Gaming Criticism

Gaming Criticism (bugs, glitches, and inconsistencies)

Watch Dogs | Grand Theft Auto 5 | Battlefield 3 | State of Decay

Watch Dogs

Watch Dogs (IMO) actually has tremendous potential, but there's a huge amount of work to make it enjoyable to play for the long-term. It lacks enough variety to ensure it's playable for the long-term. With GTA 5 coming out for next-gen consoles and the PC by the end of the year, Ubisoft has to work fast. They don't want to admit it, but most everyone compares Watch Dogs to GTA 5 for a very good reason: Rockstar has rightfully earned a reputation for quality open-world games...with world record-setting sales to back it up. So Ubisoft would be wise to take a close look at how Rockstar conducts business and treats their players. That said, Rockstar isn't perfect—I have several big beefs with them—but they do know what long-term playability looks like and how to get there. They've learned from most of their mistakes, and even though they are arguably tight-lipped with their gamers, they do prove that they actually stand behind their product by working hard at fixing bugs and glitches and releasing frequent patches. Valve does the same.

So Ubisoft has a choice to make: listen to what your users are saying about Watch Dogs and work hard to restore their confidence, or watch it fade into the background. You can't rest on laurels that you haven't earned yet. The argument that "Well, we can do what we want with Watch Dogs because it's unique; we're not competing with GTA 5" is an incredibly laughable one. And making a Watch Dogs 2 without fixing the original will result in driving away even more of their gamer base.

Unless some big positive things (read: massive fixes and improvements) happen for Watch Dogs, there simply won't be anyone interested in playing Watch Dogs when GTA 5 is out. Myself included. All the hacking tricks in the world can't make up for the lack of support and fact that the game just isn't fun to play for long. As an example, I follow XpertThief on YouTube; great guy, professional gamer, hilarious, fun commentary—love his GTA 5 videos such as "Bounty Hunters" and "Thug Life". He tried doing a "Hack City" (in his own words Grand Theft Auto with hacking) series in Watch Dogs, but despite his best efforts, it was a short-lived five-episode series. Watch Dogs simply didn't have the playability and fun to hold viewer's interest like GTA 5 clearly does. I think that pretty well sums up the situation. Time will tell whether or not Ubisoft listens.

Game developers win only when they treat their gamers like profit, because players ARE profit. When execs, who only care only about dollar signs, think they can lie and deceive their customers and keep winning in the long-term, they have another think coming. In the gaming world, long-term survival means being either equal to, or better than, the competition. So far, Watch Dogs is neither.

For starters, here are some issues that need Ubisoft's attention:

Outright far-fetched content

Guards with hackable explosives on their person? Really?
Knowing that Aiden Pearce is high on the police wanted list, please explain how ctOS is completely incapable of detecting him—let alone warning against—the only blurred, unidentifiable character strolling and sneaking around downtown Chicago with scores of cameras aimed right at him...until someone makes a 911 call? ...and then it can magically find you within seconds even if you're in a remote part of the map completely out of sight and range of all cameras? In addition, the ctOS "scanning range" is pathetically large and implausible, making it impossible to evade on foot even in tight, darkly-lit alleyways, and virtually impossible even when you're flooring it in on a straight road in a high-speed vehicle.
I can readily accept hackable road blockers, traffic lights, and bridges (quite plausible) but exploding underground steam pipes and power units with a hack?

Flawed artificial intelligence

First of all—in real life—Chicago uses a sophisticated gun shot detection system (one of the most advanced technologies of its kind) in two South and West Side areas, which ironically, is completely omitted in Watch Dogs. Go figure.
Gunfire location sensor data show residents fail to call 911:

In 2013, the Chicago Police Department recorded 414 murders, most of which were the result of gunfire. There were 1,863 “shooting incidents,” which include fatal and nonfatal shootings and can involve multiple victims, police said.

To speed up the response to such shootings, the Chicago Police Department has been using ShotSpotter technology in neighborhoods on the South Side and West Side, where most of the violence occurs. The sensors are primarily in the Englewood and Harrison districts, police said.

Clark would not provide specifics about the Chicago program, but he said there are roughly 45 to 60 sensors here.

The company's sensors cover three square miles in Chicago. There have been about 2,695 gunfire alerts since the sensors were installed in August 2012—and some of those alerts involved multiple shots, Chicago Police said.

SST didn't release figures about the ratio of Chicago's gunfire alerts to 911 calls. The department will conduct its own review, police said.

