Tekken 8

The Tekken saga has always been drenched in betrayal that helps it stand outfrom the rest of the crowd, but Tekken 8 pushes that intensity higher than ever. That increase in intensity can be felt across each punch, kick, and slam as these hulking behemoths fight each other to the death. The generational curse of the Mishima family continues, and we find Jin at an interesting crossroads – continuing down the dark path of revenge much like Heihachi or Kayuza, or try to become a better man and break free from the cycle of violence. The fights here carry emotional weight beyond the tournament stage, and that makes this journey a lot more compelling to complete than prior entries in the series.

Mass Effect 3

Bring up the topic of video game endings, and Mass Effect 3 will undoubtedly be mentioned. As the grand finale of a trilogy that honored hundreds of player decisions, Mass Effect 3’s outro felt incredibly lackluster and underwhelming. Heck, many 10-hour games contain more branching conclusions than ME3. But ME3 has a heart of gold that can get overlooked. Some of the most memorable highlights in the entire saga take place within the third game. Mordin has perhaps the most heroic moment of the series, and a hefty amount of story threads get a satisfying resolution. For players who were appalled by the simplistic ‘crayola coloring’ endings, it really is the journey and not the destination that makes Mass Effect 3 so spectacularly special.

The powers wielded through Watch_Dogs’ player-controllable hacker Aiden Pearce and his magical phone isn’t fanciful tech. If there was minor risk your personal information can be digitally extracted from a device in your pocket a decade ago, it’s a much realer concern now. In fact, the most far-fetched aspect of Watch_Dogs’ hacking is the instantaneousness of it. Even today in 2024, it’ll take more than a few swipes of a smartphone to turn traffic lights from green to red, but the power existed back then, and exists tenfold now.

When we approach the subject of whether Watch_Dogs was ahead of its time ten years ago, we’re not talking about its graphics or gameplay, its narrative, the detailed minutia of its open world or, as it is, the headline mechanic of hacking anything and everything. We’re talking about its overarching themes: the merits and limitations of emergent technology and the backdoors it leaves unlocked, the potential for security breaches, data leaks, the loss of privacy, public authority corruption, and the ramifications this has not only on individual citizens but society and democracy at large.

Taking place in a fictionalised near-future Chicago, a city with a centralised operating system in touch with everything, harvesting data from buildings, public services, and its citizens, where everything is a unified asset reduced to numbers. The potential pitfalls of a technological monocracy such as the Chicago in Watch_Dogs mirrors contemporary concerns surrounding the emergence of smart cities. For example, a business-first approach may lead to corners being cut where security is concerned, the potential stupefaction of the population who become complacent in their over-reliance on technology, and high levels of data collection leading to over-surveillance of the populace. A worry with smart cities relating to that last point is that mass collection and analytical analysis of citizen data could lead to predictive policing, or at the very least an avenue towards abuses of power by law enforcement.

Our morally grey protagonist wields this power at will in one of Watch_Dogs’ numerous side activities. These Crimes Detected side missions involve Aiden halting delinquents before they’ve committed any wrongdoing. Following a notification popup Aiden can scan and profile civilians in the area, with the potential perpetrator’s presumed future actions being whittled down to a percentage chance. If the potential is over 50%, then you’re likely to take this person out, as logically you’ll think there’s more chance a crime is going to happen than not.

It’s unlikely players will even stop to consider the moral ramifications of such a process. After all, Watch_Dogs is an entertainment product first and foremost, and side activities such as these are quite fun. Still, does Aiden Pearce, an expert hacker with a self-centred thirst for revenge, deserve this power? And if not, who does, if anyone? Is this an example of invasive technology being used for something noble? Or as is likely the sceptic’s opinion, is there too much nebulousness in a percentage to reliably predict someone’s actions before you exert lethal force under the guise of a vigilante? A vigilante, who let’s not forget, can easily syphon money out of your bank account.  

Watch_Dogs at least tries to posit the moral quandary in Aiden’s actions. As revealed when profiling bystanders, some of these people are struggling with child maintenance payments, are unemployed, or just down on their luck, thus making you consider if stealing their money is worth the resulting guilt. But, by and large, Aiden isn’t a good person, even if you did decide to play him as someone decent. His actions lead the very people he’s crusading revenge for into mortal danger, his selfishness in righting the wrongs befalling his past leading only to more bloodshed.

