Watch Dogs 1 in 2024 is NOT THE SAME GAME 

I fought 10 long years defending this game and seeing how the public opinion of it has shifted is a breath of fresh air for sure…

10 years!? God, where did the time go....

I played Watch Dogs as soon as it came out in 2014 and it is still one of my favorite Ubisoft games ever.

Just strolling through the streets when its a rainy night, listening to my favorite songs and looking for crimes is something I never get tired of this game

Still the most misunderstood game of all time. To this day people still don't realize that the main character, Aiden Pearce, is supposed to be unlikeable, he is not a hero, the game is about how wrong vigilantism is and how Aiden falls into this rabbit hole, this cycle of violence and murder that completely ruins him and the people around him. Despite the fact that he goes against very bad people, he isn't a good person.

Watch dogs as an IP had a lot of potential

I LITERALLY just finished my very first play through of Watch_Dogs 1 last night. I wanted to kick myself for missing out on such an awesome game over the past decade. The timing of this video dropping today is CRAZY!

Blacklist was so underrated. Can’t believe it’s not talked about more tbh and I loved the first splinter cells

Watch Dogs is basically the TV show Person of Interest in video game form

Watch_dogs 1 actually make you feel like THE protagonist

Crazy how Cyberpunk repeated the SAME EXACT mistakes Watch Dogs lived through a generation prior

I still gets flashbacks of that trailer every now and then - it was just such a moment

Wtf I've been replaying this this week. You spying on me. Jake?

oh man this was the game that inspired 17yo me to study CS in uni and pursue a career in cybersecurity and finally landed a $50/hr job. thank you ubisoft

It's actually ironic that WD1 and DL2 both had controversy about their E3 trailers vs the launch product, while both protagonists are named Aiden😂

1 was underrated AF, 2 was ok, and Legion was...well you know a shitshow.

I'm glad I'm not the only person that remembers the ambush mission that plays Wu-Tang Clan in the background

7:09 Story still bland??? WTF Dude??? This is a pretty great story. Not crazy interesting or anything, but it's nowhere close to BLAND

People denied themselves an aamzing game because the puddle was smaller and there was no leaves in the air, insane. Game was amazing story and gameplay, let alone the multiplayer was out of this world

Watch Dogs 1 is one of 3 single player games that I've played thr campaign of more than once. While the game isn't perfect, the atmosphere is AMAZING. You feel like a real life batman, saving the city in the shadows but in a realistic way. 2 had the better gameplay, 1 had the best story, and 3... well yeah.

The _original_ trailer made it look like a PS4 Pro game. Oh, Ubisoft! 🙄🤑

I was there when the trailer dropped. After years and years of PS3 360 gen I remember the trailer being so mind blowing. Watching it now, it's the little things, the way the wind blows stuff across the street and how Aiden and NPC clothes and all fabrics on screen react to that wind. The passing subway train's lights and the complex shadows that it leaves. In hindsight all that is so much processing power being used for subtle things, it was glorious but it was never realistically possible. I think a lot of it was developers that had been stuck on last gen hardware like forever finally having a chance to unleash and show everything that they'd been dying to work on and try out and they got a little carried away in their excitement, got a little too ambitious and threw in EVERYTHING new and groundbreaking they'd been waiting to try with no solid idea of what next gen hardware looked like. I'm in a weird place with Watch Dogs because I was blown away by what I saw and thought it was the future of games and when it came out I was disappointed that it didn't live up to that trailer. At the same time I was still blown away by what we did get. It was still one of the best looking games of the time. It was still a huge leap over everything that came before. The game still looked glorious in the rain, at night. The depth of field bokeh effects were still amazing. The rain in slow mo still looked phenomenal. The gameplay was different and lot of fun too. Being able to stealth entire gang hideous by hacking stuff everywhere was insanely cool! So yeah it was a weird game that really disappointed and amazed in equal measure

i saw watchdogs and i just clicked

spider tank is still one of my favorite gaming moments

The character development that Aiden gets in the Legion DLC would've been handy back in 1. Also, T-Bone was an awesome character.

I think Watch_Dogs 1 was the best of them because of the story. Just one guy on a mission to take matters into his own hands after his life was destroyed. That sense of underdog justice while pulling all the stops against a large evil entity is hard to capture as well as Watch_Dogs 1 did. The later games were essentially just teenagers messing around and it's a lot harder to feel immersed into the story. Also Aiden is not a plank, just very introverted.

i played this game without mods in an xbox 360 at the time i played it, i had never felt something like that from a game, the graphics, the story, the animations, the action gameplay, the lighting effects... even without mods or something, this game hits different for me, even tho i had already played gta 5 before this just felt... better, in almost any way and for me its kinda sad that people think that this game only can be saved with mods because it isnt like that im pretty sure that some people who played it with mods saw things and thought "oh wow, this mod really adds cool details" only to turn out that those details where already in the vanilla game, thats kinda sad.

