To be honest, I knew nothing of this game. Yes, my classmate did ask me to get the game on Steam but I did not really go and find out more about the game. It wasn't until I was walking in a local shopping mall before violin class that I saw a shop playing a gameplay demo. I stood there and watched and it piqued my interest. I immediately got the game and started on it the soonest I could. I will do this review without spoilers so it will not spoil the game for you guys.
At the onset of the game, the storyline was already fixed in place. And man, is it awesome. Not to mention that the game revolves around hacking. Literally nearly everything around you can be hacked - from ATMs, to traffic lights - everything. Watch Dogs takes place in an open map - which means everything can be explored and travelled to. Even though design-wise, I have seen better, but comparatively, Watch Dogs is not too bad. The different areas of the map is not generic, which is a plus point (meaning you can see an urban city as well as a run-down fishing village at another city). The weather effect as well as the occasional sunset effects are pretty cool. There was only one part where it was near sundown and I was riding on a bike. The sun was pretty glaring that I could not see the road. Plus point for realism, but gaming-wise, I really did not know what I was gonna crash into. But no biggie.
On another note, I was very distracted from the main story by all the side missions. Not that it is a bad thing, but to me, it just keeps the game fresh. Even the side missions are varied. You can have crime interventions to taking out gang hideouts (though the same kind have the same mechanics. For example, every crime intervention is almost similar. Stake out the criminal or the victim, wait for something to happen, and chase down the criminal). But the amount of side missions available allows the game to be played a long long time.
The gameplay itself, while tied to the story, allows you to complete missions somewhat freely. You can choose to kill everyone or just kill your target and leave undetected - its entirely up to you. Even the layout of the mission area varies, giving every mission their own distinct feel.
As for the multiplayer, I have yet to try it out, but I have defended against certain other online players who try to hack me in the middle of my game. This is one thing that I enjoy. The ability to hack another online player (or be hacked) while still in the game. There doesn't appear to be a separate multiplayer screen. Everything is done in-game and it gives the feeling as if the city has more than one hacker, therefore you have to be very careful.
While car chases are not too bad (IGN seems to disagree on this point), I would have appreciated it if the game could have told me which sort of transport or what kind of car is suitable for what kind of run. As far as I know, sports cars are great with the manoeuvres and therefore are great in back alley chases whereas a dirt bike does well off-road. The rest? I have no clue.
It came to a point I decided to skip all the side quests and just focus on the main storyline. Difficulty-wise, it wasn't easy, neither was it impossible to complete. It gave some sort of challenge, which was really nice. Finishing the game, I would rate it a
8/10 and now can move on to another game while still playing the multiplayer and side quests in Watch Dogs.
0 comments:
Post a Comment