Home Gaming Watch Dogs wants to give GTA a run for its money

Watch Dogs wants to give GTA a run for its money

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Watch-Dogs-1

Every genre has a king. With fighting games, it’s Mortal Kombat that sits on that bloody throne. Racing games have a parliament that consists of Forza, Gran Turismo and Need for Speed. And when it comes to sandbox, GTA is still undoubtedly lord and master of that side of gaming. Over the years, there’ve been quite a few attempts to regicide that position away from GTA. Some have come close, others have failed miserably. But this year, it looks like Watch Dogs might be able to pull off a dethroning. Hell, they’re pretty confident about it themselves.

Speaking to EDGE, Ubisoft executive Alain Corre spoke about how the publisher and developer was hoping to turn Watch Dogs into a major brand, much like Assassin’s Creed. “What we want with Watch Dogs is to try and crack a new genre, which is the open-style GTA genre,” Corre said.

Yes, Grand Theft Auto is one of the biggest brands in the industry and everybody respects the brand and we’ll have fun playing the next one too, but I think Watch Dogs’ positioning is also on next-gen, bringing a lot of features – connectivity, interactivity, companion gaming and so on which is bringing some freshness to the genre.

As for the fact that GTA V is around the corner for a September release, Corre felt that this would serve as an appetiser for their hacktivist game when it was released at the end of the year. “When you have a great product in our or any other industry, it also excites the appetite of a lot of consumers in that category. People interested in racing games will buy many racing games if the games are great,” Corre said.

So we think that we can even benefit from the fact that Grand Theft Auto is coming. The spirit will be that this kind of game is great fun and I think Watch Dogs can also bring a lot of the same fans.

Watch Dogs looks promising to me. The visuals are sublime, and the hacking hook could let it stand with other genre big guns such as Sleeping Dogs, Red Dead Redemption and GTA. The game is scheduled right now for a multi-platform release across current and next-gen machines, which could also give it a leg up over GTA V which will only be hitting Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

At the end of the day, no one knows if this game will be a bomb or a bust. But it’s the one thing that this industry and genre sorely needs. And that’s competition.

Last Updated: February 27, 2013

30 Comments

  1. Watch Dogs had me at the first trailer. There’s just something about the feel of this game that GTA lost a long time ago. This might just be the game that persuade me to buy a PS4/Xbox720.

    Reply

    • Jonah Cash

      February 27, 2013 at 11:31

      This is the only game that would make me buy a next gen so far, but seeing as it will come to PS3 and Xbox 360 I don’t have too. So will wait for the cheaper slim versions of the next gen consoles…. Is there any games mentioned at the PS4 launch that will be exclusive to next gen???

      Reply

  2. Admiral Chief Erwin

    February 27, 2013 at 10:05

    I think its going to be epic.

    Also, Skyrim is my bloody sandbox FUS RO DAH!

    Reply

    • Sir Captain Rincethis

      February 27, 2013 at 10:17

      GTA 5 isn’t on the PC? Trollolol 🙂

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief Erwin

        February 27, 2013 at 10:25

        Tbh, a bit GTA-ed out 🙂

        Reply

      • Tim Green

        February 27, 2013 at 10:38

        Yeah, even though PC is where it all began with GTA 1 and 2 QQ

        Reply

        • Sir Captain Rincethis

          February 27, 2013 at 10:41

          I think it’s really wrong to be honest. This is what is killing the industry, corporations that only appeal to easy-to-develop (and PS3 trololo) platforms. Do you think it’s something to do with piracy?

          Reply

      • mornelithe

        February 27, 2013 at 12:10

        It will be eventually, it was last gen, and it stomped the dog meat out of the console version . Graphics and view distance aside, I prefer not having to load new areas every 20 seconds, beside, PC Gamer’s don’t mind waiting for the superior version. Trololol.

        Reply

        • Sir Captain Rincethis

          February 27, 2013 at 12:15

          Well said hehehe 😉

          Reply

    • Tateboetie Malaaitie

      February 27, 2013 at 10:32

      Arrow in the knee mumble mumble mumble……….

