WATCH DOGS: Genesis

WATCH_DOGS: Genesis is an open-world action-adventure video game developed by Freefall Interactive and Ubisoft Reflections for PS4, Xbox One, PC and Mac, and published by Ubisoft. WATCH_DOGS: Genesis was released both digitally and physically on Turn 52.

Gameplay[]

WATCH_DOGS: Genesis is aimed to have the gameplay that the original WATCH_DOGS was anticipated to include by hyped fans; the criticised 'half-baked' aspects of the original game are being heavily addressed and overlooked collectively by the dual-development between Freefall Interactive and Ubisoft Reflections:

Ubisoft Reflections have cracked down on certain gameplay mechanics such as the driving physics and gameplay, and keybinds that can now be altered to suit the player's desires, and also keybinds/layouts for other significant gameplay elements - this could range from driving, hacking sequences, to hand-to-hand combat and freerunning, etc.

The gaming world of WATCH_DOGS: Genesis is aimed to be much larger and even more immersive than its predecessor, with a focus on creating an immersive, hand-crafted and seemingly humorous open-world (dystopian) exaggeration of 2006.

As the story progresses, the player can notice changes in the game world - ranging from adverts on billboards, banners or boasting high-street screens to actual, significant changes in the game world environment.

The protagonist will never adapt to the influx of dramatically developing technology unless it is through story progression or through the player changing the character themselves. After all, it would be horrible to go through a world that is constantly changing around you, like an everlasting period of weird cyber-puberty, right?

One of the goals of the game's control/gameplay emphasis is to make the player feel truly in control of everything: from the first prototype - named 'Precursor' by the anonymous curator - phone the player receives to grasp the first development of what would become the infamous, CtOS.

'Precursor' prototype possibilities[]

The phone is a one of the key features that is to be expanded upon in WATCH_DOGS: Genesis compared to its predecessor. Despite the drawback of technological capabilities, the array of wherewithal will consist of more than a few shortcut blackouts or environmental triggers. Although the concept of how the shortcut system works via the phone from the original game is extremely authentic, for the sake of enthralling entertainment, facilities will be expanded for use in both singleplayer and co-op game modes.

Game testing[]

Public beta tests for WATCH_DOGS: Genesis began in Turn 47.

Beta v0.51[]

Following the commencement of public beta tests, a patch was released in Turn 48, addressing particular bugs and glitches, as well as some minor content updates.

Beta v0.60[]

In the wake of the fully-fledged release of the WATCH_DOGS: Genesis public beta last turn, it brought an inevitable fluster of 'wanting more' from gamers, even with the added content; most of which have been addressed this turn. Minor bug/glitch fixes (from the new content updates) and [the] content updates [themselves] include the following:

Content updates:

Co-op gameplay is now coming close to the final release, now featuring more engaging gun-play sequences similar to the original game, including the features promised, such as a more dynamic cover system, a broader angle toward the hacking aspect of the original game, innovative co-op scenarios in an even more abounding game world - in both size and milieu.

Singleplayer, being practically identical to the gameplay of co-op, incorporates the respective updates that correspond with singleplayer gameplay, as well as exclusive extensions; a new introduction is the categorisation of goals that the player will be able to complete throughout the game world. Some of these goals may tie into the main story, potentially expanding into a non-linear network of sub-plots that all form back together to result in one of the 3 - yes, this has been diminished for the sake of maintaining dramatic power, as well as allowing the end of the main story to live up to the player's 10-hour progression.

NOTE: THE SINGLEPLAYER MAIN STORY MODE WOULD TAKE ROUGHLY 10-HOURS TO COMPLETE ON A SPEEDRUN. Co-op varies completely, but singleplayer co-op is estimated to take between 5-8 hours. Multiplayer co-op is essentially what AC:U would be in the WATCH_DOGS universe, with the addition of creating your avatar from scratch, as well as decorating him/her with items earned through multi-player co-op progression, such as better weapons (guns, melee weapons or tactical 'Precursor' capabilities, all of which can be customised to the player's liking), better equipment (which could be aesthetic, tactical, protective or a balance of the three) and even better skills:

'Precursor' innovation:

Depending on who players meet throughout the game world, hacking puzzles can become easier through progressively learning their respective skill, as well as other skills. The 'Precursor' phone is aesthetically similar to the not-yet released iPhone, except more cuboid-shaped and is ARM-based, while manipulating network towers to root the phone to Marcus Caiden's computer with his development from the Kraken OS - the operating system both Marcus Caiden and Raymond Kenney were working on prior to the Blume shutdown. Marcus Caiden uses the root on his phone to manipulate the electronic link of typical public entities, such as traffic lights timers, gas pipes. However, players must hack into power boxes ranging to two-faced cooperation buildings all over the map if they wish to someday garner complete control over the game world...

