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What do you want to know about Watch Dogs? Ask us anything!

Watch Dogs reviews are appearing now, which means we can finally talk about it. If you have a question you'd like to ask about the game, big or small, now's your chance to fire them at Dave.

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Hello people, well its finally here, so I thought I'd try something a little different. Instead of having you just read our review and look at the scores on other sites, I thought I'd open the floor to Watch Dogs questions Reddit-style.

Oh, and you can check out my Watch Dogs PS4 review and our score round-up through the links.

If you want to know anything about how the game runs, if it's fun, what the online modes do or anything like that, please do hurl the questions at my face (in the comments below). I'll catch them with my beard and do my best to reply.

I'll update this page with questions and answers as we go. We're a busy bunch so I'll do it when I can.

Thanks. Let's go!

Q) From Dog4Life: Is there nudity and t*ts like GTA ?

A) Not all the time, like, there aren't prostitutes or anything like that but there is one mission that is full of it, and it leaves a pretty nasty taste in the mouth. It's a potentially controversial scene that you'll probably see other sites writing about soon.

Q) From IonizedPope: I’d really like to know if there’s a certain amount of freedom in how you approach missions.

A) There's a great deal of freedom actually, and I'm glad you asked this as I was a bit concerned that the choice would feel quite 'binary.' So here's a practical example; there are Gang Hideout missions that ask you to wipe out a whole area of goons any way you like.

I can stealth it by hiding then hacking through the area using cameras, triggering grenades on a guy's belt to blow him up, drop a crane on another group's head, blow up fuse boxes to take out another guard, and more. Or I can just pop out and shoot them all.

You can also craft noise-makers, proximity IEDs and frag grenades. There's a lot of options in there, and these areas are designed with multiple routes, vantage points and more. I actually came away thinking I had a great degree of freedom, while cursing myself for not completing some encounters completely undetected. If you're a stealth fan you'll like it.

Q) From Logion: Is it fun to walk around in the city or can it get frustrating due to random events or just civilians being annoying?

A) It is fun yeah. You can press square (I was playing on PS4) to open Aiden's profiler app and just scan people for information, or to steal cars, money and new songs off them. There are random muggings and events, and even phone conversations to tap into.

There's tons to discover in that regard and the hacked conversations can be quite funny. I tapped into some guy's phone and he was speaking to his mate who was a contestant on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? He was his phone-a-friend and was helping him answer a question.

Walking around is fun because the city feels alive, and it looks great on new-gen, especially when the weather kicks in. There's a real sense of place in Watch Dogs that makes meandering more enjoyable.

Q) From Zejfur: Let’s say you are chasing a criminal. If you shoot him in the leg, does it affect his ability to run?

A) Yeah, they'll collapse to the ground if you cap them in the leg. You can then hack their phone after they drop it. In some missions you'll earn good karma if you don't kill goons, but either shoot them in the legs or tackle them using melee. This affects how pedestrians react to you in the street. Because I have good karma they all stop to take my photo and shout out when they see me running by.

Q) From jos3moreira: You obviously can steal from people and empty any ATM machine you can find, but how does having all the money you want can effect the gameplay? Can you buy any weapons and such in the very beginning of the game?

A) I currently have more money than I need. It's easy to simply open Aiden's Profiler app then press square to siphon money from a person's account. You'll never, ever get caught, and while details about that person might make you feel bad at first - like, they have cancer or just got fired recently - I stopped feeling bad about it after about ten minutes.

You can't empty ATMS either. They're just places where you go to collect your siphoned money from NPCs. But yeah, you can buy weapons right fro the start of the game. Unlocking new weapons in gun shops is as simple as picking up a firearm from a dead enemy.

Q) From james_barber: Is it worth buying for the price?

A) That's a subjective question James, but personally I wouldn't have felt bad buying Watch Dogs. We're all different of course, so that may change from person to person. Honestly, it's a huge game with tons to do that plays a lot like a GTA game, so if you're feeling eager for a new-gen entry from Rockstar, this is the ideal replacement in my opinion. There's a lot of game in there for your buck.

Q) From Orakaa: What about the differences between versions? PS4 vs Xbox One? Old gen (PS3, 360) vs next gen (PS4, Xbox One)?

A) I've only played the PS4 version bud, sorry. But we did have some leaked Xbox 360 footage here last week. Sorry I couldn't be more help.

Q) From f1r3storm: Are there actual dogs in Watch Dogs?

A) Aha, I see what you've done there. No, I haven't come across any actual dogs in Watch Dogs. It seems to take place in a dystopia future where canine-kind was wiped out in some sort of terrible war. World War D.

Q) From jos3moreira: Is hacking superficial? What can you do? What's the best hack?

