back to article Watch Dogs: Eat, sleep, hack, repeat

In preparation for tangling with Watch Dogs, I spent plenty of time revisiting the salty seadogs of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. Presuming that one Ubisoft stealth-'em-up might have much in common with the other. Watch Dogs Oh, bollards to this In many ways, the fundamental Watch Dogs gameplay of infiltrate, kill and …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    PS4 version looking pretty fine here.

    Whilst not totally next-gen, and having to cater for last-gen console, and inferior this-gen console, it's still a pretty decent game with alot of depth.

    Might want to avoid the PC version on AMD cards and the Xbox One version, neither is up-to scratch compared to the others.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: PS4 version looking pretty fine here.

      Thank you, anonymous Sony representative.

    2. Down not across

      Re: PS4 version looking pretty fine here.

      Obviously you have not even bothered to find out what it looks on other platforms...

      http://kotaku.com/watch-dogs-on-xbox-one-vs-360-vs-ps3-vs-ps4-vs-pc-1583444979

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: PS4 version looking pretty fine here.

        I trust my eyes more than paid gaming websites.

        Do you know the ownership chain of these websites whose opinion you value so much? Most of them are owned by conte nast, who in turn are bankrolled by Microsoft. Reddit, wired, ars technica, all tainted by microsoft money.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          FAIL

          Re: PS4 version looking pretty fine here.

          Because Sony NEVER pay marketing/publishing companies to 'fluff' their goods do they?

          Oh and who are this Conte Nast you speak of?

          I assume you mean the multi billion pound publishing company Conde Nast who are no doubt as willing to take Sony's cash as Microsofts!!

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    My concern, as it is with all Ubisoft games, is UPlay. It sucks, to be frank. A waste of CPU cycles that does nothing but annoy me. Forces you to kill the program and reboot it to play another Ubisoft game. When I buy a game, I want to boot just the game up. I don't want an invasive system looking over my shoulder and scanning my PC.

    As for the first AC comment, I have yet to see a console game that plays / loads / saves as fast as my PC. Even with games written for console then ported to PC, the PC graphics are slicker and better. Besides, I can replace my AMD CPU + video card when it gets dated. Good luck with that on your PlayStation.

  3. Geeks and Lies

    Seems a fine game on the 360

    Played a good 3-4 hours last night, really enjoying it so far, graphics are superb for the 360 reasonably immersive and not too easy to make you bored! Well worthy of 4 of 5 stars.

  4. Clive Galway
    Thumb Down

    Avoid for now

    As usual, the PC version feels like it was added as an afterthought, with no decent QA and no thought to the control scheme.

    UI almost unusable with mouse.

    This game features just about the worst implementation of a "rose" menu ever seen for the weapon select wheel.

    If you wish to select the down-left item, and move the mouse down left (thus highlighting the item you want), but then move the mouse *ever so slightly* left, you will select the left item not the down left one.

    It also uses the same method for a grid select menu - and there is no indication of how far you need to move the mouse up/down/left/right to select items. Imagine trying to select from a grid of buttons with a hidden mouse pointer and only a highlight on the current item.

    Terrible drops in framerate - for me car driving is impossible, the game freezes every time you turn a corner (i7-930 @ 4Ghz, 6GB, GTX 660Ti)

    Do not buy yet - wait for it to stabilize and come down in price.

    1. Badvok

      Re: Avoid for now

      This game was designed for a Controller, so use a controller and you'll enjoy it more. Some games map to Mouse+Kbd, some don't.

      I assume you've missed a '1' from before the '6GB' in your PC spec, I doubt you'd be running that config with that little RAM (if not then that might be your problem since 6GB is the absolute bare minimum for this game).

      1. Clive Galway

        Re: Avoid for now

        I don't play FPS with a controller. Period. Especially in multi player games.

        I had a guy invade me who was obviously using a controller. I circle strafed around him and LOLed.

