Meet Aiden Pearce. A stable, “tax paying American” to the outside world is really an expert hacker whose allegiance belongs to an organization called DedSec. Not much is known about their intentions, but it is clear that they aren’t the only ones waging war in the digital realm. During a “routine” info leeching session between Aiden and an associate, another keyboard warrior gets in the middle and begins snooping around into their activities. Arrogantly, Aiden’s partner keeps the connection “hot” too long, and their personals are obtained by the intruders. Shortly after, tragedy strikes Aiden. And the DedSec disciple plans to settle the score against those who have wronged him. This sets the stage for a tumultuous, action packed campaign that shows off the best of Ubisofts heritage while rewriting some of the pages in the third person playbook.
The main missions consists of five “Acts,” each with a varying number of individual chapters. It’s through these events that the rich Ubisoft pedigree of solid gameplay can be observed in two main ways: sneak and shoot. Most of the time, Aiden works alone. And predictably, the forces that want him dead have dozens and dozens of goons and minions at their disposal. So for a given situation, it’s always a good idea to see if you can stealth your way to the next objective. To do this effectively, you’ll need to use the 21st century tools WD affords. The Smartphone is the defining construct of this game, to which all other components reside around. Chicago is conveniently controlled by one operating system called ctOS. It interfaces with utilities, security systems, financials, transportation, you name it. DedSec has developed sophisticated apps that can take control of ctOS run devices and bend them to the user’s will. What this means for playing the game is that you’re never really alone. The city is your virtual playground. Tapping X launches your mobile device into scanning mode. When not “on duty,” placing the reticle over the faces of the Windy City’s inhabitants brings up personal info and may give you the opportunity to retrieve vital information. When their info window goes blue, hold X to capture their intel. Whether it be the location of crafting supplies, bank account numbers to withdraw funds from ATMs, or just a new song for your music player, there is an obscene amount of stuff just waiting to be taken from random passer-bys.
When entrenched in a mission, these hacks make silently taking down several baddies a synch. Use the hundreds of ctOS security cameras to survey the immediate landscape and plan your attack strat accordingly. Need a way to get an armed guard closer to you? Settle adjacent a parked car, hack the alarm system, and jump out spamming B when he’s in range for that ninja style takedown that is oh so satisfying. If you’ve played Splinter Cell or Assassins Creed, this cat and mouse game will come very natural to you, and knowing when to strike will be effortless. To take it a step further, Aiden’s Smartphone can scan enemies much like citizens, but with a twist. If their info window goes red, they can be hacked differently in one way or another. Sometimes it’ll let you “distract” them by affecting the bidding war of an online auction in which they’re taking part. When they look down to see what’s what, bam!. If the guard is wearing a hidden camera, you can see that perspective and get an inside view of the level. My personal favorite is being able to arm an explosive device, blowing them and all those in their immediate surroundings into next week. Couple that with an attention grabbing distraction that gets a crowd around them before wirelessly pulling the pin, and you really start to understand the tactical possibilities of WD.
Your cache also has handy gadgets to take things a step further. Crafting items attained by hacking pedestrians and finding the location of item drops are used to created these nifty, one use machines. Lures are plant-able beacons that attract the attention of those within hear shot. Jam Coms disrupt the streams of data for those in pursuit of you, like police scanners, in a limited area. Perhaps the coolest of the bunch is Blackout. When activated, all electronics within a few dozen feet get temporarily taken out with an EMP blast. When backed up in a corner, this is a great way to bring about the veil of darkness and slip past everyone for a (hopefully) clean evasion. Coupled with awesome stealth action is very solid gun play. The shooting mechanics are really good in comparison to other third person titles of similar means. Pistols, SMGs, assault rifles, shotguns, snipers. They all work well when utilized within their predictable limits. Don’t try to take someone out from a hundred yards with a sidearm and don’t attempt a no scope from point blank with a long range option and you’ll be just fine.
