AIDEN UNMASKED
1. Totally kicked the crap out of a guy named Maurice within the first half hour. Aiden isn’t just a mere “hacker.” He’s a man you don’t trifle with. Nice to see this established early on in the story. [G]
2. Also established early on: Why Aiden Pearce is so angry. The bad guys killed his niece. Heart-wrenching but effective; now I genuinely care about Aiden and his mission for vengeance. Also, that’s messed up. [G]
3. Friends are good to have, even when you’re a gruff, gravely-voiced loner like Aiden. Of course, a friend like Jordi Chin, whom I met in the first half-hour – and who’s crazier than I am in the game… well, that makes for an interesting dynamic, and it’s a mere taste of the kind of company Aiden keeps in Watch Dogs. [G]
4. Hey now. I have a crush on Jordi Chin. He’s funny, he can get me out of a tight spot, and he keeps bodies in a freezer in an ice cream truck. What more can a girl ask for? [A]
5. By the way, you can change clothes! Midway through my play session, I slipped into a crimson coat. Because why not. Anne, however, took the more fashion-forward approach by donning the ugliest clothes she could find. It looked like someone chucked a bunch of paint all over Anne couldn’t have been happier. (I’m not so sure about Aiden, though.) [G]
HACK AND ATTACK
6. Remember the Super Bowl blackout a couple years ago? Well we have a feeling that might have been Aiden with his awesome Blackout hack. I used it four times – twice to escape the police, once to cause a distraction at a ctOS control center, and once just for fun. [A]
7. Distracted some guards by setting off car alarms and remotely opening garage doors. Then I ran up behind the individual guards and whacked them on the back of their heads. [G]
8. Discovered a bizarre fetish in a guard’s profile and used it to strike up a rather creepy text conversation to distract him while I snuck by. [A]
9. Unlocking a ctOS Tower is essential to open up more hacking opportunities in every area. But it’s not as easy as pointing a phone at a giant antenna and pressing a button. With one tower, for example, I had to hack everything from a construction lift to several cameras (to find out where the boxes are that unlock various doors). These tower unlocks are full environmental puzzles in themselves. [G]
10. Crafted a lure to draw nearby guards away from my location. Crafting is intuitive, and lures work like charm. (Get it?) [A]
11. Carefully placed some homemade IEDs around a construction site using info I obtained from hacking into a surveillance camera, then blew up some gang members when they showed up for a meeting. Fun! [G]
12. I spent a good chunk of change on a sniper rifle and spent about five minutes using cameras to mark all the enemies in a ctOS control center so I could pick them off from a distance. [A]
13. While infiltrating a gang hideout I used a crane to drop a shipping container down on top of a few guys. I got to take them out from afar and they never even suspected I was watching them. [A]
BRIDGE & TUNNEL
14. Spent 10 minutes trying to run a car down during a mission, until Anne leaned over and said: “You know, you can hack that steam pipe beneath the road and simply blow that car up. It’s much easier and a lot more fun.” So I did. And she was right. [G]
15. Stole a boat and drove it as far out to sea as I could, raising every bridge I drove under so I could inconvenience the citizens of Chicago. [A]
16. Tried to evade the police by land and sea, but ended up on a slowpoke water taxi. ProTip: Water taxis aren’t good for evading police. [G]
17. Stole a semi-truck. Those also aren’t good for evading police, but they sure can take a lot of damage. [A]
18. Was amazed at how much cash people leave in their car gloveboxes. Who carries cash anymore? Not that I’m complaining… Almost every time I stole a car, I got a little extra pocket money [G]
19. I spent most of the demo on a motorcycle. They’re perfect for triggering blockers because you can just weave right through. They are less perfect for changing the stoplights because one solid hit from another car will send you flying. [A]
20. Drove at the highest speed possible, then ejected myself from the car right into a crowd at the bus stop. The waiting citizens were none too pleased. Also, I died. [G]
21. I couldn’t always track down a motorcycle, but thanks to Jordi that wasn’t a problem. I was able to use a cars on demand service to get “gently used” vehicles of all kinds sent right to my location. [A]
APPS AND ENTERTAINMENT
22. Found a perfect spot to try out NVZN, the AR game that’s loaded onto Aiden’s phone. I shot aliens. I could’ve played it for hours. And I probably will when the game comes out. [G]
23. Played a few rounds of a different AR game where you leap over obstacles trying to get to the finish line while avoiding skulls, which cause you to lose a coin. [A]
24. I am not hip. But the music in Watch Dogs is. So I used SongSneak to figure out what I was listening to, steal it, and create my own playlist. Neat. [G]
25. I spent a good half-hour messing around with the Spider Tank and Madness Digital Trips and then went through withdrawals for the rest of the demo. Gary says I have a problem. [A]
26. Arbitrarily set a cutoff number for hacking people’s account. In other words, anyone making less than $35,000 would get the money stolen. Yes, less than. I’m not a nice person. [G]
27. Used the Companion App against Gary and laughed when the police I sent after him gunned him down. [A]
27a. Made Anne stay late to finish a work project that could’ve been completed the next day, simply because she kicked my butt using the companion app. Oh wait, this isn’t technically a Watch Dogs gameplay thing… [G]
28. Spent three minutes following a leaf around testing the animation to see if it would disappear. It never did. [A]
29. Agonized for a good 10 minutes about where to spend my skill points. Watch Dogs has a robust, choice-driven skill tree that allows players to customize their progression to suit their play style. It’s easily sorted and intuitive, but I couldn’t help obsessing over which skills I’d unlock during the all-too-brief demo. [G]
30. Got frustrated with a Living Statue and pointed my gun at him. He ran. No tip for him. [A]
31. Tried to find the fastest way to lower my reputation. Apparently, stealing a firetruck, then chasing down the fireman who I aggressively ejected from the vehicle and running him over, then running over everyone else gathered around, is quite effective. [G]
32. Played a round of high-stakes poker, using the cameras in the room to profile my opponents so I would know when they were bluffing. [A]
33. Watched a bucket drummer for a while. Because it’s Chicago. [A]
34. Tried a leap of faith off the roof of a building. Apparently, my faith wasn’t strong enough. [G]
35. As a last resort, I jumped off a bridge and swam away to escape the police. Apparently, my faith was stronger than Gary’s. Also, when jumping, aim for the water, not the concrete, Gary. [A]