Watch Dogs – Hacking Into ctOS To Take Down a Gang Hideout
After a prolonged spell in development and a seemingly insurmountable amount of hype lingering over its head, it’s no wonder that Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs proved to be a flash in the pan. Granted, its staying power wasn’t aided by questions of graphical downgrading not to mention its uninspiring story, but the studio still showcased some intriguing, futuristic gameplay throughout the open-world that served as a promising foundation of what to come in the inevitable sequel.
Given that Watch Dogs largely orbits around ctOS — a fictional operating system that effectively controls Chicago in Ubi’s Orwellian world — it’s no wonder that the best moments from the title stem from the ability to hack into the various systems and wreak havoc on just about anything. And while the amount of freedom isn’t as expansive as the marketing campaign would have had you believe, infiltrating electronic devices, cameras and traffic lights to manipulate the world around you still proved to be a liberating and empowering experience.
And this was especially the case when it came to taking down one of the in-game gang hideouts. Much like the outposts in Far Cry, this strand of side-missions forced Aiden Pearce to take down a number of guards in whatever way you see fit — whether it’s operating a crane to drop a shipping container or causing a nearby control unit to explode, these excursions encouraged a sense of creativity and experimentation. And given that the world of Watch Dogs and its story only offered up a fraction of those lofty, overblown expectations, these gang hideouts proved to be a welcome respite.