WATCH_DOGS [Review]: Everything but the Jump-Drive.

Ok, I’ve got to hurry / I’m contacting you from an unsecured line– and it won’t take them long to find me / God, I hope this message transmits successfully…

There’s a new horizon upon us, a digital horizon, where weaponry isn’t always razor-sharp or ballistic. Watch_Dogs is yet another free world, mission based, driving, shooting, action game. Following Grand Theft Auto V, premier publisher Ubisoft’s got some big shoes to fill. So let’s hack into the world of Aiden Pearce and cause some havoc.

First, the graphics are great. I wasn’t exactly blown away by them, but they are great. Fully up to par with the standard of the next-gen console. The lighting, the details, the textures. I approve of them all. I didn’t come across any frame rate issues — at 30 fps — and didn’t notice any drops in quality when moving too fast. Everything about this “Virtual Chicago” is super crisp and visually life-like.

The weapons are pretty standard for the most part. You have your predictable pistols, assault rifles, shotguns, grenade launcher and sniper rifle. These are guns you basically have to have in any shooter. However, you are also blessed with hacker/nerd weapons like signal jammers and a device that causes a temporary black out. These all come in handy quite often. Which bring me to my favorite thing about this game. Today’s world is so digitally driven, that there is something electronic and computerized everywhere. As a hacker in the realm of Watch_Dogs, you are king of this Digital Dominion.

So this is where Moody keeps all his kicks…

You have the power to get the upper hand over your enemies by using their environment against them. Whether it’s blowing up a circuit breaker remotely, triggering a black out, or changing the traffic lights and raising blockers, you are in control and they never see it coming. The stealth side of this game reminds me a lot of Hitman, which I love, combined with some hacking skills instead of just throwing a coin at the guard to get his attention…

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