Gamersyde Preview: Watch_Dogs

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We were lucky to be invited to the Parisian hands-on of Watch_Dogs about two weeks ago. For the first time we could finally try the game ourselves but we also were able to interview Jonathan Morin, creative director. Inside you'll also find our first impressions about one of the most anticipated titles of the next generation.

Update: Added a commented online gameplay video.

Aiden Pearce Brosnan

Once the tutorial was over, the first thing that surprised us was the amount of content. It is without a doubt one of the most generous games we've seen in the genre. There are of course all the activities we already knew about, but to those you need to add a lot of mini-games which have us dive into some crazy virtual reality and act as a true counterpoint to the serious tone of the main story. Thus, you can end up running on top of scaffoldings collecting fictional gold coins, much like in a Mario game, but it's also possible to control a giant spider mech that allows you to jump high distances or climb on buildings. Since there are other types of over the top activities like these two, it's safe to say that there should be a lot of variety in Watch_Dogs. Some were disappointed in inFamous: Second Son because it was lacking in that department, but they shouldn't worry about Ubisoft's new franchise. However disappointed (and surprised) we were to see the game delayed a month before release, it seems that the developers made a really good use of the extra months they were given.

One of the main consequences to that avalanche of content was that we didn't have much time to play the main story missions. The tutorial taught us the basics of stealth and hacking since we had to escape from a well-guarded place. Aiden being granted the exceptional ability to crouch, the cover system is completely similar to what can be found in other games. Pressing the right button will allow you to go from cover to cover, as in the 2 previous Splinter Cell games. You can also do it on your own if you don't mind the added risks of being spotted. Stealth attacks seemed a bit unbalanced to us as Aiden can grab his enemies from quite a long safe distance (something like two meters), which makes stealth a bit too easy as long as you don't make too much noise. One thing that is particularly impressive and new, the possibility to hack security cameras to check your surroundings or even to steal the guards' access codes to unlock new paths.

The other main mission we played told us more about Aiden's dramatic back story, but rest assured that we won't say anything about it so you don't get spoiled here. From what we saw, the plot should be rather emotional and interesting so let's hope it will not disappoint in the end. This second sequence had us chase a man by car in the streets of Chicago. There, nothing seemed to be scripted, as we could apparently catch him anywhere, but as we couldn't stop the guy with our car, the chase ended after a long run in the back alleys of the city and more crowded places. As it was the beginning of the game, we didn't have many hacking perks unlocked to slow him down but we managed to get to him anyway and to neutralize him in front of a bunch of stunned passersby. It is worth to mention that the whole sequence was never interrupted by any cut-scene, it was all gameplay from beginning to end.



Watch_Log

When it comes to realism, Watch_Dogs also takes it to another level. All the behaviors we witnessed among the population of the Windy City were really varied, with different types of emotional reactions. If you start fighting in the middle of the crowd, you'll see some people running away, some will be paralyzed by fear, while others may simply stick around and wonder what's going on. Strolling around the city is also the best way to notice how lively and credible Chicago is. People talk to each other while walking, use their phones, sit with their back against the wall, so many daily attitudes that you get to see in real life and that makes the game really immersive. Of course, the game allows you to go deeper into people's lives, by hacking into their cells to know more about them. Get ready to spend a lot of time just watching people and just being there among them.

What makes the population so realistic is also the number of lines of dialog we heard, which almost seem infinite. Sure, there's a good chance we'll hear some of them a few times when playing the game more, but during our hands-on session we never heard the same thing twice, which shows great improvement over what was done on the last gen consoles. Moreover, the actors playing the passersby deliver a great performance, without the sometimes theatrical tone of the Assassin's Creed crowd which would have felt odd in a modern setting. Sound design is very well done overall, the developers having gone as far as to record everything in Chicago, so the virtual version of the third biggest city of the US feels like the real thing. It is for us a very important aspect for immersion, something Rockstar has understood for a while now.



Iron Aiden

When looking at other open world games set in modern days, there's one area that they have a hard time nailing: driving mechanics. Apart from the GTA series, most titles indeed failed to propose interesting driving sensations, like Sleeping Dogs for example, or even Just Cause 2 (which fortunately had planes and helicopters to make up for it). These two games were great nonetheless but it was never really because of the driving. As for Watch_Dogs, it is undeniably a lot of fun to drive around the city, although we have to say cars sometimes look more like tanks given how they can smash almost anything that stands in the way - it'll take some heavy damages to ruin your car. Driving is really natural and it's quite the blast to lose the cops using the hacked streetlights at our advantage to slow them down. Our biggest disappointment was with the bikes, which are not pleasant to drive at all. It gave us the odd impression that we were driving a two wheeled car, as if a simple bike skin had been applied to the 3D model they used for the automobiles.

Last but not least, let's talk about what has been the main subject of conversation int he past few months: the graphics. You won't miss it when discovering the game for the first time, not all textures are that impressive, some character models are also a bit weaker, the way the characters' hair moves feels a bit last gen, and although aliasing is rather discrete, you will notice it anyway. That being said, the game still looks really good and, more importantly, it runs very smoothly from what we've seen. Framerate is indeed solid in most situations, even when there's a lot of activity in the street and the screen is filled with people and cars. We didn't really see much pop-in or pop-up either, which doesn't mean there isn't any but at least it's not as intrusive as in some other open world titles. Lighting and particle effects are also quite nice, and some detailed ground or building textures reminded us that we were playing on PS4. If not as impressive as when it was first announced, Watch_Dogs' visuals are still very solid for an open world game.



Impressions



Ubisoft really took the time to make sure Watch_Dogs would be worthy of the long wait and it shows. With much variety, tons of content and an impressive attention to detail, this is looking very promising to say the least. Is the game as beautiful as what was shown back in 2012? No, but it is nonetheless a very good-looking game which manages to maintain a 30 fps framerate in most circumstances. More importantly, the gameplay mechanics deserve high praises, to the point they even appeal to BlimBlim while he usually doesn't want to have anything to do with games that involve stealth and gunfights. If the review build can confirm all the good we've seen, then we're in for quite a ride!

One last thing before you leave : please take the time to watch our 18min interview of Jonathan Morin as not only is it interesting, but it also contains some gameplay footage of Watch_Dogs. BlimBlim also gave it time and efforts so you could all understand it, so be thankful. ;)