Watch Dogs (PS4)

If amazon would allow 4.5 star ratings I would be giving Watch_Dogs that, but since I get a lot of enjoyment out of the game I will be giving it 5 stars.A lot of other reviews have already highlighted this, but it is an excellent game that almost meets the high expectations set by all the hype. It is worth noting that obviously for a cross-generation release the graphics are not going to be truly next-gen but I think they are close enough even if they do not quite meet the graphics shown off at E3 2012 - obviously Ubisoft had a reason to slightly downgrade the graphics and I would much rather play a smooth game with GOOD graphics than a game with GREAT graphics that is unstable and frequently crashes/runs at a slow framerate.PROS--------- Endless fun in messing with the city, watching traffic pile up when you hack the lights, or the police blown sky-high when you hack a steam pipe with exact timing- The AR mini games are fun- A strong campaign, it has a slow start in which it attempts to make us feel empathy for Aidan before it introduces the much more powerful topic 'Information is Power'- Great graphics, beautiful interiors of buildings and great exterior (It is much better at night)- Endless opportunities for fun- Intense gun-fights where you can run-and-gun, or use the hacking and environment to your advantage by causing distractions- A funny biography for each NPC, including their job/salary- NPCs reactions are funny and different every time- Online hacking and tailing is fun, as well as the online racing- Car handling in some vehicles is very good- You can choose whether you will be a menace or a protector, there is a full spectrum of good/bad and this will influence how civilians react to you and what the news features about you.- Change Aidan's outfit- Minigames such as Chess and Cups in shops and around- You could be invaded at any time by a multiplayer player (although this can be turned off), adding a hint of suspense and making you feel under attack.CONS---------- Lots of glare at daytime, slightly washed colours- It is too easy to get money and good weapons (after 2 hours I had a grenade launcher, 2 sniper rifles and 2 assault rifles)- NPCs will call the police if you have your gun out at any time - really annoying when you are tailing a criminal and have the police to worry about too- Driving in some vehicles is terrible!- I've spotted an old granny with a walking stick driving a fire engine before...AND THE BIGGEST CON:uPlay and the Ubisoft servers.I expected this to only last for launch day but it is still incredibly slow, 90% of attempts to login to uPlay time out and online/authentication servers for Watch Dogs are very slow as well. I could probably run a faster and more reliable service from a $4.99 VPS.Basically, the game is what you make it. There are endless opportunities of fun if you find them, but it takes a bit of effort. Who would have known that you can 'herd' up civilians on top of a steam pipe and blow them sky high?4.5/5

I've held off writing a review of this game, because I wanted to give it time and get a balanced opinion having invested a few hours in it, rather than writing a review right away based upon my first impressions. This game is a slow burner, but well worth the wait. Stick with it, and you won't be dissapointed.The gameplay takes a bit of getting used to - movement and combat is fairly straightforward, but there are several menus and skill trees, plus how to use acquired skills that take a bit of getting used to and at first, it's quite a lot to take in - but once you get the hang of it, they become much easier to navigate and once you are comfortable with the way things work and how to use everything available to you, the game really comes into it's own and you start to grasp just what Ubisoft are trying to do - and once you get that "light bulb moment", you start to have a whole lot of fun and the grin factor increases considerably!The crux of the game, is the ability to hack into things using your characters smartphone, via the "big brother" style mainframe throughout Chicago called CtOS. This can be anybody in the street (such as telephone conversations, messenger chat, bank accounts), CCTV cameras, road bollards, elevation bridges, traffic lights, car alarms - basically anything electrical or with a microchip can be hacked and exploited to your advantage. The scope of this as you can imagine, is huge - but once you get the hang of it, is a LOT of fun.There is a really good balance of stealth and action, and a great array of weaponry to be bought/collected along the way. For example, your mission might be hacking into the laptop of someone, who is located in a dockyard and protected by armed guards, who have the ability to call reinforcements if they see you/are being gunned down. You would arrive at the location, find a CCTV camera to hack, then spy on them - jumping from camera to camera, to identify your best way in. Once in, you can sneak around using the cameras to see where the guards are. If they are calling for reinforcements, you can jam their comms using an app on your phone - if you are quick enough! Likewise, if the police are called, you can jam 911 calls and delay any input from the feds.On that, the police are very proactive and are actually one of the hardest parts of the game, they are well equipped, fast responding and difficult to evade. However, this really adds realism to the game and is one of the most exciting parts of it - you think you've managed to get away, and before you know it, you are being pursued by a helicopter! However, you can also jam the comms of the helicopter to buy time, and use the map to see where the patrol cars are, then take back alleys that have bollards which you can raise to block the pursuit. Getting the hacking idea now? :)One of the most interesting features, and one that is great fun and real edge of the seat stuff, is that you can hack into another players game, and infiltrate THEIR game - you select online hack, and then you, as a single player, have to find the other singular player, then steal the data from their phone by sneaking up on them and initiating a backdoor hack. This mixture of online/single player is absolutely brilliant, and for me one of the best parts of the game, and a real taste of what we can look forward to in next gen gaming. Likewise, your singular player game can be infiltrated by another player at any time, and you need to react immediately to counteract the threat - literally you drop everything and try to find the hacker hacking you. The real-time element of this, integrated with your own game is fantastic, and real ground breaking stuff.I hope this gives you a flavour of the game - it's huge, and well worth the money - it will keep you occupied for weeks of gameplay, and lots of new things to discover/do and exploit. The gameplay IS tricky to pick up, but once you crack it, becomes miles easier and the game really comes into it's own - it's ambitious and stylish, but Ubisoft have nailed it. Yes there are some similarities to GTA, but in my opinion it is not a rip-off - there are far too many unique things about this game to call it a copy - on the contrary, this game is very original, slick, modern and most importantly, great fun - after all, that's the whole point of gaming isn't it?Happy to answer any questions anyone may have. Take it easy