(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); A half hour. That’s not a heckuva lot of time. Barely enough for a quick lunch or, perhaps, a power nap. But in Watch Dogs, the hack-smash-drive-shoot-explore open-world game from Ubisoft Montreal, a half hour can offer up a veritable lifetime of virtual experiences. We were recently treated to 30 minutes of Watch Dog’s open-world gameplay in a hands-off demo driven by Animation Director Colin Graham and narrated by Senior Producer Dominic Guay. A few days later we snuck in to another press briefing to watch the same half-hour demo – and we noticed a heaping helping of unique details, due to the non-scripted nature of the game’s open world combined with the varied virtual reactions to Colin’s differing in-game actions.


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Also noteworthy: this half hour didn’t include any story-driven missions – in part to avoid any spoilers, but also to showcase the diversity of gameplay in Aiden Pearce’s Chicago. And diverse it is – so much so that we easily jotted down 61 highlights from that all-too-brief session. We can’t wait for more!

[h=3]61 HIGHLIGHTS[/h]
1. The demo starts in the Wards – easily one of the most compellingly detailed portrayals of an impoverished inner city neighborhood, complete with debris-strewn, graffiti-laden alleyways, dilapidated row houses, and weeds poking up through the cracked pavement.


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2. Graffiti is everywhere, but it’s not just tags. We noticed a stylized monkey in several areas, and a spray-painted camera in another. Sign of a movement against the big-brother aspects of Chicago’s Central Operating System (ctOS)?


3. Aiden Pearce pulls his gun, then walks with it held behind his back. That way he’s ready to act, but can remain inconspicuous.


4. When Aiden does point his gun, people immediately react: some run for cover, others cower.


5. Aiden shoots his gun into a crowd. Immediately, everyone scrambles and someone nearby calls the cops.


6. If you find the person who’s calling the police, you can stop the call, which Aiden does in one of our demos by slapping the phone from his hand.


7. In another demo, we don’t get to the caller in time, but we’re still able to avoid the cops by leaving the hot zone (marked on the minimap) in time.


8. Anything can serve as cover. We saw Aiden crouching behind: cars, vans, trucks, a discarded washing machine, an alley wall, a fence, a rooftop vent, and countless other inanimate objects in the environment.


9. Aiden, being a crafty hacker, has a universal car alarm tool. He can take any car he wants, with minimal fuss. A quick click, and he’s in.


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10. In Watch Dogs’ Chicago, people leave cash and goodies in their car’s glovebox, which Aiden loots when he nabs a new car.


11. Aiden heads to a pawn shop (Pawned Off) to sell his loot. While there, he can buy parts to craft new items, like “binary compound” chemicals to use in improved explosive devices (IEDs). He can also stock up on ammo.

12. While in the pawn shop, we notice a small icon in the HUD that’s marked “THREATEN.” We didn’t see it in action, but we can’t wait to try it.

13. In some areas, residents have a red X covering the icon above their heads. That means Aiden can’t hack those people yet.

14. Off-limits areas are marked in red on the mini-map. One such area is a ctOS (Central Operating System) Control Center in the Wards, which Aiden needs to infiltrate in order to unlock his ability to hack everything in the region. Aiden can approach these restricted areas in any way he wants. Also, these “area unlock” missions are completely optional.

15. Instead of starting a firefight, Aiden hacks the cameras within the Control Center, and cycles through the various cameras to tag the guards within. This lets Aiden see the guards clearly marked on the map.

16. Aiden is able to see info on the guards at the ctOS Control Center. Some have ties to organized crime; others have served time. In other words, these are a nasty lot. Why would a city agency need to employ fellas like this…?

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17. Aiden finds the guard who has the access codes for Control Center. This is the first in a two-step process for unlocking these centers. In this demo, Aiden hacks the guard remotely to get the access codes. In another playthrough, Aiden eliminated all the guards first, then pulled the access codes from the fallen guard.

18. Aiden hacks a gate, causing it to open and distracting a guard in the process, who walks over to the gate to investigate. This allows Aiden to sneak up behind the guard and silently choke him out.

19. Now inside the compound, Aiden hacks a nearby forklift while behind cover, distracting another guard. Aiden rushes up to him and beats him down with his retractable baton.

