Watch Dogs aims to more than just another sandbox game with cars, and not because of its hacking elements, but because of how detailed and refined its gameplay mechanics are and how comprehensive its feature list is. From hacking into everything you could think of, to downloading apps and augmented reality games on your in-game phone, collecting money and cars through online theft, to an open-world sandbox that players explore on their own and online in seamless multiplayer.
We’ve only seen brief bits of Watch Dogs and much of it remains hidden in secrecy. Media nor the public have had a chance to get hands-on with the title so everything we do know is from very controlled marketing and event showcases. From what has been intentionally and calculatingly revealed thus far, Watch Dogs looks impressive and from what Dominic Guay hints to us, there’s much more to come.
Tell us about Aiden Pearce and his goals in Watch Dogs.
Let’s talk about that, then. Aiden’s ability to surveil is a progression system of sorts?
So that’s his initial thrust. That’s how the player is going to get into Watch_Dogs. What happens is as he grows his ability for surveillance he starts noticing a lot of other things happening in the city. He looks into a camera sees what’s happening there or taps into someone’s camera, you start finding other crises happening and he’s basically going to start losing himself in those things, basically mixing his own goals with these other things happening. And so that’s how it’s going to open up… I don’t want to spoil anything.
With the economy and the weapons, is there a progression system there? Is there any sort of crafting with weapons, and even with Aiden’s attire — he has a very unique look. Will players be able to customize?
You mentioned that Aiden comes from a dark past and that he will come across other characters who can help but who may have different motivations and goals. Can you talk about any of the other characters, good or bad?
Are there antagonists that have similar hacking abilities as Aiden?
He has allies too, but like Kevin said, those people have their own agenda and so the relationship isn’t going to be them working for him as slaves, so there’s a dynamic there at play.
Are the other players also their own Aiden Pearce or are they their own multiplayer character?
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In terms of gameplay, some of the stuff we saw today like the Focus System which slows down time and the ability to tag enemies — are these features there to simply enhance the player experience or are they explained in-game through tech Aiden has access to?
Another interesting gameplay thing shown that can impact the decision making process for players is the reputation system, where we saw Aiden choose to shoot a cop in the leg as opposed to killing him or running away. How does that affect gameplay and the story?
The Focus System may require a bit more explanation. It represents Aiden’s ability to think on his feet. It’s kind of his street smarts, and the strength of this is that if you’re in trouble at any point — you know, you’re panicking because you’re driving at high speed thinking ‘Oh my god, the cops are everywhere’ you can hit it and basically, you can look around and you can see all the things you can hack so you can start making a plan. ‘Oh I can hack this, go there.’ So it’s there to help the player make plans that mix different types of action, that mix shooting with moving around, with driving and/or hacking. And that’s why we put it in there.
Is this something players can impact directly? For instance, can Aiden Pearce build a social media following by tweeting a photo or some such thing?
On the flip side, if you’ve been playing very efficiently and you’ve minimized collateral damage, you’re really helping people, maybe you’re in the streets and you have your gun out because you’re chasing a bad guy, whatever, and someone sees it. ‘Oh my god, this guy has a gun!’ and then says ‘Oh, it’s Aiden Pearce, I won’t call the cops. Go ahead!'
So now it’s changed your perception of who is Aiden Pearce. It changes the perception of the adventure you live, the same way we can both look at a movie or a painting and interpret it differently. We’re hoping that gamers interpret the story of Aiden Pearce differently depending on their own play style.
He’s got that smartphone…
This is a new IP, it’s the first next-gen game from Ubisoft, is it built with the goal of becoming another big franchise?
With that in mind, are there more stories for Aiden Pearce to be told?
My last question is a fun, over-the-top one. With Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon really focusing on just plain fun and being totally different, in your personal opinion, can something equally as crazy happen here, something like a Watch_Dogs-Assassin’s Creed crossover for example?
Yes.
Watch_Dogs releases November 19, 2013 for the PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U. It’ll also launch for the PS4 and next-gen Xbox.
Let me know on Twitter @rob_keyes if Watch_Dogs is on your watch list.