        There's nothing inherently stopping mouse from working fine in the game, it is just sloppy coding - which from an AAA title is unforgivable.

    2. Down not across

      Re: Avoid for now

      No framerate issues with i5-4570K (even at stock 3.4GHz) , 8GB RAM and GTX760 at 1920x1080.

      The release notes on latest drivers do mentioned performance improvements on this game in higher resolutions, so updating nVidia drivers might be worthwhile.

      I do agree about controls. Definitely needs to be played with controller. Xbox360 controller does the job very nicely.

    3. Combustable Lemon

      Re: Avoid for now

      I have to agree with this post nearly entirely. The game itself is okay, there are some tweaks you can make floating about on the web to turn the mouse acceleration off by altering your config files but this should be in the menus really..

      I also have to agree about the frame rate issues, this may be worth waiting for it to be patched. I am running nearly the same setup as above, i7 930 @ 4GHz, 6GB Ram but I have a Sapphire 7970 Dual-X OC graphics card with the 3GB required for the ultra textures. I can run the game at ultra and it seems fine at about 45 fps average but the moment you drive it really suffers ranging from 25 - 40 fps and with periodic dips to 10-12 fps it renders the game unplayable.

      The problem is entirely remedied by switching to High textures and the game doesn't actually look that much different on this setting anyway. It's just frustrating that this seems to be more of an optimisation problem on the developers side than an issue with the hardware I am running. The game itself is still quite fun.

      Also as I've just read above, the minimum spec for the game is 4GB, not 6GB and the recommended spec is 8GB. I've not seen the game use anything near the 6GB I have so I'm not sure why it would be an issue.

  5. Flawless101

    Decent idea, with no polish. Would not pay full price and for the bugs and quriks that exist with the amount of hype this has generated since last years E3 its left me disappointed

    Also, Not sure if people have seen people remark/videos of the werid and wacky physics of the game. E.g. Car lauched in the air and stopped dead by a kerb on the landing. Pretty disappointing.

  6. RyokuMas
    Thumb Up

    Typical AAA

    Once again, this sounds like typical AAA - loads of beautiful visuals with getting all the kinks out of the gameplay almost an afterthought.

    But at least it's not a sequel, and there's no sign of zombies, so that merits a thumbs-up.

    ... even if it is from Ubisoft.

  7. Jock in a Frock

    B+ from me

    Playing on a PC, Core i5-3770 @3.1GH\, 8Gb, Radeon HD6770 card with 1Gb VRAM

    Definitely a lot of fun, despite the niggles (uPlay, I'm looking at you!). Frame rate could be better. Mouse & Keyboard have been dumped in favour of an Xbox pad (driving with the keyboard & mouse was cr@p).

    Looks gorgeous, facial animations and voice acting are sweet.

  8. Carrot_mop

    I'm still undecided

    I love this style of game, but the extremely poor support I got for AC4 has left me loathe to purchase any Ubisoft product (at least this close to release)

  9. Timbo 1

    Driving's not so bad

    Once i changed to the in-car view. Completed one of the early escape-the-police type missions easily when i did that, after spending hours and hours failing miserably with the default view.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re view

      Maybe it's just me, but I cannot stand games with third-person view. If I want that, I watch a film.

    2. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      Re: Driving's not so bad

      My same thought.

      Also, "handling like a canal boat"... Well... This is Chicago and these are cars for the American market. If they did not handle like a canal boat it would have been unrealistic.

  10. This post has been deleted by its author

  11. EviL FazZ
    Happy

    I'm enjoying thoroughly and more than most other similar open world games

    I think Watch_Dogs is great, mechanically, audibly and visually \[]^__^]/

    I've played the Xbox 360 version, PlayStation 4 and of course the Windows OS version and it's a different game on all. The Xbox 360 version is lowest of course, but still fun to play, just looks a graphical bland mess and slow. The PlayStation 4 version is great, but again slow and mechanically rubbish. I use a DirectX 11 capable system with (uncompromising) 8Ch audio out, in Stereo 3D (1920 x2) and it's an outstanding game (best home 3D I've seen without the Oculus Rift).

