The Rise and Fall of Watch Dogs

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The use of computer-run industrial control systems has grown exponentially over the last decade and change. Such infrastructures help cities and nations around the world manage power plants, surveillance, and countless other integral functions. But as sci-fi media has long predicted, interconnected supercomputers can facilitate just as many problems as they solve. In 2010, 100,000 Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, or SCADA, networks were discovered to have been targeted with the sophisticated Stuxnet virus, a digital weapon allegedly co-engineered by U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies to debilitate the Iranian nuclear program. Developer Ubisoft Montréal studied such headline news when formulating its cautionary tale about the horrors of an interconnected world in Watch Dogs.
Announced with an awe-inspiring trailer during E3 2012, Watch Dogs counted among first games shown for the eighth console generation. While its final form failed to fulfill the promise of the original teaser, many would argue the title’s gameplay mechanics still showcased the power of next-gen technology. These talking points undoubtedly boosted Watch Dogs’s sales numbers early on and helped it sustain long legs with over 10 million copies sold.
But this incredible momentum waxed and waned over the course of the series’s life cycle. Watch Dogs 2 released to better reception, though it came and went with little fanfare. And the third installment found itself beset by game-breaking performance issues at launch. Watch Dogs has, thus far, managed to claw its way back from multiple downturns, raising questions as to how Ubisoft will reinvent the hacking-focused series next.
This is the Rise and Fall of Watch Dogs.
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[@1247theGreatest]

Watch Dogs always felt like a franchise that didn't know what it wanted to be, so it always changed it's focus, cast, and tone while only really keeping the hacking aspect intact.

[@Ellyasveil]

like all game made by ubisoft.. its always like that..

[@theunhingedgamer3762]

it's a GTA clone with better gameplay than GTA but that's the way I see it after playing multiple GTA games since GTA 3

[@Pers0n97]

It was the perfect example of "made by checklist and committee" game. From the start it was more focused on its big gimick than on being an actual game.

[@MerlautJones]

@@Ellyasveil Not Far Cry

[@asv520]

same is the case with assassin's creed....only parkour remains intact while everything else is changed way too much for its own good

[@aegis6485]

There's something about the first Watch Dogs that just hit harder than it's sequels. I enjoyed Aiden Pearce's story and the grim-dark world we explored in the game.

[@WatcherKoops4677]

I love dark games

[@AmandaVieiraMamaesouCult]

Me too. After I took my final decision of forgiving the guy (I listened to all the tapes), I HAD to talk about the story with a friend that already played it.

[@slopeboix2589]

Same

[@johnturki2634]

And people criticized that part. I don't know why

[@Thlormby]

Watch dogs 1 hit the perfect balance between being really serious and gritty while also being pretty stupid at times

[@Quast]

I'd love to see them return to Chicago, this city really had an overbearing presence at night like none of the other cities had, therefore I think it mixed really well with the dark story of the first game.

[@twentytwo7887]

Definitely, the atmosphere was really special. I loved walking and driving around the city, even though the driving mechanics sucked. I played many games with large modern cities, all the GTA's, Spiderman, Batman, Cyberpunk etc. but no city was as charming as Chicago in Watch Dogs 1.

[@Sidewinder1996]

Bring back Aiden pierce, I honestly liked him as a character and wish he stayed as the main character for the run of the sequels

[@bengorraou2602]

yes even the gameplay in the original game was so much better

[@mattvolonte9026]

@@twentytwo7887 What about Sleeping Dogs?

[@jax_wildguess]

Same!

[@MagnumSkyWolf]

That original demo versus the launch was just crazy.

[@lutherheggs451]

Only to the grafix whores.....The game could have been the best looking game in the world and it still would have been aggressively meh....All 3 of them are just aggressively meh.....Wouldn't have mattered if it were the greatest looking game ever made, or if it looked like an NES game, when your series is aggressively meh its not going to sell.

[@MagnumSkyWolf]

@@lutherheggs451 are you serious. It was being promoted that way and as a new next gen title and it looked nothing like it. Of course people are going to be upset

[@rustyshackleford2605]

@@MagnumSkyWolf What made it worse was when it was discovered that settings could be tweaked to make the PC version look more like the original demo. At that point the theory that they downgraded PC for console parity became much more convincing.

[@TheFlash-rh2el]

Not really. The demo shows the mechanics off fine. People focused more on the way the demo looked and not much else. Even the video misconstruedes the controversy as the promised of the demo were mostly in-tact due to how many of the mechanics translated over without much interruption.

[@rustyshackleford2605]

@@TheFlash-rh2el The controversy was 100% about visuals and I don't think anyone claimed otherwise. Visual downgrades were something Ubisoft did very often and Crowbat has a compilation showcasing them.

[@johnderat2652]

I absolutely loved Watch Dogs 1. I remember playing that mecha spider minigame cuz it was so fun. And that Hell mode where you're in a car to get that black and red skin for Aiden. Such good times

[@INFILTR8US]

How much are they paying you?

[@randomcheese1719]

yes, lol the spider was cool. I thought they'd have similar mini-games in 2 but they didn't (at least i dont remember if they did)

[@johnderat2652]

@@INFILTR8US Dang I wish I could get payed for playing a video game I enjoyed.

[@allthatishere]

@@INFILTR8US Someone liking something you don't means they're getting paid? Wtf is this noise, dude??

[@andrewschuster9156]

@@INFILTR8US the rothschild family paying me 23,7 millions just to confess my enjoyment of the first watch dog game (i actually love the first game outside of jokes, people can enjoy whatever they want, dont be such a jerk)

[@jax_wildguess]

Ubisoft dramatically changes games in the same franchise. Look at The Division 1 vs the Division 2! The original was absolutely insane.. I just wanted more of that! Same goes for Watch Dogs. Even tho I love Marcus and I love Watch_Dogs 2, the first game is my true love. The atmosphere in the first game is absolutely insane, even with the downgrade! They must think players get bored if they do the sequel similar to the original and therefore make major changes! When in reality, we want polished immersive games, without cutting corners! This might be just me..

