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Replaying Watch Dogs 1. Anyone else love this game? Stealth fans?

June

Member
Been replaying this recently and reminded why I liked it so much. The movement is fluid. The missions in large part allow you to ghost through them completely undetected. I think I've only used my gun once in the entire 1st act (out of 5 acts), everything has been ghosting and using some environmental hacks when necessary. The hacking element enables another approach to stealth and puzzle-lite as you can hack from camera-to-camera until you find a suitable path or target, or use parts of the city (road blocks, draw bridges) to help you escape.

Also surprisingly the online is still populated and going strong and I can find 1v1 hacking matches in under a minute consistently on PS4. They are incredibly fun modes too where you have to hack a player and then stay hidden until the hack completes. Basically like hide-and-seek.

Anybody else a fan or replay it recently?
 

Mista

Banned
Not really. Played it once and thats about it

I liked it but not to the point I play it again

WD2 though I don't mind replaying a couple of times
 
It was decent, a good first attempt at a new ip. I think they took themselves much too seriously with the tone and for that reason I enjoyed the second one a bit more.
 

daninthemix

Member
There was nothing particularly wrong with it, but it launched when most people were suffering from open world fatigue.
 
One thing is sure, this game still looks amazing.

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Tiamat2san

Member
It was ok.
i loved the fact it was Chicago and the somewhat serious tone of the game.
some cool ideas too.

i hate the second game though.
the over the top try to be cool and funny presentation was horrible.

that’s why I have a cautious approach on legion.
i’ll wait for reviews and players feedback.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
It's really good. The city's cool with its grim atmosphere and the characters are still (reasonably) normal looking in this game, not walking clowns like in WD2 and Legion.

I replayed the game a few years ago on the PS4 and still had fun. Meanwhile I'm not planning going back to WD2 ever again.
 
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Bullet Club

Member
I liked the game once I got into it, which took a little while. It was just way over-hyped before it was released and it didn't live up to that hype.
 

Albion

Member
Yeah the game was great and the story & Aiden pierce was a great character I think. The hacking ability added some cool innovations. Sadly, I feel the sequels got a little obnoxious with the story and characters.
 

Nymphae

Banned
I really liked the little videos you unlocked spying on people doing weird shit all around the city, I wanted more of that kind of thing.

I bought it for $10 used so I had a good amount of fun with it for what it was, but I never went back to it. Combat was good but I wanted more from the hacking and open world.

2 looks like it has a very different focus and I wasn't interested, 3 even moreso.
 
I played the first one two times, the first time i didn´t finish it, second time i did.

it´s a mixed bag. There are some moments and parts who are borderline genius in terms of atmosphere and then you have some storyarcs dragging out for far too long. Also it is pretty inconsistent when it comes to writing, not so much regarding dialogues but more overall when considering the different factions and personas. Ironically they feel weirdly disconnected in a game that focuses on interconnectivity.

The mechanics are alright although the initial excitement of "wow i can hack this too?" wears down after couple hours. Haven´t played the second one yet, will do before jumping into legion (the concept sounds very intriguing) but this is something for next year on a next gen system, right now i´m just finishing up recent playthroughs of games i replay (AC3 remaster, played the original when it released) or jsut play "Pick up games" like fall guys, skater xl and waiting for next gen to arrive.
 

June

Member
As a stealth fan? Play Deus Ex (any of them).
It's like Watch_Dogs but good.

I love Human Revolution (would love to see a remaster btw, or BC on PS5). Haven't been able to get past the first couple of hours or so of Mankind Divided. Not sure why tbh, it just didn't grab me.

What didnt you like about Watch_dogs, as a stealth fan? There's plenty of ghosting oppurtunities, the gang hide outs side missions were like stealth mini-levels, and the online hack-and-seek is pretty damn fun. None of that stuff grabbed you?
 

Paasei

Member
It is a much better game than most peopl make it up to be, yes. I love how alive the world is. Very crowded and looks more real than any other bigger city including the verticality of buildings and climbable stuff.
Also the infiltrating in other people their games is still fun.
 