This could be a point the developers were aiming to make though. Our expert hacker Aiden masks the bottom of his face and dresses in a dark trench coat. His accomplices sport tattoos and mohawks. They’re the stereotypical image of a hacker, one who’s more entrenched in criminality than using their skills to highlight technological concerns.

In the real world, some hackers are problem solvers. Read interviews with how lead developers together with his science-minded associates and you’ll see the developer’s stance isn’t to perpetuate the myth that hackers are exclusively wrongdoers. No, after attending DefCon – the annual US-held hacking conference – the developer learned that an idea for Watch_Dogs which the team deemed too extreme and cut from the finished game was in fact a real-life hazard that hackers were able to expose. The team brainstormed the idea of being able to access an in-game prison’s security system, but attendees at DefCon demonstrated that a skilled real-life hacker could indeed pull this off, unlocking cell doors, releasing inmates, inciting riots and escape in the process. Also, at DefCon, an attendee’s presentation consisted of remotely hacking into a US city’s traffic light system and controlling an intersection’s signals from miles away. The company responsible for developing this intersection’s traffic sensors were telephoned during the presentation but denied their system wasn’t encrypted.

The developer describes in a separate interview about their trepidation in 2009 surrounding the emergence of smartphones, their promise of a convenient future loaded with question marks. This trepidation has led to Watch_Dogs’ prescience; for example, a year after Watch_Dogs was announced there was a leak of a highly classified information regarding surveillance programs, and during Watch_Dogs 2’s promotional run controversy emerged surrounding social media’s influence. These aren’t examples of the developer assuming things about the future, they’re the result of good research. The technology they were building into their game mechanics had to be grounded in the real-world.

To be frank, most sci-fi isn’t about flashy things like flying cars, laser guns, or cities stuffed with neon signs. Good sci-fi is to adopt contemporary concerns and demonstrate them in present day, in near or far-flung future. To take these ideas and push them as far as possible, exploring the ramifications in the process. It’s just that, sometimes art uncannily imitates life. No matter your stance on Watch_Dogs’ gameplay, graphics – which yes, whilst holding up quite well are still undeniably a downgrade on the 2012 E3 presentation – narrative, and characters, the game could be considered as important a sci-fi touchstone as any form of media, from Blade Runner to Deus Ex.

Exploring contemporary concerns was nothing new, but in presenting them plainly, without too much glorification, Watch_Dogs succeeds in portraying its ideas in a way that was ahead of its time. Some of the concerns with smart cities, a city run by single operating system for instance, is still unlikely to happen, but the repercussions of what is possible are explored in Watch_Dogs that is both entertaining and alarming. It took inspiration from the real world and amplified it, morphed into something that’s too likely for comfort.  

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Now, filming has wrapped as well, as confirmed by Ubisoft on Twitter. Filming on the movie lasted a little over two months. As previously confirmed, it stars Sophie Wilde (Talk to Me) and Tom Blyth (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes), with Christie LeBlanc (Oxygen) having written its original screenplay, and Mathieu Turi serving as its director. Turi is also set to direct a film based on Asobo Studio’s A Plague Tale: Innocence. 

It remains to be seen when the Watch Dogs movie will release. Meanwhile, the future of the franchise in the gaming space looks much murkier, with reports claiming earlier in the year that the series was “dead and buried” after the underperformance of Watch Dogs: Legion. Read more on that through here.

Specifically, Ubisoft has announced with a post on Twitter that filming for the Watch Dogs movie has started. The movie, as previously confirmed, will be directed by French director Mathieu Turi, who is also set to direct a movie based on A Plague Tale: Innocence, the 2019 action-adventure title developed by Asobo Studio.

The Watch Dogs movie is based on an original screenplay written by Christie LeBlanc, who is known for her work on Oxygen, and will star Sophie Wilde (Talk to Me) and Tom Blyth (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes).

As for the future of the Watch Dogs franchise in terms of a new game instalment, reports earlier this year claimed that the series was “dead and buried”, with no plans at Ubisoft to make a new instalment following the critical and commercial failure of 2020’s Watch Dogs: Legion.

