Watch Dogs (Nov 21st)

I just started this game on PS3 because I got it for free. If the Wii U version was cheaper and with dlc included I might have considered getting it. By the way, this is the last (relevant) multiplatform game for the Wii U isn't it? And I just got the console

Yes I think that's it.

Test Chamber - Watch Dogs Wii U

Didn't watch all of it but from the sounds of things they don't like it. Comments like no dynamic lighting, frame rate drops when you go fast in the vehicle, lack of people on the streets. I don't know what to make of it, I'll most likely get it if and when it hits around €10-15, depending on reviews which I predict should be coming out around now. May be wrong.

Keep an eye on here.

http://www.metacritic.com/game/wii-u/watch-dogs

Could make them wait until shops open later in the morning and it's actually released.

Where's canand? Wonder what he thinks of it...

Where's canand? Wonder what he thinks of it...

Probably still waiting for the Deadsec edition to arrive.

"What did you say" - LOL

Gotta love @canand

"What did you say" - LOL

 

Gotta love @canand

Hahahaha, I thought that this moment had been lost in time.

The first and only review of the Wii U version of Watch Dogs.

Watch Dogs Wii U Review

 

After a 6 month delay, Ubisoft’s open-world adventure Watch Dogs has finally hit the Wii U. Is Watch Dogs the Grand Theft Auto-esque experience that Wii U owners have been looking for? Or, does the game fall flat on its face and fail to deliver on its promises. Well, it kind of depends. Lets break it down in our Watch Dogs Wii U review.

 

 

Set in a fictional version of Chicago, Watch Dogs tells the story of Aiden Pearce, a hacker who uses his phone to control things. After a botched bank heist, his niece is killed in retaliation and now, Aiden swears vengeance on the people behind the killing. The story is somewhat interesting, and has traditional twists and turns, but nothing too ground breaking.

 

Graphically speaking, Watch Dogs is a very solid port. The game resembles the PS4 version more-so than the PS3 and 360 version, which shows that some time and care went into the game. For some reason, the game tends to look better during the night scenes than the day scenes though. The lighting is good, and the weather effects are fantastic. The city of Chicago is a bit barren at times, and some low resolution textures are apparent, but for the most part the game looks pretty good. The city has the usual sounds of hustle and bustle, but I didn’t like the fact that there was a limited amount of music tracks and no radio stations to choose from.

 

The core of Watch Dogs gameplay is a strong emphasis on hacking with your cell phone. You can control stop lights, bridges, hack other peoples cell phones for intel or take money from their bank account, along with a slew of other things. My favorite thing was how the game has a profile for every NPC (Non-playable character) in the world that features a name, a weird fact about them, and an occupation. For the most part, it works well, albeit a bit shallow. A simple hold of the “Y” button will do most of the hacking for you, and I felt it was a bit of a missed opportunity to make something more complex.

 

Aiden controls well and the gun-play is sufficient as well. You can equip upgrades through a skill tree to give him more equipment, more hacks, and more abilities which helps keeps things fresh throughout the game. One major problem in the game is the driving though. It feels a bit floaty, and you never really feel you have precision with the vehicles. It deters from the experience.

 

Aside from the lengthy main game, there are tons of side missions, some more fun than others, and some online modes with full voice chat. My favorite online mode has you following another player while trying to remain undetected, which adds a great stealth feel to the game. Everything is done decently enough besides the driving, but the game never manages to feel like it has much substance to it. You find yourself going through the motions and doing the same sort of hacks, and a lot of times simple things such as side missions are just a chore and take way too long to do. Overall the gameplay is there, it’s decent, but uninspired.

 

The GamePad has an interactive map on it, but it’s nothing really special. The other Wii U specific feature is Off-TV play, which is nice, but not worth a 6 month delay. If you are a Wii U only owner, Watch Dogs is a decent buy if you want a GTA-like experience, but I’d wait for a used copy or a price drop. Although the driving hinders the game, good graphics and a decent amount of content make this a good, but uninspired game.

 

Pros:

 

• Mostly good graphics
  
• Skill tree keeps things fresh
  
• Only GTA-clone in town for the Wii U
  

 

Cons:

 

• Vehicle physics are floaty
  
• Hacking is a bit uninspired
  
• 6 month delay for a "interactive map"
  

 

Final Score: 7.5 / 10

http://nintendoenthusiast.com/review/watch-dogs-wii-u-review/

Nobody it would appear are in any rush to review the game.