There needs to be a better balance of police patrols around the city. Right now they are very rare. Only when a crime is reported do they suddenly show up (GTA IV is just the opposite; there are police patrols almost everywhere).
Although they won't leave the area (because they have some magical AI 'instinct' that you are nearby), most of the time police are too stupid to check the edge of the river bank to see if you're there. Try it: when being chased by the police, stop your vehicle near the edge of the river with a freeway above you (to prevent the helicopter from seeing you). Jump into the river, hug the edge, and enjoy the show. The police won't find you, but they'll happily camp until you move to another location. They might even surround your empty vehicle and keep shooting the snot out of it...even after it explodes. They can even see you jumping into the water, and still not come looking for you.
It is not uncommon for police to suddenly "find" and start shooting at invisible objects right in the middle of a gunfight with Aiden; often in the opposite direction, or at the floor.
Police refuse to get behind their vehicles along a river bank even if they are completely exposed to gunfire and there is no other cover available (happens all the time at the 'island pier' on the east side of the map).
Using the "hide" function in a vehicle does nothing to actually hide you, and makes absolutely no difference to nearby police.
When an object is near a vehicle's door (e.g. lamp post, wall, etc.) the player often cannot enter the vehicle even when there's physically enough room to do so.

Ditch the training wheels

Why is there no way to use melee at will? Why do I have to rely on the game to give me 'permission' to use it? (e.g. people calling the cops, cops walking away after a shootout—which is another bug since it doesn't work, etc.).
Please drop the "auto-cover", or at least give the user the option to game without it. We have skill and brains, which lets us crouch and hide behind objects on our own. We don't need a console crutch to select a place for us to hide (which, incidentally, doesn't work half the time by assuming a location right in the line of fire).
Please drop the over-the-top Hollywood slow-mo "focus" in the PC port, or at least give the user the option to game without it. Seriously, we don't need help aiming.

Correct the inconsistencies

Enforcers are covered from head to toe with heavy armor. They can withstand machine guns, shotguns, sniper rifles, being hit by a car, and even survive explosions if they're not too close. Yet with the amazing, magic "Enforcer perk" just a few hits from Aiden's night stick and they're dead? Really?
Very little balance and consistency in evading the police when being chased; they are either too stupid to find you or impossible to evade.
There is no point whatsoever in the police continually telling you to "Pull over!", "Stop the vehicle and give yourself up!", and "Stop the vehicle! Repeat: stop the vehicle!", "Stop or we will shoot!", "This is the police; pull over now!" when they clearly never even attempt to arrest you, but literally start shooting the daylights out of you—even for the smallest, one-star infraction. Those lines need to be removed from the game.
When listed as a "Menace", most people strolling down the sidewalk can look you in the face (even walking in well-lit areas) and not recognize you. But out of the blue someone can identify and report you within seconds when you're within a vehicle at night driving down the road?
When chasing you by car, police always immediately request ctOS access to remove road blockers and open garage doors; but they don't have the intelligence to request ctOS access to a simple rotating foot bridge to catch you (e.g. mini-island with piers on the east side of the map)?
While on the move during car chases, police on the ground repeatedly warn, "We will shoot you!". But in motion, only helicopters ever do. Another line that needs to be removed.
When the police call off the search following a shoot out with Aiden, the helicopter returns to its base, taking at least 40 seconds or so. However, if you shoot an officer (even using a silenced weapon directly to his head and with his back to you—instantly killing him from behind so that he has zero warning, and is the only officer in the area completely out of audible and visual range of other officers), the entire police force is instantly alerted, responds, and the helicopter magically returns above you within seconds. [Also after a shootout], some police on the ground just start walking away from their perfectly operational vehicles...or they stand around aimlessly staring off into the distance. Really?
After the police "give up" following a lengthy shootout with Aiden, some police will slowly walk away from the scene, but some often remain; supposedly keeping an eye out for Aiden. Yet many times—within minutes of the shootout ending—Aiden can walk right up to them, climb on top of cars, etc. and they have no response or reaction to him.
Most of the time, police are incapable of climbing ladders (a bug in itself), but can magically climb walls without ladders (buildings opposite Island pier) appear on top of, or somehow climb, tall shipping containers that are completely impossible for Aiden to climb (e.g. ctOS "Bunker" island's shipping yard)? And no, they did not get there by rappelling down from the police helicopter, which doesn't exist in the game, nor did they climb on top of a police vehicle to reach it.
Although it takes minutes for them to leave, police helicopters magically reappear above you within seconds of you firing a gun or killing an officer after they have clearly left the area on the map. They also have glitches where they suddenly, magically jump forward or backward about three yards for no reason while they are being shot at.
Police helicopters quickly give up when you're out of sight below train tracks, but follow you like a hawk on the train for miles when they can't see you to confirm you're still on the train?
When profiling is turned off, there should be no blue squares highlighting anyone and no associated alert sounds—this gets really annoying.
Mysterious package contents are quite a yawn; a few hundred dollars isn't worth the effort traveling to the package (money in general isn't worth it, because it's literally all around you all the time). Aiden can earn at least that much—probably more, even without the extended money gain skill/perk—by turning around where he is and hacking one, maybe two people.