Lights_Camera_Action.exe#WatchDogsMovie // @NewRegency pic.twitter.com/6z7uUibmOJ

— Ubisoft (@Ubisoft) July 3, 2024

PS5 players can play these through backwards compatibility, but in terms of exclusives, there’s Crime Boss: Rockay City and Deceive Inc. Meanwhile, both platforms can play sci-fi survival title Stranded: Alien Dawn. As for Classic games, available exclusively for Premium subscribers, there’s 2Xtreme, G-Police, and Worms Pinball. All three are playable on PS4 and PS5.

It’s also worth noting that Horizon Zero Dawn will be leaving the catalog on May 21st, so play it now while it’s available. Be sure to check out this month’s free PlayStation Plus Essential titles as well, including Destiny 2: Lightfall, Ghostrunner 2, Tunic and EA Sports FC 24. They’re available until June 3rd, though EA Sports FC 24 can be claimed by June 17th.

That’s as per Ubisoft-focused content creator j0nathan, who has claimed that the Watch Dogs franchise is “dead and buried”. Upon being asked about the future of the franchise and whether a new instalment is in the work, the content creator suggested that the franchise has been put on the shelf. Allegedly, after the commercial failure of Watch Dogs: Legion, Ubisoft cancelled a number of previously planned Watch Dogs projects, including “a fairly original” battle royale game.

Whether that means Ubisoft has no intention of ever developing a new Watch Dogs game remains to be seen, but it certainly seems like the franchise has fallen down the pecking order where the company’s priorities are concerned.

Interestingly enough, though a new Watch Dogs game may not be coming anytime soon, last month, it was announced that a movie based on the IP has entered development under New Regency. Read more on that through here.

Watch Dogs est normalement mort et enterré. Le bide de Legion a détruit les projets sur la licence (dont un Battle Royale assez original)

— j0nathan (@xj0nathan) April 21, 2024

Sophie Wilde, best known for her role in 2022 horror film Talk to Me, is in talks to star, while French director Mathieu Turi (who’s also directing a movie based on A Plague Tale) is set to direct. Christie LeBlanc, known for her work on 2021’s Netflix sci-fi thriller Oxygen, is writing an original screenplay for the movie.

The movie will be produced by Ubisoft Film and Television’s Margaret Boykin and New Regency Picture’s Yariv Milchan and Natalie Lehmann. Currently, there’s no word on when it’s expected to start moving through the phases of production, and a release date is unknown.

Grand Theft Auto 5 – Xbox 360/PS3

Rockstar delivered an excellent open world in the form of Grand Theft Auto 5, which features an extensive single player campaign alongside a live service multiplayer component that continues to rake in enormous cash to this date. Grand Theft Auto 5 was originally released for the PS3 and Xbox 360, and while it did certainly push those systems to their absolute limits – there were visible signs of crack all around. The textures were blurry, and the dense world streaming caused loads of slowdowns and frame rate drops which resulted in a very sloppy experience.

Further making matters worse is that support for the online component has been prematurely shut down for these platforms, and those who previously played the game on the seventh generation platforms couldn’t team up with those on PS4 and Xbox One. While that doesn’t completely ruin the enjoyment of the game, there’s little doubt that it is a compromising experience that would have been best if it was restricted to the eighth gen machines only.

Secret Ending – Gex

Gex was painfully unfunny throughout. Still, if you slogged and completed all of the hidden bonus rounds in each world, thus garnering all of the remotes, you’d gain access to Planet X. This is a fairly large world with eight levels and completing all of them will unlock a special ending. Unfortunately, it’s a bit…mixed in the “pride and accomplishment” department. It starts out with a text crawl calling you the best player in the world, universe, etc etc.

However, it gets oddly personal, asking if you have a life or just play games all day, and telling you to think about what you could have done instead of wasting time on Gex. “Go have a life,” it says, before adding “Get out of those superhero pajamas and do something.” Was this meant to be inspirational in some way? A “get your life together before it’s too late, kids” message? Regardless, you’re then treated to some concept art and the credits, which is sort of better but does little to soothe the emotional damage.