I lived in Chicago when this game came out, maybe I'll re-visit it virtually again, even if it's scaled down

10 years… It’s so weird how I link my memories and longer periods of times to games as a 30-something guy. “Oh man, 2008 feels like ages ago, GTA IV came out that year and I have so many vivid memories!”, or “2013! I remember that year because of Battlefield 4!”. Same with Watchdogs. Really liked that game, maybe it’s time for another playthrough ten years later (and with much less time hehe).

There is no Watch Dogs without Aiden Pearce. Amazing story. Love this game, mods or no mods. Thanks for this vid!

I always loved Watch Dogs from the pure fact that it had one of the best cities in gaming. Chicago felt like a truly lived in city, and the attention to detail was mind-blowing. I'd sometimes just walk down back alleys and take in the ambiance and was just blown away at the time.

I love seeing these 10 year retrospective from you guys.

Watch dogs 1 was one of if not the first real ‘mature’ game I’ve ever played, And I’m damn glad it was lol

To me, Watch Dogs has always looked gorgeous, ever since the first reveal and even on release. Never understood the backlash due to downgrades. I enjoyed the game all the way, and it was on a fat PS4, just to add. Glad to see the recognition it gets these days.

Man this is one of the best games I’ve ever played. This story would never be made today.

The Matrix Awakens gave me WATCH_DOGS vibes too. I didn't even notice when it switched from video to game

I live in chicago now, and loved the first game so much that I bought, and wear often, a replica of Aiden's cool coat! Despite it's flaws, I loved the dark, serious feel of the first game. I think they oversteered into the silly and absurd for the second game, and then couldn't decide where to land for the third. The first game just felt so different from every other game world. I liked that for most of the story, Aiden's goal wasn't to destroy the system, it was to exploit it for his own ends. Rarely do we see a main character in a distopian world who isn't there to change the established order, but just to survive and thrive in that broken system. It made Aiden feel more real to me, like he was just some talented guy in this world, not the typical "main character" type we see so often.

This first game is still one of my top favourites to this day. They really did nail the atmosphere and gritty and dark tone for this one... but then Watch Dogs 2 had to go and exist and just ruined it. I don't know what it is - the characters, the fact that there's so many of them, the whole followers thing, the devices... I just felt like it strayed far too far. Don't even get me STARTED on Legion! Watch Dogs 1 was THE definitive experience for this IP and yeah, it still holds up. I do wish there was more to the Digital Trips, those were still pretty awesome.

Watch Dogs 1 really was game-changing. How intractable the world is makes it fun to even walk around. Wish it was worked on longer originally and had more content but mods work

What an excellent surprise of a video, I was pondering just last week whether I should finally start my first playthrough and what mods I should use, thanks guys! Would LOVE more videos like this where you highlight essential mods for older games. Might work well for the Bethesda games, maybe GTA, some racing games, some others :)

Holy shit it still looks good

Been telling people for years that this is a very solid game

What still amazes me is that it looks worse at release compared to the game play shown. 10 years after and people still somehow have faith in them to pay $130 for 2 skins and cut content to sell again. They're definitely not paying to get it 3 days early. You're paying extra to play the demo before day on patch erases all your save.

A month ago I just bought all 3 of the series in a bundle and I'm glad you posted this video... when I get home I'll look for those mods and maybe try them. Thank you very much for this video and keep it up!

Aside from the main gameplay, some of the digital trips are really great and not talked about enough imo. Alone in particular stands out as stellar to me; I used to put so many hours into it and would love to see how it looks with amped up lighting and graphics. Spider tank was a blast too

Its a shame ubi has buried this franchise ... Cant get enough of the first game

have played thru the campaign multiple times, had the bad blood dlc, and more. just started replaying again today and came across this video… insane timing… and to think a decade ago i asked my dad for this game.

I will forever love this game ❤ has a special place in my heart

This is the game that got me into high score runs. I was 1st on spider tank for years

I really do hope they do another watch dogs back to routes, legion was fine but def nothing compared to 1&2, i would love to hack my way through Canada or France, especially France but as A SINGLE PERSON!!!!!!!