[@eurosonly]

The first game had a surprisingly dark tone to it. I didn't expect the story to be so shocking.

[@SkyTied]

Honestly I really love the atmosphere of the first game and I love the co-op of Watch Dogs 2

[@KingOfComedyXD]

I can't even get multiplayer working on WD1 on PC But WD2 mp works fine

[@SkyTied]

@@KingOfComedyXD Oh really Watch Dogs 1 doesn’t work for you? That’s strange 👀

[@KingOfComedyXD]

@@SkyTied the multiplayer says "can't connect to Ubisoft servers"

[@SkyTied]

@@KingOfComedyXD Hope it hasn’t shut down then, last time I played online was a few months back

[@KingOfComedyXD]

@@SkyTied it's not shut down. i've always had this problem in WD1 a lot of people have it. it's a shame because WD1 is my fav and i cant play it online

[@IplayForFanta]

I really enjoyed the first Watch Dogs, and loved the dark tone to it. I was sad it moved to such a happy/light tone...

[@suburban_guy]

It had just a dark atmosphere to it with a dark tech underbelly to it...

[@Livingeidolon]

You didn't play much of the second one, then.

[@Alfonso88279]

@@Livingeidolon The tone was much lighter no matter how much you played.

[@FlamRackett]

Same here. 2nd one felt cringey to me. The whole "hackerspace" thing felt so off

[@yarpen26]

I feel like GVMERS' credibility is taking a major nosedive as of late. The way they portrayed WD2 as this almost universally beloved sequel that improves upon the original in every meaningful way is manipulative, to say the least, and I fear politically induced. I've noticed a similar trend in their Assassin's Creed history recap, with their repetitive mischaracterization of the Twitter calls for a female/black protagonist as the alleged position of the large majority of the fanbase, while at the same time not once bringing up the opinions from across the spectrum, such as those accusing the series of an anti-Christian bias.

[@john5880]

The first Watch Dogs is so above the others. Serious tone, interesting story, incredible atmosphere, solid and fluid gameplay, what a game. It's truly sad Ubisoft went the Saints Row tone route with not-serious tone and atmosphere, anecdotic characters, poor or non existent story, and generic gameplay and approach.

[@theunhingedgamer3762]

I'm sorry but I'm gonna have to disagree with you because you seem to be someone who doesn't understand the charm around the "Saints Row style" not everyone likes serious stories and prefer the comedic silliness that Saints Row had to offer which is why people loved Saints Row to begin with and honestly Watch Dogs got lumped in with Saints Row from the very beginning because the cult of Rockstar deemed all of the games as GTA clones tbh Watch Dogs is more or less a modernized take on Assassin's Creed and while I agree with how good the first one is I disagree with you and everyone else overrating it over the other 2 games

[@john5880]

@@theunhingedgamer3762 I don't think I don't understand it, it's just that I don't like that style, so it doesn't suit me. I can understand that some people love it, but I prefer playing games with serious stories, serious tone and atmosphere like GTA IV or the first Watch Dogs, rather than Watch Dogs 2 or even GTA V style of humor and tone (even if, admittedly, the latter is masterfully crafted).

[@LifeofBrad1]

To be fair, it was only from the third game onwards that Saints Row went really wacky. The first game was serious and the second had a bit of silliness to it, but it wasn't overdone. I do agree that the first Watch Dogs was the best though, even if it was a let down in terms of graphics compared to what was shown at E3.

[@ransacked]

@@theunhingedgamer3762 bro you sound like a sr3/sr4/goh apologist. Everyone knows sr1/sr2 are the real saints row. Sr3 on wards is dookie.

[@BabyGirlTiny]

@@LifeofBrad1the second game was completely overdone. Though I guess it wasn’t as wacky as saints row, but it was when compared to the first gane

[@hawken796]

I feel like a game with the gameplay of 2 and a story more like 1 would be a great game.

[@theunhingedgamer3762]

so Cyberpunk got ya

[@INFILTR8US]

@@theunhingedgamer3762 yeah how is that working out

[@thirdcoast6513]

2 has a better story for me than 1 lol

[@hawken796]

@@theunhingedgamer3762 ye i def felt like cyberpunk took Deus ex, doom, watch dogs and dishonored and melted them into one

[@jax_wildguess]

Also with the dark tone and rainy atmosphere from Watch_Dogs 1

[@j_iscurious2347]

Man, I remember being so hyped for the first game

[@josediaz5663]

I remember being so excited for watchdogs when it was close to release, and although I did enjoy it a lot, that was the moment i really felt the Ubisoft formula starting to set in. After that, I think I haven't enjoyed any other Ubisoft game. I tried playing the second game but I didn't enjoy the cast so dropped it, and knowing legion's cast is basically nonexistent I didn't even bother to play it.

[@jax_wildguess]

Legion is down right bad

[@thegamingprozone1941]

The only character I liked was that AI bot forgot his name.He was a little funny

[@suburban_guy]

lol I remember playing Miencraft PE back in the day pretending the villages were in Watch Dogs, putting ctOS signs all over haha... It was just such a vibe

[@Happyfaceshock]

I remember the concept was just so cool, but as soon as it came out I knew I wasn't going to like it. Ultimately kind of just another shit gta clone with novel but quickly boring aspects. The issue with all these types of shit clones is there's never any quality characters, stories, levels, just dull. GTA put years and years perfecting the games to make these worlds real and feel alive, you can't just build a world out of nowhere and have people really fall into it

[@f.miller801]

Except from Marcus everybody else if cringe af.

[@nomercy8989]

Funniest thing about the series is that the 2012 reveal still looks better than the 3rd game in the series.

[@wendell2809]

Absolutely still love Watch Dogs 1. Personally one of my favorite games ever and still play it this day over and over.

[@OtherDAS]

For me, it was worth two play throughs. Then it was just boring repetition. But still far better than the sequel.

