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They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery, and if that’s the case, the developers of Watch Dogs should be downright blushing. Now that the game has gone gold, publisher Ubisoft is rolling out their last line-up of trailers and marketing – but they’re getting some help as well. It isn’t hard to see how the seemingly limitless power at protagonist Aiden Pearce’s fingertips can fuel the imagination of today’s gamer, and one has decided to imagine a future while taking a trip back through history. What would Watch Dogs have been like if it was developed for the Commodore 64?
That’s the question answered by YouTube user ‘MajamiHiroz‘ who took the characters and gameplay of Watch Dogs‘ long-awaited open world game, and reduced them down to a 64-bit incarnation. We’ll admit that the video isn’t as visually stunning as the developers have promised the next-gen title will be, but there’s no question that the thrill of invading personal privacy and controlling the city of Chicago isn’t just as attractive in pixel form.
Just to cover their bases, Ubisoft has also released a fully-CG TV spot for the game, introducing audiences to Aiden Pearce one last time while giving a more… cinematic look at the hacking attacks and strategies available to players. Pearce may have his enemies, but this trailer shows how much power comes with the swipe of a finger – not to mention giving the first clear idea of what the upcoming Watch Dogs movie will resemble.
Fans may be disappointed to see that the next-gen gameplay and arsenal of the masked hero isn’t quite the reinvention of open world shooting that some had hoped. But even if Pearce’s bullets may be just as effective as his brains, control over a city’s infrastructure hasn’t really been explored in gaming thus far. What would it be like to have control over your surroundings? Would it turn you into the dark, brooding type like Watch Dogs‘ lead? Not necessarily:
There’s a good chance that the fan base’s excitement for the new Ubisoft series is currently split: there are those eager to see how the near-future franchise will complement the rest of the publisher’s catalogue, and others who are interested purely in the actual mechanics of hacking. Both of those groups will require substantial time with the finished game to issue a verdict on how well it lived up to the anticipation, and the game’s release is fast approaching.
Watch Dogs is set to launch on May 27, 2014 for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. The Wii U version is aiming for a release in fall 2014.