A couple of days ago, we compared the Xbox One final version of Watch_Dogs with the E3 2012 PC build. Blasphemy, they said. How can you compare a console version with the PC build, they said. Well, the reason was quite obvious why we decided to do such a thing. You see, we strongly believed that all major effects were present in the Xbox One version, meaning that there wouldn’t be major differences between them. And we were right as there are no ‘specific’ particles effects available on the PC (other than HBAO+ and TXAA).
But anyway, time to take a look at the final PC build of Watch_Dogs and find out whether it was downgraded from its E3 2012 build or not.
Let’s start with the beginning of the E3 2012 demo. Right from the start, we can notice some major differences between the two builds. Umbrellas that were casting additional dynamic shadows during the day are missing, the store on the left seems enterable, reflections on its windows are way better than those of the final version, and tress are bigger and ‘richer’ (with more details). And as if this wasn’t enough, most of the manholes (from where smoke was emerging) have been removed (left image courtesy of PCGamesHardware).
The E3 2012 version of Watch_Dogs also featured additional raindrops effects that – for some weird reason – have been removed from the final version. We strongly believe that this effect was not THAT demanding, however it’s obvious that some of the E3 2012 raindrops are not present in the final version.
One of our biggest gripe with the final version of Watch_Dogs are the downgraded explosions. At this point, we are not aware whether Nvidia and Ubisoft plan to release a PhysX patch with ‘richer’ explosions. However, the game’s explosions at the time or writing are underwhelming and do not come close to those featured in the E3 2012 demo. The gas station explosion – in particular – has been severely downgraded.
Reflections were also reduced. While the E3 2012 build felt gorgeous with all those reflected lights, the final build feels kind of ’empty’. While the reflection system is still in place, the number of reflected lights has been greatly decreased.
Anamorphic lens-flares were also removed from all cars’ headlights. We strongly believe that Ubisoft should reduce this effect but not completely remove it. Yes, anamorphic lens-flares were kind of annoying during the E3 2012 build but they added something to the game’s atmosphere. A simple decrease of their strength would be ideal.
All in all, it’s obvious – by now – that the final PC build is nowhere close to the E3 2012. This does not mean that Watch_Dogs is not a great looking game. Still, this comparison proves that the E3 2012 build featured more details. This comparison also proves that our previous comparisons were valid, and that the PC version does not pack any specific FX (other than TXAA and HBAO+) that is exclusive to it. In short, yes; while the game looks stunning, it has been downgraded.
Enjoy the following video from our reader ‘Jonathan Gustafsson’, showing the PC version at max settings!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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Why screenshots have so low qulity?
They’re from videos with compression.
E3 shots were taken from a video.
Expectedly unsurprising. A sad tendency.
Not Bad, but we can’t deny it, it’s a FAIL!!!
The second screenshot is mine :’D
Whorevah….i hope someone have the balls to sue ubi.
Yes it is downgraded from E3 2012 but the game looks really nice, the screenshots don’t seem to do this game justice because the world is very detailed and dense, even more so than anything I’ve seen.
HBAO+ and TXAA, MSAA, SMAA temporal makes all the difference, superior fidelity than the console version even on a 2 year old mid-range PC.
Looks horrible ,but i didn’t refound because is sick fun.
One could argue it’s more dynamic than AC4 though AC4 has a nicer setting and isn’t fully open world like WD. Textures are better in AC4, so is the lighting but maybe they had to tone it down in WD because there is a lot more light sources and variation.
I did notice “RenderRain=”0” in the configuration file. Wonder if setting that to “1” would add more raindrops?
better
The game still looks great though . Some of the places look really nice .
Omg. Lol. Fail of the dog edition.
fucking liars.
the difference in like Night and Day?
E3 version looks like CG quality but the PC version looks like a 5 years old game 🙁
They clearly streamlined the PC version to appear similar to the console versions >_<
“They clearly streamlined the PC version to appear similar to the console versions”
I can’t believe that. I just can’t see the “console suits” forcing them to downgrade the PC version simply because they don’t want console customers to see what they’re missing. Consoles make way more money as it is, and the average console player can’t afford to upgrade to a gamer pc.
Surely it’s the all coding work and multi-platform based programming for these additional, advanced PC specific graphics options they don’t want to spend the money on.
Apparently not, there is 6 fps between an i3 and i7 and the frame-rate doesn’t scale well when overclocked. Put it this way, it’s no Skyrim.