Fix the miscellaneous bugs

Trying to accurately toss/place IEDs and/or grenades from behind cover needs a lot of work—they often get stuck right where you're crouching (or the path is redirected because of one or more bodies on the ground), causing the proximity IEDs to either blow you up immediately, or skip to a location you didn't intend.
Closer spawning of vehicles ordered.
Frozen motion NPCs (apparently happens when you shoot one as they are just getting out of their car).
Floating camera bug in Brandon Docks.
Hackable items frequently clash; e.g. instead of hacking someone's bank account, you end up killing a pedestrian and someone calls 911, because the person was standing near a (somehow magically explosive) hackable item.
There is far too much untraversable terrain (hillsides especially, but also with the city) within the game—especially the northern part—forcing you to make ridiculously long, and time-consuming drives by vehicle along winding roads, when you could easily walk across it in less than a minute.
Zero police presence on the water. Really? In real life, Chicago has river patrols.
Why can't the helicopter be blown up with a grenade launcher or shot down with a light machine gun? It's also extremely difficult to aim at since it frequently sits right on top of you...very annoying...and just how does the pilot magically manage to hover right above you? Also, gun damage to its tail rotor should cause it to spin out of control (used to great effect in GTA V). Also, the helicopter sniper has highly unrealistic stability and accuracy for someone supposedly shooting from a helicopter during chases—after all, he is not the one piloting the chopper.
Choosing unselected weapons and devices from the item wheel is very clumsy.
IEDs can only be exploded by staying in close visual range to them, which drastically limits their usage.
There should be incentives in the game for police to chase you on foot. Real police do this when criminals jump fences (watch some "Cops" shows). This would encourage more melee and one-on-one shootouts which are currently impossible. It would also add variety and better utilize the city's streets, back alleys, and neighborhoods. (i.e. cops get out of their cars and chase you over multiple fences in clustered neighborhoods, instead of always relying on the annoying helicopter).
There really needs to be a limit to how many police cars and helicopters are sent after you. You don't have an unlimited supply of ammunition and explosives, so the police shouldn't have an unlimited supply of vehicles.
Fewer police samples should be used during police chases, and a greater variety are needed. I'm getting sick and tired of hearing "I'm gonna clip him!", "I'm gonna ram him", "I'm gonna spit him out", "Do you really wanna go home in a body bag?", "Stop! We will shoot you!". Real police don't talk trash non-stop about their chasee.
Ditch the pathetic "target can only be knocked down" hogwash already; they never get back up in-game anyway, so it makes no difference whether or not players shoot them.
Ditch the highly annoying, repetitive news bulletins about Aiden Pearce (no-ones cares about that drivel), and when Aiden is in a vehicle, make them subject to being switched off like the music already is.

Additions

Add the ability to shoot from within your vehicle (at least facing forward)—GTA has this, which adds a great deal of playability to the game. Currently, only another passenger in your vehicle can shoot from within your vehicle (multiplayer/online mode).
Aiden should be able to swim below water; this would enable and extend his evasion from the police; especially if (at some point) river patrols are added.
Add a first-person perspective mode for Aiden himself (not just when he's in a vehicle).
Add the ability to fly helicopters—the city is big enough for this—as well as the ability to parachute out of them. There's currently no way to take advantage of roof tops on tall buildings, and this would at least extend and enhance variety and playability.
Add more ammo storage for all weapons or at least add more gun and pawn shops around the city for faster/easier reloading and access to weapons.
Why aren't armored cars carrying cash and robbable?
Why aren't the fire escapes on numerous buildings traversable? Almost everything else is, and this could add significant versatility to escaping police by enabling roof top roaming.
How about something to spend money on? I've accrued almost 4.5 million dollars, with nothing of substance to spend it on. I already have most of the high-powered weapons, ammo is cheap, and even the most expensive vehicles don't make a dent in the stash of money I have.

Grand Theft Auto 5

Rockstar does a pretty good job with their games. GTA 5 included. Why? Like Valve, they take the time and effort to frequently (so far, at least once a month) find and fix bugs and glitches, and also listen to what their gaming community is saying (e.g. restoring "air time" for gamers who loved doing stunts and enjoyed what it allowed them to do with vehicles—even after Rockstar had nerfed it earlier).

However, I do have two big issues with Rockstar:

Playing favorites: (and this goes for all game developers—not just Rockstar). Regardless of how many manufacturers try to bribe you, your game should be developed to take advantage of the maximum performance each platform is capable of, and release times should be the same worldwide. Either a special deals is released for all platforms in the same way and time, or none at all.
Punishing players (by sending them to the cheater pool) for glitches, not hacks.