A) Stealing money from people feels a bit soulless as you never get caught, and I stopped feeling bad about it after ten minutes but you do unlock some really useful hacks that Ubisoft has kept secret until now.

In stealth, you can trigger a guard's grenade belt killing him and others nearby, pluck police helicopters out of the sky using a hack, drop freight containers on guards, burst steam vents to stun goons for a quiet stealth kill, explode fuse boxes to take out enemies, raise bridges to give cops the slip, smash pursuing cars into bollards and more.

You can craft noise-makers, throw and then hack them to activate, place proximity mines and activate them, use the in-game Shazam-style app to unlock new songs in the soundtrack, check into the game's version of FourSquare to earn and leave gifts from and for other players, and tons more. Certain hacks cost battery life, which recharges over time.

The best hack? I hacked an electronic Billy Bass toy in an office and it started flapping about while singing a violent gangster rap about fishing. 'F**k rods motherf**ker' and all of that. It was hilarious.

Q) From Legendaryboss: How is the online component, any problems? What modes does it contain? If you have played it what are your favourite modes to play? How did the online invasions work out for you? Last one how is the soundtrack?

A) That's a mouthful there boss, but here we go: The online component is superb and works a bit like Dark Souls in parts. The 1v1 invasions and tailing match-types are a riot as you try to outwit each other, and the Decryption battles are guaranteed to result in chaos. I had two-minute plus wait times for matches pre launch on PS4 though. I reckon they'll get faster in time. The second part of my Watch Dogs review journal is coming tomorrow, and focuses on online.

The soundtrack isn't bad but has a lot of artists I've never heard of. The neat thing is you can download new songs by hacking them off NPC phones, or by using the in-game Shazam style app to scan and save new songs. One mission I did over the weekend saw Aiden raiding a gang's turf to Wu-Tang Clan's classic C.R.E.A.M. I got the song as a reward for doing the mission.

Q) From GameHunter: How does the Wanted status and police chases work?do they shoot on sight,or they’ll try to arrest Aiden?

A) There's a few things at play here. Cops won't shoot you on sight but will put out a ctOS call if they see him doing something illegal. You can craft Com Jam devices using the weapon wheel that cut all phone calls in the area, so you can use this to stop someone calling the cops on you. A HUD pop-up lets you know when they're calling the authorities.

If you get spotted, ctOS will start sweeping the mini-map with green circles. If you manage to stay out of them for a while, the search will be called off, but if you stray into the search zone, the cops will give chase. You can shake them off by breaking their line of sight, and then escape the search area to erase your wanted level.

Or you could ram cops of the road, hack police choppers out of the sky, make them smash into bollards or do it the old-fashioned way by shooting them to bits. It's your choice.

Q) From kingofscotland: In your opinion has all the pre launch talk about delays, resolution, graphics downgrades etc been blown out of proportion?

A) I never really pay attention to these things. The delay - in my opinion - was a good thing because all too many games are being rushed to market to either appease investors or hit critical sales periods like Christmas. Ubisoft had the luxury of delaying Watch Dogs to make it better, which can only be a good thing. I could never see Activision doing the same with Call of Duty for example.

On downgrades, I think its all speculative unless there's clear visual evidence. That's something I don't personally have. My personal rule is if a game's fun to play or is interesting, then it could look last-gen for all I care.

Q) From Herobean: Is the length of the game comparable to GTA V? Story, side missions, collectables?

A) Watch Dogs is massive, seriously. Although the map size isn't as broad as Los Santos it's really dense with side missions, collectibles and more. Aside from campaign missions, you also have gangster hideout battles, gangster convey raids, car delivery missions, QR scanning puzzles, ctOS towers, ammo crate missions, DedSec package retrieval, AR games like Cash Run, camera infiltration missions, and online races, decryption, 1v1 and free roam on top.

On top of all of this there are five story acts with around 15 missions each, then four types of Digital Trip mini-games each with many courses each. It's a big game.

Q) From phillips1466: Could I avoid the nudity in the game by not doing certain things? (Not playing story or not hacking bank accounts)

A) Unfortunately not mate, the explicit mission I mentioned earlier is key to the plot and without sounding like social justice warrior, it might make a few players feel a little bit unclean. You have no choice in this instance I'm afraid.

Q) From ManuOtaku: The actions you take with all you get from the hacking, do change the world around you and how it reacts torwards you?, i mean can you create your own distopian world within the watch dogs distopian world?

A) It's not as tangible as that I'm afraid Manu. The extent of your actions is that that you'll hear news reports about your exploits over car radio, and depending on your karma you'll see pedestrians shouting out to cheer you on or stop to take your photo. The world itself won't change drastically in appearance.

Q) From T-Dawg6: How is driving in the game? I heard its a bit stiff. Also can you shoot while driving? & can you fly airplanes/helicopters?

