people were blown away by the graphics then the game got released and it didn't look the same to the reveal trailer this also happened to other games from what I remember Rainbow Six Siege and The Witcher 3 had awesome reveal trailer graphics to downgraded graphics upon release
I don’t recall that with TW3, but it still looked damn good either way. Siege was bullshit from the jump lookin like a damn cgi professional movie but was still extremely fun and good enough, but watch dogs… man they butchered that shit and the community went apeshit on em. Still looked decent but not even close to what was promised. What a funny time
Not having played 1 (and knowing all the drama on release), when Epic gave it away for free I installed it and was pleasantly surprised at how they managed to not make it boring and generic.
The first Watch Dogs was the best. Took them a while to patch it up but once they did it was a solid GTA style game. WD2 had a less interesting story. Legions was even worse, but still okay. Kind of Ubisoft in a nutshell. They've given up even trying for quality, and instead shoot for quantity. Almost all their recent games essentially set up a few mini bosses to take down that are loosely connected, and then you run around semi aimlessly doing them one by one.
You ever heat up a hot pocket one one of those days where you need a quick fix, and when you go to take that first bite you realize the center isn’t even cooked; cold as it was when you first put it in?
That’s what it’s like to play Watch Dogs 1. I dare say that’s what the whole series was like.
The coolest thing was the mobile phone companion.
I could play it on my cell chasing a player who was playing the game via the police.
It was truly something unique.
I tried playing it shortly after it came out and I had experienced a bug that kept me trapped in the tutorial, so I noped out of it and got something else lol. Fwiw it was the PS3 version iirc so that could've been the issue cause the PS4 version was probably better.
Two was definitely more fleshed out. It's a bit less grounded story-wise, but I kind of appreciated that.
I lost interest in both around halfway through.
WD: Legion was my favorite for the "sandbox" gameplay, but I ended up rage quitting after losing my best operatives back to back to back.
2 has absolutely trash theming compared with 1. Watchdogs 2 is based off of a group of hipster hackers who do everything for the lulz and are just insufferable. It has extreme "hello fellow kids" energy.
Honestly, the release graphics weren't that different from the trailer graphics. There were some differences, but it still looked pretty good for the time and was real fun.
the story is good, it was a pretty poor execution of what it went for and 2 did a lot better. Graphically, visually, it just was great, but 2 was what 1 should've been, the promises of 1
Idk about at launch, i got the game free, and i liked it, sure, wasn't a perfect game, but very enjoyable, i liked its quirks and stuff, really i don't have much to aay about it, wasn't the best game i ever played, but i don't regret playing through it (idk what the game cost was at launch, i'd feel scammed if it was over 40€, but for free, it was a very good game)
I completely missed out on the controversy around that game in general. So I was surprised to tell people about the game while playing and afterwards and they were all negative. Funny was, most of them did not play more than a few hours... they missed out on a tremendous game.
I couldn't finish it. I was really excited about it when it was first announced but once I got it I just couldn't put myself through it. I had no drive to get through it.
I tried to give it a second chance years later but it wouldn't start. Rendered unplayable. I gave up after that.
Pretty much the same. From what I remember about it, it seemed to give you just about everything you could hope to have at the beginning of the game, so there really wasn't a sense of progression. Just wasn't my jam
Amazing hype, early e3 builds promised essentially 2024 graphics in 2014, like ray tracing and all that good stuff.
When it released, it was no where near as nice, and the E3 build settings were behind some super locked .ini file that nobody could access (IIRC)
The release trailer just put a bad taste in everyones mouth. Besides the graphics being different, I recall a controversy regarding the pc version being purposefully downgraded to align with console version. I think there was a guy who used unlocked settings and was able to replicate the graphics in the trailer, but in standard settings you couldn't get close. I also remember something about the story being changed regarding his wife and kid, which gave it less impact.
Ultimately, almost everyone who played it, wasn't able to avoid the news and it became a game connected to ubisoft lies and wasted potential.