    The mini games are a lot of fun too (thankfully part of the game and not overpriced DLC's) and the in-game music is a lot better than we'd all originally heard in the millions of videos before it.

    My minor issues would be: the draw distance could be pushed a little more, the majority of female NPC's move femininely, they don't look exactly look it and keymaps can be configured, but not as much as I like (a couple of double usage keys gets me confused at times).

    What is disgusting and broken ...as 'always' ...UBisoft's awful 'Uplay'. Each time you play, it's a flip of the coin on whether you will connect of not and be able to play with others (actually in-game or ctOS mobile app).

    Uplay either needs to be fixed ASAP (days, not weeks, months or years) or like GfWL (Games for Windows Live) and the equally rubbish, 'RockStars Social Club' ...'hacked out' and forgotten []^__^]

  12. EviL FazZ
    Happy

    I'm enjoying Watch_Dogs thoroughly and more than most other similar open world games

    I think Watch_Dogs is great, mechanically, audibly and visually \[]^__^]/

    I've played the Xbox 360 version, PlayStation 4 and of course the Windows OS version and it's a different game on all. The Xbox 360 version is lowest of course, but still fun to play, just looks a graphical bland mess and slow. The PlayStation 4 version is great, but again slow and mechanically rubbish. I use a DirectX 11 capable system with (uncompromising) 8Ch audio out, in Stereo 3D (1920 x2) and it's an outstanding game (best home 3D I've seen without the Oculus Rift).

    To enable maximum graphical quality, you need 3Gb's of VRAM for Anti-Aliasing and 2Gb's of VRAM for Ultra textures, plus at least 8Gb's of RAM to have run smoothly and fast enough. My Nvidia 680 is limited to 4Gb's of VRAM, but using TXAA (around 2Gb's of VRAM) helps maximise it where it needs it and allows for Ultra textures too.

    The mini games are a lot of fun too (thankfully part of the game and not overpriced DLC's) and the in-game music is a lot better than we'd all originally heard in the millions of videos before it.

    My minor issues would be: the draw distance could be pushed a little more, the majority of female NPC's move femininely, they don't look exactly look it and keymaps can be configured, but not as much as I like (a couple of double usage keys gets me confused at times).

    What is disgusting and broken ...as 'always' ...UBisoft's awful 'Uplay'. Each time you play, it's a flip of the coin on whether you will connect of not and be able to play with others (actually in-game or ctOS mobile app).

    Uplay either needs to be fixed ASAP (days, not weeks, months or years) or like GfWL (Games for Windows Live) and the equally rubbish, 'RockStars Social Club' ...'hacked out' and forgotten []^__^]

  13. poopypants

    Far Cry 3 in Chicago

    Or illegitimate love child of Far Cry 3 and Grand Theft Auto. Whatever it is, it is a lot of fun. Sure, the UI sucks on a PC, and I sometimes accidentally draw my gun in public when pressing the middle mouse button, but I can live with that. It adds spice to the game. Some have had problems with stuttering, but fortunately I haven't (admittedly I have a Titan). Like Far Cry 3, you have the equivalent of towers and outposts, both of which have to be conquered to reveal game aspects for a particular area. Like Grand Theft Auto, you can pull people out of their cars and drive recklessly with little or no consequence (although you can lose points for running over civilians).

    I guess I'm in a minority when I prefer the vehicle control scheme of Borderlands, which uses analogue input from the mouse to steer instead of digital input from the A and D keys. In fact, given that the cars don't have guns, they could have used the left and right mouse buttons instead of W and S when driving.

    Is it the start of a franchise? Maybe. It worked for Grand Theft Auto, but I get the feeling that in this game they were unsure that they had compelling content and threw a whole bunch of different side quests against a wall and are watching to see what sticks.

    Still, overall, I think it is worth buying.