[@jax_wildguess]

Same, I play it every autumn lol! Love the atmosphere in that game

[@TheFlash-rh2el]

Me too. It's a very Autumnal game.

[@iwaslikenope1070]

The first game is my all-time favorite ever, and while I really enjoyed WD2 with all its improvemnts, I just can't shake off my love for WD1. The characters have more substance there compared to WD2. I love the dark and gritty atmosphere and most especially Aiden's characterization. It's not a perfect game by any means, but I love it to death. Played Legion earlier this year just for the Bloodline DLC and I loved it. Can't say the same for the main story, though, but the Skye Larsen mission is the best. She’s also my fave WD villain now.

[@rubennevarez7508]

I actually really enjoyed Watch Dogs 2. The writing was a bit cringe at times, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it and I often recommend it to friends!

[@akho47]

I don't wanna be your friend

[@atlev]

I enjoyed the cringe writing at times lol

[@aronb03]

Facts

[@DaveWraptastic]

WD2 is 1 of the best single player games of all time for me. I loved how you could tackle any area any way you wanted it. Every time I was calculating: do I go guns blazing, which trap should I use on which guy, loved it.

[@akho47]

@@DaveWraptastic You haven't played many games have you? Bad taste is better than no taste I guess

[@BobbyVinsonOfficial]

As someone who played all three of these on the release date. WD1 was by far the best. It launched you into a world with unmatched atmosphere. It created such humanity in the characters and really felt like you were a hacker. WD2 was good but it felt too colorful in a sense. It also didn’t give us the amount of hacking that we got in the first. Yet we still felt the characters pain and growth. Also, the outfits are incredible. Watchdogs Legion. Well. It exists. It’s a cool idea. Not really a good game overall. Felt like it went from a franchise with people we know and cherish to a bunch of random people fighting government. That’s just my two cents, I love the franchise and I hope they take what they did in 1 and 2 and fix the next one.

[@jackobyuk]

the dlc should have been the main story in legion..

[@mattwolf7698]

I wasn't really following video game news as closely for the first game so when it came out so I wasn't that aware of how advanced it was supposed to be, I just simply picked it up because it looked interesting and I personally never played games for the graphics anyway. I thought it was overall pretty good, I loved 2 though, the map and characters were really fun in it. I thought Legion was pretty good too, I like how it finally went into a near future cyberpunk dystopia. Also as an American, I thought it was really cool to finally be playing an opened world game set in a metropolis in another country, the only other game I played like that was Sleeping Dogs.

[@anti-ethniccleansing465]

You like woke shit, eh? Rofl.

[@nelsondienoera9621]

I love the first one, i don't care about the hate, the serious tone and how badass aiden pearce is just amazing for me, if there's something i can give criticism for the the first watchdogs is that it lacks soundtrack really and blood. Also blackout in the first watchdogs is so much better than all of the other watchdogs game came after it, Ubisoft should just stick with aiden pearce gave him a well deserved trilogy, if people hate aiden so much they all minority lol, look how much positive feedback aiden pearce dlc for watchdogs legion. I hope Ubisoft can truly change they have so many amazing protagonist that deserves more than one game, but oh well, i can only hope.

[@frostbite3820]

I believe watch dogs is at a point where it still has the potential to rise and be successful again, but for it to happen Ubisoft and the devs behind the series has to really want it for it to happen. I seriously question if they have the willpower to pull it off but only time will tell if they do or not

[@mattymac2329]

Successful again? 😂

[@revistinha1]

@@mattymac2329 WD 1 sold a ton

[@revistinha1]

It's dead Ubi put their best director to direct Legion but still failed I would say a new WD is waaaay back in the line of franchises at Ubisoft right now Unless they make some sort of Free to Play battle royale game in the universe but i think the Division was the franchise they picked for that

[@mattymac2329]

@@revistinha1 because how it was marketed. Hence why the second one undersold because folk was weary of the bullshit ubisoft spin. Utter garbage gaming company man im sorry.

[@mythically_odd]

I guess the only way I can think for Watchdogs if it were to continue would be to just go full on cyberpunk but with its own spin. I disliked that Legion moved the timeline up quite a bit and the lack of a main character. Play as anyone is fun for a bit until you realize how bare bones it was. Especially when the Aiden Dlc came out and let you play the whole game as him. It sucks you have to buy the season pass to do that too. Just such a wasted character that could've been developed through a trilogy.

[@carrotcola2131]

After playing Watch Dogs 2 a few years back, Watch Dogs Legion a few months ago and just recently finished Watch Dogs 1, i can safely say that the first game was the best in the series. WD1 was overhated and underrated.

[@chronotrigger6746]

I loved WD1. It's funny how everyone hated it at the time, but after two terrible attempts at course correction people realize how good a narrative driven game can be. The gameplay in 2 was better, but I could not suffer through the characters or story. 3 has decent ideas but whoever was in charge of gamifying it had zero understanding of the basic principles of game design. For instance, I remember a really cool maze at one point with puzzles and challenges to overcome, except right next to it was a hovercraft to just fly to the end instead. Terrible focus and it hurts to play.

[@MerlautJones]

Agreeed!

[@theunhingedgamer3762]

honestly Legion was a massive downgrade from 2 in a good few ways I'm glad that they did away with the botnets in Legion but the removal of all the abilities 2 had along with multiple other things somewhat ruined the game aside from the still noticeable stability issues in single player

[@ayumidoll7034]

I felt like the bad guy in Watch Dogs 2 and it took me out of the whole experience. "Oh, a company is making decisions that doesn't benefit consumers? Time to kill some guards, steal a car, and run over innocent pedestrians!"

[@chronotrigger6746]

@@christmaslights9870 Agreed. This is what I meant by better gameplay, in that it had more hacking options and a more realistic open world, but it also felt too flighty compared to the much tighter controls of the first. 1 also had more variety in gameplay and far more memorable activities. I hardly ever knew why I was doing the things I was doing in 2, and my investment was always very low. The first one felt way more grounded and interesting.