This game was such a treat to find after having bought it on-sale years after release date and not even trying it until years after that. The 2nd game was different but I still enjoyed it none the less. I love the pop in random pvp invasions, hunting players was so fun.

Watch dogs 1 is my favourite game of the franchise. Always been. Always will.

Aiden pearce is still one of my all time favourite video game characters❤

I counted down the days from reveal until release! I can’t believe it’s been 10 years already!😢

3:19 to get to the point

I own this game on the 360 and Xbox One. Do I like it? Duh. I've actually been thinking of getting it on PC with the Living City mod but was waiting for a bit more coverage hence the beauty of you. Personally, though I own both 2 and Legion, I don't like them. I got both because of the first one; was disappointed with the story of two - while 1 was a bit bland, it was also serious. 2 wasn't whatsoever. Legion's trailers and first mission seem to be serious but that was just another illusion. Now, for various reasons, I completely distrust and loathe Ubisoft, so I doubt I'll buy any Watch_Dogs 3/4 based on trailer or gameplay reveal alone. Oddly, it wasn't 1's fake gameplay trailer that put me off, it was the narrative lies of the future games.

The first game was not a massive disappointment, it was a fantastic game ahead of its time. The only reason it got hate was because of the visual downgrade from the original E3 trailer from the trolls.

Days when companies showed actual gameplay in reveals

Im surprised there are still some watch dogs fans!

I literaly have never played this game and just got a used copy today it was $5 but cost me nothing at gamestop because I get $5 a month in store as a pro member. So I just played like an hour of it today and it holds up really well

Holy shit 8M subs? Congrats, it’s well deserved!

Bro. No hate, IDK what you are on about, on the game being bad, The game is incredible, when I first bought it in 2014, I remember I had a gt 740M with an i5-4200u, That I was able to play at the lowest setting at 720p, and completed the game, it was awesome, The game was really ahead of it,s time. Even today, the game feels updated and like it belongs in the moderan era, and this game can still squeeze my gtx 1650 off, which is insame.

Ubisoft back then was something else entirety. I rem reading gaming magazines and concept of original ac completely blew my mind. They were so innovative and trend setters. Now ubi is a joke

Current gen upgrade helped it on consoles with a 4k tv you can have that slicker look to it

I always enjoyed WatchDogs and it did have a bad start but I think the biggest nail in the coffin was actually the sequel. They took the best parts of the game, made it seem like they were improved, but then made it worse. One seater busses, killing off cool characters, too open of a story, advanced the tech up too much, removed the nightly aesthetics, nerfed multiplayer (while simultaneously making it better customization wise like WTF!!), better interactions and NPCs while making there actually be have said NPCs persist, and the list goes on. I remember playing HOURS on WD1 in like 8 player servers doing roleplay to missions to other tomfoolery. I even remember going BACK to it when WD2 was unplayable due to the broker servers being down. But I never completed WD2 nor spent as much time in it as the first. WD1 was my first open world experience, and honestly to this day I find it better than GTA because it was more locked down. Yeah, it did not have as much ability, had quite numerous bugs and the sort, but that locked down charm incited a lot of creativity for the player, from casual kids like me to players more interested in the story. Plus, even though some of the story is cringe, the motives of good vigilantism is a great moral. I played it when I was definitely too young to play (12, APPROVED BY MY PARENTS, which was wild) and yet it only made me think of real world problems like addiction and trafficking and how to fix them. Not to mention the whole jist of the right to repair and screwing big corpo. It holds a special place in my heart.

They really invested them into the game. Not many games can present the cold but at the same time vibrating city in the autumn. Its a shame that the game did not reach the full potential. Still, one of the best games I played.

Even as someone with nostalgia for old Ubisoft (ala AC1 / AC2, Far Cry 3 etc) and burn out of current Ubisoft, I checked out Watch Dogs 1 & 2 after this video... and ma... I'm having a blast playing these on my 4080 desktop with the mods and steam deck as well running great. Funny how games that didn't necessarily get the greatest of reception or were over looked have aged pretty well. Simpler times, good times.

I'm so glad this game is getting the love it deserved. I was OBSESSED with this game in 2014. Everyone hated on it but I enjoyed the heck out of it.

I played this for the first time a couple years back. AutoHDR shines too. My only gripes are the elevated black levels. This game would be so much better with proper black levels.

Gameranx: "The city of Chicago is just a cool city." Me: Yeah, back in the 1990's, but not now.

I'm replaying the game right now and it's such a good game. The visual and detail on stuff still blows me away.

