Until now we were blissfully unaware that one of the year’s most anticipated games would offer a multiplayer mode, but thanks to a demo video that snuck online, we’ve had a good glimpse at what Watch Dogs will offer when you take your gaming online.
The video was actually uploaded by the game’s developers Ubisoft, who mysteriously then pulled it soon after. Thankfully the speedy gaming community copied the video and re-uploaded it in various guises before Ubisoft could say “woops”, so we’ve still got 2 minutes and 43 seconds of gameplay footage to pore over.
Whilst Watch Dogs has been shown a number of times in single player form, we’ve known nothing of any multiplayer options, until now. The video reveals that players are paired online and are then challenged to hack each other, with each game playing out in a cat and mouse-type scenario.
One player is challenged to hack the other, and once the hack begins they need to hide in order for their download to reach 100%. The victim needs to use various methods to then find the hacker before this can happen, and eliminate them or ward them away far enough from their area so that the hack cannot be completed. The idea is a pretty cool one and paves the way for plenty of different scenarios and some interesting, if not underhand tactics. The victim can for example hack all the surveillance cameras in an area and use those to pick out the hacker, then put them on the run.
Multiplayer appears to be set in the same location as the single player campaign, which is Chicago but in the future. It’s unclear at the moment whether you’ll have access to the entire map or if multiplayer modes are limited in how much you can explore. Either way, with the type of mode shown you won’t be able to go too far before the hack fails or succeeds. Check out the multiplayer demo below and let us know what you think!