[@randomcheese1719]

"everyone" didn't hate it. A small vocal minority trashed it because that's just what they do. But the majority of people loved it, it was a huge success and sold a ton of copies.

[@josephhughes2429]

Watchdogs 1 is my favorite in the series, it had much more realistic tone than the others in terms of the protagonist and the tech. In WD2 i dont buy that a bunch of Bay Hippies can go out and kill gang members and cops

[@DJ_Knuckles]

I am biased as a fan of 2, but there is no point in the game where you need to kill gang members or cops (or even perform a non-lethal takedown). You can certainly blame the game for providing the option, but I see that as higher-ups trying to appeal to wider audiences. Playing the game while trying to be non-confrontational is a very good experience not seen much elsewhere in AAA gaming.

[@halogamer8600]

wd1 was nothin but ubishit trying to do a shitty batman story xD aiden pierce sucked balls and had less depth then rotten milk =] and why should we care about his shitty niece who we only saw for like , what , 5 seconds ?

[@OtherDAS]

@@DJ_Knuckles EXCEPT they pushed it a little too hard. It was less provided the option and more like they wanted it to be the main way you played the game, and quite difficult to kill people.

[@whskyhamr]

Always appreciate seeing these videos pop up on my list. Well done!

[@MerlautJones]

Didn't see this coming. I love the first Watch Dogs, and really care about this franchise. : (

[@guilherme5094]

Same.

[@seanro3862]

I Guess A Video Game Series Like Watch Dogs Talking About Police Curruption Government Curruption Or Anything Political including Racism As Well As Classism Featuring An Ability To Hack Other Peoples Dirty Little Private Information Through An Android Cell Phone Of Course it’s Not Going To Be Popular/Win Favor With Everyone When You Expose The Ugly Truth About Society Of Course it Won’t Sell A lot Of Games People Are “Too Naive And Desensitized” To Be Out Spoken Nowadays That’s The Problem!!

[@Wallucks.]

Honestly I loved WD2 too, and even legion to a point, though it got repetitive and I didn’t finish it

[@PAntS-23]

Watch Dogs 2 is immersive as hell. It has flaws but I did find myself loving The Bay.

[@jax_wildguess]

Even tho I love the fok outta that game, I feel like the streets are a bit empty..

[@mythically_odd]

I always found it weird Marcus killing for his cause considering how bright the tone is. Some situations call for it, but its never brought up really. Although I know it's up to the player and whether they care or not. There was a point of contention when Aiden does it, in some cases, selfishness and revenge disguised as vilgilantism. Aiden pretty much justifies why Ctos exists while also proving why it shouldnt. The story potential for Aiden saddens me that the only real continuation is paying for legions season pass and playing as him and his prequel story. In either case, the lack of meaningful consequences to your actions is just something that bugs me, but most games seem to unfortunately struggle to do that still.

[@ieata5s553]

i honestly loved the first game, it was a great game, but most people were just bothered by the fact that the graphics werent as they said it was, and that mechanics didn't really behave like we thought they would, maybe because of the limitations that were on the time compared to today. hopefully we can have a game that is indeed like watch dogs

[@randomcheese1719]

not "most", a small vocal minority. The game sold a ton of copies and was a huge success. Just because some people are loud, it doesn't mean they are in the majority.

[@OlEgSaS32]

It really was the clunky driving and shooting mechanics that wore me off the game, and im REALLY not that picky a person when it comes to bugs, also Aiden was just kinda dull so i couldnt get into the story either

[@randomcheese1719]

@@OlEgSaS32 funny that the driving and shooting are nearly 10x better than in GTA V though.

[@OlEgSaS32]

@@randomcheese1719 well different engine, that can matter quite a bit but id also wager watch dogs wasnt playtested enough

[@solidsnakeshugecake]

@@randomcheese1719 shooting I agree, I don't like GTA V shooting AT ALL. But gtaV driving is some of the most fun driving I've experienced, and watch dogs felt so weird with driving

[@savage0928]

I really think watch dogs 4 should be a soft reboot where only 1 and probably 2 is canon and maybe we could follow Aiden Pierce’s teen son/daughter and maybe the plot could be that Aiden was killed and we have to find out who did it. The title of the game could be Watch Dogs:Legacy or Watch Dogs: Revenge, or hell maybe even Watch Dogs: Rebirth. We could also see some returning characters such as wrench, or Marcus. Edit: maybe instead of being the character’s father, maybe Aiden could be our mentor and for the game tutorial, it could be Aiden teaching us how to hack and stuff and as we progress through the game flashbacks to Aiden and the player could play out, fleshing out our character as we learn new skills, kinda like how they did some of the skills in Jedi fallen order.

[@vsbaratinho]

I really like the whole series. I find myself playing watchdogs 2 from time to time even 6 years after release. The gang-on-gang mechanics is much fun. WD2 is criminality underrated.

[@Endytheenderperson]

same

[@PaladinHD]

I could listen to this guy all day, what a nice voice.

[@LightCrib2]

I heard him and immediately thought i was watching How It's Made

[@PaladinHD]

@@LightCrib2 lol he does sound so much like the guy from that show

[@unrequin4805]

I heard him and thought oh this is probably a narration from the game and skipped through to hear the guy and the guy was just him lol

[@jackobyuk]

its text run through an ai voice.

[@DetectiveMekova]

I feel like the almost noir setting of the first watch dogs was an amazing fit for the genre. I think to revitalize the series would be to go back to the first game and redesign it with everything they've learned so far. Keep a dark story, and add real consequence to your characters actions. You should be able to either be a revolutionary, or a sell out. If you help, say, a union strike by hacking into the computer of the CEO and reveal that he's been laundering money for the Mob or maybe you plant false evidence, then you get the local union as an asset to use in the world and are seen more like a working class hero; or you could help the CEO break the strike by doing the same against the union organizers and get rich and powerful. The possibilities are endless, but Ubisoft has always been a bit scared to give more player agency in their worlds.