Digital Foundry vs Watch Dogs on Wii U

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/di...-dogs-on-wii-u

Just like the PS3 version we previously tested, the base native resolution of Watch Dogs on Wii U is a restrictive 1152x648, with identical post-processing anti-aliasing to match. In terms of image clarity, the upscale process is unforgiving compared to the PS4's 1600x900 output. The worst of it ultimately boils down to muddied detailing on Watch Dogs' Chicago horizon - though indoors this is a far less noticeable point - and the temporal 'shimmer' artefacts on high contrasts. Without a doubt, the Wii U is in last-gen territory for image quality here.

 

As for the Wii U's basic visual setup and assets, Watch Dogs identifiably uses the existing last-gen versions as its starting point. As you can see from our comparison video below, differences are few when compared with Sony's older platform - while PS4 remains a clear generational leap ahead. Broadly speaking, those looking for a graphical midway point between these two Sony versions will be disappointed; Nintendo's hardware sticks close to PS3 quality in almost every case.

In terms of performance, the Wii U has had two years to show us its strengths and weaknesses. Recent efforts such as Bayonetta paint its fortunes in an optimistic light, producing a frame-rate that often bests the Xbox 360. On top of that, every major port to the console so far has removed screen-tear where it was previously evident on PS3 or 360 - with the exception of Darksiders 2. Unfortunately, big open-world games such as Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag have a tendency to see performance diminish significantly.

 

Watch Dogs falls well and truly into this second group. V-sync is permanently engaged to remove all the tearing we see on the PS3 edition, making it much easier on the eye overall. However, there's no skirting around the fact that the Wii U version's frame-rate is worse than a last-gen version that was already pushing the threshold for acceptability.

 

Bayonetta is a great example of a Wii U port done right, with its higher frame-rate allowing it to supersede the Xbox 360 version as the definitive release. But it's clear that the Wii U's strengths are not as a 'me too' platform, especially in light of the arrival of Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Put into perspective, the PS4 operates at 30fps throughout most of our tests, while the PS3 runs between 25-30fps during cut-scenes, but can drop lower during gameplay. However, Nintendo's platform struggles to even achieve this level, with matching car chases towards the city holding at between 20-25fps on Wii U- dipping to the high teens when smashing through physics-based objects.

 

Remarkably, a 20fps refresh is often the standard for inner-city driving, making it exceptionally sluggish to control. The Wii U also takes the record for the lowest frame-rate dip during our stress test finale, with a sustained sub-20fps frame-rate once we take a rocket launcher to a pile-up of police cars (whereas PS3's nadir is 20fps). This one test isn't indicative the general run of play, but it serves to highlight just how much the Wii U's processor is bottlenecked when faced with too many AI and physics-based simulations. Curiously, Nintendo's platform runs with no frame-rate lock, meaning it can rise above 30fps. The near-constant playback at 20fps makes this a rare sight, but you can catch it if you glance upwards at points.

Watch Dogs on Wii U: the Digital Foundry verdict

 

With a visual standard that matches the PS3's in almost every area, the Wii U offers by no means the best way to play Watch Dogs. We're spared the heavy tearing of Sony's last-gen console but the v-synced playback on Nintendo's console comes at a high cost. As is the trend for many of the ports to Nintendo's platform, performance is a genuine issue. To an extent, having an off-TV play option for Watch Dogs is plus, in much the same way it is for most Wii U editions of last-gen games. However, it's clear the touchscreen aspect of Nintendo's controller is under-utilised. It's been an extra six month wait for Wii U owners, but this hasn't manifested in any kind of tangible boost, leaving us feeling somewhat disappointed.

 

If this is the end of major, multi-platform, third-party support on Wii U, it's a disappointing conclusion to a story of mixed fortunes. What's clear is that the hardware design of the Wii U is original and distinct: titles like Rayman Legends and Need for Speed: Most Wanted demonstrated that targeting the system's strengths produces excellent results, but Wii U's integration into the modern multi-platform era clearly proved troublesome for developers, particularly in terms of accommodating its CPU design.

 

While Nintendo initially tried to set up Wii U as a third-party friendly console, Watch Dogs once again highlights that its strengths are perhaps best not served in producing "me too" experiences - especially in an era increasingly dominated by consoles offering a generational leap in power. It's safe to say that Wii U is defined by the strengths of its first-party exclusives, with Nintendo consistently delivering irresistible results - where the quality of the whole package defies the generational divide with its rivals.

Both Nintendo and Ubisoft are to blame. Nintendo for the poor hardware and Ubisoft for not giving a sh1t.

Wii U is Amazing

Wii U is Amazing

What has that got to do with Watchdogs and yes, it probably is amazing for a last gen console.

What has that got to do with Watchdogs and yes, it probably is amazing for a last gen console.

Why did you have to turn into one of them?

