Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs just might be the most exciting announced at what is turning out to be a pretty lackluster E3 this year. Check out the gameplay trailer below:
Sure the whole thing kind devolves into a GrandTheftAuto-style shoot out at the end, and the scruffy voice sounds exactly like Solid Snake, Master Chief, and Max Payne. But what’s interesting is the world looks like something out of a post-2000 William Gibson novel. Where technology is embedded everywhere but isn’t used in any overtly fantastical ways. Our protagonist seems to assassinate his opponents only equipped with a touch screen smartphone (probably an Android), and borrows weapons as he makes his way. Even the target seems to be some sort of techy installation artist. I hope they will explore this “2-seconds in the future” genre to it’s fullest, while still managing to maintain their Assassins Creed demographic content.
UPDATE: Everything is connected. The future is now. Ubisoft is taking that philosophy past the plot and building an immersive transmedia experience out of it by allowing gamers to access special information in realtime using their smartphone or tablet. As of right now the details are a little vague, but it seems that the app will show you maps, indepth hacking information, and game plans. You can also hack more than the NPC’s, you can also access other player’s accounts to see how they completed the mission when they played, and then use that information to help prepare yourself.
It sounds a lot like Microsoft’s SmartGlass, which also allows for realtime cross-platform communication. This game just got a a whole new level of interesting.