The well done mechanics allow for epic gun battles. Going from cover to cover, switching weapons as you go to adjust to the enemies within range is organized chaos. NPCs are accurate, smart, and fearless. If you spend too much time trying to take out one pesky henchman, expect to get flanked. And with the extra motors in the One’s pad, WD channels its best Michael Mann impression in the heat of battle. The one odd, and unexpected difficulty is the face button orientation. Entering and exiting cover is done with A, not B. When button assignment muscle memory overrules collected concentration in times when things go from bad to worse, the Pavlov dog B button mash made me an easy target. This isn’t a demerit I’m counting against the game, but surveyors of the “stop and pop” style will be in similar circumstances during the first few hours of play. At any rate, this one-two combo of sneak and shoot displays that patented Ubisoft anxiety; something that can be felt in the publisher’s best franchises, in full, grand display. Unfortunately, the last main pillar of gameplay isn’t as sweet as the aforementioned duo. The driving mechanics are atrocious. Accelerator and brake response feels lag-y, collisions with other vehicles and map objects aren’t rational in terms of action/reaction, and turning can be described as gliding an ice cube around a hot skillet. Motorcycles are smaller, so they leave a little more room for error, but crashing too hard will sling Aiden off the bike; so, it’s really a case of pick your poison.
Sometimes during your random scans for info, you’ll stumble upon intel that will lead you to one of many side missions. WD does a phenomenal job with gradually indoctrinating you into each mode when appropriate by giving you a comprehensive and insightful guide into that activity before your first attempt at each. One of the first ones up is Crime Detection. The Smartphone will afford the option to set a waypoint to the potential heinous act by pressing down on the D-pad. Once there, you’ll need to go all Tom Cruise and try and prevent the crime from happening or at least stop the criminal if that effort proves unsuccessful. For this activity, take a “hurry up and wait” attitude. Hustle over to the site and quickly profile either the victim or perpetrator. It’s not absolutely necessary to ID both, as one will inevitably lead you to the other. Instead, use that little bit of spare time to survey the immediate landscape and located potential places to stay out of view, but within striking distance of the altercation. Criminal Convoys require you to either kill or knock out the “VIP” that is not-so conveniently wedged between vehicles with guys armed to the teeth. Ramming the focal vehicle will make the motorcade stop, and the target will often reveal himself. Problem is now you have the agro of everyone involved with keeping them save. Use cover and gun down the guards before turning your attention to the VIP. Gang Hideouts might be the most challenging of the bunch. Across Chi-city, certain buildings are occupied by organized crime outfits. Your task will be to merk everyone in said area to rid the place of the squatters. Just like in main missions, carefully carving out a “take down strategy” while engaging in shootouts when applicable is key to success. Also, during your snooping, be sure to profile the guys who can call for reinforcements. As tough as things can get as it is, the last thing you needs is more peeps invited to the party. Do all you can to incap these “high value” targets before the rest.
Another block of side items are labeled “Fixer” activities, all of which involve getting behind the wheel to earn cold hard cash. Decoy forces you to reach checkpoints in a certain amount of time to keep the heat off of your “employer.” Steal the marked vehicle in Getaway contracts, and evade the fuzz to accomplish the mission. Interception requires the hacking of information from someone in another car. Once the extraction is complete, take them out! Stealing cars sound fun? Take up a Transporter deal and boost one after the other while keeping the rozzers off your back to make deliveries with “clean plates.” If more sneak is what you’re after, hacking ctOS installations should curb that appetite. Control Center events occur at ctOS data/server locations that control each main area of the map. Find and hack the security guard with the access codes, then either methodically subdue each guard quietly, or open fire on the lot of them. Once cleared out, it’s time for an extensive server hack visualized by flow pipe puzzles. There are “nodes” that supply a stream of data. All nodes within a given puzzle must be connected to one another by turning several joints that direct the flow of information. Once you get the hang of them, there not that hard. That is until you run into nodes colored red instead of blue. These are timed nodes that put you against the clock to complete the hack before ctOS initiates an alarm due to the breach. Once all the puzzles are solved, you’ll unlock all the hacking abilities in that area of Chicago. This opens the door for those highlight reel quick hacking moments like flipping a traffic light when being chased by police to cause a pile up and springboard your escape. Tower missions fall on the laid back side of WD, but tease the mind a little more. Hack cameras to reveal the location of electrical lines needed to be activated to open a ctOS “backdoor” that intrudes on the privacy of Chicago-ans. These invasions unlock other missions and/or offer items like money.