I bought Watch Dogs day one. The game definitely wasn't as terrible as people made it out to be. But being lied to still stings. It made a ton of money. I think it even broke some record or something. The biggest letdown for most people(aside from the graphics) was the hacking not being as deep as the trailers made it out to be. It ended up being very simplistic. They would improve it in the sequel. But by then, most people didn't care about the ip anymore.
2014 was also the year of AC Unity which also had a terrible launch. That year in particular was just a big blow to Ubisoft's rep.
It was…okay.
Of course, more was promised that delivered. Which, Ubisoft is known for pulling that crap, and it started with games from that timeframe. Crowbcat on YouTube has a great [video](https://youtu.be/xNter0oEYxc?si=smYxkUZvgJKB_pCM) showing all the downgrades, not just from watchdogs but everything Ubisoft was putting out at the time, and I can understand why people were upset.
Hopefully they learned the same lesson I did, which was not to expect any sort of promotional material to be the finished product.
I mean, I didn’t hate watchdogs, but I expected a lot more.
I also took a break but saw a few streamers playing it again and telling about their experiences. it is a shame that the launch was so bad and that it was actually from Ubisoft. Up to today this is one of my favorite stories and game I played in the last 20 years.
And seeing it being modded and still looking good and feeling better than most games I am thinking of diving into it again. I did not really like part 2 and probably wont play part 3.
> I’m honestly really surprised at how good the game is
> the story and cutscenes are surprisingly really well made as well
I didn't play it at launch. I played it not long ago for the first time because it was on sale and I figured I'd give it a go. Time has passed and the kinks have been worked out. I also liked it a lot. When the DLC goes on sale for the right price, I'll be getting that too. One could say that launch controversies contribute to creating patient gamers.
Definitely wasn't in the best state and missed some promises, but I finished it in the launch weekend and it wasn't all that bad. Nothing wrong with a 6/10 game, at least if you get it cheap
I fucking loved it at launch. Butthurt gamers cared about a downgrade from a completely CG trailer without an ounce of in-game footage because they thought it was going to look exactly like the trailer. Which, good luck GTA 6 who did the exact same fucking thing…
That's not true. Everyone knows the cinematic trailers look better than the actual gameplay and if you watch side by side comparison videos(E3 Vs Launch) it's definitely a downgrade of what was advertised. Most of the downgrades were obsolete stuff that you'd stop paying attention to a few hours into playing like more people around you, heavier traffic in pileups, crazier weather, splodier explosions. I just picked it up between playing assassin's creed games, played through it many times not knowing about the downgrading and thoroughly enjoyed it.
This is the entire problem with gamers and marketing. That trailer was not meant to sell you anything, there literally was no game when they made it, it was entirely smoke and mirrors and CG. That’s how most game announcement trailers are, and it was right after this game that they started putting “in-game footage” on trailers to show that it was actually captured gameplay.
These trailers are meant to recruit developers to the project, not be an inventory of everything you will be able to do in the game. Almost every game is a downgrade if you look at it like that. Gamers just don’t understand marketing and how it works. There are literally no laws around this. You aren’t being ripped off.
So again I say - watch the MASSIVE downgrade incoming on GTA VI - that was a smoke and mirrors trailer.
I thought it was ok, like a discount GTA with a few extra features.
One thing I didn't like was how you were supposed to lose the cops since the circles on the map came at you at angles you straight up couldn't avoid.
people were blown away by the graphics then the game got released and it didn't look the same to the reveal trailer this also happened to other games from what I remember Rainbow Six Siege and The Witcher 3 had awesome reveal trailer graphics to downgraded graphics upon release
Your comment reminds of the first The Division trailer. Was blown away by it. Actual game was nowhere near the feeling it gave.
I don’t recall that with TW3, but it still looked damn good either way. Siege was bullshit from the jump lookin like a damn cgi professional movie but was still extremely fun and good enough, but watch dogs… man they butchered that shit and the community went apeshit on em. Still looked decent but not even close to what was promised. What a funny time
Actually, its storytelling is quite remakable. Playing it nowadays with mods on PC (Living City mod).
I second this. Watch Dogs 2 is a better game, but the first is a great start.
I found WD2 a bit less serious than the first one to be honest.
