Watch Dogs series games

Watch Dogs

— a series of action-adventure games with an open world, featuring a rather original game mechanic at the time of release: the gameplay is primarily based on hacking various computer systems. This allows players to reconfigure various devices and even elements of city infrastructure (traffic lights, lighting, water supply, etc.) to achieve their goals, as well as to obtain various additional information.

As of 2019, the series includes two main games, released in 2014 and 2016 for Windows, PS, and Xbox (the first part also for Wii U). The action of these games takes place in Chicago and San Francisco, respectively, where a "city-wide management system" — ctOS, controlling almost all infrastructure and containing detailed data about all residents, has been implemented. Both ctOS elements and many other devices equipped with more or less advanced control electronics can be hacked. The gameplay does not exclude the use of weapons, but the main focus is on stealth and using the environment. For example, to prevent a target from escaping by car, you can disable traffic lights at a major intersection and cause a traffic jam; to infiltrate a guarded area, you can turn off the lights or hack surveillance cameras, and so on.

Both parts of Watch Dogs were well received by critics and players alike; the first part received more than one and a half hundred awards and nominations even before its release. Critics highlight the innovative gameplay, the freedom of choice in completing most missions, as well as the extensive and lively game world as the series' strengths.