Watch Dogs (2014) VS Mafia (2002)

Off-topic
#8

I think the problem is that Ubisoft overdid it a bit in the marketing, repeatedly saying WATCH_DOGS would be THE game, with next gen graphics and amazing new mechanics. They even went as far as making a “real life street hack” ad video (which is actually pretty awesome) in order to promote their game. They built way too much hype, so it’s no wonder some people got disappointed when the graphics turned out to be simply okay and the hacking mechanic consisted in the single press of a button.

Overall I think it’s a decent game, but the heavy marketing didn’t help much, in fact, it made some players feel ripped off. I doubt people will remember and care for it as much as they do for Mafia…

#9

I don’t think that graphics or the hacking mechanics are the problems of this game tbh. In fact, I like both. I also don’t feel ripped off. I already feared before release that they will do the same mistakes as they did with AC IV and of course that was the truth. A shame, but still a fun game in some ways…

#10

Dan Vavra already saw it and reacted (lol’ed) on it on Twitter.

I don’t think that there is a difference in details, WD is just a poorly optimized game on PC.

2 Likes
#11

No, it isn’t. I doesn’t get truer by reapeating it, you know…

The only issue with the game is an unsatisfactional performance for the very best ultra settings in 1440k an above for absolute high-end systems (and only a very small portion of PC gamers own such a system…). If you play the game on ultra settings with high textures on 1080p, the game runs pretty decent even on mid-level hardware on PC without any serious issues. Short: you get a great running experience with better graphics than the next-gen consoles without any problems. Just the enthusiasts who think that their 3000$ system should be able to display every game on ultra settings in 4k have some serious issues with the performance.

So yes, the game is poorly optimized for 5-10% of all PC gamers who apparently can’t play a game on anything lower than ultra settings in 4k. The rest of us just plays the game and chooses the settings that gives us a fluid experience… :wink:

#12

This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.

1 Like
#13

Fanboy? There is no need to insult me. And you couldn’t be more wrong about my own opinion about Watch_Dogs. You just state something you’ve seen somewhere on the internet without giving any real arguments or personal experiences. Have you even played Watch_Dogs? And you think you are qualified to answer my post without even reading it? Wow, congrats! You seem to respect other people a lot here…

Maybe you should remember this post here again… Robes, Capes and Cloaks

#14

Enough with the name-calling, @Dekssan.

#15

I guess many people don’t seem to understand what Watch_Dogs is actually about. Some people only see the obvious, yet they’re missing important “gimmicks” that make this game unique like criticising and using our society’s behavior.

When Aiden Pearce buys an energy drink or a beer, he never looks at the person selling it to him, he just takes a look at his phone, even when he’s drinking. What an asshole he must be… and so are many other real people going through their life. The NPCs do the same, they all have phones, some are staring at them while walking and don’t pay attention to anything that happens around them. Even if people stand in groups, some are just stare at the displays while not communicating with the group at all.

All the technology surrounding us can be abused. Remember stuxnet taking care of Iran’s atomic plants? It’s an issue that we should take care of but actually can’t, since we’re heavily relying on this technology. Anyone can read your messages in unsecured networks. For that reason nobody should use WhatsApp. I’ve heard enough of leaking address book information and impersonating others to read their messages and also send messages.

A nice gimmick are the memes on the digital highway billboards. This also plays a role in our online society. Knowing about the memes, their origins and their appropriate use adds IMHO an un-official entry to the netiquette for discussing in forums and social media.

Yeah of course AI is dumb, like in any open world game on the market. Graphics are not as good as expected. Story wasn’t really good, way too short, not deep enough. The integration of the multiplayer is good and makes fun, yet it would be more fun if you could hack your friends per request instead of hoping that you randomly pick them.

This is how a deep insight into the game and its features should look like. Focussing on graphics, physics and AI is not everything, that makes a game enjoyable.

#16

Just a friendly reminder. Even thou this is off-topic, we don’t tolerate any attacks on forum member or rude behavior on this forum. Would you please use the proper tone as we all are human beings and we can have different tastes and opinions. Thank you all!

4 Likes
#17

social commentary has nothing to do with gameplay.

your statement “of course ai is dumb like any other game on the market” highlights what you don’t get about the criticism. i don’t care if other games have poor ai, it doesn’t make it acceptable, at all.

if you enjoy watching a movie and being lectured about social issues, that’s fine, just don’t tell me that i’m focusing on the wrong things and not looking deep enough. i buy games to play games, not watch a poor written movie criticizing the patriot act.

lastly, do people honestly play games to discuss memes on forums? that’s such pretentious nonsense.

face it, it’s a bad game. if it “provokes thought”, good for you. i found the claptrap cliche, unoriginal, superficial, and designed more for fast food-like easy digestion rather than a real thoughtful contribution to the discussion.

just don’t confuse a game for an editorial.

as for your praise of the game’s philosophical and intellectual insighst, please tell me, by way of example from the game, what it taught you, other than obvious things like “over surveillance is bad” and “over reliance on electronics is bad”

#18

[quote=“213, post:17, topic:16637, full:true”].
face it, it’s a bad game.
[/quote]
Face it, your opinion is just that, a testament of your personal tastes. It’s not even near an objective fact, especially not without delivering any arguments.