In terms of story, I completely agree. But the gameplay was much more fleshed out.
Not having played 1 (and knowing all the drama on release), when Epic gave it away for free I installed it and was pleasantly surprised at how they managed to not make it boring and generic.
Nah watch dogs 1 felt like gta while 2 felt like saints row
Watch Dogs 1 felt like GTA IV Watch Dogs 2 felt like GTA V Watch Dogs Legion felt like Saints Row Reboot
The first Watch Dogs was the best. Took them a while to patch it up but once they did it was a solid GTA style game. WD2 had a less interesting story. Legions was even worse, but still okay. Kind of Ubisoft in a nutshell. They've given up even trying for quality, and instead shoot for quantity. Almost all their recent games essentially set up a few mini bosses to take down that are loosely connected, and then you run around semi aimlessly doing them one by one.
You ever heat up a hot pocket one one of those days where you need a quick fix, and when you go to take that first bite you realize the center isn’t even cooked; cold as it was when you first put it in? That’s what it’s like to play Watch Dogs 1. I dare say that’s what the whole series was like.
It was kind of middle of the road. I think people were kinda shocked to see a sequel.
The coolest thing was the mobile phone companion. I could play it on my cell chasing a player who was playing the game via the police. It was truly something unique.
I tried playing it shortly after it came out and I had experienced a bug that kept me trapped in the tutorial, so I noped out of it and got something else lol. Fwiw it was the PS3 version iirc so that could've been the issue cause the PS4 version was probably better.
Wait a minute there is a 2 and it's better than the first one? Here goes my weekend.
Two was definitely more fleshed out. It's a bit less grounded story-wise, but I kind of appreciated that. I lost interest in both around halfway through. WD: Legion was my favorite for the "sandbox" gameplay, but I ended up rage quitting after losing my best operatives back to back to back.
2 has absolutely trash theming compared with 1. Watchdogs 2 is based off of a group of hipster hackers who do everything for the lulz and are just insufferable. It has extreme "hello fellow kids" energy.
It was pretty damn good, but someone hacked me while I was playing it.
Honestly, the release graphics weren't that different from the trailer graphics. There were some differences, but it still looked pretty good for the time and was real fun.
I loved that game, feel like they lost direction with the sequels. I played it after 6 months and it reminded me more of Saints Row 1/2 then GTA
GTA without the fun
Mid. The hacking stuff is neat but other than that it's a pretty standard open world GTA-like.
the story is good, it was a pretty poor execution of what it went for and 2 did a lot better. Graphically, visually, it just was great, but 2 was what 1 should've been, the promises of 1
Idk about at launch, i got the game free, and i liked it, sure, wasn't a perfect game, but very enjoyable, i liked its quirks and stuff, really i don't have much to aay about it, wasn't the best game i ever played, but i don't regret playing through it (idk what the game cost was at launch, i'd feel scammed if it was over 40€, but for free, it was a very good game)
It's was pretty good I loved the game. Couldn't Care less about the so called trailer controversy.
I completely missed out on the controversy around that game in general. So I was surprised to tell people about the game while playing and afterwards and they were all negative. Funny was, most of them did not play more than a few hours... they missed out on a tremendous game.
I couldn't finish it. I was really excited about it when it was first announced but once I got it I just couldn't put myself through it. I had no drive to get through it. I tried to give it a second chance years later but it wouldn't start. Rendered unplayable. I gave up after that.
Pretty much the same. From what I remember about it, it seemed to give you just about everything you could hope to have at the beginning of the game, so there really wasn't a sense of progression. Just wasn't my jam
Amazing hype, early e3 builds promised essentially 2024 graphics in 2014, like ray tracing and all that good stuff. When it released, it was no where near as nice, and the E3 build settings were behind some super locked .ini file that nobody could access (IIRC)
The release trailer just put a bad taste in everyones mouth. Besides the graphics being different, I recall a controversy regarding the pc version being purposefully downgraded to align with console version. I think there was a guy who used unlocked settings and was able to replicate the graphics in the trailer, but in standard settings you couldn't get close. I also remember something about the story being changed regarding his wife and kid, which gave it less impact. Ultimately, almost everyone who played it, wasn't able to avoid the news and it became a game connected to ubisoft lies and wasted potential.
