Ubisoft Montreal’s trailer for Watch_Dogs, which has been viewed countless times in the last many months – indeed, even at the Eurogamer Developers Presentation today they admitted they’d “seen it way too many times now” (not seen it yourself? YouTube to the rescue!) – makes a big deal of how technology has evolved in ten years, talking about how in 2003, a computer virus blacked out a whole district for a day and led to four people dying; and now ten years later, everything is computerised and a whole town could be hacked by just one individual. Indeed, technology HAS moved fast, even in just half that time. Watch_Dogs is a game that’s been in development for over five years, originally under the codename “Nexus”. Even part of the game’s original logo appears on protagonist Aiden Pearce’s face covering.

However, speaking at Eurogamer, Ubisoft explain that despite the futuristic undertones, Watch_Dogs isn’t as made up as it seems, explaining that in five years technology has evolved from traditional computers to smartphones. “What was the next step up from Smartphones? Smart Cities. It sounds futuristic, but it’s already happening”, citing examples of certain Asian cities investing in city-wide computer networks ahead of the Olympics and other major events. But Watch_Dogs doesn’t take place in Asia – rather, it’s based in modern-day Chicago. Ubisoft cite the reason for this as because Chicago is a large town that’s always evolving; indeed, the Chicago that rose after the Great Fire of Chicago hardly resembles its predecessor. “Every time Chicago has rebuilt, they bring in something new that evolves the town. That was one part of choosing Chicago as the setting. … Another aspect is the density. You need to build chaos. Chicago has complete second layers on the ground, for example intersections where roads go under worlds. No flat world.”

Watch_Dogs tells the story of Aiden Pearce, a vigilante who fears the evolution of a city-wide computer network threatens him and his family. He finds ways to hack the computer network; and using his phone or computer terminals to control it, makes it work for him; uses it to get out of trouble; or gets information about criminals and bad activity around him. Described in Concept Art as “a hero by any means necessary”, Ubisoft explain they take “vigilante” to have a different meaning to the standard assumptions, explaining that when people think of vigilantes, there’s extremes: Many people think of characters like Batman, caped crusaders who deal justice alone; but it’s also true of less “good” characters like Dexter from the TV drama – a serial killer who targets the guilty, thus helping the law but not being part of the law and breaking the law himself with murder. “Aiden is in the middle between Dexter and Batman – Aiden is neither a good guy, nor a bad guy; he’s just taking justice into his own hands to protect him and his family.”

Essentially, Watch_Dogs makes a game of dynamic events and always thinking on your toes. Aiden is constantly aware of his surroundings. For example he always tries to keep his gun concealed; and walks in a relaxed manner, so he doesn’t draw attention. “There’s a lot of different ways to handle a situation. For example, say you have a reputation; and you walk into a shop and while you’re there, a police notice flashes up on screen with your face. One NPC who sees you might try to call the cops. You could shoot him, but then you might attract attention and suddenly there’s two other people calling the cops – then it’s four other people. You can ignore it, but then the cops know where you are and others might call in too as they notice. But if you jam the communications, no-one can make a call. And if you just flash your gun, you might intimidate the first person into thinking twice about making the call himself.”

“Everything is about dynamism. If you’re in an open world and you plan to give people control, everything has to be connected. … A living city has to be heavily pushed. You need to see people interacting, living. … You’re going to escalate matters based on the choices you make; and there’s nothing more satisfying than barely surviving a situation you create because of good, or sometimes bad, choices. So an emphasis is always on choices and consequences … meanings to things.” Later, Ubisoft added: “Nothing is separate elements. Everything is connected.”

This connected focus extends to the game’s multiplayer. Even when playing solo, you are never really alone. Others can potentially join your own games; and just like anyone on the street, you can hack them to get information on and connections from them; but they can do the same to you. As the crowd brought up concerns of griefing, however, Ubisoft explained this has been thought about and will be solved by a Firewall mechanic. All your technology will be protected by a firewall; but if you hack another player, you let down your own defences. When YOU get hacked, however, the firewall goes back on and you can’t be ganged up on by others. Ubisoft plan to adjust the Firewall mechanic based on player feedback. The people who enjoy the challenge may find themselves hacked more often, those who can’t cope will get stronger protection. You can turn it off completely too; but then you’re missing out on what they describe as “a cool additional gameplay experience.”

We’ll leave it to Ubisoft Montreal to have the final words (though these may be somewhat paraphrased):

“It’s absolutely possible to act all the time as you play; so you can think every two seconds. As you play more you’ll think more, and the game will feel fresher. You’ll start thinking more about escape routes as you’re just moving around; avoiding cops if you draw attention etc. – and the game will always feel like something new. That’s what makes our game something truly new.”

Watch_Dogs will hit Windows PCs, PlayStation 3 & 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Wii U, with release dates ranging from November 15 to November 29, 2013 depending on platform and region. Here in the UK, all releases except PS4 will be on November 22, 2013; with the PS4 a week later.