TheMan

Member
Played it once on launch when I was still hungry for open worlds on the PS4, I liked it tbh. Tried replaying on PC about a year ago and I just couldn't get into it. Partly because my PC sucked and the framerate was unstable, but once I bit the bullet and adjusted my setting, I just wasn't grabbed.
 
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It is a much better game than most peopl make it up to be, yes.


That is for sure. And i think part of that is the whole "downgrade gate" that obviously happened. From that moment on the public perception (not counting reviews but social media etc. and of course its alyways an exaggeration) was more or less gone towards: trash, won´t play, eff ubisoft, 2/10. Same fate (although fo different reasons) as AC unity and other games, where an initial impuls due to the state at release basically dicated the perception for the follwing years. But with time it toned down and those games can be enjoyed for what they are instead of carriying the burden of euther graphical downgrades compared to trailers or being buggy etc...
 
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brian0057

Banned
What didnt you like about Watch_dogs, as a stealth fan? There's plenty of ghosting oppurtunities, the gang hide outs side missions were like stealth mini-levels, and the online hack-and-seek is pretty damn fun. None of that stuff grabbed you?

It's a shallower third person version of Deus Ex.
The hacking is a "press X to win" pablum, making you almost omniscient when you arrive at any given hide out.
It's basically an Assassin's Creed game set in the modern day, and that's not a compliment since that series already sucks as a stealth game (except for the first and maybe second game).

If I want to play an open world game set in a city with interesting missions and characters? Sleeping Dogs.
If I want to play a cyberpunk game with deeper hacking and fleshed-out stealth? Deus Ex (which is also an actual RPG).
Even if all you wanna do is fuck shit up and do crazy shit? GTA already does that and does it a thousand times better.

Watch_Dogs is the dictionary definition of "meh". The most solid 5/10 to ever release.
Made all the worst by how incredibly unlikable and bland Aiden Pierce is. I honestly can't believe Ubisoft is touting him as a good thing in Legion.
 
Great game, tells all you need about how the internet creats echo champers because of "muh downgraded graphix!" and "Ubi soft formula", the internet journos and this very forum played no small part too.

Thankfully regualr people "AKA not sheep" gave it a shot and were entertained enough to signal to Ubi to make a sequal which was great but also sufferd from the internet gamerz and youtube rage addicts but this time it wasn't because of the graphics but the supposed "woke" and "hipster" characters.
 

Fbh

Member
I liked it. It wasn't amazing but it was enjoyable enough. Haven't gone back to it though.

I didn't really care much for the story and the city/world itself felt rather static and boring compared to the one in GTAV (which sort of made this look bad at the time since GTA was "last gen"). But the actual gameplay and missions are pretty fun. The shooting, stealth, level and mission design are miles ahead of GTAV
 

June

Member
It's a shallower third person version of Deus Ex.
The hacking is a "press X to win" pablum, making you almost omniscient when you arrive at any given hide out.
It's basically an Assassin's Creed game set in the modern day, and that's not a compliment since that series already sucks as a stealth game (except for the first and maybe second game).

If I want to play an open world game set in a city with interesting missions and characters? Sleeping Dogs.
If I want to play a cyberpunk game with deeper hacking and fleshed-out stealth? Deus Ex (which is also an actual RPG).
Even if all you wanna do is fuck shit up and do crazy shit? GTA already does that and does it a thousand times better.

Watch_Dogs is the dictionary definition of "meh". The most solid 5/10 to ever release.
Made all the worst by how incredibly unlikable and bland Aiden Pierce is. I honestly can't believe Ubisoft is touting him as a good thing in Legion.

That's a good explanation.

I think maybe the hacking could be considered OP? But how I like to play stealth games is to primarily rely on movement and just avoiding sightlines. I tend to limit any gadgets at my disposble in any stealth game because I find they often take away from the core purpose and fun of just ghosting through levels, and that's actually possible in large part in Watch Dogs which I'm very grateful for because that's pretty rare in games these days. Not many stealth games with a good budget out there this generation.

I haven't played the first two AC games in years and years but don't remember them having the depth or allowance of ghosting like Watch_Dogs does.

Did you ever try the online hacking stuff by the way?
 

