The Hype: The hype for Watch Dogs was immense from the moment it debuted at E3 2012, with many touting it to be the game that would give Grand Theft Auto V a run for its money. Marketing played-up player freedom to use their hacking abilities to have huge influences on the world around them, which naturally, looked visually stunning. What Happened?: Controversy emerged when later preview footage appeared to be visually "downgraded" from the original E3 demo, and though the final game still looks mighty fine, it's pretty disappointing nevertheless. That's not what crushed Watch Dogs' potential, though: for starters, the hacking mechanics ended up incredibly simplistic and mostly prompt-driven, rather than giving the player license to be inventive or tease out any emergent gameplay. Then there's the plot, which is a generic, cookie cutter revenge story, and the gameplay, which often just feels like a re-skinned Assassin's Creed, given how so many of the missions follow the same "tail this guy" formula. It's hardly a bad game, and probably worth one play-through, but given the expectations that this would be a Game of the Year candidate, this one fell very, very short. Which video games do you feel most squandered their huge potential? Shout them out in the comments!
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