[@117johnpar]

The first one was pretty solid. The following sequels had a tone that was truly offputting, especially to the one that it set out to be.

[@OtherDAS]

I had the same experience. The sequel pushed non violence so hard it just wasn't a hacking/cyber punk game anymore. And I despised dedSec.

[@coleposton2430]

The 2nd one had so much interesting themes but just decided to have the most goofy a** cringe characters

[@coleposton2430]

It doesn't have to be dark bland gritty Aiden peirce but the seriousness of the story mixed with the cringe millennial humor stereotype characters really created a wild dissonance for me

[@TheFlash-rh2el]

The tone never changed.

[@v-trigger6137]

I will always be a Watch Dogs apologist. I adore the first one. it's one of my favorite games off all time. I wish there were more open world mainstream games with dark adult tone like that. it's such a shame the sequel fucked it up by adding cringe genz humor. this series had so much potential, if only had they been consistent with the first game's tone and continued the story from there.

[@Kokozuii]

The newest Watch Dogs needs to be in a smaller city with more to do in that area. It just became a shooter with abilities.

[@AmoralTom]

I was a big fan of the 1st game. I was reluctant to buy the 2nd game with the approach they took. I bought it on sale and I am glad I did! It is a great game too.

[@nman1]

I know it's somewhat of a controversial unpopular opinion but man the first game is the only one worth giving your time to and honestly the only good one. Also Aiden Pearce(of the first game particularly) is the best character in the whole trinity.

[@LadyMaria_AstralClocktower]

yeah I was by far the best protagonist

[@chris_player2995]

@@LadyMaria_AstralClocktower you still are

[@solidonaso9142]

I really had fun playing the first game. Walking the streets of Chicago in sunny and rainy day is so relaxing. One of Ubisoft's hidden gem imo.

[@VioletElite4]

I didn't buy Watch Dogs 1 at launch. I picked it up at a used local game store for $10 and enjoyed it for what it was, it was still cool to play through, Watch Dogs 2 was such an improvement, however. I didn't play Legion because I thought it was weird that there was no main character to follow like the first two. The ability to switch to a random citizen who is in on it is interesting, but better on paper than execution imo. Edit: I actually did play Watch Dogs Legion through a PC free trial, it was the full game to play free for so many days, and just wasn't too impressed, but might try it again one day. Lol appreciated the comment that called me out, my bad, clarified myself 👍

[@NobleWarrior]

How do u know, u said u never played it. 😂 Genuinely it was fine.... Not amazing but enjoyable if you have perma death on and kinda grow attached to the little fellas.

[@VioletElite4]

@@NobleWarrior You know what, sorry I should have reworded that to not sound ignorant. I played a Watch Dogs 2 full game trial on the Ubisoft launcher on PC and wasn't too impressed with it. Maybe when it goes on sale I might give it another shot

[@solidsnakeshugecake]

I remember the watch dogs 2 trial... I used to keep making new accounts because I enjoyed the open world aspect but damn the story was the definition of mediocre and sometimes downright cringe worthy. Watch dogs 1 has such a good story as well as setting but I find the gameplay a bit boring. I havent tried legion however i hear bad things about it.

[@maxfordgaming9278]

I wish they kept the dark tone from watch dogs 1, the goofier tone of watch dogs 2 was a big turn off for me.

[@ransacked]

The saints row 3 effect

[@LifeofBrad1]

Even though the game was a let down in terms of its graphics, it's chilling how Watch Dogs basically predicted the future with everything being connected to the smart grid, data theft and crazy amounts of surveillance. It's almost like predictive programming 🤔

[@anon3631]

Deus Ex: **laughs**

[@oparmy5691]

Loved the style of the 1st even though looking back the characters never felt real to me but they got close. I feel they peaked with 2, the gameplay and fluidity of the movement made just running fun. The characters and story were definitely abit too uplifting and cheery. And Legions was a trainwreck from start to finish

[@egbert5871]

Legions is why companies don't like trying no things lol they tried to do the cool play as anyone system and well def blew up in there face so back to the basic formula (the DLC is better then the main game playing as Aiden again

[@BabyGirlTiny]

@@egbert5871play as anyone didn’t work because it wasn’t implemented well at all. They should of had one character and let you recruit people and had it so that the gameplay was team oriented where you create your own set of team for different missions. That’s not what happened

[@jackobyuk]

@@egbert5871 the dlc should have been the main story in legion.

[@Gambit2483]

I liked the direction they were going in with WD2. More focus on emergent gameplay and interactive environments/npcs and lots of different side activities. Legions was such a downgrade in many places (you couldn't even Swim anymore!). Hopefully Ubisoft tries at least one more time with a true sequel that builds on what WD2 accomplished.

[@arthurlongshanks]

Yeah you can swim wtf?

[@BabyGirlTiny]

The issue with WD2 is that the story and characters lacked because of it.

[@BuzzingMeat]

@@BabyGirlTinyhow

[@davishickey1465]

Nobody is gonna talk about how ridiculously well done those intro infographics were? That shit was amazing.

[@kenshigo142]

Quality content as always. Best gaming documentaries out there.

[@marko6947]

Recently finished first 2 games. Enjoyed both of them.

[@charizardoreo]

Legion is pretty good IMO, maybe give it a try if you see it on sale

[@blinkq_530]

@Jake E yh lets not be deluded my guy lol

[@blinkq_530]

@Jake E in what way lol gameplay no, detail no, story no driving not even close, online shits on it, repeatability no, lets be real gta isnt the most popular game ever made for no reason rockstar have the best open worlds jesus gta san andreas has more stuff lol

[@blinkq_530]

@Jake E yh this is bait no one is that deluded

[@LordiGFX]

@Jake E true my man,gta 5 is so overrated,but then again,it's the same with every rockstar game. I mean I had some fun with it,played the story and that's about it. But in WD you can have so much more fun with the mechanics you are given. And regarding online,I think both have a pretty shitty online. Like you must be mentally disabled to play GTA 5 online unironically.

