Two years ago, at E3, Ubisoft dropped a bomb on to the world when they debuted Watch Dogs, a new, next generation open world, seamlessly connected IP. The premise of the game was like nothing that had been attempted before, the possibilities that the gameplay promised, endless. And yet, in spite of all of this, it was the game’s graphics, then stunning and well beyond anything that the world had seen till then, that caught everyone’s eye and fueled their imagination.
When Watch Dogs got delayed late last year less than a month out from its release in the holiday season, people panicked a little. When it was re-revealed earlier this year, with a new story trailer that looked noticeably downgraded from its initial reveal (exaggerated accounts would have you believe that the game looked like a late generation PlayStation 2 game; yes, 2).
However, Ubisoft believes that the game will still look amazing when it releases, that it will compare favorably to the E3 2012 debut demo, which they maintain was just a demonstration of ‘the potential that could be achieved’ with this game.
“People look at things and interpret things based on what they know,” Morin begins. “You cannot control that. I think the game compares greatly to E3 2012 if you use the same weather at the same place at the same time. People are really responding to stuff like reflection, to rain, things like that – which is why we chose those settings for E3 2012 to show the full potential we can get.
“But it’s equally spectacular for me to look at twilight time with clouds and no shadow and it still look good. Even the PlayStation 4 version compares to the E3 [2012 build] pretty good. There are resolution differences, one or two effects which are more dedicated to high-end PCs. But in the end I think it’s pretty fricking close.”
‘Pretty fricking close’ is of course subjective, and it remains to be seen how players respond to the actual in game graphics. However, in all this hullaballoo about the graphics, I fear the true issue has been overlooked- the game itself looks nowhere near as exciting as it did at its E3 2012 reveal.
Watch Dogs releases in a month on Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, and PC, with a Wii U release to follow later this year. Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage.