  14. Greg J Preece

    I thought the optimisation was terrible, uPlay was its usual piece-of-shit self, the main storyline was garbage, and the hacking gameplay elements were pathetically shallow. Nice NPC AI though. Overall, thoroughly disappointed.

    But then I've long since ignored El Reg opinions on games.

    I guess I'm in a minority when I prefer the vehicle control scheme of Borderlands, which uses analogue input from the mouse to steer instead of digital input from the A and D keys.

    Yeah, definitely in the minority there. I can get why you'd like analogue input for steering, but with the mouse? Halo on PC had that control scheme and it was bloody awful (but then Halo was bloody awful anyway).

  15. auburnman

    I'm in the 'Let Down' camp

    My god the city is bland when you compare it to GTA 4/5 or Saint's Row. I keep forgetting which city it's supposed to be, only remembering when I pass a newsstand with Chicago or Seattle or whatever emblazoned on. You also get too much stuff straight off the bat. Within 1 or 2 missions I had a silenced pistol, multiple Assault Rifles and Shotguns. Ubisoft should have held some of this back to nudge me into the hacking side of things, with such a massive arsenal already at my disposal I didn't see the point in hacking once I got into a fight.

    The biggest issue though is that I'm struggling to care about Aiden Pearce: he's got a half-decent backstory where he's out for revenge for his dead nephew, but he is also a bland amoral dickhead who by his own admission only prevents crimes as a 'distraction.' Ubisoft still have not got the hang of compelling protagonists, Aiden is much more Connor/Desmond than Ezio.

  16. ShadowDragon8685

    Mixed opinions, but generally positive.

    I have mixed feelings as regards Watch Dogs, but I generally liked it.

    I never found the city of Chicago bland, as some have complained. I found the driving challenging at first, especially on a keyboard, but then I discovered that the key to successful driving was NOT to hold full accelerator at all times, and to be a little conservative with the turning.

    I seldom felt pressured to do things any given, specific way; Aiden Pearce is an acceptably combat-effective protagonist to do things the militaristic way, but the hacking power gives him the ability to force multiply extremely effectively. It's much easier to unload an automatic shotgun in someone's face if they're bent over in agony from the screeching over their overloaded comms system, for instance.

    Aiden does feel a little bland, but in retrospect, I believe that's largely because of the color of his allies, who are vibrant and very, very engaging.

    I found the story to be good, overall, and very, very Film Noir-ish. I won't spoil it, but I will say that if you're familiar at all with the genre, it's going to feel similar.

    My main problem was with the multiplayer. Specifically, the fact that a *lot* of content of single-player relevance (such as weapon pack unlocks, but most especially the notoriety-granted rewards,) are predicated upon multiplayer, and especially the Notoriety rewards, which are predicated upon a meter which only goes up if you are successful, and which actually goes DOWN if you're unsuccessful.

    This is extremely problematic, and very, very poorly designed, especially as PC players quickly realized that if they were about to lose (and thus, watch their hard-earned Notoriety flush down the drain,) they could hit alt-F4 and make the game treat it as a disconnect, thus preventing them from losing any Notoriety (and in the process, preventing their almost-victorious opponent from gaining any.) Presumably console players could do the same by resetting, power-cycling, or pulling the Ethernet cable from their console, and once you realize this, the temptation to abort any losing multiplayer battle becomes almost impossible to resist.

    Ultimately, the worst part about multiplayer invasions is that it quite simply is not what was promised. When Watch Dogs was hyped, it was promised that you could encounter other players just by strolling around, and you could choose to ignore them and let them go about their business, screw with them (if they allowed you to screw with them,) or actually decide to actively aid them, such as by providing covering fire if they were under attack. Ultimately, the only vestiges remaining of this are in Decryption and Online Free-Roam, which are quite simply not that fulfilling, especially Free-Roam, as there's literally nothing to do except start a huge gun-battle with the police, or troll other players by blowing up their cars, and hence the novelty soon wears off.

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