      Reply

  3. mornelithe

    February 27, 2013 at 10:14

    Oh…well, looks like I’m holding off on Watch Dogs. Sorry guys, that’s like trying to get me to buy another game when Gran Turismo comes out….but, I will get it.

    Reply

  4. Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

    February 27, 2013 at 10:15

    The game looks like i could really be a contender. However I am afraid of 1 thing:

    Reply

    • OVG

      February 27, 2013 at 10:44

      But you will still buy your season pass pre-order, because only gamers buy shit before its made. :p

      Reply

      • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

        February 27, 2013 at 12:15

        Lol. Thankfully no. I am on a strictly no pre-order/day 1 purchases since Diablo3.

        Hey, would you look at that! DIII was good for something after all 🙂

        Reply

        • matthurstrsa

          February 28, 2013 at 07:27

          Yeah, I’m in the same boat as you. Kindly pass the rum there chap. Sure you lose out on some crappy pre-order bonuses but you also manage to avoid the stinky overhyped games.

          Reply

          • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

            February 28, 2013 at 07:30

            *passes the rum*

    • Admiral Chief Erwin

      February 27, 2013 at 11:22

      choo chooooo

      Reply

      • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

        February 27, 2013 at 12:15

        Hehehe

        Reply

  5. Uberutang

    February 27, 2013 at 10:20

    Watchdogs will get my money!
    GTA…if they release on PC and they show it the care and love it needs, will also get my money…else I will just play it anyway.

    Reply

  6. Mathias

    February 27, 2013 at 10:24

    I am kinda hyped, but I’m also aware that it is Ubisoft here, so let’s not fool ourselves… Wait and see, wait and see.

    Reply

  7. Sargon

    February 27, 2013 at 10:25

    Watch Dogs is available on PC and GTA V isn’t? Easy choice, then.

    Reply

  8. OVG

    February 27, 2013 at 10:42

    GTA wins hands down. All thanks to some of the best script writing in games via Dan and Sam Housers satirical British humor.

    Red Dead Redemption in LA next time round with more RPG elements AND PLANES. But my enjoyment all comes down to the narrative.

    Reply

    • Sean Carbutt

      February 27, 2013 at 12:04

      Watch Dogs may be a good game when it comes out and it may appeal to a broader audience due to the PC domponent, but don’t even think that it will get remotely close to GTA, a fart in a windstorm would have a better chance. Lets just look at the basics. Take a couple FPS games like COD / B3 etc, they sell around 8 maybe 10 million copies and are considered great games. For Watch dogs to start to pee in the big fish tank it would have to sell these numbers. Now they want to play with the Rottweilers, but piss like a puppy, methinks not. GTA IV sold over 25 million copies, yes folk 25 millions of them purple dildos beating people to death.

      Reply

      • OVG

        February 27, 2013 at 13:14

        Not to mention the budget comparison. ROCKSTAR make games with blank cheque books. 100million for GTAIV and 60million for Red Dead. Ubisoft dont throw that much money around.

        Reply

  9. Macethy

    February 27, 2013 at 11:23

    Watch Dogs is definitely getting my money! Lost interest in GTA years ago and I love Ubisoft with all their awesome games lately. Plus, GTA on XBOX/PS3 = R720, Watch Dogs on PC = R345 (estimated)

    Reply

  10. Eetcarr

    February 27, 2013 at 12:45

    Mortal Kombat on the thrown? Accordingevry major fightinggame tournament in the world, it might not be. Great game tho.

    Reply

    • Johan du Preez

      February 27, 2013 at 13:35

      huh ? nm read that part again in the article 😛

      Reply

      • Eetcarr

        February 27, 2013 at 13:53

        Ja, Mortal Kombat doesnt have as much hype at the big tournaments. I know it’s an unrelated comment to the actual topic. Sorry 🙂

        Reply

  11. Johan du Preez

    February 27, 2013 at 13:32

    woot its coming on pc just realized it now this is gonna kick GTA’s ass.

    Reply

  12. matthurstrsa

    February 28, 2013 at 07:28

    Hopefully this game lives up to promise. The trailers are looking good, so I’m avoiding videos/trailers of it until its released.

    Reply

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