Ever since new gameplay footage of the hotly anticipated Watch Dogs leaked online, people have been talking.
But it’s not the kind of “OMG did you see that?!” hype Ubisoft wanted.
Rather, it’s “OMG…what happened?” feedback that’s apparently causing some internal dissension, according to certain industry sources. It doesn’t help that a new gameplay comparison video has emerged, which clearly shows significant visual differences between the E3 2012 presentation and the most recent footage.
Interestingly, it doesn’t appear as if the character modeling has suffered too much. Close-ups of the protagonist’s face (admittedly during cut-scenes) shows relatively similar fidelity, but there’s a bigger difference in the environment. Supposedly, we’re seeing PlayStation 4 footage as a comparison, and many thought they were looking at a last-gen visual presentation (i.e., PS3 or Xbox 360).
The question is simple: What happened?
First, we have to know if that new footage is accurate. If it isn’t, this whole subject disappears. If it is, it’s pretty obvious that the game went through a graphical down-scaling of sorts. Don’t forget that Watch Dogs was delayed; it was initially supposed to launch last fall. In fact, it was one of the most anticipated launch titles for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Ubisoft said they delayed it for quality purposes, but this appears to be going backward. What’s the deal? Maybe the publisher will come forward with a clarification/explanation.