Combat:

If players like getting into fights a lot - whether it is mindless shootings of people of authority, innocent bystanders or the player takes the time to master melee skills - they are going to garner some sort of advantage in combat. Evidently, there is a skill tree, like the previous game, except that instead of just big branches then smaller branches, there are leaves now too. This is part of every skill tree, and allows a more personified dynamic for gamers: Guns can be mastered, allows the player to reload faster, swap guns faster and deal more damage (including criticals, depending on what kind of gun). Melee combat can be learnt in different ways, however, not much light is shone on this combat aspect until multi-player co-op, as Marcus Caiden only knows karate and jiu jitsu, as well as boxing, when it comes to hand-to-hand melee combat, otherwise, all other combat abilities are just as fruitful and dynamic as co-op. The moral of the multi-player co-op tries to convey the upcoming apocalypse of the rising trend of social networking, as the public gradually drain away their privacy through naivety of the plan of the future. Due to this worldwide threat, players are able to travel to certain parts of the globe, such as Japan, South Korea, Africa and other countries. Despite the transnational scope of reachable areas, only certain portions of these countries are available to explore. However, upcoming DLC could expand upon this. Players are also able to study the arts of hand-to-hand combat, such as those Caiden has. As well as this, certain areas expand upon the outlook of the multiplayer co-op storyline, which allows more than just juggling a few combat techniques, weapons, gadgets or whatever else for players to play with.

Bug/glitch fixes:

No bugs or glitches were discovered during debugging this turn.

Beta v0.7[]

WATCH_DOGS: Genesis has seen yet another update this turn, with an even larger expansion to the maps size, as well as the environmental vitality receiving attention: Map size/content:

The game has now seen an improvement to the map size; fleshing out the already existing areas, as well as adding a considerable number of new ones to explore, most of which are within North America, but also others in some parts of Europe and Southern Asia.

Atmosphere:

The atmosphere of the game has been improved upon from the previous update, now providing a more involving and immersive game world, providing more both aesthetically and interactively.

Story[]

The story of WATCH_DOGS: Genesis revolves around talented [now] grey-hat hacker, Marcus Caiden, whom after the events of the prologue, uses his electronic and digital prowess to delve deep into the web, in order to find out what really happened to his former workplace, Blume.

After eventually catching up with his former boss, Michael Blume, asking about the whole situation, he explains to Caiden that he had lost everything after a compromise in the encryption architecture of the program Caiden and Raymond Kenney were both developing, had been penetrated by an anonymous source, resulting in the loss of Blume's entire legal documents and overall identity of itself as a business, and the employees involvement with it. Michael Blume also gives Caiden a nickname, that he cannot work out for himself, hoping Caiden can make some sense of it.

Using his own encrypted network set up beforehand. Marcus Caiden browses the deep web, asking around with the mysterious nickname given to him. Caiden eventually receives an encrypted response, and after decryption, it reads the following:

"I can help you, but you cannot throw that nickname around a place like here so hastily. I know who you are, and I know what happened to you; I've organised a meeting with a nodal doner, meet him at St. Louis."

It takes a few minutes, but Caiden realises that Nodal Doner is an anagram of a street local to him - London Road, Delaware - but is unable to decypher the St. Louis location...

More soon.

Caiden later discovers that he was fooled by Blume after discovering that he sold the company and its assets (including the project they were working on) to an onimous source, presumably federal.

Reception[]

WATCH_DOGS: Genesis opened to very positive reviews from both critics and gamers alike. Following the release date shift from Turn 50 to Turn 52, fans were not disappointed with a spiritual predecessor to an original game that left a void in a lot of people's hearts. The game currently holds a 4.4/5 on Amazon, and an 81/100 on Metacritic.

Here is a synopsis review by IGN:

"Freefall Interactive lands with their next game, a prequel to the controversial Watch_Dogs. This time, we weren't promised anything by an E3 trailer, we didn't see much except a public beta prior to release. The game itself is a step up in many regards to the first, both in a story and gameplay perspective. The combat has been reworked to be more fluid in close environments, and it works great. The hacking system is a huge upgrade, and infinitely superior to the one in Watch_Dogs. While the game retains the big city feel, and has a likable protagonist, the story gets mildly convoluted in its own politics. Still, this is a new protagonist with a lot more to offer than Aiden Pierce. The game is undeniably fun, especially the reworked online, which I found myself sinking hours into. Watch Dogs: Genesis isn't the type of game Freefall was expected to deliver on on all fronts, but it met enough expectations to make it worthwhile. The coop is fun, if not revolutionary. I definitely recommend this one." Overall Score: 8.5/10

Teaser Poster[]

In Turn 44/45, Freefall Interactive leaked a teaser poster for their upcoming game, WATCH_DOGS: Genesis. An article of Behind The Scenes covered a Q&A interview hosted by Joao Diniz Sanches from The Guardian, featuring FI Lead game designer, Kane M. Doolan. The interview was finally disclosed in Turn 46.

Prior to the reveal of the full interview, a teaser poster for the game was released: