Watch Dogs - not lumpy pancake, but with lumps

Watch Dogs - not lumpy pancake, but with lumps

It seems even the most distant from the video game people have heard about Watch Dogs. Its advertising campaign, without exaggeration, be envied by any other product on the market. Ubisoft before with enviable persistence fed us at 15-20 truckloads, revealing thus the most interesting details long before the release, but with his hacker thriller, she moved all reasonable (and unreasonable) border. And if the first presentation unconditionally credible: fresh ideas, mysterious protagonist and almost photo-realistic - the closer was the release date, the more clouds are gathering over the protracted French.

Story about Watch Dogs can be conducted differently. Someone necessarily begins with his descriptions of the city and attractions, others - with an analysis of the combat system, but I want to focus primarily on the structure of the narrative. Virtually all developing Ubisoft in recent years, anyway, built on the principle of the television series. It is expressed in a clearly segmented missions, at least partly understandable and out of context, as well as in constant alternation scene and fillernyh episodes. That is, for every pair of stages, really move the story forward, carefully accounted levels stub that artificially stretched passage.

 From this perspective, Watch Dogs - naitipichneyshy project Ubisoft. In the history of Aiden Pierce occupy at least one third above fillers: with boring lengthy dialogue, phony heroes, wooden open world, a mediocre regular errands and samopovtor. I can not remember the move two dozen chapters, without which the single player campaign would easily cost. Moreover - it would be more logical, more compact and slimmer.

Perhaps you are not accustomed to complaints excessive duration of games, but the right word, for 30 hours alone "syuzhetku" (without side-quests!) - It's too much. And the right to the amount was not reflected in the quality, as in brilliant Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto V, but Ubisoft, alas, did not grow together. On the first hour you neutralizes criminals hacked combination locks and worn around the neighborhood from enemies? So mentally prepare repeatedly engage in exactly the same. Which, of course, depressing and remember forever forcing current rule "less is more."

  Staged at the screenshots picture, certainly very different from the real one. 

Meanwhile, enjoy the game can be on any platform, but we still recommend the PC version and the PlayStation 4.  

 Similarly things and side quests. They are there car and small truck, but most do not pull even run - let alone pass through and even more so. Many of them are reduced to a standard "go - to hunt down", "go - hack" and "go - to eliminate." Lack of motivation and sensible semantic load at the root destroys any desire to participate in this feast kopipast. But, fortunately, no one makes do.

Concluding the conversation about the structure and uneven rhythm-game, not to mention the main pig, which the creators slip, as they say, on the spot - in the first mission. In summary: Watch Dogs worst entry that I've seen in high-budget developments over the past five years. In its own stylish intro describing the death of a niece of the protagonist - it's "OK" and actually attributed to vkusovschinu. But subsequent events, the entire tutorial and how we presented information on (completely unknown!) World can be stored safely in the textbooks on game design with the subtitle "How else to do." Imagine that in the school or university you would set a one-year program for the week and was immediately sent to the exam - something like this happens in Watch Dogs. Knowledge - zero understanding of the situation - no, demands and, meanwhile, the highest - the brainchild of Ubisoft almost unforgiving regularly forced to return to the last checkpoint.

  Local open world - unlike onomu of Grand Theft Auto V.

Neither you spectacular sights or shtetl scenes involving pedestrians. Lifeless cardboard, in general, albeit a modern thumbs.

And only a mini-biography of the townspeople pull it out of the abyss of gray. 

Would put on this point, but an unsold product in the bucket cool ideas (along with the first Assassin's Creed and Far Cry 2), but not so simple. The joke is that the Watch Dogs, if you do not pay attention to the lengthy script, really fun to play. Moreover, I spent 40 hours in a row it and constantly found myself thinking that I could not tear myself away. "Well, one more task - and sleep", "play chasochek - and continue to work", "it is precisely the last mission for today" - well at least that self-deception will be compensated. Despite the presence of the familiar gameplay husk, the basic mechanics in Ubisoft worked as "excellent."  

Here is all the gameplay elements from chase and shooting, to crafting items, computer hacking and bleeding - tied to the protagonist's ability to penetrate the local security system ctOS. But how to enter! Hero literally subjugates cameras, automated lifts, and generally all the electronics. And, not for the sake of feigned diversity and to simply survive. What to do: Watch Dogs - moderately hardcore action, multi-faceted and complex, and requires the player to complete surrender.

Hardly any mission operates on the same pattern: first get to the desired location, then perform a full reconnaissance of the situation and mark all enemies, then we start to the main purpose (usually highlighted bright yellow label). Sometimes the pattern is changing - some episodes are built entirely on stealth mechanics, others are forced to keep the faithful ready machine.

Despite the template authors so delicately drawn up each chapter of the storyline that kopipasta though striking, but a lot less annoying than any other project of the French (and Co.). The way events are furnished and decorated - ace in the hole of the developers who are constantly in use. For example, despite the similarity of locations and not the vast arsenal, any shootout Watch Dogs passes through different scenarios. Say, on the same abandoned construction site, you can climb up on the roof with a sniper rifle and cut the rear bombs on adhesive tape, and can arrange shooting in the spirit of Call of Duty - a shotgun and sprint button held down continuously. Or even spit on everything, hide in a corner and take advantage of the benefits of digital XXI century.