Watch Dogs is a Grand Theft Auto-like game set in Chicago. You play as hacker Aiden Pearce in a world where the entire city is run by a computer network known as ctOS. This leads to some interesting game mechanics which help set it apart from other games.
Aiden is the survivor of an assassination attempt while he was driving. Although he survived the crash, his niece was killed in the incident. He is on a quest for vengeance and feels guilty that he caused his niece's passing.
Aiden's smartphone is key to his abilities. A Profiler app allows you to see the names, incomes and life-style choices (innocent or malicious) of any resident. You can hack a selection of people's phones to download the bank account info so that you can withdraw their cash from an ATM.
There are multiple ways to approach the missions, but like most games that include stealth; once your plan fails, then you switch styles and go all-guns blazing. You can run cover to cover to stay out of enemies sight. Hacking into cameras and spotting guards automatically tags them to easily track them on your mini-map.
The camera mechanic is a vital part of the game. You can hack into a camera from another camera, essentially allowing you to cover large distances without moving Aiden at all. You can remotely activate objects this way, creating distractions, unlocking doors, or even killing guards. Killing them can be as simple as triggering explosive devices that they are carrying, causing mechanical malfunctions of nearby machinery, or using machinery to hurt them directly. I really liked the remote hacking mechanic. You feel really powerful by utilising attacks from range, and the navigation from one camera to another basically become orienteering puzzles, as you work out how you can reach certain areas.
You can use your hacking skills when driving too, causing traffic signals to change, raising and lowering barriers, bridges, gates and more. These ideas become extremely useful during enemy or police chases and are extremely satisfying to aiding your escape.
There's a wide range of pistols, shotguns, and assault rifles in addition to explosives. Aiden also has access to gadgets to aid his stealth approach such as a signal jammer, and a device that causes power blackouts.
With certain servers, you may be required to complete a hacking mini-game. This involves rotating nodes in order for data to flow to certain points. To reach the end node, you may have to unlock one or more nodes first by flowing two or three circuits into it.
As you complete missions you level up and can spend a skill point in the massive skill tree. There's all kinds of categories; hacking, driving, combat,
There are regular notifications about a crime detected on a particular street. Once you reach that point, you stay hidden, and intervene when the crime is about to be committed. This increases your reputation as “The Vigilante”. The morality within the game is a bit strange. I felt Aiden was more of an ethical hacker, but is fine to kill anyone in his way. Even if you chose to play more stealthy, there were certain missions where you have to kill. You seem to be able to steal people's money and cars without any effect on your reputation.
On the Xbox 360, the graphics are rather blurry, and there was noticeable pop-up with distant objects. The load times were incredibly excessive, especially since you are forced to install the game to your hard disc.
The game feels pretty lengthy even though I only did a small selection of side-quests. The gameplay is similar to other open world games but had a great core mechanic that set it apart from its peers.