Watch Dogs

[Sennex 1,903]

The driving mechanics for such a well-presented and seemingly serious game are borderline terrible. Cars handle reasonably well to some extent but the ping-pong collisions and poor visual demonstrations of accelerating and breaking drive the presentation and general feel down considerably. It doesn't even feel arcade-based; it's just feels very lousy at times which doesn't mirror the fine foot mechanics. You also cannot shoot from your car so chases combined with the horrendous collisions just makes it dissatisfying and at times laughable. You can hack bridges and traffic lights along with roadblocks but most of the chases involve wildly bumping into the person you are chasing and off other cars and scenery. Even Saints Row had more enjoyable and 'realistic' collisions and that game was a piss take. Not a good reflection on Watch Dogs then.

 

Overall, I can see many people enjoying this game but you have to be very forgiving to live with the driving and accepting that as part of the game. The driving is a big aspect of the product so this is a massive letdown for me. I can live with it but it just leaves the game tarnished. The story is intriguing, the overall XP, unlock and missions seem very polished and fun and I can't wait to try out other things and go exploring. It's early days and this game does shine in many ways but the driving isn't going to improve and that could be fatal in the long run.  

 

The biggest problem I have with this is that the game STARTED out as a sequel to "Driver", which is a driving game!

 

This doesn't make any sense to me at all.

 

Thanks for the review James.

[J4MES OX4D 10,036]

Another niggle I've noticed on a couple of missions is the 'insta-fail'. You get spotted and it's mission over and you have to do it again. I just participated in this mission where you had to escort someone to their destination after they took part in a crime. I had to evade being spotted by the cops else it was mission failed essentially and a restart. This is annoying because instead of you being given the opportunity to creatively evade the cops using the technology that the game proudly demonstrates; suddenly you're facing a win or bust situation in some missions which aren't reflective of others in which you can outrun the cops. Also the loading screen on mission restarts particularly after persistent tries can get tiring. 

 

I then had a mission which heightened my concerns about the fact you can't shoot from your car; I had to hack this guy from his car and then chase after him and eliminate him whilst being chased in the process by his associates. We were driving round for fucking ages in a Driver-esque fashion as Sennex pointed out. All I could do was ping-pong off his car to damage it whilst damaging mine in the process plus being battered by his cronies in 3 other vehicles. It was a very scrappy and at times laughable sequence of incidences. After mowing him down when his car finally packed in and with mine on its last legs; I then had to outrun his mob. I got extremely lucky as I was able to hack the bridge to raise it and escape. I was glad of this as I couldn't be dealing with another 20 minutes of irritating and vintage meaningless driving.

 

On the whole; this game is very polished and exciting but fuck me the driving just kills it. Considering how important this feature is in the open world of Watch Dogs; it's a massive issue. It's like buying a 4K TV for £5,000 and then a £40 DVD player. Doesn't make sense. How could they get so much right and so much wrong in the process!? 

[burnfitbillyboy 505]

So my girlfriend just came home and surprised me with Watch Dogs, took it back for a full refund... Yep that just happened!

[J4MES OX4D 10,036]

So my girlfriend just came home and surprised me with Watch Dogs, took it back for a full refund... Yep that just happened!

How did you get your girlfriend refunded? 

 

[Chookes 965]

[Madjonny 386]

I just quickly did the first mission, it's all Iv had chance to try tonight... But Iv had 1 car journey and it's bad... You try to turn using the left stick and it's like, nothing still going straight, nothing, nothing, WOAH I just veered straight into oncoming traffic...

I haven't played nearly enough to give any real opinion but so far there is nothing spectacular, and already the hacking seems a little tedious...

[NCA-Paendrag 2,758]

Mediocre so far. Driving is as bad as the last NFS.

Have to knock down people with guns? Why?

Only 3, 5% through yet though.

[tronic44 3,642]

Well this is a depressing read but the looks of the driving is really putting me off getting it at the moment

[J4MES OX4D 10,036]

I was pissing about last night with traffic lights and raising bollards to cause crashes and some of the collisions in those with the AI are spectacular but as soon as I'M driving and colliding with other cars; I just bounce off them without causing any damage or flying off in a weird direction.

 

The driving physics are inconsistent and very sloppy.  I still find that not being able to use a gun from your car just makes the car chases annoying. You have to evade them by manipulating bridges, lights and bollards or essentially get out the car and take down about 12 AI enemies which is bloody hard.

 

I lost $10,000 playing poker last night which fucked me off too   

[NCA-Paendrag 2,758]

Get better

My cars got damaged after every collision though.

And Money run was daft.