Yeah, I can run the game on ultra with a AMD FX 6300@4.2Ghz and runs better than expected.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDQem9-ghc4#t=49
e3 vs 2014 video 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGDstwQccOU#t=15
And GTA V vs Watch Dogs comparison
Them 3GB textures though. 🙂
http://i58.tinypic.com/b9duyq.jpg
http://i57.tinypic.com/sy12xd.jpg
First, Dark Souls 2 & now Watch Dogs, I’m getting sick of the false advertising. PASS -_-
Agreed. Easy solution? Don’t buy it. I’m not buying Watch Dogs (partially because of UPlay alone). There’s just way too many games out there and I only have so much time
I’ m really afraid now of what they’ll gonna do with Assassin’s Creed Unity.
Uzer >documents > My Games > Watchdogs > xxxx > GamerProfile.xml)
options to change:
DeferredFXQuality – console to PC
like this:
DeferredFxQuality=”PC”
HighPrecisionNormal=”1″
RenderSplashes=”1″
RenderRain=”1″
SuperSampling=”0″ ( SLI or CF min. 780Ti or R290 with CAT 14.6beta)
Some questions if you don’t mind. Will these settings really make the game look better? Is there a major performance hit? Can you apply them to Watch Dogs on Uplay or do you need a cracked version?
My specs:
i5 2500k OC’d to 4.5ghz
16GB Corsair Vengeance
SLI 680’s (reference cards)
DeferredFxQuality=”PC” & RenderRain=”1″ will look Better and it a Hit 4-6 fps
and it works with uPlay no problem other i dont use but i think will be OK
I’m scared for The Division now :/
I was thinking the same thing…
At this point, The Division downgraded should be expected. It is what it is.
Don’t worry. As far as I’m aware, it’s the same people that made the World in Conflict games. Those games are PC exclusive and I considered it to be the “Crysis” of RTS games. I was not surprised to learn that they’re developing The Division. The graphics are amazing.
Do not fear, because it’s inevitable.
another graphically hyped game.exaggeration is becoming a norm these days.
Well, I’m happy with my settings. The game looks gorgeous at times. Mostly when it’s raining or shortly after. If it’s not raining it looks like GTA4, or slightly worse. They should have just made it constantly rain.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/50147967/Random%20Share/screenshot.76.png
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/50147967/Random%20Share/screenshot.77.png
Gosh you guys whine like it one of the worst looking game ever……..i think it look great,the bad thing is that last-gen console held back the graphics so it had to tone down a bit. The gameplay in this game is better than most open-world game.
“the bad thing is that last-gen console held back the graphics so it had to tone down a bit.”
THAT is what ppl are “whining” about, NOT that it looks bad. It could have looked like the E3 ’12 footage. But because of consoles, it doesn’t. It’s very simple.
You’re one of the biggest whiners here, cloudkill22. You act like Ubisoft bought you ice cream and then raped you behind a shed. They don’t owe you a damn thing.
Also, I know you sign out of Disqus then upvote your comments. What are you, fourteen?
Yea, I don’t even know how to upvote the comments, maybe I did it by accident. And no, I’m not 14, tho I can look at the product that was displayed at E3 ’12 and then at what’s being shown here today, and reasonably make the conclusion that Ubisoft had to go to plan B for some reason.
You tell me what that was.
People need to realise that E3 2012 demo was never meant to be, when I seen that demo I said it was never going to be like that in the finished game, I was right.
On the positive side, the game is vast, dense, loads happening, very dynamic and looks absolutely stunning at times and those people who brought a 4GB card will be happy it’s being used because the textures on ultra are very nice for a truly open world game. This is the first game that actually uses your memory, rather than just using 3GB of 10GB max RAM.
We;ve got what we got, buy it or don’t, it’s up to you.
I’m sorry, but that looks awful, after looking at what we could have had.
I don’t see any dynamic reflections, no smoke or smoke effects whatsoever, no haze, no shadowing (granted the ss is an overcast one)
Wow. I was on the fence about buying this, but now I am absolutely waiting for another shoe to drop and a “patch” to be casually released in the next few weeks that adds back the SHIT THAT WAS PROMISED.
There are that stuff, don’t just go buy a few screenshots. Everything is there just not as uber as E3 2012 and we was never going to get that anyway. The wind system is there and blowing things across the streets, but the game is massive and feels very alive.
We could’ve ,in fact ,we almost.
The graphics aren’t as promised, but there are some really surprising graphical moments throughout the game. Lots of them. I’m not by any means maxing out the graphics. The above screenshots are of medium-highish graphics at 1920×1080.
It looks good, man. Not SUPERFUCKINSTELLARPIXAR good, but they’re good enough that you’ll stop from time to time and be impressed. I’ve never seen so many amazing looking alleyways in a game before. This game really seems to shine in the spaces between buildings. And WD is DENSE. There’s a ton of interesting things to look at all over the place – your eye/ mind won’t get bored.
Maybe I over-reacted initially. I think your specific ss might not have shown off everything I was looking for based on the comparison shots from above. Do you have any uploaded footage with your same settings posted, perhaps I’m just looking too hard