Watch Dogs

Take a look at the new world we live in. Here, everyone has several computers - which have now changed their form factor, now fit in a pocket or fit on the wrist, fit into the format of a smart speaker or an equally smart refrigerator. Digital networks have entangled everything around. Computers control the subway and street traffic, know when you come to work and which bus you get to the office, what you prefer to buy for lunch and which bank you keep your money in.

The new world is beautiful. But what happens if someone gets uncontrolled access to all this data?

Watchdogs of Digital Warfare

Chicago, today. The entire city is entangled in a digital network running the ctOS operating system. She controls almost everything - from traffic to power supply to individual neighborhoods. It stores information about each inhabitant of Chicago, about all the events taking place and other elements of the city's social infrastructure.

Aiden Pearce, the protagonist of Watch Dogs, is a skilled hacker who not only can hack anything, but he also has a pretty good command of weapons. So to achieve his goals, he can use various information, and control of ctOS, and direct shooting of opponents.

Of course, such talents of Aiden could not go unnoticed by the underworld of Chicago. At some point, the hacker's family is attacked. Aiden himself survives, but his niece does not. And this pushes the hacker on the path of war against crime in the big American city.

How to play Watch Dogs in general

Watch Dogs itself is a traditional action adventure game. But the hacker mechanics screwed onto it make the gameplay very diverse. At the same time, there are three options for passing almost every mission:

• Combat. Aiden Pearce is armed with all kinds of "guns" and goes on the warpath. The most boring option, since no cinematography and destructibility was brought into the Watch Dogs combat system, and the main character is by no means Rambo, so a couple of successful hits on him are quite enough for the player to see the next loading screen;
• Stealth. We make our way through the shelters, wait for the right moment, carefully deal with the opponents so as not to attract too much attention. Added again purely for show, since Aiden Pearce is not Sam Fisher, and location mapping itself is far from being considered suitable for pure stealth;
• Hacking. Oh, this is where true freedom unfolds. You can connect to any camera, activate and pick any locks, remotely access various systems and devices. In this mode, the player seems to travel the network, switching from camera to camera, from device to device, launching long chains of triggers and complex algorithms. You can take control of anything - from traffic lights to cars.

Watch Dogs' hack mode can seem boring at first. Well, people are not yet accustomed to the fact that you can go through missions without a single shot and murder, exclusively observing what is happening and pressing the necessary buttons in time. But gradually you get involved, and the feeling of control is intoxicating.

The game itself encourages hacking. Not only does she generously give out information about the NPCs she meets when walking the streets - this one hates the government, and that one is in the BDSM club - so the effect of hacking is incredibly cinematic. And when he travels around Chicago, he shows up in all its glory. Opponents fall from unexpectedly raised bridges, stumble upon fences that have jumped out of the ground, or are left without tires due to suddenly appeared thorns. Such divine control over the traffic situation is impressive.

Watch Dogs Hacks

Due to the sophisticated digital control system, Watch Dogs leaves behind some strange "aftertaste". Even the calmest people can find a little paranoia and go for duct tape - to tape the webcam and microphone on their computer.

The fact is that you can hack anything here. For example, join the home system in someone's cottage and watch a family fight through webcams. And it gets a little scary - is it really the same? Can you also connect to your neighbors and see how some of them are picking their noses, reading articles on the Internet praising the government and demonizing neighboring states?

At the same time, Watch Dogs cannot be compared with the "Black Mirror". This is a game about how the system can help - and what is vulnerable in it. She does not demonize computers and does not say that every person by his nature is still a "radish", and high technologies only help to manifest all this hypocrisy. But you still want to glue the webcam.