Why did you have to turn into one of them?

It's true though.

What has that got to do with Watchdogs and yes, it probably is amazing for a last gen console.

Ouch, man. Very ouch.

Part of the fun of this game was the way that the online was integrated into the game. You could be invaded at almost every moment, you could have people tailing you without ever really knowing that they're in your game, etc. It was pretty fun, I loved it.

That aspect of the game is going to be absolutely rubbish on the WiiU because there won't be enough people who will purchase it to make that exciting. You need a high quantity of gamers to make that worthwhile. When the game was just out, there were tons of people on it and you'd get constant invitations to take part in racers or decryption modes, etc. It actually created a good illusion of there being numerous hackers all present in the world at one time. I loved it.

Why did you have to turn into one of them?

A non Nintendo fanboy? :p

Why did you have to turn into one of them?

It's Nintendo that have turned us.

No need for childish comments though. Not our fault we prefer a console with above average games

No need for childish comments though. Not our fault we prefer a console with above average games

Only above average?

Only above average?

Well know. Amazing. But it was more of a comment on the state of ps4s software quality.

No need for childish comments though. Not our fault we prefer a console with above average games

Don't worry @dazzybee, we'll have to just contend with the two most critically appreciated pieces of software this Christmas - Smash and Bayonetta 2, let's leave them to enjoy their buggy, half-arsed, production line, cookie cutter games like Assassin's Creed Unity!

Don't worry @dazzybee, we'll have to just contend with the two most critically appreciated pieces of software this Christmas - Smash and Bayonetta 2, let's leave them to enjoy their buggy, half-arsed, production line, cookie cutter games like Assassin's Creed Unity!

Ha. You insult derivative games while praising other derivative games. I see what you did there!

Derivative or not, the games he's cited are still being critically acclaimed. It doesn't mean they're not good.

One could say the praise given to The Last of Us is praise for a derivative game. How many non-derivative games are there these days? It's such a bullshit point.

Ha. You insult derivative games while praising other derivative games. I see what you did there!

Smash: 92.14%

http://www.gamerankings.com/wii-u/index.html

Bayonetta 2: 91.40%

http://www.gamerankings.com/wii-u/index.html

Assassin's Creed Unity: 71.50%

http://www.gamerankings.com/ps4/772633-assassins-creed-unity/index.html

Definition of derivative in English:

ADJECTIVE

 

Imitative of the work of another artist, writer, etc., and usually disapproved of for that reason.

Not really sure you have the right word there... As Smash Bros. is really a one of a kind game. Bayonetta is also a stand out title, and not just for its gameplay - but its setting, character design and story.

An example of a derivative work would be something like Fighter's History.

Who cares if something is critically acclaimed? It's like he's arguing that because a group of other people have said something is a better game, that ultimately our experience of finding our PS4 more enjoyable is wrong. Now that's a stupid point! Case in point, from my own experience I find Bayonetta a fucking chore to play. I have literally no incentive to go back to this boring game!

Bayonetta 2 is also a sequel to Bayonetta 1, which plays out near enough the same as its predecessor, as is Smash Bros Wii U to all its predecessors. At least TLOU is a new series with a new combat system, characters and story (regardless of what you say about the gameplay being derivative, it can be nowhere near as derivative as straight sequels). Straight sequels being Nintendo's bread and butter these days!

Just think - maybe people are enjoying their PS4s because it offers new game experiences like Destiny, not just the same game they have already played? Just saying.

Who cares if something is critically acclaimed? It's like he's arguing that because a group of other people have said something is a better game, that ultimately our experience of finding our PS4 more enjoyable is wrong. Now that's a stupid point! Case in point, from my own experience I find Bayonetta a fucking chore to play. I have literally no incentive to go back to this boring game!

 

Bayonetta 2 is also a sequel to Bayonetta 1, which plays out near enough the same as its predecessor, as is Smash Bros Wii U to all its predecessors. At least TLOU is a new series with a new combat system, characters and story (regardless of what you say about the gameplay being derivative, it can be nowhere near as derivative as straight sequels). Straight sequels being Nintendo's bread and butter these days!

 

Just think - maybe people are enjoying their PS4s because it offers new game experiences like Destiny, not just the same game they have already played? Just saying.

Well, if you're enjoying your PS4 so much, then one would have thought you would have spent less time ripping on others enjoying their Wii Us and just spent your time celebrating your PS4, instead you spend a huge amount of time jumping to Sony's defence or trying to correct anyone enjoying their Wii U.

And Bayonetta and Bayonetta 2 are amazing, just because you're not skilled enough to enjoy them and can only button mash or play games that play themselves says more about you than it does about the game!