[NCA-Paendrag 2,758]

Was fun to raise the brigde when there were cars on it and see the terror in the AI faces when they slid down and crashed

[Sennex 1,903]

So how much of this game is actual driving?

 

cause gotdammit son, I am not going to be happy if the driving is shit, and I have to do it for 50+% of the game

[J4MES OX4D 10,036]

So how much of this game is actual driving?

 

cause gotdammit son, I am not going to be happy if the driving is shit, and I have to do it for 50+% of the game

There is quite a bit of driving but many missions are foot based on the ground. So far I've had a few car chases which have been extremely sloppy and frustrating. Exploring on foot and taking the train is pretty good to get away from the bad car physics though and there is lots of activity to do from the ground in the vibrant city. The car collisions are more of an issue than the actual handling I've found.

 

I did what Brede done and raised the bridge when it was loaded with cars and they came plummeting down and caused a huge vertical pile up which was quite funny. I also raised the bollards when a limo was over them and it popped up in the air which was also amusing. The crashes you can cause when fucking with the traffic lights are mental but for some reason the collisions when you're driving are just too bouncy and unnatural. 

 

I'm quite liking some of the missions so far though and they make up for a few of the negatives.

 

Another mild irritation reminds me of Far Cry 3 - you have to hack the CTOS towers in certain areas so you can profile people and hack the environment. This is just as tedious as the radio towers in FC3 where you did it to reveal the map. Some of the CTOS towers can be tricky at times but it just feels a bit bland. 

 

The hacking where you have to channel the signals to unlock nodes is actually a bloody good feature and makes up for the one-button hack system that you get when targeting phones and environmental features. 

[Sennex 1,903]

I didn't mind the towers in FC3 for the first island, after that though,I hated every instance of doing them.

 

Its like 1 tower is normal, and the next is so jacked up and rusty that no sane person would ever think of climbing it as any stray, moderately strong, wind would knock it the fuck over. When dev's code shit like that to make it hard for no other reason than they feel the game should be progressively harder, I get mad

 

This is starting to sound more like an Ass Creed game than something new.

(I also hated the towers in Ass Creed)

[TigerBurge 2,375]

Ok picked it up and must say so far,the little I've played,the controls are weird,driving is horrible. Turn left then two seconds later the car turns. It looks good but plays a little weird. I must say though I'm branching out on my gaming library, I also hated Skyrim when I first played it. I typically just play shooters so I'm not used to controlls on games like this.

[Playertd 177]

Chris is on his way to becoming a sophisticated gamer

 

This game looks really cool but I don't think I could deal with shitty driving, same reason I couldn't get into saints row 3.

[TigerBurge 2,375]

Chris is on his way to becoming a sophisticated gamer

This game looks really cool but I don't think I could deal with shitty driving, same reason I couldn't get into saints row 3.

I wouldn't go that far

The driving is much worse that The 3rd

[Playertd 177]

Oh wow that is pretty bad haha, guess I'll wait till it's 5 bucks on steam!

[Sennex 1,903]

oh man, thats a bold statement.

 

I loved SR3, the driving was nuts, but I expected that. If This is actually worse, than I sort of regret buying it (and I haven't even played it yet)

[Glen11 51]

I must be the only one that actually likes the driving?

[Madjonny 386]

You must be...

[J4MES OX4D 10,036]

oh man, thats a bold statement.

 

I loved SR3, the driving was nuts, but I expected that. If This is actually worse, than I sort of regret buying it (and I haven't even played it yet)

You will either learn to forgive the driving and just get used of it or never play the game again. I'm plodding along and have just accepted it. The game makes up for it in many other areas thankfully. 

[Glen11 51]

For those of you who have me on facebook I just shared a short (but random) gameplay. Its just a clip I found in my capture gallery but shows how the driving is.

[NCA-Paendrag 2,758]

The driving is growing on me. Easier when using the handbrake when turning.

I felt like Jim Carrey in the movie where his life is tv show when he tries to sail away and hit an invisible wall. Took a boat and went out to the lighthouse and not far out from there is the edge of the map.

Oh, and have Jam Comms ready, especially when doing Gang attacks etc. so you can scramble civilians calling the cops.

[J4MES OX4D 10,036]

I've blitzed through Act 1 which consisted of 10 or so reasonable missions. I pretty much ignored all the side missions and games but may take my time going through Act 2. The problem seems along with many other sandbox titles of the kind; depth seems to be lacking aside from the story. Just like GTA V, I fear when I finish the game; they'll be nothing left worth doing. Haven't tried the MP aspect yet but that doesn't look like it holds much longevity. I estimate that the campaign will probably take around 40 hours, so there's still lots to enjoy hopefully but from what I've heard from others; it's all a bit samey in the long run.