Watch_Dogs PC 6 months after launch

Driftwood
Thursday, November 27, 2014 | 1:35 PM
35 comments

GSY Video PC PS4 Xbox One Wii U

Watch_Dogs is back in the spotlight 6 months after its initial release for two main reasons. First, the WiiU version is finally available and it unsurprisingly is technically limited, just like the 360/PS3 versions. Secondly, after the ACU fiasco, Ubisoft just announced that everyone who bought the game would be offered the first DLC for free and those who purchased the Season Pass would get one game for free among the following ones: Rayman Legends, Just Dance 2015, The Crew, Far Cry 4 and of course Watch_Dogs. That's why we decided to capture the PC version yesterday, to see if our GTX 970 could handle it better today. Playing on ultra settings (except for high textures and temporal SMAA) made it impossible to maintain a steady 60 fps, but the game still looks very good, no matter what some people said back then.

High quality stream and download

Watch_Dogs Ultra SMAA

Raggsvettma

Commented on 2014-11-27 13:49:10

It's a gorgeus game to look at. But it's nothing more than a re-skinned assassin's creed.

AC, Far Cry and Watchdogs are really the same game.

In reply to

Bakutheswede

Commented on 2014-11-27 14:03:18 In reply to Raggsvettma

Posted by Raggsvettma

It's a gorgeus game to look at. But it's nothing more than a re-skinned assassin's creed.

AC, Far Cry and Watchdogs are really the same game.

Yep sure it is, all the staples of a assassin's creed game like driving cars, hacking, and a cover based shooting system all set in an modern metropolis just like a assassin's game......oh wait what? ;)

In reply to

AldoRaine

Commented on 2014-11-27 14:03:56

"AC, Far Cry and Watchdogs are really the same game."

Here troll, take some food:
They are open world and have a mini map which indicates missions. And two of them are 3rd person while one of them is 1st person. They are definitely the same game.

@Topic
I really had my fun with Watchdogs. The hacking features made you feel superior. And with the graphics I was pleased as well, especially the weather simulation is unmatched. And online hacking was a blast, I spend more time with it then with FIFA :)
There is a lot room for improvement, but it showed a lot of potential and I am looking forward for part 2.

In reply to

Raggsvettma

Commented on 2014-11-27 15:01:46

Im not trolling.

Ac - has the towers that open up the maps, and oobjectives.
watchdogs - has the electrical boxes that open up the map and objectives.
Far cry - has the radiotowers that open up the map and objectives.

So yeah, it feels like im playing assassins creed when i play watchdogs and far cry. Im doing the same stuff in all three franchises.

And if you're really gonna try to belittle my opinion down to "you can't drive cars in assassin's creed" I won't be able to even regard your opinion as a critisism towards my opinion.

In reply to

King_Grunt

Commented on 2014-11-27 15:05:31

Cool video but you should have used the worse mod it just makes the game look much better.

In reply to

Driftwood

Commented on 2014-11-27 15:06:01 In reply to King_Grunt

The idea was to show the game as it was made by the devs.

In reply to

THU31

Commented on 2014-11-27 17:00:42

Why High textures? Is it still stuttering on Ultra even with 4 GiB of VRAM?

In reply to

user82

Commented on 2014-11-27 17:03:23

Is the stuttering under control now or did you just choose the scenes where it did not happen?

In reply to

r3tr0gam3r1337

Commented on 2014-11-27 17:17:02 In reply to Raggsvettma

Posted by Raggsvettma

GTA has open maps but that does not make it the same as FC or AC, the only game remotely similar is watchdogs!

In reply to

aphex187

Commented on 2014-11-27 18:15:26

I'm still playing this, it's a blast online and it's keeping me busy till GTA hits for PC :)

In reply to

Sdarts

Commented on 2014-11-27 18:26:35

I've played all Assassin's Creed main games (Liberation HD as well), Watch Dogs, Far Cry 3 and 4 to 100% completion - with the exception of the first AC and WD, so I know them all inside and out and what Raggsvettma said is true in more ways than one.