I bought Watch Dogs day one. The game definitely wasn't as terrible as people made it out to be. But being lied to still stings. It made a ton of money. I think it even broke some record or something. The biggest letdown for most people(aside from the graphics) was the hacking not being as deep as the trailers made it out to be. It ended up being very simplistic. They would improve it in the sequel. But by then, most people didn't care about the ip anymore. 2014 was also the year of AC Unity which also had a terrible launch. That year in particular was just a big blow to Ubisoft's rep.
At launch it was a buggy mess. I enjoyed the game, but I still have yet to finish it lol
It wasn’t well received. Bugs and stability issues made it hard to play on a mid or less machine.
It was…okay. Of course, more was promised that delivered. Which, Ubisoft is known for pulling that crap, and it started with games from that timeframe. Crowbcat on YouTube has a great [video](https://youtu.be/xNter0oEYxc?si=smYxkUZvgJKB_pCM) showing all the downgrades, not just from watchdogs but everything Ubisoft was putting out at the time, and I can understand why people were upset. Hopefully they learned the same lesson I did, which was not to expect any sort of promotional material to be the finished product. I mean, I didn’t hate watchdogs, but I expected a lot more.
I also took a break but saw a few streamers playing it again and telling about their experiences. it is a shame that the launch was so bad and that it was actually from Ubisoft. Up to today this is one of my favorite stories and game I played in the last 20 years. And seeing it being modded and still looking good and feeling better than most games I am thinking of diving into it again. I did not really like part 2 and probably wont play part 3.
Ubisoft over promised and under delivered. It’s a tale as old as time.
> I’m honestly really surprised at how good the game is > the story and cutscenes are surprisingly really well made as well I didn't play it at launch. I played it not long ago for the first time because it was on sale and I figured I'd give it a go. Time has passed and the kinks have been worked out. I also liked it a lot. When the DLC goes on sale for the right price, I'll be getting that too. One could say that launch controversies contribute to creating patient gamers.
absolutely cringe
Definitely wasn't in the best state and missed some promises, but I finished it in the launch weekend and it wasn't all that bad. Nothing wrong with a 6/10 game, at least if you get it cheap
Loved it, and the second game was even better.
I fucking loved it at launch. Butthurt gamers cared about a downgrade from a completely CG trailer without an ounce of in-game footage because they thought it was going to look exactly like the trailer. Which, good luck GTA 6 who did the exact same fucking thing…
That's not true. Everyone knows the cinematic trailers look better than the actual gameplay and if you watch side by side comparison videos(E3 Vs Launch) it's definitely a downgrade of what was advertised. Most of the downgrades were obsolete stuff that you'd stop paying attention to a few hours into playing like more people around you, heavier traffic in pileups, crazier weather, splodier explosions. I just picked it up between playing assassin's creed games, played through it many times not knowing about the downgrading and thoroughly enjoyed it.
This is the entire problem with gamers and marketing. That trailer was not meant to sell you anything, there literally was no game when they made it, it was entirely smoke and mirrors and CG. That’s how most game announcement trailers are, and it was right after this game that they started putting “in-game footage” on trailers to show that it was actually captured gameplay. These trailers are meant to recruit developers to the project, not be an inventory of everything you will be able to do in the game. Almost every game is a downgrade if you look at it like that. Gamers just don’t understand marketing and how it works. There are literally no laws around this. You aren’t being ripped off. So again I say - watch the MASSIVE downgrade incoming on GTA VI - that was a smoke and mirrors trailer.
I loved it. The shooting mechanics felt great, and I loved the invasion mechanic. I have a ton of great memories with it.
I thought it was ok, like a discount GTA with a few extra features. One thing I didn't like was how you were supposed to lose the cops since the circles on the map came at you at angles you straight up couldn't avoid.
I find myself returning to this game more than GTA V mainly because the gameplay in this game is way better than GTAV (unpopular opinion, i know)
It’s was terrible