Watch Dogs

Pros

• Interesting use of hacking on people, local tech and cameras
• The city is open and easy to explore by walking, driving and other means of transportation
• Controls are simple whether you're walking, driving, hacking or shooting

Cons

• Graphics are good, but not great
• The missions are sometimes ambiguous and the story is unoriginal

Watch Dogs is an open-world game with hacking and shooting elements. Many people consider this a Grand Theft Auto, or GTA, clone but played as a hacker instead of a thief. The comparison makes sense as you are able to do many of the same actions with the one major change being that you can hack all nearby electronics.

Hacking

There are many similar open-world games where you go on missions, use guns, steal cars and work towards resolving the plot. One of the major changes Watch Dogs makes to this genre is the ability to hack. You play as a master hacker and your smartphone is capable of hacking all nearby electronics.

This can be used in a variety of ways. When you're on the street, you can hack nearby phones and see who people are, what they make, what information they're hiding and many other things to root out enemies or anyone you should be going after. Not only that, but it's interesting to see the level of detail put into every character walking the streets and going about their digital life.

You can also hack cameras and other devices with your phone. Unlike some games that have a minigame or puzzle to represent hacking, this one allows you to push a single button. This is polarizing as some will love it while others will feel that the hacking should be more challenging. You will use this skill throughout the game to complete missions.

Missions and Plot

Like all other games in the genre, you will be completing various missions to finish the plot. The story concerns Aiden Pearce, a brilliant gray hat hacker and criminal, who is trying to right his wrongs and get revenge on those who hurt him. The plot goes from punishing street-level thugs to toppling a giant criminal organization. The plot is engrossing enough to keep the game going, but none of the twists and turns feel unexpected.

It's the common plot of a big criminal organization taking over a city and you're the only person who can stop it. Your motive is that they personally hurt you and you must hurt them back. While the story won't win awards for originality, it's good enough to keep you going through the story missions.

Many of the story missions involve taking done criminals and assassins. This can range from killing them, finding items and collecting resources. One of the problems you may experience is that the mission goals are often left ambiguous. This can make it difficult to complete some missions without going in circles or looking up a guide online.

Good Graphics

Watch Dogs has good graphics that make the city and its people come alive. You can easily make out people, objects, items and cars. Everything looks realistic and there really isn't anything that stands out as poor. At the same time, you may notice that the graphical quality is just somewhat below that of contemporary open-world games.

This game was released in a precarious time between an old console going out of style and a new one being sold. As such, it had to fulfill the need for better graphics while also ensuring that the game could play on the older console. While the graphics definitely aren't bad, they aren't quite as realistic as some other major games released around the same time.

Watch Dogs won't receive any awards for best graphics of the era. At the same time, you can easily make everything out and the city seems alive with activity and realism.

Weapons

You can get out of almost every situation and fight by hacking. You can hack cameras and other nearby tech to get through the game without fighting. That might be fine for some players and it adds a level of challenge to the game. Other players will want to run-and-gun through fights and that's perfectly fine as well. Watch Dogs features several dozen different guns to choose from.

There are machine guns, sniper rifles, pistols, melee weapons and grenades that you can pick up or buy in the game. Whether you want to get in close, pick off from a distance or go mid-range with a submachine gun, you have plenty of options.

Controls

You get to control many things in this game. You go from walking the streets to stealing cars to hacking the local infrastructure. While there is a lot to do, you will find that the controls are never overwhelming. You should have no problem doing all these activities and more without your fingers getting twisted or tired.

Pros

• Interesting use of hacking on people, local tech and cameras
• The city is open and easy to explore by walking, driving and other means of transportation
• Controls are simple whether you're walking, driving, hacking or shooting

Cons

• Graphics are good, but not great
• The missions are sometimes ambiguous and the story is unoriginal