I love both the Assassin's Creed and Far Cry franchises, plus Watch Dogs is a good game, but they basically use the same template, and while they each have features that set them apart from each other, the truth is that their similarities are more present and stronger than their differences.

And before someone states the obvious: Yes, AC and WD are in 3rd person view, while FC is in 1st person view, but please complete them all 100%, not just the story mode and some side quests, and tell me how much dozens of hours you kept doing the EXACT same things over and over in each of them?!

I love doing most of the activities in these games, however whether some missions or activities are different, they are a kind of "re-skin" - a re-imagining - that doesn't make much of a difference in most cases, as the core/essence (the core design) of the mission or act is still the same.

This is something a lot of gamers and critics have heavily criticised Ubisoft for a few years now. So people trying to defend against this fact is foolish at best.

In reply to

I love both the Assassin's Creed and Far Cry franchises, plus Watch Dogs is a good game, but they basically use the same template, and while they each have features that set them apart from each other, the truth is that their similarities are more present and stronger than their differences.

And before someone states the obvious: Yes, AC and WD are in 3rd person view, while FC is in 1st person view, but please complete them all 100%, not just the story mode and some side quests, and tell me how much dozens of hours you kept doing the EXACT same things over and over in each of them?!

I love doing most of the activities in these games, however whether some missions or activities are different, they are a kind of "re-skin" - a re-imagining - that doesn't make much of a difference in most cases, as the core/essence (the core design) of the mission or act is still the same.

This is something a lot of gamers and critics have heavily criticised Ubisoft for a few years now. So people trying to defend against this fact is foolish at best.

GriftGFX

Commented on 2014-11-27 18:30:21

There is a TON of shared game design in all of those games.

That is a valid complaint and/or observation.

In reply to

andrewsqual

Commented on 2014-11-27 19:19:06 In reply to Sdarts

Tell me about it. Started playing Rogue (since I can wait for them to fix Unity) and when I saw that there are 2 Open Sea maps to explore, I squeeked with joy. And I will be the first to admit that it is the same thing over and over again too (they even brought back Brotherhood's renovating buildings and a Bank to collect your accumulated moneys at). :)
Played the 1st hour of Far Cry 4 and got the same feeling right away when sent to the first tower to open up more side missions and stuff to do on the map. Never picked up Watch Dogs or played it so can't comment on that :/

In reply to

Raggsvettma

Commented on 2014-11-27 20:08:43 In reply to r3tr0gam3r1337

I don't agree. In GTA V you don't have to attend to tedious unlocking.

In reply to

Simplex

Commented on 2014-11-27 20:22:55

What was the reason for not setting ultra textures on a 4GB video card?

In reply to

Driftwood

Commented on 2014-11-27 20:29:23 In reply to Simplex

It apparently made performance worse and it didn't add much to the visuals anyway.

In reply to

r3tr0gam3r1337

Commented on 2014-11-27 22:37:19

have you thought about using the nvidia control panel to over ride the in game settings, just a thought but it can grant a performance boost (oddly most of ubisoft's in game settings are performance hogs).

In reply to

r3tr0gam3r1337

Commented on 2014-11-27 22:41:33 In reply to Raggsvettma

Posted by Raggsvettma

I don't agree. In GTA V you don't have to attend to tedious unlocking.

you have to climb towers in GTA, whats the difference? their both open world both based in citys, both have weapons and both have cars and cops, there is a vast difference between ACU and WD.

lets just agree that you believe in your opinion to be correct and everyone else disagrees.

In reply to

GriftGFX

Commented on 2014-11-27 22:44:44 In reply to r3tr0gam3r1337

Posted by r3tr0gam3r1337

lets just agree that you believe in your opinion to be correct and everyone else disagrees.

You don't have to climb towers in GTA. The basic world and mission structure is very similar in all of Ubisoft's open world games. Yes, even The Crew.

Let's just agree that you believe in your opinion, and that other people have their own. You're not speaking for anyone but yourself.

Played the 1st hour of Far Cry 4 and got the same feeling right away when sent to the first tower to open up more side missions and stuff to do on the map.

