Playing Differently | Watch Dogs - No upgrade playthough

Watch Dogs didn't set the world on fire on its release, but it was still a fun game nevertheless and scratched that next-gen open world game for me at the time. One thing that struck me was how quick you can die. The game pushed for stealth; utilising the environment to your advantage. Strangely this went to odds with the fantastic gunplay, probably some of the best in an open world game of it's kind.

Aiden Pearce - everyone's favourite protagonist

The game features a skill tree which offers a range of upgrades. Initially I was going to ignore this entirely. However my only exception was the hack skill tree simply because it's a unique mechanic to the game and is a core gameplay element. The other abilities on offer are arbitrary upgrades that provide no additional gameplay features. Greater accuracy? reduced recoil? Not only does this dilute the gunplay to aim and shoot, but goes against the game's push towards stealth and environmental takedowns. 

Upgrades like less damage from small arms fire further encourage a wreckless approach to combat scenarios. With your hacking abilities, it encourages players to think about the environment as a weapon by utilising your hacking abilities. All of Watch Dogs upgrades can be summed up as either reducing the skill needed to operate weaponry and vehicles or encourages a combat heavy approach.

So without any of these upgrades the game takes an almost strategic approach where non-silenced firearms are more of a last resort. Guns feature a lot of recoil but deal a lot of damage and feel great when they land. You're also supplied with less ammo too which means you have to calculate if you're going to have enough ammo to get out alive once you're spotted. I won't lie, the game can become frustratingly difficult at times. Being spotted can lead to quick deaths if there's too many enemies around - but at the same time, makes combat encounters more tense and really pushes you to use your environment the best you can. Using heavy weaponry is always a last resort - as it should.

When it comes to vehicles, they feel absolutely fine. Your car acts as any other car you find driving around which brings a level of continuity to everything. With upgrades, any car you enter automatically gets upgraded to withstand more damage. Doesn't this just encourage to stick to one vehicle for longer periods? During my playthrough I always had to think about how long my car will last, always scouting for somewhere safe to jump out and quickly get into another vehicle.

So when it comes to Watchdogs, I think the game is drastically enhanced without following the majority of upgrades. It was challenging at times, but it complimented the stealth mechanics and pushed you towards using the main theme of the game - which is the hacking abilities. Honestly, it felt like this was the main way to play the game once you drop the game's difficulty down a notch. 

Overall I think Watch Dogs succumbs to the generic addition of a skill-tree with no real thought into its implementation. It feels tacked on and unrewarding, why would you want abilities that move the game further away from it's unique theme and into another sandbox shooter? It was rare to play an open world sandbox game where gun fights where are actually discouraged and is exactly what made my Watch Dogs playthough way more interesting.