To further the options of play, WD has an array of mini-games. Some keep you active in the city when participating, like chess and poker. The coolest of these is NVZN. When started, the viewable portion of the city becomes an augmented reality laser gun game where you have to pbast away neon colored aliens with an imaginary blaster. The best part is the way you look like a crazy person to the citizenry. For more intense experiences, check out Digital Trips. These actually take you out of the regular environment and loads up very different versions of the city. The idea behind each of them is taking a main gameplay aspect and running with it to create a whole new experience. Take Spider Tank, for instance. Destruction by way of weapons is turned to 11! You’ll pilot a huge mechanical spider armed with a chain gun and missiles to cause mayhem by completing round specific challenges. Amazing, “mindless” fun that showcases the fine damage system coded into the game. For the stealth inclined, Alone is the top option. Darkness envelopes Chicago, and Aiden Pearce hating androids will stop at nothing to kill him before he powers the grid back up in that area. Watch for the glare of their robo eyes and sneak in behind to create a clear path to the generator that is usually planted right in the open, away from all convenient cover. And don’t think these activities are skimpy. When I looked at the map for Alone, it seemed like I was looking at dozens of power beacons that needed my attention. And with the difficulty and frequency of enemies ratcheted up every round, it’s hard to imagine what those last few areas must be like.
With the plethora of aspects to the game, it would be difficult without a readily accessible, easy to use organization system. Fortunately, simply tapping up on the D-pad displays Aiden’s Smartphone interface. The in-game UI supplies you with up to the second info on any and all aspects. Check on your progression for main missions, side missions, mini-games, and more. Load the Skills Tree to upgrade Aiden’s attributes in Hacking, Combat, Crafted Items, and Driving. Check out Fixer contracts and load one up right from the phone. Adjust the SongSneak playlist to tune in or tune out individual music tracks. Open the DedSec Field Guide for all the tutorials. Being able to access these libraries at any time without actually removing yourself from the game (i.e. a pause menu) is incredibly intuitive and makes this big virtual world very accessible.
Woven seamlessly, I’m talking seam-less-ly, into the single player is the online component. There is no main menu selection for Xbox LIVE. No “extra” menu that loads up a different portion of the game. None of that. Purple will become synonymous to you for highlighting and identifying online activities. Hit start to access the Online map. From here, you’ll chose which of the match types you want to queue up. Once your selection is made, you’re returned to the game while you wait for another player, or other players, to accept the challenge. Hacking is a 1v1 scenario in which the objective is for one player to hack the other’s phone, mine data, install a backdoor, and high tail it before the target profiles the hacker. Tailing is similar, but the hacker only needs to extract data, no install here. For the 1v1 stuff, the “other” player appears as a random city dweller, not as Aiden. You’ll need to quickly scan the relatively small area the match takes place in to ID the “real” person. To get more peeps involved, Race is a good option. Take part in an array of competitions with variables like vehicle types, lap or point-to-point, and more. Don’t forget to hack items like steam pipes and bridges to knock your rivals off their chosen lines. In terms of what’s currently available, the crowning jewel of online is Decryption. Two squads with up to four members each must race to the data file and extract it. Once in possession by one player, the decryption process starts. It’ll be up to the rest of the team to keep him/her protected by any means necessary. And the file progress is shared by both teams. If the first team gets to 34% and has the file stolen, the opposing side continues at 35%. It takes the territories match type and puts it on the run. Very, very fun. A really cool feature of Decryption is when multiple teammates are within “connection” distance of the item, it speeds up the uploading process, so communication and staying together is paramount to sustained success.
The sights and sounds of WD ‘s metropolis is very well put together. The lighting effects are superb. Being able to clearly discern areas of dark and light in terms of providing cover from enemies without the needs of a “stealth meter” can’t be easy to design. This dev team did it, and did it attractively. Most of the character models are great and the animations are clean, particularly during cut scenes. But some stuff, like (strangely) certain types of hair, come off as block-y. The details of the city are spectacular. The richness and scale of each highrise nestle gently within the grid of roads, sidewalks, and public train rails. And when day gives way to the lights of the evening, even more eye candy is brought upon the vista. What isn’t so awesome are the few “wooded” areas. Foliage looks stale and uninspired, with not much “life” at all. The trees and tall grass stand rigid with little movement. Luckily, there aren’t to many times a mission will have you intersect with the game’s less-than-pretty visuals. The sounds is awesome. VO work is done very well, and turning off subtitles does much to create an enthralling narrative experience. And when the action cranks up, so does the noise! Those gun fights that are so great get the ante upped by loud, yet precise and clear, clatter of weapons and bangs of explosions. This puts those expensive Dolby certified headsets to perfect use!
