If you had the world at your finger tips, what would you do with it? That's the question posed by Ubisoft's upcoming third person action-adventure game Watch_Dogs.
Set in a world where future cities are controlled by a single supercomputer known as a Central Operating System (or CtOS), you play as master thief Aiden Pearce who can hack the CtOS of Chicago from his smartphone, giving him control over everything from traffic light signals and the electricity grid to bank details and personal data profiles.It's a game that plays heavily on the themes of cyber terrorism and its terrifying consequences, but perhaps the most impressive thing about Watch_Dogs is the amount of freedom players have to manipulate the environment in its huge interconnected open world. Ever since it wowed critics and fans alike at Ubisoft's E3 press conference in 2012, Watch_Dogs has become one of the most highly anticipated games this decade, so here's our definitive guide of everything you need to know before its release.
WATCH_DOGS PLATFORMS – PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC and Wii U
Unless you're running Mac OS, you'll be able to pretty much play Watch_Dogs on any platform. It's being released for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC and Wii U, so you shouldn't have any excuse not to track down a copy when it's released.As with many multi-platform titles, though, each format of the game will be getting its own exclusive content. So far, Ubisoft has only announced the PS3 and PS4 exclusive content, but PlayStation owners will be getting an additional hour of gameplay split into four exclusive missions, a white hat hacker costume and a boost to their hacking skills. This comes in the form of an extra battery on Aiden's smartphone, which dictates how often you can use your hacking powers.
WATCH_DOGS RELEASE DATE
Watch_Dogs is currently set to be released on 27th May 2014 on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC.This is more than six months after the original release date of 19th November 2013, when the game was meant to launch alongside the PS4 and Xbox One as a launch title. In a statement to Eurogamer, Ubisoft explained that the November build of Watch_Dogs was missing "important details".
"When you're promising a player that they can hack everything and express themselves, they expect the result to be there," creative director Jonathan Morin explained. "A complicated game that is broken is no more acceptable than an easier one that works."
WATCH_DOGS WII U DELAY
This explains Watch_Dogs' extra six months of development time, but Morin also admitted that the Wii U version had been "paused" during this period and would be picked up again once the other versions were finished. The Wii U version is currently without a release date, but contrary to rumours about its cancellation, senior producer Dominic Guay has assured fans that the Wii U version was "still alive" and that a 2014 release was still a possibility, according to Polygon.
The reason behind its delay is that the Wii U version isn't being developed by Ubisoft's team in Montreal like the other versions of the game.
"We have our studio in Bucharest working on it," Guay explained, "and we wanted that team to have the time to explore the GamePad and be able to have fun with it and see how far they could push it. It's also an interesting platform, because it has its own strength, which we want to take advantage of, and we didn't want to delay all the other platforms for that one. So we're going to take the time we need to make sure the game is good (technically) when we ship it and that it also, game design-wise, makes good use of the specifics of the Wii U."
This doesn't mean that the Bucharest team are building additional game content for the Wii U version, though. "It's the same game content that we'll adapt for the specific needs of Wii U," said Guay. "But at the core, same game, but they made all the technical adjustments for it."
WATCH_DOGS PC SPEC
Ubisoft has announced the minimum specification needed to play Watch_Dogs on PC. Confirmed on Twitter by creative director Jonathan Morin, you'll need the following components to make sure your PC is Watch_Dogs-ready:
- Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 2.66GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 940 3GHz
- 6GB of RAM
- 1024MB of VRAM DirectX 11 Shader 5.0
- DirectX 9-compatible sound card
- 25GB of storage
WATCH_DOGS TRAILER
Watch_Dog's version of Chicago looks to be one of the most believable game worlds yet thanks to Ubisoft's brand new Chicago trailer released yesterday.
In the trailer below (taken from the PS4 version of the game), you'll be able to see that world in action, as Ubisoft details the game's dynamic lighting, weather systems and physics engine, showing how they interact with the city to create a living, breathing world for players to get stuck in with.
t's a stunning transformation, as previous trailers gave us the impression that Watch_Dogs was simply set in a dingy, overcast area of downtown Chicago. This made us think the game would take place in a rather more insular world than titles like GTA, for example, but this new Chicago trailer has completely changed our minds. It opens up the city on a huge scale, showing large open spaces bathed in bright sunshine and colourful suburban neighbourhoods that provide an eye-opening contrast to the inner city areas we've seen in previous trailers.
It remains to be seen how much of the game will take place in these additional areas - how useful is your smartphone going to be in the middle of a field or park? - but we're pleased to see them nonetheless.
The trailer also reveals a little more about the citizens of Chicago and a potential online aspect of the game. Any citizen can wind up being a victim, a killer, or even another player inside your game, and it looks as though you'll be able to take advantage of those connections to affect other people's games when you're online.
Ubisoft has also released a trailer detailing the game's main plot. Watch it below:
WATCH_DOGS COLLECTOR'S EDITION
Ubisoft will be releasing five collector's editions of Watch_Dogs in addition to the standard version of the game that comes with the game disc and a game map of Chicago. Here's what's in each edition.
Special Edition:
-Game disc
-Breakthrough Pack of single player missions
Vigilante Edition:
-Game disc
-Palace Pack of single player missions
Uplay Exclusive Edition:
-Game disc
-Breakthrough Pack of single player missions
-Palace Pack of single player missions
-Signature Shot single player missions
-Exclusive Steelbook
Limited Edition:
-Game disc
-Game map of Chicago
-Exclusive packaging
-Original Soundtrack
-Aiden Pearce mask
-Exclusive Steelbook
-9in Aiden Pearce figurine
-Watch_Dogs artbook
Dedsec Edition:
-Game disc
-Game map of Chicago
-Breakthrough Pack of single player missions
-Palace Pack of single player missions
-Signature Shot single player missions
-Exclusive packaging
-Original Soundtrack
-Exclusive Steelbook
-9in Aiden Pearce figurine
-Watch_Dogs artbook
-Exclusive badges
WATCH_DOGS PRICE
The Standard Edition is currently available for pre-order at a variety of prices depending on the platform. PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U versions will retail for around £42.99, while PS4 and Xbox One versions will cost around £49.99. The PC version, on the other hand, is only £29.99.
Unsurprisingly, the various collector's editions will cost a lot more. Here's a list of the prices that have been released so far.
The Special Edition is only available at GAME , but the price will depend on the platform:
PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U - £49.99
PS4 & Xbox One - £59.99
PC - £32.99
The Vigilante Edition is also a GAME exclusive. Here's a breakdown of the platform-specific prices:
PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U - £74.99
PS4 & Xbox One - £79.99
PC - £49.99
If one Vigilante Edition wasn't enough, though, GAME has announced an exclusive Premium Vigilante Edition for PS4 and Xbox One only as well. This will cost £109.99 and will come with the game, soundtrack, Aiden's baseball cap, a Watch_Dogs hoodie and a 4GB USB drive, the Palace DLC pack, an investigation bonus that gives you more options when hacking into Chicago's CtOS databanks and a hack boost that will give you more money when hacking ATMs and bank accounts.
This mean the Dedsec Edition has now been trumped when it comes to price, but this version of Watch_Dogs will still set you back a pretty penny. All versions currently have pre-order prices around £89.99 except the PC version which comes in at £64.99.
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