[@STANNco]

It would be amazing if they made a directors cut of the original watch_dogs now, targeted at current gen, using as much power as was the developers original scope. They had to dial back because of hardware limitations, but i'm sure current pc's and even some consoles could pull it off now. How do we petition for this to happen? :D

[@HeySlickThatsMe]

The original team is gone

[@ransacked]

Petitions don't do jack

[@eduazy]

They'll most likely remaster it a few years from now, it's the new fad

[@imembridibuddha]

I'd love to have a remastered version with those graphics, bugfixes and a better pc port.

[@GoFidoGo]

Executives thinking that hacking hasn't reached mainstream audiences??? You mean like the hacker character in every CBS procedural, every action movie, and of course the Matrix franchise that won't die?

[@octobursveryown3800]

My cousin sold the first watch dogs to me 1 month after release for $15, so I went in with zero to no expectations. The games story and dark hacker vibes hooked me from beginning to end, soundtrack was amazing as well. To me the first one is the better one of all three. Just feel like their overpromise and is what really hurt them

[@Pers0n97]

This series is a great example of how Ubisoft (and the AAA gaming industry in general) quickly devolved from "cool game concept" to "activism to the max". it started with a hacker vigilant, turned into a young "cool black teen activist" and ended up with "[Insert unsolicited opinion on Brexit and how it's fascism]".

[@OtherDAS]

This 100%. After the first game told you how Dedsec wasn't to be trusted... game 2 has you BE them. And the main character is pissed the corp claims he might hack -- something he learns from hacking into their servers (and possibly assaulting a couple of people). Didn't even bother with the third, concept just looked like garbage.

[@tijuanatacotoker]

I stopped playing Legion due to it just utterly failing on what made 2 so great. The ability to just completely troll people with police and gang attacks being taken away played a huge part in be not giving a damn anymore. Absolutely regret paying $50 on launch.

[@bigboulder]

From a technical perspective all Watch Dogs Titles (as well as many more Ubisoft Titles) suffered from assetstreaming stutters (especially when driving) and many other inconsistencies when it comes to the pc ports.

[@hattoripool1533]

I used to got to town on Watch dogs 1 when I was younger because it felt like you were playing as a mix of Batman and the Punisher

[@Hollowdude15]

Watch dogs will always be remember as cool game and nice video man :]

[@hakxxawofficial]

I'd care less what critics said about this game. It was truly amazing and so immersive. The tragedies that happened to Aiden Pierce perfectly explains why he was so serious and gray. The gameplay and gun play where top notch and it still remains one of my top 5 games of all time.

[@daylen577]

Watch Dogs 1 was a phenomenal game. It had everything; level design, combat, sneaking, cool new mechanic. Watch Dogs 2 added better parkour, but the tradeoff was that the whole map was a lot less interactive (no massive bridges to rotate, no hideouts to spawn at). The Watch Dogs 3 came, and it's just a bunch of fetch missions and combat encounterrs strung together with cutscenes. The map's even worse than WD2 because they didn't do the nice fluid parkour runs, the parkour itself was boring because they removed all the flair animations, and the lack of an actual protagonist made all characters feel irrelevant.

[@RuiCastroPT]

Would love a new one in Tokyo using features from all 3 games. Perhaps a Jackson story but still be able to build a crew from anyone on the street like Legions.

[@XenosSavior]

For me I played and really enjoyed the core of the original Watch Dogs game, where it went south for me was the fact that outside of the main campaign the game boiled down to 40-50 copies each of maybe 4 or 5 "missions". Kept waiting for them to mention that. It just became a dull chore to play rather than a fun experience. Which really seemed to me to be Ubisoft's core design. Assassins Creed series and Ghost Recon were very similar. So when there was a new one I just didn't have it in me to rinse repeat.

[@theunhingedgamer3762]

played and own all 3 of the watch dogs games and I still replay them from time to time because I've become someone who hates the hype around GTA now and prefers the "clones" over the actual game lol

[@MerlautJones]

Since a kid, I've played GTA and embraced games like it. I would've missed out on some gems had I shoved'em aside for being "clones". Hell, most of them had better gunplay than the PS2 GTA's. I was letdown with GTA V, but I love the rest of the series.

[@Awakelettuce77]

At least WD tried something new and unique, not just exploiting the same old games to be released as "remasters" which some turned into pure abomination compared to the originals. But R* lucky has community of modders, without them their games won't last long.

[@mohammadhussien5223]

The thing that made Watch Dogs special is it's dark tone and it's anti hero Aiden Pearce. When ubislob took those 2 factors away the series became a series without a direction.

[@BELIAR.]

Got a bundle of WD Legion with WD1 on a HUGE discount. Ended up leaving Legion to try 1 and 1 is definitely my favourite. 2 is alright

[@lonesn1per]

wow!! im over here replaying Watchdogs 2 just before this got uploaded!

[@charizardoreo]

It's an awesome game, my favourite ubisoft game. 2nd is AC Black Flag

[@claireredfield7368]

Never played WD2, but I had WD1 on PS3 and finished it later on PC. I´m also planning on getting Legion on PC after nearly finishing it on PS4 back then.

[@drumeshopeth]

Still just blown away by the production quality of this channel. From subject research and timeline presentation to scripting, narration and conclusion. This is world class.

[@DannysHauntedJourney]

2 was the best, hands down. If I had to pick. But I also enjoyed 1 and 3 for what they were, and ultimately loved them for different reasons. But the quality of each game was wildly different, and constantly made me wince when the quality either fell, or increased on each release.

[@ImmortalStride]

I genuinely loved WD 1 and 2, 2 being one of the most fun open world stealth games I've ever played especially when trying to go non-lethal. It's simply tragic how hard Ubisoft fumbled with Legion, 2's gameplay built on the first perfectly and Legion wound up being too drastic of a regression.