DJT123

Member
Always liked it. More than W2 in fact. Loved the 1st person driving camera and great graphics. Solid vibes from this game when I played it. Could have used more & better characterization tho.
 
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brian0057

Banned
That's a good explanation.

I think maybe the hacking could be considered OP? But how I like to play stealth games is to primarily rely on movement and just avoiding sightlines. I tend to limit any gadgets at my disposble in any stealth game because I find they often take away from the core purpose and fun of just ghosting through levels, and that's actually possible in large part in Watch Dogs which I'm very grateful for because that's pretty rare in games these days. Not many stealth games with a good budget out there this generation.

I haven't played the first two AC games in years and years but don't remember them having the depth or allowance of ghosting like Watch_Dogs does.

Did you ever try the online hacking stuff by the way?
The PVP stuff was neat (the whole cat and mouse dynamic was the best part) and the app inplementation was cool.
But that's as far as my praise for the game will go.
 
Some of you may not remember, but I DO remember that every time WD 1 was brought up it was always GAF member Dennis2k posting the same damn WD1 image of the the super depth of field picture of Aiden. Anyone else remember that?
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I dunno, I liked WD1 enough, it was kinda addicting going around and being a dick to people depending on what the scanner showed their online activity to be. I've been trying to get into WD2 and it just doesn't do it for me. I figured too that I'd love WD2 because I was living in the Bay Area at the time of it's release. But I just couldn't stand the characters and the atmosphere of the game. I'm actually looking forward to WD3, I really like what I've seen with the combat. Might be able to finally live out my John Wick fantasy.
 

GymWolf

Member
I bought the game for 2 euros because some people told me that it was the open world with the best ranged combat ever.

Unistalled after 2 hours and i still feel robbed of 2 euros.

People really have shitty standard nowadays.

I mean, still better than the dreadfull combat in the sequel.

Ubisoft really doesn't know how to make decent combat in their games except for for honor...
 
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Nikana

Go Go Neo Rangers!
It was a good podcast game for me. Like most Ubi games it felt too long to me but I enjoyed my time. I am still pissed about bugged achievements though.
 

Senua

Member
Like most ubi games, it was a pretty standardly okay affair, they are the ultimate studio of consistently putting out 6/10 games
 
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GreyHorace

Member
Never got to play Watch Dogs since people were saying it was an 'okay' open world game with a unlikable asshole as the lead character. The graphical downgrade didn't really bother me but I can understand why people were pissed at it.

I'll admit to expressing interest in the upcoming Legion until I saw how woke it was going to get.
 

01011001

Banned
a mix of the best of WD and WD2 would be perfect, too bad they went a totally different route with the third game
 
Still has the best 3rd person open world combat by far. The driving is mediocre to awful; luckily there aren't many driving missions in the main game.

Never had a problem with the downgrade since I've always played it maxed out on PC + mods. That's specifically a console issue.

The online is still incredibly fun and surprisingly populated. Although not that surprising because it's just a damn good game.
 

avalonzero

Member
I wouldn't say I loved it but it was definitely better than WD2 and where the series is heading now. It was a little too clunky in a lot of areas to really be great though.
 

01011001

Banned
Still has the best 3rd person open world combat by far. The driving is mediocre to awful; luckily there aren't many driving missions in the main game.

Never had a problem with the downgrade since I've always played it maxed out on PC + mods. That's specifically a console issue.

The online is still incredibly fun and surprisingly populated. Although not that surprising because it's just a damn good game.

Hacking other players is so much fun, I was a god in that...
 
Probably one of the least appreciated game of the current generation.

I hated the ending gameplay segment, but to me, Ubisoft had a great thing going for it until they fucked it up with doing a 180 on the mood and tone of the game and going "millennial" with the second game.

I hate WD2.

I couldn't finish the game no matter how I tried - the story was too cringe and honestly felt all over the place.

That mission you did where the screen fades to black and then all of a sudden you're at a music festival was like my final straw.

What. The. Fuq. Why again are they here? I shit you not I paid attention to the cut scene and I was still confused.

I try so hard not to buy Ubisoft games now.
 
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