Post by DarkJuno on Nov 17, 2016 4:13:32 GMT
So the first Watch_Dogs sucked. Well, okay, that's not fair.
We all remember how amazing that debut trailer for the first game looked when Ubisoft premiered it at E3, right? It LOOKED amazing, and what's more, the hacking in the game play made it look like a fresh new take on open world crime games compared to what we've gotten before. The final product ended up being an extremely dull, joyless, self serious, and outright boring open world game where the interesting and cool hacking mechanics more often then not were set aside for run of the mill murder everyone with shotguns game play instead. To say it was a disappointment would be an understatement, even ignoring all the hubbub over the graphics.
Watch_Dogs 2 had a lot to prove after that mess, and at first, the initial trailers didn't do anything for me. These knuckle-headed hacker a-holes tooling around San Francisco being extreme and awesome and woke fighting against the man just screamed trying too hard. I have to say, after playing the first couple hours, I'm mostly impressed and I think I'm in for the long haul. The game is just so bright and vibrant, and while I can't speak to its accuracy to the real city, it certainly feels like a good realization of San Francisco as I'd expect it from what people have told em and what I've seen on TV and movies, though apparently a lot cleaner then it really is. The narrative and writing aren't perfect, but it's good, despite each of the characters mostly being one note so far. Everyone is pretty much whom you'd expect them to be, especially the members of your crew. Honestly, they're incredibly lame and cony, but they're not quite the smug jackasses they came across as in the trailers and promotional materials. They're not a bunch of self righteous do gooders who think they know better, they really come across as an earnest bunch of kids who genuinely think they're doing good, and whether by intention or accident, they also seem like a bunch of naive knuckleheads while doing so, and they're likeable despite their lameness as a result.
Except Wrench. Screw that guy. If I have to sacrifice any member of my team in a future mission, the mission where things get real, it's going to be Wrench. To hell with him.
It's a really fun game, at least I think so. The driving is fine, and combat is okay if not spectacular, it's just the world is so rich and vibrant and alive and filled with so much character that it already fixes the huge problem with the first game, which was lack of said character. Marcus is still your typical everyman, but he is far more likeable and relatable then Aiden Pearce could hope to be. I have to say it because we live in a world where we still have to keep saying it, bravo to Ubisoft for having another lead character who's not just some white guy, and have it be just a normal thing without pointing it out all the time. Whn it does get pointed out, it's usually done to make a small, quick, and salient point without getting political. As far as hot button issues are concerned, honestly it doesn't really do it, though recent events with Wikileaks and stuff like that has made some of the points in the game just a bit on the nose then it maybe would have been when they were making this game. I have to imagine the guys at Ubisoft waiting for this game to go gold seeing all the news and starting to get a little tense as release date came closer and more and more came out. Still, it has an opinion, and leaves it at that, and writing and tone are light hearted it's not a big deal, and while there's more I can say there, honestly, it doesn't matter since I think most people here wouldn't exactly disagree with what it brings up.
That's the only weird thing, the tone and writing is so zany and wacky one minute, with Dedsec having wacky hacking misadventures and committing small crimes for the sake of fun and frivolity for the people...then the next you pull out shot guns and just murder security guard sin cold blood. The difference between the narrative and the freedom of the open world is defintiely a thing that happens in all open world games, sure, but it feels a lot more stark here. Honestly, I'm playing the game (mostly) non lethal only because it just feels really weird to be trash talking with your crew while just straight up bodying these poor security guards and civilians who did nothing to you.
The hacking stuff is definitely what makes the game. Being able to manipulate the environment to aid in your missions or to just screw around is fun and satisfying, and it feels like there's a lot more you can do here beyond the first game. You can mess with vents and traffic lights and all that like before, and using the cameras to hack stuff is still clever. It...feels a little weird that you can target just anyone on the street and hack ctOS to make him or her look like a criminal and summon the cops on the poor sap, or worse, send out messages to the gangs of the city to target them for a hit, though it's screwed up and fun to do so.
Anyone else interested in this game? This could all go bad after the first few hours I'm in, I admit, but it's night and day from the first game, and it's actually fun. I don't know if they know this stuff is intentionally stupid, but it works well since they do go for it. Admittedly, i just played Mafia III, which is the complete and total opposite of this game in that it's deathly serious, but succeeds all the same since it also completely goes for it and doesn't compromise.
