[HTML1]

After 5.5 years of development and a heartbreaking last-minute delay for early adopters of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Ubisoft's new sandbox IP game Watch Dogs is now out. We've had the game for a few days and have completed most of its meaty single player campaign, tried out all the side missions, hacked anything and everything, and battled hundreds of 'Fixers' but with the game just hitting stores now, we're waiting to see the player pool fill up so we can get an appropriate multiplayer experience.

The multiplayer servers were up and running pre-release but it's difficult to find other players to try out the different online contract sessions. These include online races for up to eight players, 1 vs. 1 tailing and hacking contracts, and a few other modes to that add flavor to the basic eight-player free roam mode. The latter (along with a pair of online races) we did record and will add to this post later.

From our first impressions, the free roam mode doesn't offer much since there doesn't seem to be any way to engage on missions with friends. The maps is barren outside of stores and the AR (augmented reality) games so if you turn on adversarial mode you can engage in brutally and hilariously murdering other online players, but that's even less interested than the mess known as Grand Theft Auto Online. The real connected fun is in the other, more intimate online contracts where players can invade your game and vice versa to profile/hack them and avoid being detected.

Free Roam Multiplayer Sample

[HTML5]

For now, we'll show you some examples of single player gameplay where players step into the shoes of hacker/gunman/elite wheelman known as Aiden Pearce (game's protagonist), who got his niece killed and is now on a mission to find out who's responsible and to use his abilities for good. The latter is really up to player and how you decide to take advantage of the game's reputation system.

Up top is a video showcasing a story mission somewhere just before the halfway point of the main story. The level of difficulty ramps up as players progress through the game's five acts. And here are several examples of the types of side missions that pop up during the game - these can be found from hacking and listening in on phone calls and text conversations, or picked up by Chicago's ctOS system.

Criminal Activity

[HTML2]

Fixer Contracts

[HTML3]

Gang Hideouts

[HTML4]

Are you planning on picking up Watch Dogs? Stay tuned for our full review later today! Check out the early reviews roundup to see how Ubisoft's big new franchise was received by critics.

Follow Rob on Twitter @rob_keyes.

_____

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