When you have a big developer like Ubisoft behind you there is more at stake but there are also more resources to draw upon to create the game. Watch Dogs is one of those new franchises that had some new elements embedded into it that made it interesting enough to look forward to. It came out on most of the video game systems in the Spring but took around 6 extra months to come out on the Wii U. So, here it is.
As the game itself has already been out for some time and I have read reviews from other people, I was a little surprised at how much criticism the game took, especially for the main protagonist, Aiden Pearce. Personally, I liked him. He has problems, sure, but who doesn't these days. I can't say I could identify with him but I understood where he was coming from. For me, that was enough.
Playing this game again (I completed it on the PlayStation 4) was an interesting experience from an academic point of view.
Watch Dogs is often described as an open-world hacking game. While it is that for sure, there's more to it. The story is set in Chicago and you gain access to different areas as you complete missions in a manner consistent with most open world action games. While there is definite linearity in the main story you can go and complete side missions that will improve your skills (driving for example, which is one of the more frustrating aspects of the game). There are also some interesting online moments where you can hack or be hacked. This is a one-on-one situation where you have to track down (or evade) the hacker in a set amount of time. It is challenging, fun and something that feels fresh and innovative.
There are a couple of main hacking elements in the game. The first are cameras that you can take control of and move to and from. When in control of a camera you can set off guard's grenades, open doors, and hack into other elements of the infrastructure. It takes a little getting used to but once you do it's a source of fun and you can go about it in different ways.
The other hacking element that comes up a lot is hacking individuals and their cell phones. You can drain their bank accounts, listen in on conversations and learn important details about their lives and what's happening in the city. Although the game contains many different people with different jobs, ethnic backgrounds and so on, you will encounter many repeats, which is inevitable, given the size and scale of the game. As much as it impressed me with how many different people were profiled after it was disappointing to get the repeats.
The Wii U version is clearly modelled after the PS3/360 version of the game and as a result suffers from some frame rate issues throughout. The one nice addition here is the ability to see the game world map at all times on the Wii U controller but it's not enough of an advantage to tell you to go out and play this version specifically for that.
The graphics overall are good and an impressive city is there for you to explore. The music also is excellent with a decent selection of songs available to you to listen to while you are driving. The sound effects are appropriate for a game of this scale and scope and the addition of some fun mini-games will keep you occupied if you get a little fatigued during the main story.
While I can't recommend that you play this game again on the Wii U if you already have it on the other systems, I can tell you that if you only have a Wii U this is definitely a title you want to add to your collection. It's good value in terms of the length of the game and the available fun. How you approach each situation will be unique to you and a lot of the fun comes in figuring out your own strategy.
And remember, they are watching.
- Syd Bolton
Follow @sydbolton
The Good:
- Lengthy story with plot twists and turns
- Open-world Chicago with the added interesting element of hacking
The Bad:
- The scale of the game weighs a little too heavily on the Wii U hardware at times
- Polarizing effect for the games main character and story - you are either going to love it or hate it
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Syd Bolton surrounds himself in thousands of classic video games as Canada's top video game collector at the Personal Computer Museum (http://www.pcmuseum.ca) in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.