I think I might be the only person who likes open world games but just doesn't find actual GTA interesting or worth playing anymore.
We all remember how amazing that debut trailer for the first game looked when Ubisoft premiered it at E3, right? It LOOKED amazing, and what's more, the hacking in the game play made it look like a fresh new take on open world crime games compared to what we've gotten before. The final product ended up being an extremely dull, joyless, self serious, and outright boring open world game where the interesting and cool hacking mechanics more often then not were set aside for run of the mill murder everyone with shotguns game play instead. To say it was a disappointment would be an understatement, even ignoring all the hubbub over the graphics.
Watch_Dogs 2 had a lot to prove after that mess, and at first, the initial trailers didn't do anything for me. These knuckle-headed hacker a-holes tooling around San Francisco being extreme and awesome and woke fighting against the man just screamed trying too hard. I have to say, after playing the first couple hours, I'm mostly impressed and I think I'm in for the long haul. The game is just so bright and vibrant, and while I can't speak to its accuracy to the real city, it certainly feels like a good realization of San Francisco as I'd expect it from what people have told em and what I've seen on TV and movies, though apparently a lot cleaner then it really is. The narrative and writing aren't perfect, but it's good, despite each of the characters mostly being one note so far. Everyone is pretty much whom you'd expect them to be, especially the members of your crew. Honestly, they're incredibly lame and cony, but they're not quite the smug jackasses they came across as in the trailers and promotional materials. They're not a bunch of self righteous do gooders who think they know better, they really come across as an earnest bunch of kids who genuinely think they're doing good, and whether by intention or accident, they also seem like a bunch of naive knuckleheads while doing so, and they're likeable despite their lameness as a result.
Except Wrench. Screw that guy. If I have to sacrifice any member of my team in a future mission, the mission where things get real, it's going to be Wrench. To hell with him.
It's a really fun game, at least I think so. The driving is fine, and combat is okay if not spectacular, it's just the world is so rich and vibrant and alive and filled with so much character that it already fixes the huge problem with the first game, which was lack of said character. Marcus is still your typical everyman, but he is far more likeable and relatable then Aiden Pearce could hope to be. I have to say it because we live in a world where we still have to keep saying it, bravo to Ubisoft for having another lead character who's not just some white guy, and have it be just a normal thing without pointing it out all the time. Whn it does get pointed out, it's usually done to make a small, quick, and salient point without getting political. As far as hot button issues are concerned, honestly it doesn't really do it, though recent events with Wikileaks and stuff like that has made some of the points in the game just a bit on the nose then it maybe would have been when they were making this game. I have to imagine the guys at Ubisoft waiting for this game to go gold seeing all the news and starting to get a little tense as release date came closer and more and more came out. Still, it has an opinion, and leaves it at that, and writing and tone are light hearted it's not a big deal, and while there's more I can say there, honestly, it doesn't matter since I think most people here wouldn't exactly disagree with what it brings up.
That's the only weird thing, the tone and writing is so zany and wacky one minute, with Dedsec having wacky hacking misadventures and committing small crimes for the sake of fun and frivolity for the people...then the next you pull out shot guns and just murder security guard sin cold blood. The difference between the narrative and the freedom of the open world is defintiely a thing that happens in all open world games, sure, but it feels a lot more stark here. Honestly, I'm playing the game (mostly) non lethal only because it just feels really weird to be trash talking with your crew while just straight up bodying these poor security guards and civilians who did nothing to you.
The hacking stuff is definitely what makes the game. Being able to manipulate the environment to aid in your missions or to just screw around is fun and satisfying, and it feels like there's a lot more you can do here beyond the first game. You can mess with vents and traffic lights and all that like before, and using the cameras to hack stuff is still clever. It...feels a little weird that you can target just anyone on the street and hack ctOS to make him or her look like a criminal and summon the cops on the poor sap, or worse, send out messages to the gangs of the city to target them for a hit, though it's screwed up and fun to do so.
Anyone else interested in this game? This could all go bad after the first few hours I'm in, I admit, but it's night and day from the first game, and it's actually fun. I don't know if they know this stuff is intentionally stupid, but it works well since they do go for it. Admittedly, i just played Mafia III, which is the complete and total opposite of this game in that it's deathly serious, but succeeds all the same since it also completely goes for it and doesn't compromise.
I think I might be the only person who likes open world games but just doesn't find actual GTA interesting or worth playing anymore.