Watch Dogs vs. Grand Theft Auto 5

Grand Theft Auto 5 advantages					Watch Dogs advantages

* Can walk into and transport vehicles in the back of vans	* Higher city and shop/store detail
* Can rob armored cars						* More objects are destructible
* Can fly helicopters and planes				* More interaction with actual environment
* Much larger map						* Ridiculously easy to get hordes of money
* More freedom in throwing/placing/activating sticky bombs
* Less rigid character movement; fewer 'training wheels'
* Better vehicle control
* Multiple melee weapons, can use melee at any time
* Can parachute off tall buildings and all aircraft     
* Can customize and modify most vehicles
* Extensive modifications to your charater's looks
* Can use masks
* Can implement mods to game
* Can play as three different characters; not just two
* Excellent online multiplayer experience

Battlefield 3

Yes, I know Battlefield 3 is 'old' now, but...

Weapons should always perform like they do in real life. End of story.
Actually save and remember class camouflage settings and do not use cookies for this (pathetic that this still hasn't been fixed!)
Players still alive and kicking with 0% health (rare, but it happens!)
Significant inconsistencies in height or size of rubble or stair steps requiring an in-game jump that in real life someone could easily step over (esp. noticeable on Caspian Border's "Gas Station"). e.g. the tall first step from the back leading to the stairs in most of the small one-story buildings does not require a jump, but the small pile of concrete rubble outside the entrance to the large glass foyer between City and Construction in Gulf of Oman most certainly does.
Massive inconsistencies with jeeps/four-wheeler damage: e.g. take huge jumps dropping 40 or 50 feet at high speed...zero damage. Hit a rock or tree at medium speed and...it explodes, killing you and destroying the bike? What?!
Audio problems (sometimes completely inaudible at the start of a round for about 2-3 seconds).
Numerous graphic collision/clipping problems e.g. legs and weapons sticking out through building walls, big jump landings literally sink your vehicle into the ground on impact (and why, for goodness sake, is this still a problem in gaming after more than 20 stinking years?)
In-game VOIP (EA, you have the money. Fix it.) It's been in games like Counter Strike: Source for two decades. Grow up already.

State of Decay

Class three suggestions

Yes, I know Class 3 is being replaced by Class 4, but...

Players are forced to destroy items instead of being given the option of just dropping them. What is the rationale behind this? Besides the fact that zombies don't pick up items (and are scarce to begin with), the player should be given the opportunity to come back and pick up the item later. It also detracts from the game's realism—what player with zombies approaching him is going to stand there and try to destroy a crowbar (as if it were possible anyway) instead of just dropping it? That said, I can see how this could be left as a helpful option if co-op is ever added, seeing how fighting and hoarding items may well be the name of the game between human players.
While the concept of the weapon damage system is good (e.g. the handle on a machete breaking, leaving it unholdable to the user), it's flawed in at least one respect: how do you damage a cast-iron frying pan or crowbar? So for obvious reasons, some items should not be susceptible to damage.
Survivors talking loudly to each other (character dialogue) while crouch-walking in an open area past a horde of zombies does not attract their attention, but rummaging/searching inside a house with the door closed does?
Zombies are not alerted to players who are crouch-walking near them at night with their flashlight on (zombies can't see a flashlight within a few feet of them on a moonlit night?). I saw this during one of MilanRE's State of Decay walkthrough videos on YouTube (I forget which episode it was).

Class four suggestions

Add ability to switch back and forth between first-person shooter and third-person perspective. This dual perspective capability would add a significant amount of playability to the game, such as:

Improved weapon aiming
More immersive feel and tension
Open up small, tight areas currently impractical to implement with third-person perspective (e.g. mobile trailers)
Would attract players who prefer the FPS gaming environment
Many games already do this to good effect (DayZ standalone is an example, but Battlefield 3 also uses this for vehicle operation)

No endlessly respawning zombies. Contrary to popular opinion, this is not required for gameplay to be challenging. If it's not challenging enough, then make the zombies harder to kill in the first place. Point here: give players something to work towards; currently, the only thing to work towards is "Hey! Now you get to play another clone of the map you just played." Exciting. How about rewarding a player by letting him enjoy his diligent work and hard-earned strategies? I'd like the option of actually clearing out a town by hunting down all of its zombies (e.g. ending of "Night of the Living Dead").
Enough safe zones to give the player a place to breathe and collect their wits within the map. This can be by locking a metal door from inside a secure room; a more obscure, hard-to-reach location that zombies can't naturally wander into or easily reach (activating switches, etc.).
How about implementing random cars with active alarms (with some way of disabling them—maybe a "Grand Theft Auto" skill/ability that can earned?) This could add some nice distraction options and variety to the game.

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