let me give you an example. I picked up a random „convoy" mission. It's some gangster in a truck just returning from a heist, being guarded by 2 black SUVs, one in front, one after, hence the name „convoy". It's your job to stop that gang and neutralize the driver of the truck. How, however, is yours to decide. You get the likely route they'll take on your map and have some time to prepare as the convoy starts its journey. It shall not reach its final destination. From there on I already succeded with different approaches. I planted roadside bombs, went sniping, engaged in a car VS car wild car battle/chase around half of the city, I got the cops involved (not on purpose) and the most effective way of stopping them so far, was … with a firetruck.

That said, this is one of those rare games that allows you to „create your own fun". Regardless of genre those games are rare, for me such games were Battlefield 1942, Star Wars Galaxies and a few others. Games you could have your fun outside of the treaded ways. Unfortunately many gamers nowadays, being used to corridor maps and shooting galleries, fail to create their own fun, either from lack of creativity or attention. Players that like to experiment, take a game-world fully in and want to try other solutions than „boom you're dead" to the obstacles in a given game will welcome Watch_Dogs with open arms. The more casual players might still find plenty to enjoy here but it's those that step outside of their comfort zone and explore, experiment, exploit the city that will get the most from Watch_Dogs. Mostly everything in the game can be tackled in a very tactic fashion, and honestly, I'll get the season pass tonight as I want to have everything that's ever released into this fantastic world. I'd gladly pay for weapon-packs and car-packs if they're as well made as the rest of the game.

To close this already long post I wan't to make a final statement, GTA5 got mostly 10's and that was mostly for the story. Not that the gameplay was bad, but honestly, also GTA5 (which I loved) had a fair share of „downers". Yes the map was huge, but also lots of empty areas especially between Trevor's place and the main city. Sure the weapon selection was huge and became even bigger with the patches, but ultimately - at least to me - the gunplay always felt clunky. There are a few other things that are by far no gamebreakers but that are not the perfect 10 at least for me in GTA5. In Watchdogs most magazines rate it 8 or 9, I agree with that while I would say if you'd rate the gameplay only, It'd be a 10. It's cleverly made, well crafted with an incredible attention to detail (for example, if you take down a criminal you'll see on your profiler insert that he's for example mentally disordered or a drug addict, and this description fits with his behaviour and dialogue when committing a crime).

If you're strictly looking for the „aaaaww" and „ooooow" moments when looking at a nice picture, you gotta look elsewhere. Killzone looks better, Infamous looks better. But the fun to be had in this virtual Chicago is tremendous. Also, if you don't generally like sandboxy games like GTA, you'll also not get convinced otherwise by this one, the tropes are there, and THEN SOME.

If I'd have to rate it this early, I'd easily give it a 9.
I hope I was able to paint a bit of an alternative picture than the mainstream reviews and gave some insight that's helpful to the one or another still unsure if to get it or not!

Thanks for reading this long thing.

Just done with ACT I and man I wish the season pass had gameplay for Clara instead of T-bone.

My online order didn't go through for some reason so I'll be picking this up in store today.  Looking forward to finally playing this.

- Trophy : Traced (Watch Dogs)

Spoiler : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGar_aEDXcI

I think watch dogs is quite refreshing in the open world genre. I love the game and honestly think this game has loads and loads of future potential! This could be the next great series and I'm excited to see what the future holds for watchdogs.

even though I have a ps3 I pre-ordered this on Wii U so I am still waiting but this looks so awesome!

The amount of content is astounding, certainly very good value for money.
It's one of the few single player focus games, that actually has a really good multi-player.