Dear friends,
A mediocre review on an unknown site is making news this weekend. While people with no qualifications and barely a passing grasp of the English language writing negative reviews is hardly news (seriously- see Gamestop's website) the subject of this review- the heavily anticipated and much delayed game Watch Dogs- has people in an uproar, and Ubisoft scrambling to cover their butts.
No, I'm not going to link to the review from here. I feel the review is clickbait- unabashed, in your face, undeniable clickbait, and those practices won't be rewarded by me. If you're inclined, google it. The fact that there was not a single photo of the case of the game, a receipt, box art, the disk- nothing to prove that the game was a retail release for xbox one and not beta, or a last gen version makes the claims that Watch Dogs will be releasing with sub 360 graphics lose some of their punch. The video was created by someone with the gaming ability roughly on par with my 11 year old- when he first started playing shooters 5 years ago. The review had some pretty painful punctuation errors and rookie grammar mistakes. Together, these issues scream "fledgling site, we'll take what traffic we can get!" And traffic they are getting, thanks largely to Cinema Blend's gaming department, Gaming Blend and their willingness to
grab onto anything remotely anti-XB1 with their little monkey hands.
Ubisoft was quick to respond, albeit strangely...
Hackers have attempted to infiltrate our system and post false reviews of Watch Dogs. All valid reviews will emerge at release on May 27_ -Watch Dogs twitter (@watchdogsgame)
Obviously they are trying to "sweet lemon" the situation by playing it into the game-lore, but instead kind of come off as flakey and superficial.
And while the negative review and their site in general seems to have drawn the ire of the console-loving internet, complete with insults and straight up racism, there are others pointing out that it must be true- why else would Ubi make the embargo date the same as the release date? Usually when PR companies do that, the thought behind it is it's because a game is being overhyped and reviews won't stack up compared to how the game is being sold. With
preorders for Watch Dogs breaking records for a new IP, it's understandable that they would want to clamp down on any possible negative publicity.
Except for two issues. First, Watch Dogs has been basically "an enigma shrouded in mystery" as my husband puts it. The whole point of the promotional information up to this point has been to immerse players in this new vision of Chicago, and everything from the trailers to the
promotional website has worked to further that futuristic feel that is present in the game. Early reviews and early gameplay take us out of that world, out of the mystery from wondering "Wait- what IS this game?"
Secondly, and most importantly on a personal level, release day reviews create a more level playing field for all reviewers. Personally, not having a review copy in hand right now, I look favorably on the embargo date being 5/27. It means when I go get a copy to review it, I'm not swimming upstream against a million sites who already have reviews posted. It means that the journalists who get the games early can actually spend a while immersed in the game rather than rushing a review out in a matter of hours. It means a comprehensive review of the multiplayer options, considering there will actually be people to play against. This is better for me, the reviewer, and you, the consumer.
Many theories about the gameplay videos exist. They're from the beta, they're the xbox 360 version, the xbox one version is going to suck, we should bow down to the PC overlords, and- most pervasively- the idea that if the videos are legit the game could be shipping unfinished, requiring a day one patch to fix the graphics, as a method to counter pirating and retailers who break street date. Clever solution to a problem that does plague the gaming industry. Unfair to people without an internet connection? Perhaps... but game companies have already demonstrated quite a bit of disregard for those who refuse to "get with the times." And subpar graphics would hardly be a game breaking problem... just ask anyone who has ever played any (non-Witcher) RPG released from Europe.
I'll be honest, after watching the videos in the reviews- I don't think the graphics are entirely that bad. But I don't value graphics too highly anyway. There are some frame rate issues, some pop in- stuff like that, but to compare it to GTA IV, as Cinema Blend did, is somewhat misleading. Perhaps the low end of the Watch Dogs videos can be compared to the higher end GTA V graphics on 360, but the game has been revealed to only have 729p 30 ffs resolution, so it can't be expected to come in and compete with any PC version of the same game. And console gamers know it. We choose slightly lower graphics as a trade off for the convenience of a console. Would I love to jump on the bandwagon of hatred for this super hyped game and denounce the evils of everything more than 20 people like at any given moment? You know I would, that's how I'm wired. But still, I'm interested in this game, interested to see how it ends up playing out, and I just can't get on any bandwagon being run by someone who uses "a" and "an" incorrectly (or someone who throws those in where they aren't needed) or a secondary author with a visible axe to grind against a console. Again, how I'm wired.
So the result (for me) of this early review is that Watch Dogs has been moved from a "probably buy" to a "day one" purchase and priority review for me. If you're up in the air about it, I hope to have my review out before the end of May. Considering the controversy, I want to have my hat in the ring as soon as possible. And I hope you all look forward to that as much as I look forward to discussing the game with you all!
xoxo,
Kat