[@Pewpewpew182]

Shame this franchise had so much potential. The 2nd game was fun. Thanks for doing this series.

[@belltolls1984]

Damn you all make some excellent videos! Thanks fro the content and keep up the great work!

[@ANGELINAGIVEAWAY12]

Hurry my friend, thank you for watching, hit me up you have w.on a P.S.5 for yourself ☝️🎮 x,,

[@Roxas5000]

I was always on the fence with Watch Dogs, losing interest quickly in both 1 and 2. Legion on the other, despite many flaws, quickly grew on me after purchasing it recently. I really love the game and I was worried the end of updates meant it was a failure. Thank you for letting me know there may be hope for more. I do hope I get to build my own team again and become invested that way, even if the story often fails to truly impress.

[@iwakeupandboomimarat]

honestly same, legion is one of those games for me where i just boot it up and fuck around. it absolutely has the weakest story tho and its gameplay definitely isnt strong enough to carry it :(

[@Duck0fDoom]

Legion is the only one of the 3 that I’ve played, mainly because I got it on sale for $5. I had zero expectations but I really loved it, getting to have so many fully customizable operators gave a the player a lot of freedom in roleplaying each operator differently if they wanted to. Personalized operators, combined with the permadeath mode, meant I had to take great care in not losing my favorite operators. Had a real fun time with the game.

[@MrClean-lk6vi]

Even thought we haven’t heard Ubisoft news for new WD, I’m still Hope that WatchDogs will find a way to make it top successful game. Even im still playing WatchDogs.

[@KingDaveth]

People who complained about anything but the graphics in Watch Dogs 1 was wrong. The story is fine, and Aiden is an awesome character.

[@halogamer8600]

hard disagree it was typical ubisoft revenge shit and aien was a shitty character xD he was better off dead then coming back

[@randomcheese1719]

i thought the graphics were good

[@FyreAndBlood]

it was the best story in a watch dogs game but that isn't saying much.

[@halogamer8600]

@@FyreAndBlood was the same rehashed story bout revenge from ac3 and used again in ac unity where ubisoft try to get us to care about characters we see for less then a minute x)

[@BabyGirlTiny]

@@halogamer8600except no the revenge story of AC3 was vastly different than WD lol. Unless you think every revenge story is just a rehash of one another, in which case, it’s not a rehash of AC3 considering AC3 isn’t the first revenge storyZ

[@nomercy8989]

Honestly I think the first game is actually solid. I remember playing it back in 2014 and having fun.

[@RageSeth]

Honestly Legion was a ton of fun. Could the story been a bit better? Sure. Would I have enjoyed more classes and gear? Absolutely. But it was a great groundwork and I hoped to see a follow up with further additions.

[@jmal]

I loved the first game because it's essentially a video game version of my favorite TV series _Person of Interest._ The show, this game, and a bit of personal experience, influenced my career choice in cybersecurity.

[@TheSpartan227]

That one hurts. Watch dogs 2 was such an improvement over the first one, but then they completely dropped the ball with Legion.

[@jax_wildguess]

“completely”.. just wanted to highlight that!

[@alvaro0423]

Adored WD2. Legions was a huge miss.

[@BabyGirlTiny]

Improvement in which way? Every time y’all say improvement yall just mean gameplay. Does story and characters not matter?

[@alvaro0423]

@@BabyGirlTiny Marcus was a better character than Aiden. Improvement, yes

[@GamingSkeptic]

I love the Watch Dogs franchise. WD 2 is my favorite. I hope we can get a 4th entry in the coming years

[@jovicast6816]

Huge fan of watch dogs games and franchise when coming out wd4 announced when? 🤔

[@ari-dynamicarchive]

I love this channel when it comes to gaming retrospectives; it's like watching a simple, relaxing documentary like the ones I used to watch on TV.

[@aaron1182]

It reminds me of watching video game shows from the 90s for some reason. And the narrator has the perfect voice for this content.

[@Gambit2483]

It's very reminiscent of the documentary show "Icons" on the original G4 channel.

[@bruhtholemew]

"Rise" feels a little generous considering it started falling after the E3 demo ended.

[@mrtestarossa]

i wish legion didnt cut so many features that made 1 and 2 great, its such a shame they got rid of stuff like the mobile music player, traffic light hacking, calling on gangs or police, among others i thought london was a pretty good location and its such a shame it ended up being so underutilized

[@imembridibuddha]

Even the sandbox and NPC AI in Legion feels downgraded compared to the dynamic and ultra-believable sandbox system of Watch Dogs 2

[@DeterminedTorres]

ctOS Blackout was badass in 1, seeing it get nerfed to just a system crash in Legion was saddening. :(

[@rfsantosc]

Watch Dogs 2 is pretty much Ubisoft's Masterpiece. the game is nearly perfection. Sad what the franchse became

[@TheForbidden_1ne]

The rise: Watchdogs' reveal trailer. The fall: Watchdogs' release.

[@lostforever773]

No

[@The.Dark.Knight.2001]

The initial promise from the first footage shown will forever be what I think about, I truly wish we were able to get our hands on that game. The atmosphere and tone that it had felt so unique and perfect. Even though I did inevitably enjoy Watch Dogs upon release, I can't help but wish for what I was sold on.

[@whatsurname857]

Thanks to modders you actually can experience that level of detail on pc for free.

[@jaredw6111]

I was so excited for the first game and so disappointed after release I've never even played it, but I did pick up Watch Dogs 2 about a year after it came out for about $10 and honestly it was a really fun game, doubt I'll ever replay it but the 30-40 hours I put into it was really enjoyable plus it had fantastic radio options and introduced me to bands like Sorority Noise

[@revistinha1]

Ubisoft killed WD like they killed most of their franchises last gen By overpromising and underdelivering The reason why Watch Dogs, the Division,Assassins Creed ,Ghost Recon,Far Cry were a success in the first place got watered down by a bunch of pointless BS added to the games just to have bigger numbers and more "features" on the back of the box Speaking more precisely about Watch Dogs ..everything that was cutting edge and badass about the first game was replaced in order to become a generic version of GTA with "hacking" mini games

[@izzy2802]

I loved watchdogs 1 and the soundtrack but I had way more fun in part 2. Marcus was a cool character. Part 3 wasn't bad. I enjoyed it.

