Watch Dogs Trademark Reinstated

Being a broody loner with a love of hacking is all very well and good, but for gamers who like to be a bit more sociable Ubisoft's new IP Watch Dogs will also be incorporating online multiplayer as a fun way of meeting new friends - and then shooting them. With early copies of Watch Dogs now out in the wild, a number of gameplay videos have been making their way online, giving us a good look at both the singleplayer and the multiplayer modes.

Hours of footage have already been uploaded, but we've collected together some of the best examples that cover a range of different gameplay elements. Ubisoft has asked those with early access to the game not to post any spoilers for the story online before May 27, so there's no fear of having major moments ruined while seeing what kinds of experiences the game has to offer.

Some exciting PS4 footage shows a player expertly using Aiden Pearce's hacking and driving skills to evade the cops in a chase (as seems to be something of a main feature of the game's marketing). Take a look:

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Among the multiplayer footage is a game mode called Decryption in which teams of four players must attempt to retrieve a flag file, and decrypt it before the other team can interrupt them and steal it for themselves.

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And those concerned that the vehicular action would be isolated mainly to the singeplayer can rest easy, as yet another multiplayer video shows a racing mode that encourages players to cut corners and cheat wherever possible. Doing so is not compulsory, but it's probably not worth playing fair when everyone else is playing dirty:

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An early review of Watch Dogs described the multiplayer as being "painfully repetitive," and based on these videos that sounds pretty accurate. Racing and Capture the Flag are game modes that can be played in a thousand and one other multiplayer games and the hacking abilities don't seem to add very much to them. The multiplayer doesn't look bad, per se, just kind of dull.

Graphically, Watch Dogs seems to be about on par with Grand Theft Auto V when played on last-gen consoles, something that's particularly noticeable given the similarities between the two games. Some sites and outlets have noted instances of in-game textures either being shown inconsistently, or suddenly (and quite noticeably) popping in when the player gets close enough to them. In the PS4 footage, however, it looks a lot closer to what was demonstrated at E3 in 2012.

Are you impressed by what you see in these early gameplay videos? Tell us in the comments whether you're more excited to try Watch Dogs' singleplayer campaign or its multiplayer modes.

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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.