By the way, I still wait for the list of games you like combined with reasons why you like them. Criticising each and every game out there is a too easy task… :wink:

#19

I find Watch Dogs to be a flawed game, but a game that’s trying to do some interesting things with varying degrees of success and failure. I get the feeling they couldn’t settle on one or two primary things they wanted to do with it, so it ended up a mishmash of a number of different elements that don’t fit together all that well when added up.

That doesn’t mean it’s BAD, but it also doesn’t mean it’s especially GOOD. It’s a decent beginning, but the hype machine around it has led to a bit of a letdown so far. I may revise that one way or another the more I play it, because there are parts of it I’m enjoying so far. Some of them just don’t happen to be related to the main quest, but that’s no different than any other game of its nature.

#20

And the famous “No russian” mission in Call of Duty: Warfare 2 is just a deleted gameplay content because the gameplay in general was messy? According to your statement, gameplay has nothing to do with society at all. Then please tell me why so many games are cut in Germany, tell me, why these cuts are purely out of gameplay reasons, not because of social reasons.

I say that focussing on just the weak points of a game is not worth called a critic. If you don’t look at every corner of the game design and every aspect of the game, sure you just see the failures of the game. However the game includes details that many people definitely miss just because they look at the object or graphics quality but not at the object itself and its function in the virtual world.

It’s so amazing what you’re thinking after reading my post. I wasn’t talking about the game teaching or discussing memes. Instead I referred to the excessive use of memes on many internet platforms and how this evolved the culture of discussion. And Watch_Dogs just added them as a gimmick, as something that is part of our technological life like the smartphone which somehow encouraged people to share selfies with a Duck Face. (and the last part of the sentence included a neologism and a meme)

Just read my profile description, then you know it didn’t teach me anything. I didn’t say that I learned something from it. I just wanted to state, that it has some criticism in it and that developers have put some thoughts about specific actions and scenes, which they personally wanted to emphasize. And the game proved yet again that it was the damn right decision not to join any social network or at least leave it before the big boom happened several years ago when people started asking for your social account to get in touch with you. It made me realize that the interconnect between several systems to one technical ecosystem leads to a single point of failure (see smart home).

#21

car windows do brake if you shoot at them. Only windshields are made with tempered glass.

It just feels like watch dogs is missing so much. It is alright but feels rushed and incomplete, especially with games like GTA V out there that had so much more. The hacking could have been so much more interesting and fun than it is too.

#22

It’s not about tempered glass but about composite materials. There is an inlay in modern car windows that prevent them from braking or bursting, at least in “better” cars. You can break the glass but the foil inside will prevent it from breaking like seen in the Mafia video.

In GTA you could break car windows with your ellbow on the first strike. THAT is much more unrealistic… :wink:

#23

I was testing the breakability of my car’s windows in Watch Dogs and with a pistol it took about half a dozen shots for one to shatter, less with more powerful weapons.

However, when I melee-struck one of the doors, it was knocked off the hinges.

1 Like
#24

I apologize i didnt read what i wrote first what I meant to say was that all windows but the windshield are tempered glass which makes them shatter in to small pieces. Windshields have the lament type material that makes them stay intact through breaking. Breaking through side windows is actually very easy and they can be shot out with a bb gun. Yes more cars are using laminated side windows but its definatly not the majority. But maybe where you live its different.
In watch dogs he will also smash a window with his elbow.

#25

People are extremely disappointed in Watch Dogs because they allowed themselves to be overhyped and expected the most amazing game they will ever play, then when it didn’t live up to their overhyped expectations, instead of realizing that they themselves expected way too much, they blamed it on the game being overhyped. It’s not a bad game, I wouldn’t say its the game of the year, but its not bad.

#26

To be fair, Ubisoft really helped the hype with all that “next-gen” graphics and whatnot, when it later turned out that they severely downgraded it from their E3 demonstration. As far as gameplay goes, I recently picked the game up, it is pretty decent.

#27

I think the Graphic are decent, of course all the big editors lost my trust and I don’t give to much importance for what it is coming from the E3.
But I have tested the game (on a friend PC).
Didn’t liked the car handling on the car smuggling mission, and the Police pursuit gameplay. Very simple mechanism, the police car spawn just just after you get in the car. Then the pursuit is Pathetic, they seems to not collide against the NPC’s car, and just ram you like they don’t care about there own life.

Mafia II was much better IMO on this aspect (car handling and IA)

UBI soft simplified gameplay signature. Not interested in this game anymore and 45 euro saved

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