10 Harsh Realities of Replaying Watch Dogs

With no word on the next Watch Dogs installment, there's never been a better time to revisit the franchise's roots. However, not everything in Watch Dogs is outdated.

Ubisoft has been releasing a ton of news about upcoming games in the Assassin's Creed series in recent months, but there's been silence about the future of Watch Dogs for some time, leaving fans of the series feel disappointed. While it's too early to make any assumptions, any future games likely won't be around for a while.

For those of you nostalgic for the series, now is the perfect time to start replaying games, including the Watch Dogs game that started it all. However, nostalgia has a limited role to play, meaning replays will inevitably reveal some of the game's flaws and anachronistic elements. These are some of the downsides of replaying the game now.

Watch Dogs Peaks Too Early

The Greatest Video Game Opener balances exposing players to the gameplay that will define the experience to come, and giving them a spectacle they won't rush to forget. Watch Dogs does exactly that, putting players in the shoes of Aiden Pearce as he's tasked with trying to escape a stadium packed with police.

The following sequence shows how to use the hack to accomplish the task In the game, and ending with a massive blackout, it's a testament to just how powerful technology can be in the game's hyperconnected world. Of course, it didn't take long before players were forced to face the fact that the game simply couldn't maintain this level of quality throughout.

Aiden Isn't The Most Fun Protagonist To Play As

When Watch Dogs was first released in 2014, anyone who acted like Aiden Pearce was the worst video game protagonist ever, which may have been the culprit for blindly following trends, but replaying the game now does show that he has Do more. It's a more glaring shortcoming now, after the two sequels introduced some changes to players.

While technically there's nothing wrong with being a very serious character who rarely loses his cool, having to play Aiden throughout the experience eventually starts to annoy. Aiden's story is certainly fascinating, but the character himself may not be the enigmatic villain he's often remembered for.

Watch Dogs Suffers From A Generic Ubisoft Open World

In the Watch Dogs, Assassin's Creed, and Far Cry series, Ubisoft has produced massively sprawling and detailed open worlds, which are amazing in their own right, but it has also led to disapproval of the old, formulaic approach. blame. Unfortunately, the first Watch Dogs game was no exception, On reruns, the problems with the fictional city of Chicago quickly become clear.

While there's a lot to explore, and the map never lacks objective markers, it doesn't take long for it to start feeling repetitive, people become predictable, hacks feel limited, and things generally feel lifeless. It might not have been that bad in 2014, but it's now considered one of the worst games in Ubisoft's massive open world.

Watch Dogs' Graphics Have Aged Significantly

A huge source of controversy when Watch Dogs was first released was the game's graphics. After some absolutely stunning E3 footage raised expectations, Watch Dogs was a huge disappointment to some eager gamers for simply being a really good-looking game.

Of course, a good-looking game is still a good-looking game, and many people come to appreciate the visual quality of Watch Dogs after a while. Unfortunately, after Watch Dogs 2 and Watch Dogs: Legion, the first game's graphics were disappointing again less than a decade later, which is one of the downsides of playing it again years later. one.

Driving In Watch Dogs Still Sucks

Small issues tend to be exaggerated in hindsight, but sadly that's not the case with the driving mechanics in Watch puppy. Even a game like Cyberpunk 2077, which has also been criticized for being an open-world game with bugs, is arguably more fun than Watch Dogs.

It's hard to pinpoint exactly what the developers went wrong with driving, but the handling and momentum of moving vehicles doesn't feel intuitive or satisfying at all. While some have argued that Watch Dogs is simply an unfavorable comparison to GTA 5 in this regard, time has shown that there are indeed underlying issues.

Watch Dogs' Characters Are Pretty Boring

While the large number of generic and uninteresting characters that can be recruited and even played in Watch Dogs: Legion may make people feel a little nostalgic for Watch Dogs, it quickly becomes clear when playing again that it is not The first title in the Special Strengths series.

Like Aiden himself, these characters are mostly dry and serious about what they do. There are a few exceptions to keep things fresh, like Watch Dogs: Bad Blood protagonist Raymond Kenny, but even he's underused. Dark and morally ambiguous video game characters can be great, but there's just too much stuff.

Watch Dogs' Release Controversies Were Overblown

Extended rerun of Watch Dogs reveals a harsh reality It only worked for a very specific group after it was released, but it's a pretty big one. The reality is that Watch Dogs just didn't deserve so much attention in 2014 for not being the biggest issue in the world.

Most of the original Watch Dogs players abandoned the game after encountering technical problems and bugs, and seeing graphics that did not meet marketing requirements. However, replaying it now makes it clear that it is indeed a very solid game. Maybe Watch Dogs doesn't deserve all the hate after 2022 alone has received a few messy launch games, but that's hard to admit.

The Writing In Watch Dogs Isn't Great

While the story in Watch Dogs is simple and effective, the writing, especially the in-game dialogue, leaves a lot to be desired. While that was the case in 2014, it becomes even more apparent in 2022 when games like God of War: Ragnarok helped video games become a serious art form.

Here's why even though Watch Dogs' dialogue has never seemed particularly shocking before, it's still hard to sit through Now through some stale and even awkward cut scenes. It's especially a pity that some of the voice actors seem to have given their all, only to be let down by the characters and the writing.

Watch Dogs' Missions Get Repetitive

One issue that may have been a bit overlooked in 2014, when the formulaic missions seemed to be on par with the expansive open world games, is that missions in Watch Dogs do get somewhat repetitive. In another game, this might not have been such an issue, but Watch Dogs will be remembered for the freedom its hacking mechanics afforded.

It's a bit disappointing to find that there isn't actually that much freedom in how missions (including the main story missions) are done. To complicate matters, hacking doesn't seem to offer as many alternative options as initially suggested, often reduced to either explosive options or a good opener.

Watch Dogs Has The Best Story In The Series

Perhaps the hardest thing about replaying Watch Dogs is realizing that the series hasn't improved much from the first entry. Watch Dogs: Legion and especially Watch Dogs 2 have made a lot of progress in terms of gameplay and are worth playing, but there is one area of ​​Watch Dogs that is worth playing Dogs can say they are all beaten.

While subsequent titles rely on overly complex heavy stories, Watch Dogs has a simple revenge narrative that is very easy to understand and relate to. It might be a small thing, but with a stronger sense of atmosphere, it will make it harder to replay Watch Dogs 2 and Watch Dogs: Legion in the future.