It was one of the first games I pre-ordered and remember playing through it and absolutely loving it It didn't live up to the hype, but going in without expecting that level of hype it was still an awesome game. Ten years later it's one of the only games I regularly find myself thinking "I wish that feature was being copied into these new games"

I loved this game and the stealth. It also had something cool I wish all games had, it’s during gunfights enemies think you are in one position which allows you to sneak around them while they still look where they thought you were.

its so weird that you're documenting this as if its a really old thing when i vividly remember watching the first trailer and just absolutely stunned at how "different" it was. its like thinking the graphics we have right now are the best and nothing can top it, then bam watch dogs out of nowhere just changes the whole thing. i also remember the massive waves of disappointment from it because i was one of them, i recall really feeling bumbed out about it and everyone was comparing it to gta.

I bought this as my first game with my ps4 in 2014, and im glad i did cuz I really enjoyed playing it, I finished twice. The only problem is its getting more like impossible to finish th final missions. However after sometime i realised people were attacking the game, i was confused for real

2:43 why he sound surprised when he say that?

played all of them. the first was still my fav, so so so underrated even until today

If they just made a new Watch Dogs game with Aiden as protagonist...

A great part of Watch Dogs 1 which was completely absent in Watch Dogs 2 , was the fact that it played like realistic high-tec-batman-with-guns simulator. Aiden Pierce is literally Batman, that game was so fucking cool, I liked it, might've been the first game I ever actually finished. two thumbs up.

I miss this ubisoft. I was always excited for a new game from them. They pushed unique IPs notobley stealth and they always had some amazing mechanics that still stand out today.

I remember how original Grid game by Codemasters looked great before release, which wasn't the case, when the game was eventually released.

The game has a great atmospheric soundtrack as well. Listen to it once in a while. Alone was my favorite digital trip, but Madness is close second, brings back memories of Carmageddon lol.

I never seen the trailers for it when it came out. I just remember getting it as a birthday present and playing it all night. I didn’t have any expectations or anything, so I just enjoyed the game for what it was.

God dammit!!! Thank you Jake! After a decade, this finally feels like justifiable closer. This was a nexus point in game presentations. It's wonderful to look back at this moment.

This was my first ps4 game as a kid, it holds a special place in my heart

Always liked this game. For anyone who plays it on just consoles and cant use pc mods to change the graphics, a setting i used before i got the pc version was to turn brightness down it really enhances the mood of the game

Watch dogs 1 and 2 were absolutely amazing, the general atmosphere, the visuals, the story... And it's still good today, i replayed both story mode plenty of time

I finished recently Sleeping dogs on the Steam Deck. I just came across your video and it looks like that could be my next « old open world » game to do on the SD. Looks like a good candidate. Thanks for the video.

I remember I used to play this game. When it first came out. Despite the graphics being a huge downgrade, I indulged in the game a lot. I was a total monster in the online, not getting hacked. I used to blend in so well. It was kind of criminal.

I swear if they used the hacking elements of Watch Dogs and the heavy stealth of Splinter Cell. Oufff.

I won't get tired of repeating it. 2014 is the best, the boldest year for Ubisoft games, period. That company pushed next gen to another level with AC Unity, then WD, and also FC4. All my favorites. Had they not gotten all that hate, these games would be receiving goty anywhere possible. But they had to overpromise and rush everything to ruin it...

My 2 favorite E3 presentations were the Fallout 4 reveal in 2015 and Bioshock Infinite 2011. Much like Watchdogs, the Bioshock Infinite that we eventually received was not the game we were originally promised in the trailer, but it was still really dope.

Working on "no lethal kills, minimal direct combat, ironman" run in Legion currently. Recently finished WD1 and WD2

I can’t believe they got rid of the slow motion in the other games it was rlly good with the animations. Made you feel like John wick

I remembered watching theradbrad's playthrough of Watch Dogs back when it came out, and I was a 7th grader. Now, I'm a working adult. Time really flies so fast.

I worked on Watch_Dogs. That footage was carefully crafted on a triple Crossfire & SLI so 2 systems running maxed out. It was amazing.

I always titled more towards Watch Dogs 1 more than 2.The concept of the game in an open world sense was a breath of fresh air, I savored every moment of it.WD 2 was a bit of a let down partly because I wanted the same protagonist and a subsequent continuation of the storyline.

The shipping container safehouses were so appealing and badass to me. Im still surprised nobody ever mentions it and how nobody decided to recreate it

Same happens with ghost recon Breakpoint. It was hated in the beginning but now its one of the best open world milsim experiences you can get. Especially when you mod it.

I remember watching it live, I was just blown away! It was arguably the most impressive surprise presentation at a E3 event ever for me!