Watch Dogs gameplay info: six ways Ubisoft aims to rewrite GTA's rulebook
It's been over half a year since Ubisoft's last E3 presser, but I've yet to see a game reveal, next gen or otherwise, that exceeds the publisher's Watch_Dogs in the "stand on table and wave your unmentionables around" stakes. (Capcom's Deep Down teaser at the Stayplation Four reveal is probably nearest the mark.) An open world adventure in which you can wirelessly hack Chicago's infrastructure using a smartphone, this sinisterly beautiful effort is at once tailor-made with cutting edge connectivity in mind and a critique of that technology's ubiquity.
Ubisoft has yet to tell the whole story about Watch_Dogs, and in some ways I hope they never do - far too many modern games (like Batman: Arkham City, for instance) have their guts torn out by marketing campaigns long before they hit shelves. Still, a little more info on just how the core concepts add up to a GTA 5 beating offering would be nice. As luck would have it, creative director Jonathan Morin and senior producer Dominic Guay have just released a new Q&A, shedding a few tentative rays on the game's open world and online systems. I've chopped out the new stuff and published it below, for your urgent consideration.
Ubisoft wants to debunk traditional morality systems
There's a "Reputation gauge" in Watch_Dogs which reflects how you approach both main story and optional missions, but it's no abstract BioWare-style exercise in karmic bean-counting. Instead, Morin hopes to interrogate how popular perceptions of an individual are shaped, while challenging players to deal with the possibility that their actions may be misconstrued.
"In WATCH_DOGS, every open world moment needs to be treated seriously," he wrote. "Every action the player takes will have a direct consequence. When you cause chaos, people will be endangered. The media will talk about it. They will influence how the population perceives your actions and it will alter your relationship with the world. In the game, there will be a Reputation System that will focus on the player's attitude towards collateral damages. Is he causing a lot of havoc that injures or kills citizens? Is he acting heroically or like a criminal?
"Each action will have Positive and Negative effects," the Q&A continues. "The player will choose how he wants to play and the game will not judge him. Our system will simply recognize the shades of greys our society is made of and reflect it back on the player. We are not building one of those yin and yang systems that always end up feeling gamey and out of place. Our Reputation System will focus more on how people in our society tend to forge their opinion and this is yet another fascinating subject in relation with our main theme: the influence of technology within our society."
Your narrative is as, if not more important than Aiden's
The main character is Aiden Pearce, "a man shaped by violence and obsessed with surveillance, who monitors his family 24/7 in secret to protect them from something that happened in the past." Sounds like there's the makings of a powerful story there... but the player's own choices as to larger questions will ultimately transcend Aiden's personal struggle. "Aiden doesn't intervene, the player does," writes Morin. "As you play Aiden Pearce, you will go from a personal mission to something far more important. Players will progressively live a clash between Aiden's drama and everybody else's problems.
"In the intro from the demo, Aiden says "Once you've seen it, all of it... how do you look away?" This question is directed at the player. After all, it is a game we are talking about here. So it is the player that should decide which type of vigilante he wants to be. And being a vigilante is definitely an interesting and deep tragedy to explore through gameplay."
Expect lots of detailed interiors
In the past, GTA-style games have been largely skin with little underlying texture (Arkham City is a noted exception to the rule) - rendering detailed interiors when you're undertaking a project as memory-intensive as a persistent open world is rather a tall order, see. Watch_Dogs, however, will replicate Chicago's insides as intricately and elegantly as its outsides. "In the game, players will have many opportunities to access interiors," Morin explains. "Actually, the way we are building the city, we consider its various dimensions: the street level, interiors, but also how Aiden can explore remote areas, back alleys, even the building's rooftops.
"Also, Chicago has a large under city that we are leveraging. Finally, remember: players can explore the physical side of the city of Chicago, but also all of its digital layer, invading the privacy of its citizens. As such, Aiden can get into interiors physically, but also by tapping into his ability to access and control any computer in the city."
You can climb static and dynamic objects
A small but telling point: Aiden is more or less as agile as the average Assassin's Creed hero, and the engine supports navigation around, up and over moving objects, too. "Yes, Aiden will be able to climb buildings and navigate through the city of Chicago. He will also be able to use this skill on dynamic objects such as cars, which offers great opportunities during foot chases and combat."
The multiplayer makes you Big Brother
Given the whole "eldritch networked dystopia" premise, a bog-standard deathmatch-style multiplayer would have been a bit of a letdown. Ubisoft isn't saying too much about Watch_Dogs online just yet, but we know you'll be able to invade another player's world (possibly in groups) and use its systems against them - catching them out via CCTV surveillance, for instance. "Hyper-connectivity is obviously a core subject in our game," hints Morin. "It is everywhere, from the innovative tool you use in the game to our entire online experience. The entire game structure is based on the idea that everyone is watching whether it's in single player, multiplayer or everything in between. It is within the game and also outside of it..."
It brings the best of Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Splinter Cell and Driver
Watch_Dogs is often compared to best-selling stablemate Assassin's Creed - also a limber third-person adventure that plays mind games with digital reality - but the project's DNA is considerably more complex than that. "From Assassin's Creed, we have leveraged the scope, diversity, depth and quality of animation that made it such a great success," comments Guay. "From Far Cry and Splinter Cell franchises, we have the ability to deliver great shooting, physics and stealth. From the Driver series, we have state of the art vehicle physics and handling. And to all of this, we have added veterans from outside of Ubisoft who have worked on some of the biggest brands in our industry." Ubisoft Montreal is leading development, with assistance from Ubisoft Paris, Newcastle, Bucharest and Quebec.
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Re: Watch Dogs gameplay info: six ways Ubisoft aims to rewrite GTA's rulebook
Originally Posted by Chubbs
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