14 DAY TRIAL // The world of Watch Dogs was designed in a such way so that all sorts of things will affect it in various ways, from simple events like the rain, to more complex ones, like the actions of the player, who controls Aiden Pearce and decides what his behavior should be.
Watch Dogs promises to deliver a more realistic open world experience in which hero Aiden Pearce uses not just his fighting and shooting skills, but also his hacking abilities to take down all sorts of shady individuals.
The world of the game, which takes place in Chicago, was designed with the help of the new Disrupt engine, so as to react to all sorts of events.
"In our city we simulate the way people drive cars. The electricity is simulated. The water is simulated. The wind is simulated. Everything reacts to everything. Making all those systems talk to one another is where you get branching reactions," Senior Producer Dominic Guay told UbiBlog.
The developer then exemplified his statement with the reactions of the citizens when it starts to rain, as all of them will pull out their umbrellas and walk more slowly so that they don't get wet.
Other events, like car crashes, will have different repercussions, such as traffic jams, and can cause different reactions from drivers, as some will start honking while others will get out from their cars to check out the crash.
The player's actions will also have an impact on how citizens behave, largely thanks to the reputation system that will shape the public image of Aiden Pearce depending on choices made by players.
"The reputation system isn’t a good or evil meter. It’s actually the perception people have of your actions. It completely affects how the city will react to you. If you run around just taking everybody out and killing tons of people, the citizens are going to think you’re kind of a jerk and they’re going to call the cops every time you do something wrong. You’re going to get spotted by the media more," Animation Director Colin Graham said.
"We think it’s much more empowering to the player if he feels like he has made an impact on the city," Guay added. "We want him to make his own decisions instead of us forcing decisions on him."
Watch Dogs will appear in November for PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.