For many the very reason that shiny next-generation box underneath the TV even exists in their home was so they could play this, and after so many delays, stories around graphical downgrades and the fact that when you finally do get your hands on a copy it's still only one of eighteen different versions - could it possibly live up to expectation? Thankfully, the answer (if you can get around the millions of discussions around how shiny it is, or if the framerate is high enough) is a resoundingly positive yes. Although Watch Dogs can be seen as 'just another' open-world game, masters Ubisoft have developed a tried 'n true formula with the genre that takes everything they've learnt throughout the previous generation and combines it to kickstart a new franchise in the best way possible. When you're a studio with so many triple-A titles under your belt, you need only look over what elements work well (in this case Splinter Cell: Blacklist's flawless stealth mechanics, Assassin's Creed's free-running and Far Cry 3's comms-tower-puzzles) to make the final product so much more than the sum of its parts thanks to some gorgeous visuals and a densely populated world. Playing as Matrixian hacker Aiden Pearce, core gameplay is made up of Gears of War-style stop n' pop shooting alongside a one-button close-quarters melee attack that together sees you dropping bodies in quick succession, that is of course alongside the fact you can hack your way around surveillance systems like some omnipotent digital overseer, bursting steam vents and hacking phones to cause distractions too. With the aforementioned Far Cry 3-style map-unlock mechanic of having you tackle smaller enclaves of bad guys to get access to their data, criminal-housing convoys that need halting and a whole heap of mini-games, your reasons to dart around the city just quadrupled - all feeding into an overall production that feels exhaustingly laboured over; turning into Ubisoft's finest work to date since Assassin's Creed 2. Sure there are some hangovers from the last generation like tailing missions and instant-fails for some scenarios that we could have done without, along with some very arcadey Sleeping Dogs-esque driving that'll put off some players, but when the package on offer is as epic in scope and possibility as the world of Watch Dogs, the likes of the framerate quibbles and debates over how the game looks when it's raining (seriously guys?) don't enter into your enjoyment of the story and gameplay whatsoever. Whilst it is true that not every single aspect of the final version isn't as immaculate as it could have been, when you're entering a guarded compound only to zip up into their camera system to terrify a bunch of guards with a series of distractions Arkham Asylum-style, only to then take off with police in-tow and lose them amongst your own citywide blackout, Watch Dogs deserves heaps of praise regardless. Any titles we missed or are there some you disagree with? Maybe you think some should be in a different spot on the list? Let us know in the comments!
