A bunch of new Watch Dogs previews have gone live today following a press event held by Ubisoft a few days ago. We’ve rounded up details from one of these articles – coming from Eurogamer – in the summary below.
You’ll learn more about Watch Dogs’ hacking elements, connection to other players, and more. Also be sure to view new screenshots here.
– Been in development for four years
– Team has placed a big focus on the NPCs’ behavior and personalities
– You’ll be involved with other events when not on a main mission
– Bios flash for a few moments as you pass NPCs
– Examples: “refuses to cycle”, “trolls religious forums”
– Hack into phones, scroll through text messages and tap into conversations, with relevant locations relating to what was discussed marked on the map for later inspection
– Game doesn’t have “a bunch of minions creating personalities one after another”
– NPCs themselves are the product of another system.
– “Every backstory, every look – it’s based on a database. Some of the population will dynamically end up in certain scenarios based upon their personalities, but you’ll never see a mugging, for example, happen in the same way twice.”
– Won’t be bombarded with side-content
– Another system controls how much of it is doled out, depending on how often you participate in it
– The game’s main narrative arc remains under wraps, but there are hints that player interaction in side-missions will draw parallels with the way that Aiden Pearce personally becomes more obsessed and drawn into the actions of Chicago’s population
– Two types of hacking abilities: small-scale actions and larger-scale actions
– Small-scale: scanning passers-by, disabling a nearby car’s security system, etc.
– Larger-scale: access the city-wide Central Operating System (CTOS)
– Access CTOS district-by-district by storming local datacentres
– With CTOS access, Pearce can use the city’s surveillance technology to identify new side-missions and follow-up on potential crimes
– Side-content isn’t always about crimes
– One sequence has you gaining access to a local W-iFi hub and peering into someone’s home
– Watch Dogs will also include opportunities for you to interact with other human players in your single-player game
– “Say you’re playing alone, free-roaming. There’s a bunch of activities you can activate. Sometimes – and you won’t know when – the objective that you have is related to what someone else is doing at the same time. When that happens we merge your reality with the other person’s, and you’ll be able to see them.”
– Ex: spy on another hacker; it’s a real player carrying out an objective within their own game who had unknowingly become part of your city
– Sometimes you will be told if another player will be watching you during these objectives, sometimes you won’t
– Multiplayer mode planned
– Expected to take 80 hours to complete everything in the game
– Access a smartphone full of apps to activate contracts, drop glyphs for friends to find, or look up a tune playing on a nearby radio
– Version of iTunes lets you buy new apps and games with in-game money
– No micro-transactions
– AR shooter mini-game sees nearby NPCs attacked by purple Metroid-esque aliens, with high scores recorded on global leaderboards
– A number of ideas were cut, team is saving the list for the future
