The Truth Behind Watch_Dog's Hype

Charles Fernandez
Social Media Editor

    After reading through countless reviews and comments all over the web, it’s become apparent to me that “Watch_Dogs” has become the next controversial game everyone is talking about. Unfortunately, “Watch_Dogs” is usually poorly judged for two specific reasons. It’s either because the reviewers’ criticism is based on the most successful open-world games like “Grand Theft Auto V”, or the game didn’t reach the expectations for the hype that it had. Regardless, the newcomer “Watch_Dogs” shouldn’t be compared to a game that won Game of the Year, when it hasn’t even fallen onto our laps yet. Due to all the hype it had pre-release, people have failed to put this game up on a regular scale and have immediately decided to compare it with the best of the best open world games—of course people are going to be disappointed. Why should anyone assume “Watch_Dogs” would be the start of the next generation of gaming, much less have a story that’s like no other? Because Ubisoft promised the best game to date and failed to deliver? That’s marketing, my friends! Even I had a different image of how this game was going to work, but it wasn’t at all disappointing, depending on how you come to view it. And although the story wasn’t the best, it was better than half of the campaigns I usually play. The fun isn’t found so much in the story, but in the action.

    “Hacking is your weapon.” This is what “Watch_Dogs” told us. People, including me, thought this game would have less guns and more hacks. This is one of the pitfalls we run into when we want to judge this game, and I almost fell into it, as well. Most people that I’ve seen play on Twitch or that have written harsh, negative reviews seem to rely too much on their guns and not enough on their hacking capabilities. A lot of players only use their hacking abilities to kill, rather than to SET UP for a kill. In a situation where you are told to kill off all of your enemies in a large room, people would resort to using guns, unless they find a grenade they can hack or a camera to look through. That kind of play-style feels like a dumbed-down version of “Splinter Cell Conviction.” But the game’s fighting potential comes when you effectively hack to set up kills rather than to just kill. Planning ahead is the key, and setting things up can get you far. You could go out guns blazing, or you could have fun with your tools. Here’s a scenario of what one hack can lead you to do.

    Start out with a Blackout to shut off all the lights in the room momentarily. Equip the silent pistol to take out a few enemies in the head with the time you have in the darkness. Before the lights come back on, leave a proximity mine next to the dead body closest to the group of guards that are still alive. Hide behind a wall, furniture, etc. As the lights turn on, the guards will notice all of the dead bodies that surround them. One or two will walk closer to examine the body that you booby-trapped, only to have it blow up in their faces. As the others are distracted by the explosion, take out an assault rifle, activate your slow-motion ability (Focus), and finish the few of them left. Easy to do, makes you feel like a boss, and you can rightfully say, “calculated.”

    All I’m trying to say is that if a player wants hacking to be a prominent tool in their game, experiment and find creative ways to deal with difficult situations rather than going in “Call of Duty” style. I’m not saying that the negatively scored reviews don’t know what they are talking about, but if the score is based on what you were expecting rather than the outcome, then you aren’t judging a game fairly at all.

    As for the driving in “Watch_Dogs,” it doesn’t feel too realistic and is a bit difficult to grasp in the beginning. It’s pretty difficult to make the turns on the road when reaching high speeds, but with some practice you get comfortable measuring how much you have to slow down to make a sharp turn. Luckily, almost every vehicle has amazing acceleration, which allows you to reach top speeds immediately after you slow down for a turn. The larger cars are faster than expected, which is pretty good when you want to deal with cops. The police are practically impossible to escape, at the hardest difficulty level, without using your hacking skills. But it’s in the challenge of finding creative routes to take in order to escape the police that make the cop chases one of the most enjoyable moments in “Watch_Dogs.”

    This is about as much as I can say about the single-player experience in “Watch_Dogs.” It’s not the best game I’ve ever played, but I believe it was definitely worth the $60, and I greatly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t set their expectations of the game to “unattainable.”