20. Aiden then finds a mechanical lift dolly, which he hacks to take him to a rooftop. He hides behind a ventilation unit and tosses an IED down to get rid of the other guards.

21. THE IED ONLY KILLS ONE GUARD, BUT NOW THE REMAINING GUARDS ARE ON HIGH ALERT.
AIDEN PULLS HIS RIFLE AND
SHOOTS ONE GUARD FROM THE ROOFTOP.

22. In another demo of the same area, Aiden hacks some rooftop vent protectors to cause them to lift, creating convenient cover for Aiden to take out two guards. But Aiden has to keep moving – the guards are smart enough to flank Aiden, and cover isn’t always infallible.

23. Time suddenly slows, allowing Aiden to line up a shot and eliminate the final guard. This is called Focus, and it lets the player multitask by slowing down the action and highlighting hacking opps: in this case, Aiden used Focus purely as a form of bullet time.

24. Aiden locates the entrance to the server room within the compound, which is the second step in unlocking a region’s Control Center. Aiden needs to be physically present at this spot to hack into the server room, using the access codes he previously acquired.

25. Aiden now has full access to all hackable elements in this region, including: all computers, all cameras, and the Crime Prediction System (CPS). As he emerges from the Control Center, Aiden is now able to listen to phone calls and scan the populace for details.

26. It takes all types, apparently. In the Wards, Aiden profiles everyone from Shaquan Johnson, who runs an animal shelter, to Melanie Scott, a 40-year-old professional mystery shopper who frequents fetish porn sites.

27. Aiden can profile people in close proximity, or when he’s focused on someone via a hacked camera.

28. The Crime Prediction System kicks in, alerting Aiden to a potential crime nearby. Aiden proceeds to investigate.

29. While bouncing from local security cam to security cam in search of the potential crime, we’re treated to a pitch-perfect homage to HBO’s The Wire: two gang-bangers notice the camera focusing on them, and one picks up a rock and nails the camera with it.

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30. Aiden spots the potential victim, whose descriptor is marked in yellow, with an ascending percentage indicating how likely (and how soon) the crime will happen.

31. The potential criminal and victim are both members of a local gang called the Black Viceroys. As Aiden watches their heated discussion (one of them had an unfortunate penchant for talking too much), the percentage continues to go up, turning red when it headed north of 70%.

32. Aiden decides to intervene, stopping a beatdown from turning into a full-on murder. When Aiden draws his gun and rushes forward, the criminal flees from the scene and Aiden gives chase through the streets and alleyways of the Wards.

33. The criminal heads off in a car, so Aiden also jacks a car. As he barrels down the street, Aiden hits a pedestrian. This will impact his reputation.

34. The divide between the nicer neighborhoods and the Wards is as startling in the game as it is in real-life Chicago. As we approach the Loop, we see the famous Chicago skyline rapidly approaching.

35. Factories (both working and abandoned) line the Chicago river on this side of town, reminding us of the city’s blue-collar manufacturing roots.

36. Aiden finally catches up with the thug and crashes into his car, wrecking it. The criminal jumps out, as does Aiden. Aiden rushes to the concrete divider, hops over it to and uses it for cover, then kills the criminal with his gun. In doing so, his reputation goes up by “+35,” which will affect how residents and the media talk about and react to you.

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37. Aiden heads to the Willis Tower (formerly knows as the Sears Tower). It is very tall.

38. At the Willis Tower, Aiden notices two people pointing their cell phones in all directions. They are playing NVZN (pronounced “invasion”), an alternate-reality game (ARG) in which virtual aliens invade the real-world environment.

39. Aiden partakes in a bit of NVZN gameplay, shooting at purple virtual-reality aliens as they enter his virtual field of vision. Some aliens attach to people in the surrounding area, enveloping the humans’ heads with their tentacles. Aiden can enjoy this game at will, and players can challenge friends or compete on leader boards.

40. THE L TRAIN RATTLES BY IN
THE BACKGROUND. AIDEN CAN HACK THE TRAIN OR JUST USE IT FOR TRAVEL.

41. As Aiden passes the entrance to the Willis Tower, we hear a popular song playingin the background, via an outdoor speaker. Aiden then pulls up his phone to access the in-game Song Sneak app, which has Shazam-like functionality, allowing Aiden to identify and purchase the song for playback within the game (using in-game currency earned by playing the game).

