Watch Dogs

Watch Dogs arrived on Wii U several months behind the other platforms, but offered essentially a complete version of Ubisoft's open-world adventure set in a digitally interconnected Chicago. The player steps into the role of hacker Aiden Pearce, who, following a family tragedy, searches for the truth and revenge, using along the way his ability to tap into the city's central operating system, ctOS, to control traffic lights, bridges, cameras, and passersby's phones.

The gameplay combines third-person cover shooting, car chases through the streets, and elaborate hacking gameplay, where the player observes random pedestrians' profiles and eavesdrops on their phone calls, giving the city an unusually voyeuristic atmosphere. Alongside the main storyline, the game offers a huge amount of side activities, minigames, and online multiplayer elements, where an attacker could covertly connect to another player's world and try to hack their character, while the target tried to identify them before their data was downloaded. The open Chicago also reacts dynamically to police chases — the longer the player evades capture, the more aggressively traffic-light and bridge blockades try to limit their escape routes.

It was noticeable that the Wii U version arrived later and with the console's more limited power — textures and draw distance were weaker than on PS4 and Xbox One, but the game used the GamePad as a second screen for hacking minigames and quick gadget switching, which some players saw as added value compared to versions without a second display. Contemporary reviews were mixed to mildly critical, mainly due to overly high expectations set by earlier trailers, yet Watch Dogs remained commercially successful and launched an entire series. On Wii U, it's one of the few genuinely major third-party open-world titles, and it still holds interest today thanks to its concept of hacking as a game mechanic.

Why play: Thanks to its use of the GamePad for hacking minigames and quick gadget switching, the Wii U version offers an interesting take on the open-world concept, albeit with somewhat weaker textures and draw distance than on PS4 and Xbox One.