If you had a dollar for every story-related criticism levied against Ubisoft's next-gen poster child, you may very well be able to match the game's staggering marketing budget. Of course, last it was seen, Aiden Pearce's morally questionable but unquestionably generic tale wasn't any less unworthy of the technological creativity the game is built on, so here we find ourselves. Who doesn't want a city at their fingertips? Watch Dogs' mantra is in many ways the epitome of sandbox design. Putting so many optionshacking, theft, environment manipulationquite literally in the player's pocket was a stroke of genius on Ubisoft's part. It boils the fun of open worlds down to easily digested bites, drops you in a playground and lets you run free. Things rapidly grow less fun, however, when you realize the jungle gym only has two tiers, one of the swings is broken and some annoying, gravelly voice is narrating your every move. For all its potential and hype, Watch Dogs is crippled by its uninspired if faithfully recreated city and equally tired plot. Fortunately, that potential will get a second shot in the inevitable Watch Dogs 2, which need only up the ante on gameplay variety and narrative to make good on the checks the original couldn't cash.
A freelance games writer, you say? Typically battling his current RPG addiction and ceaseless perfectionism? A fan of horror but too big a sissy to play for more than a couple of hours? Spends far too much time on JRPGs and gets way too angry with card games?
Well that doesn't sound anything like me.
