Preview: Watch_Dogs

Watch_Dogs is going to be a slow burn, and that’s ok.

There are so many bang-bang, shoot-em-up, set-piece, scripted action games on the market. It’s a pleasant surprise to see one of the industry’s biggest publishers shy away from the trend.

Don’t misunderstand.

Watch_Dogs is packed to the brim with action. However, the player can dictate when it happens and to what extent. It’s a fascinating way to play that more than reminds me of Assassin’s Creed. In fact, Watch_Dogs could very well be the spiritual successor to AC.

Gameplay in Watch_Dogs is quite similar to that in Assassin’s Creed (albeit with a lot less climbing). Areas of Chicago are locked out until the central server in that area can be hacked to gain access to CtOS (the city wide computer system). This is reminiscent of the view points and Borgia towers of previous Assassin’s Creed games. What sets Watch_Dogs apart is the freedom afforded the player in going about almost every activity. In the demo I was shown, Aiden started off by sneaking into the heavily guarded area, before being spotted and taking part in a loud and action-packed firefight. Once the goons had been dispatched, Aiden was free to hack the server and open up the neighbourhood to even more hacking.

The neighbourhood in question was a lower socio-economic area of Chicago, essentially a ghetto. It looked incredible and the artists had really nailed the look and feel of a lived in, real world place. Having just visited Chicago prior to E3 I was struck by just how much the game world had captured the feeling of the city. Even in the ghetto, Watch_Dogs is an beautifully designed and artful game. I imagine myself — and others — will spend more than a fair share of their time staring in wonder at the environments, forgetting to play. This is a game where you’re encouraged to play at your own pace.

After successfully opening up the neighbourhood, Aiden is able to stroll around and hack the various people on the street. Details about each person he passes are displayed on screen including occupation, political views, salary etc. By hacking them Aiden can steal funds, information or open up new missions. At one point Aiden scanned a female NPC and the game made it clear that she was a potential target for attack. Following her down an alley, Aiden witnessed her being accosted by a male. The mission dynamically changed and the objective was now to stop the attacker or kill him. Aiden opened fire and the attacker fled on foot, firing shots back as he went. The chase went through backyards and over fences until the attacker jumped into a vehicle and tried to escape. Aiden is no Altair or Ezio but he’s no slouch either. He easily leapt over fences, the hoods of cars and over gaps when attempting to take down his target.

After a brief vehicular chase, the attacker was caught and Aiden had the choice to murder him or leave him bloodied but alive. The presenter chose the more final option and this section of the demo ended. It was clear that there were many different ways to tackle the situation. The entire sequence could have been ignored and the game would have continued on. Ubisoft aren’t forcing you to play any of the content. Watch_Dogs is like a delicious all you can eat buffet. You can go slow and only eat what you need, go crazy and try a bit of everything or stuff yourself silly. The way you play is up to you.

In the next section, Aiden was in the central area of Chicago. Once again the attention to detail was nothing short of amazing. The city looked and felt alive, yet it looked entirely separate from the ghetto area. It looked like a part of the same world, but worlds apart. People went about their business and paid Aiden no mind. Then something game changing was revealed. Something I never though I would describe as such.

Multiplayer.

Multiplayer in Watch_Dogs is not your typical deathmatch, CTF shootfest we’ve come to expect this generation. Instead it’s more like Resident Evil 6’s Agent Hunt mode, Left 4 Dead’s Versus mode or Dark Souls online features. It only functions if you opt in and if you do so you’re vulnerable to hacking attempts from other players. Friends — or strangers — can appear in your game — disguised as an NPC — and attempt to hack you as you play. Once the hacking attempt begins you’ll be notified and have a limited time to locate the hacker and take them out. Succeed and you won’t be hacked. Fail though and you’ll lose money. More importantly, you’ll have the opportunity to counter-hack them while they’re still in your game. If successful, you’ll recover some cash as well as banish the intruder from your game for a time.

Once the hacking commences, Watch_Dogs becomes an intense game of “cat and mouse” as the hackee frantically tried to discover their hacker. Blending with the crowd, hiding and hacking CtOS are all going to be skills required in order to successfully hack your friends. We weren’t shown much more of the multiplayer, but Ubisoft told us to expect even more from multiplayer when the game launches. It was one of the big surprises of E3 and one of the best.

Watch_Dogs is definitely looking like a blockbuster. It asks questions of the player and doesn’t force them to do anything they don’t want to. Just how free we’ll be when playing won’t be known until it launches in November, but right now Watch_Dogs is definitely the game I’m most excited for in 2013.