A) You heard correct T-Dawg. Some of the cars are really sticky on the road, so you won't be pulling off Ridge Racer-grade drifts or anything like that. I would have liked it to have been a little slicker, but you get used to it over time. You can't shoot while driving either, and I suspect that's to make you use hacks while driving to give cops the slip instead.

Q) From siko1445: When is the explicit mission that you mentioned? Is it during gameplay or is it in cutscenes? Also can you skip cutscenes?

A) It's towards the end of Act 2, mission 14 if I recall correctly. It's in both gameplay and cut-scenes. You can skip some of the cut-scenes yes.

Q) From Gojira77: Wheres the first person driving from the persons perspective????

A) Hi Gojira, I'm writing this before my morning coffee, but if I recall right you can change perspective by clicking in left stick while driving. Apologies if I'm not remembering that correctly, but I only changed camera once in my play-through.

Q) From trent366: Will the atm hack be avalibel soon?

A) You cant hack ATMs I'm afraid Trent, you just visit them to collect money stolen from pedestrians on the street. You don't really need to hack ATMs to be honest, as there's more than enough money out there. I actually had trouble spending all of it.

Q) From OhKwaii: How Do You Do The 1v1 Hacking With Your Friend On The Multiplayer As I Can’t Seem To Find It?

A) Now this one I can't answer I'm afraid as I was playing pre-release before my friends all got the game. But on PS4 I clicked the touch pad to bring up the map, then hit R1 or L1 to go into the online menu, then I selected the 1v1 mode to begin match-making. Try looking in there.

Q) From chan827: I’m stuck in the beginning and I’m in the camera view looking at the security guards. I can’t get out of it to get back to where I am and ive tried tried every button what do i do?

A) Usually you just press circle/B to back out of a camera, or jack into another one by hacking it. Unless the mission strictly dictates you have to be in camera mode you should be able to back out.

Q) From Klapper: What am I able to do in multiplayer free roam? Will there be car customization? Can I create a team of friends and than join deceyption? What act is the nudity scene? Thank you in advance

A) Wow, a lot of people are asking me about this nudity scene. Anyway, in multiplayer free roam you can just do whatever you feel like. Hack stuff, raise hell, shoot up the place, race each other and so on. There's no car customisation, but you can unlock nitro boosts by levelling up in PvP. The nudity scene is in Act 2, around chapter 14.

Q) From Blazeultra: Are the nudity sections player controlled? Could I black the tv out(change channel) and return after it’s past? Or are you forced to play it(or else it won’t progress)? If you’re forced, can you just tap square(etc) to force it. Thanks.

A) It's not like a sex mini-game or anything like that. It's just a scene with a lot of naked women, and not under good circumstances either. It's a story mission so you can't skip it unfortunately.

Q) From Jo: How do u get onto multiplayer?

A) All you need to do is bring up the map then hit either L1/L2 or LB/RB to switch to the online view, then select a event. Watch Dogs will start matchmaking you against another online player. If it hangs you can hold left on the d-pad to cancel and try again with a new opponent.

Q) From Gheritt White: Are there any dogs that wear watches in the game?

A) Yes. That's actually the final boss. Also, the watch shoots lasers. (Not really)

Q) From blazeultra: Can you move the camera down, run past or shoot to scare everyone off(in the nudity scene)?

A) Yes you can pan the camera away from the nude people if you want, but I wouldn't recommend drawing your gun in that particular area. It's a stealth mission and I suspect you'll get an insta-fail.

Q) From T-Dawg6: Do you think this game has lived up to its hype & what would you rate it out of 10?

A) I think it has yeah. It's big, well produced, visually pleasing (don't listen to the pixel-counters, it still looks fine), and has enough content to justify your spend. As for scoring the game, I haven't attached a number to a game for years as I don't believe a digit can fully rank and represent a game. I prefer to write an article as informative as I can so you can actually read what it's about, rather than skip to the end and see the number without any context. Sorry dude, but just for you I'll give it 233 Dogs out of 5959 Watches. How's that?

Q) From Klapper: Do you think they will add car customization in possibly a later patch? Also do you think more things will be added for availabilty in the online free roam because in my opinion it got a tad boring going on a killing spree instead of say multiplayer missions

A) It's possible, but I'm sure - personally - how much of a difference it would make, unless you mean tuning the car and adding armour to it and so on? Paint jobs on cars are nice but I avoided all of that in GTA and such. It feels like filler, but I appreciate that many of you dig that stuff.

I'd like to see more things added to Free Roam yeah, as it absolutely will get boring without some new toys to play with in there.

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Watch Dogs

PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii U, PC

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Dave Cook avatar

Dave Cook

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Dave worked on VG247 for an extended period manging much of the site's news output. As well as his experience in games media, he writes for comics, and now specializes in books about gaming history.

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