42. Aiden has multiple apps on his phone. We spotted a “Survival Guide,” “Hotspots,” “Wall” and “City Map,” among others.

43. Aiden continues to monitor the local populace. He spots someone whose career is Judo Expert. Apparently, a Judo Expert makes $47,000 a year. Which is reason enough to get his info and rob his account at a nearby ATM.

44. Aiden passes a WiFi hotspot, which (Dominic Guay reminds us) isn’t all that secure. In order to hack into even more things, Aiden first has to turn it back on (by hacking the street level box), then ascend to a nearby rooftop to locate the building’s WiFi box and hack into that.

45. Aiden can now hack into apartments within that particular residential building. He hacks into the home of one Arvid Steadman, a 41-year-old physical therapist who collects action figures.

46. Aiden spies on Arvid using Arvid’s laptop webcam. He’s seated next to a stolen department store mannequin. “I know this isn’t your home, but it can be,” Arvid says pleadingly to his somewhat stiff companion.

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47. After playing voyeur to this delightfully creepy scene, Aiden hacks Arvid’s info and makes off with his license plate and registration. Aiden can later trade in that info to add to his collection of on-demand cars.

48. Back on the sreet, Aiden strolls down a shopping boulevard, where a loudspeaker is playing some muzak. Aiden hacks it and replaces the insipid orchestrations with music from his own collection.

49. Aiden catches wind of another potential crime by intercepting some texts from a known drug dealer. The dealer is letting his associate know where to find the man who raped his wife. This raises a moral question for Aiden (and the player): Stop the potential murder of an alleged sex-crime recidivist? Or let street justice handle – with prejudice – what the real justice system seemingly cannot?

50. Aiden heads to the alleyway location of the alleged rapist. He draws his gun, sneaks around, and hacks a camera, eventually spotting the potential victim. Aiden doesn’t intervene in this live demo, but Guay reminds us the choice is ours – and whatever choice we make will reverberate throughout the game.

51. Next stop: a gun store, where Aiden considers a purchase of additional weapons. In our demo, he is armed with a pistol and an assault rifle.

52. Among the weapons we spotted in the store’s inventory: An AK-47, an SG-590 shotgun, a Vector .45ACP submachine gun and an M107 sniper rifle.

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53. The gun store owner really knows how to rock a wolf shirt.

54. While browsing, the TV above the counter broadcasts breaking news about Aiden, the apparent “suspect in the Joseph DeMarco murder.” The owner recognizes Adien, then slowly reaches under the counter to trigger a silent alarm. Aiden notices this, pulls his gun, robs the register, and rushes out the door.

55. Police are everywhere, converging on the gun shop. Aiden grabs a car and starts racing through the streets. It’s dusk now, and it’s staring to rain. The mist from the road and in the air realistically reflects and diffuses the car’s bright headlights in such astounding detail that we can’t help but marvel at the power of next-gen gaming.

56. Aiden uses his Focus ability to slow time and hack a traffic light while driving at full speed, causing the police to ram into oncoming traffic.

57. Aiden uses his Focus ability again, spotting some street blockers, which he triggers to pop up after he passes them, destroying the police car behind him.

58. Aiden hacks the door of a nearby garage and veers inside. Having broken the line of sight with his police tail, Aiden exits the car, and then the garage, but…

59. A police helicopter appears above and shines a spotlight on Aiden, calling additional police to his location.

60. Aiden hops onto a motorcycle and triggers a street blocker, which he drives through with ease. However, he can’t evade the police, due to the chopper’s constant spotlight from above.

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61. Aiden hacks a drawbridge, and it begins to lift. He revs his motorcycle to make the jump, just in time. Right as Aiden is mid-jump, our demo ends – but our excitement is only beginning for Watch Dogs. Stay tuned to the UbiBlog for more info on this breathtaking game as it emerges!

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I CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS GAME!

i dunno about any of you but im gassed for this game on so many levels! im going to be stuck between this and gta, both will be different games but share the same element of a huge place to free roam and explore things i like in a game.

thoughts on these points?

Nicely put together article!

Is there a link to the video? Or is there not one?

this is the game i have been waiting for since it was announced. i am going to play the shit out it. looks badass. also nice article, thank you.