The rest of it feels samey too. It's still mostly enjoyable.

In reply to

Raggsvettma

Commented on 2014-11-27 23:56:13 In reply to r3tr0gam3r1337

Posted by r3tr0gam3r1337

you have to climb towers in GTA, whats the difference?

lets just agree that you believe in your opinion to be correct and everyone else disagrees.

Ok, you're either lying or simply don't get what im saying. If it's the first one, im sorry that you have to lie to prove a point that doesnt exist.

If it's the other one, you do not have to unlock viewpoints in the game to unlock sidequests or mainquests.

In reply to

plmko

Commented on 2014-11-28 02:03:30

Let's not just stop at the general mission structure of Ubisoft games, there's also the shallow 'moral' questions they pose to you every now and then. Most of which had no build up leading to them, so when it comes time for you to choose, it feels awkward and more of a coin flip than anything.

In reply to

GunsnSwords

Commented on 2014-11-28 05:14:58

I actually like Watch dogs more than GTA IV and V, even though the production value in GTA games are always great. Watch dogs for some reason just clings on to me. I like all of the observing you do in this game, it's like being a detective.

In reply to

jaymon112

Commented on 2014-11-28 09:43:05 In reply to Raggsvettma

Posted by Raggsvettma

It's a gorgeus game to look at. But it's nothing more than a re-skinned assassin's creed.

AC, Far Cry and Watchdogs are really the same game.

-Finding a icon on the map.
-Traveling to that icon.
-Unlocking that particular part of the map. (CTOS Tower/Sync Points)
-Rinse & Repeat for 20 hours.

Ubisoft = Profit!

In reply to

Driftwood

Commented on 2014-11-28 12:15:55 In reply to jaymon112

Thankfully the other publishers are not in for money.

In reply to

jaymon112

Commented on 2014-11-28 12:46:32 In reply to Driftwood

GTX 970 is a beast though, I can max Black Flag and this game but I occasionally get stuttering from time to time when using ultra textures.

Do you prefer MSAA or TXAA?

In reply to

What's up?

Members
Announcements

Loakum *takes a sip of grape juice* The Great Awakening is happening…. (10 Weeks ago)
gigantor21 We getting any Tekken 8 demo footage? (> 3 Months ago)
dc_coder_84 Playing Half-Life 1 with ray tracing mod on Linux, yay ;) (> 3 Months ago)
nostradamus MS-Bethesda-ABK does have some ring to it. My oh my, (> 3 Months ago)
Loakum Sony’s PlayStation Showcase was weaksauce….except for 5 great upcoming games. (> 3 Months ago)
Loakum *takes a sip of grape juice* Ah…such a good vintage. (> 3 Months ago)
nostradamus @dc_coder_84: [url] (> 3 Months ago)

Driftwood Download is now functional again on Gamersyde. Sorry for the past 53 days or so when it wasn't. (> 3 Months ago)
Driftwood Another (French) livestream today at 2:30 CEST but you're welcome to drop by and speak English. I will gladly answer in English when I get a chance to catch a breath. :) (> 3 Months ago)
Driftwood GSY is getting some nice content at 3 pm CEST with our July podcast and some videos of the Deus Ex Mankind Divided preview build. :) (> 3 Months ago)
Driftwood For once we'll be live at 4:30 pm CEST. Blim should not even be tired! (> 3 Months ago)
Driftwood More Quantum Break coverage coming in a few hours, 9:00 a.m CEST. (> 3 Months ago)
Driftwood We'll have a full review up for Firewatch at 7 pm CET. Videos will only be tomorrow though. (> 3 Months ago)
Driftwood Tonight's livestream will be at 9:15 GMT+1, not GMT+2 as first stated. (> 3 Months ago)

Watch_Dogs PC 6 months after launch

Watch_Dogs Ultra SMAA

All comments (35)

TopSpin 2K25

Stellar Blade

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II

Our PC videos of Ereban: Shadow Legacy

Our PC video of Between Horizons

Our PC Video of Horizon Forbidden West in 4K