Watch Dogs
No game this year aside from Destiny was as anticipated as Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs. Promising a beautifully realized Chicago that captures a Midwest autumn better than any game to come before it mixed with unique hacking gameplay that makes the city your playground, gamers couldn’t be more excited for Ubisoft’s next project. It was hard not to get swept up in the hype once the game plastered itself everywhere, selling different pre-orders in every store available, including Gamestop, Best Buy, Target, Jo Ann Fabrics, Buffalo Wild Wings and Home Depot.
Once the game was finally in fans’ hands, though, the excitement quickly diminished. Although it was functional and even pretty fun and clever at times, there was no denying that Watch Dogs was all bark and no bite, offering a lame hacking gimmick that didn’t offer as many creative options as it should have with a sterile, bland shooter experience. It didn’t help that Ubisoft hardly strayed from their standard release cliches, including (everybody sing along now): “hacking” towers to unlock the map, an open world full of technical issues, an abundance of side missions that weren’t fun and the most boring, one-note protagonist you could shake a stick at.
With all of that said, though, Watch Dogs wasn’t a terrible release. Sure, it was bland and repetitive, but it was (mostly) functional and entertaining enough for a few hours. But for as much hype was put into the game months before it even came out, we weren’t given the game changer we were promised. Rather, we got an overhyped clone of better games that did nothing more than perpetuate the absolutely awful pre-order practices AAA companies just can’t live without. Maybe the inevitable sequels will learn from Watch Dogs. More likely, maybe the sky will turn red and rain Skittles.
-Christian Law