[@charmingpeasant9834]

Marcus was so obnoxious that i wanted Aiden back.

[@izzy2802]

@@charmingpeasant9834 with his personality he'd tell you to suck his balls.

[@skootdiggity1301]

@@charmingpeasant9834 yeah, I wasn't excited about playing as a millennial with a yo-yo

[@n0vi]

@@charmingpeasant9834 Can't help but cringe when ANY Ubisoft character talks, lets get really real

[@BabyGirlTiny]

Yikes, Marcus was a pretty blank slate of a character that the writers clearly wanted you to think was cool

[@geckoo9190]

I think that watchdogs 2 underminded everything that the first one settled, starting with ded sec, you would think that they were darker and more powerful than aiden pierce, instead they were a bunch of kids who fight with tennis balls and teasers.

[@deltafive_o-first2417]

The death of this series saddens me so much. Without it I wouldnt be getting my degree in cybersecurity. Wether its story and characters were ridiculous or not, Watch Dogs 2 got to me. It got me more interested in tech and computers. It got me to research and be aware of how technology is being used against us and its always been a symbol to me to fight against it and make people more aware.

[@imembridibuddha]

The original Watch Dogs is basically a film-noir version of Person of Interest

[@obi0914]

This, unfortunately, is a classic case of a great idea for a fantastic new game but poorly implemented.

[@krieez1936]

The Blood Line DLC was the best WD content in the whole series, imagine that. All that devs need to do is keep all the tech innovations they have already built into the series, put Aiden again in the driving seat with a plethora of supporting characters and write a proper enjoyable story, a story that pushes the narrative. Forget the tech, focus the story. Once players can resonate with the characters through the story, everything else will fall in place. This is how I feel about the series as a whole, though I still enjoyed the whole series.

[@roshawn1111]

Watch Dogs 2 is hands down the best one they made

[@mr_asser]

Yes

[@roshawn1111]

@Cruxie in your opinion which is best? WD1 story was so dull as well as the protagonist. Legion is a game of its own, but really didn't stand out in anything. WD2 was bright fun and just a awesome experience, sure it was cringe at times but so are the others at points.

[@BabyGirlTiny]

Yikes. You called the story of 1 dull but what’s the story of 2?? It’s not interesting, exciting or cohesive. It’s just a Jumbled mess of hippie hackers. The characters were one note and cringe as well. And the fact that wrench is the most popular character should tell you something about the other characters lol. That is? None of them were interesting or stood out.

[@witerunguard1737]

The first watch dogs has to be one of my all time favourite games. I played it blind and it was amazing.

[@leinadreign3510]

Funny thing: chinese surveillance systems would be able to identify and track Pierce, even if he uses his mask and hat.

[@robroskey6515]

It wasn't just the visuals that were faked, the audio in that demo was significantly more advanced and dynamic than what the sound engine would be capable of, leading me to believe they simply edited a lot of audio and sound effects over the gameplay clip specifically for the demo as if it were a movie which is a big part of why the demo "looked" so good but most people don't consciously notice it. Amazing sound design does far more for making a world feel alive than better visuals do , that's why the retail version felt so dead in comparison. It wasnt just the visual downgrade. The npc AI seemed vastly better too, again, almost like they were programmed specifically for that little slice of gameplay.

[@gabrielg3866]

Say what you want about Watch Dogs but I always thought the invasions during single player were brilliant. It mixed up what could be a pretty mundane experience. When playing single player I was always on the lookout for NPC's that where driving slightly abnormally or non ai like. The mechanic also fit thematically as a sketchy hacker man always needing to look over my shoulder for anyone tailing me.

[@jmal]

*HACKERMAN*

[@apoc1057]

Man you always have the best documentary videos. ❤ Why haven't you been picked up by the history Channel yet ?

[@ObligedUniform]

Still enjoyed Legion for what it was. Getting to play as Aiden or Wrench for the main story after that DLC was pretty great too. Killed all gang members, most Albion combat crew, BUT only tased/hand knocked out any police I didn't recruit, if necessary.

[@everettst.claire870]

I really liked the first one and it's protagonist, Aiden Pierce. I think that they should have just built on the 1st one instead of the drastic change of #2 or the major jump of Legion. I don't care if it's not realistic, I like being able to carry around an armory.

[@zzurge1173]

Aiden pierce is infinitely more memorable than the person they used to replace him in the sequel

[@ClutchDre__]

Not gonna lie, I just bought legion about 2 weeks ago and I’m already a little tired of it. I just redownloaded Watch Dogs 1 last night and literally can’t stop playing it. Every character’s voice actor was invested into making a deep and dark game about a man who lost a piece of the only family he had left due to a job he did that went wrong. The way he goes back and forth blaming himself and wanting revenge but at the same time being unsure of his actions, delivered a connection like no other. It’s a shame to see him downplayed to a fuckin DLC in the new games now while they throw out the gritty dark vibe that first gave watch dogs it’s identity. Now it just seems to be a game made by developers struggling to grasp the idea that they should stop trying to make a game everyone likes and make a game a good amount of people love. Watch dogs 1 wasn’t perfect and pisses me off at time, but I always feel immersed in the world around me with the limited hacking and arsenal of guns I have to use to defend myself and other random people when they’re being mugged or almost shot. Being the vigilante that’s hated by the law for doing technically illegal actions but loved by the people for taking down infamous gangs and corrupt politicians, it makes you kinda feel like a voice for the voiceless which since then they’ve never been able to replicate that.

[@Oravankarva]

The first was the best!!!! By far. It was an actual good game. And thanks to mods it was beautiful in Pc.

[@skootdiggity1301]

I should go back and replay this in 2022 on pc with mods