I Like Aiden Pearce (And You Should Too)
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- Опубліковано 4 чер 2024
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Everyone said Aiden Pearce from the Watch Dogs series was 'unlikeable', but I like him!
Who is Aiden Pearce? Aiden (aka The Vigilante, aka The Fox) appears in Watch Dogs, Watch Dogs 2 and can be recruited in Watch Dogs Legion as a vigilante hacker/fixer who was supposed to lead a franchise for Ubisoft. But Ubisoft had no idea how to handle the character when he wasn't received well at launch. Will he return? Will he die? Only time will tell. But I like Aiden Pearce.
And you should too. Here's why.
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
2:09 - 1. Shoot Maurice
7:18 - 2. Good vs Fun
13:08 - 3. Hard Truths
20:10 - 4. Overcorrecting (Watch Dogs 2)
22:13 - 5. Hacking Aiden (Watch Dogs: Legion)
This video contains footage from:
Was Watch Dogs Graphically Downgraded? E3 2012 vs PC Ultra Comparison by Digital Foundry
• Was Watch Dogs Graphic...
This video contains music from:
Watch Dogs OST by Brian Reitzell
Watch Dogs 2 OST by Hudson Mohawke
Watch Dogs Legion OST by Stephen Barton, Gregg Lowe
Assassin's Creed 2 OST by Jesper Kyd
Grand Theft Auto 4 OST by Michael Hunter
Far Cry 3 OST by Brian Tyler
Mass Effect 3 OST by Clint Mansell
Dexter's Theme by Daniel Licht
Breaking Bad's Theme by Dave Porter
The Dark Knight OST by Hans Zimmer
Outro: SuperBluesBros Banana Blitz
This video features:
Watch Dogs, Watch Dogs 2, Watch Dogs: Legion, published by Ubisoft
Other games featured by order of appearance:
Assassin's Creed 2
Grand Theft Auto 5
Grand Theft Auto 4
Far Cry 3
Bioshock
Infamous
Fallout 3
Mass Effect 3
Cyberpunk 2077
The Walking Dead: Season 1
God of War
The Witcher 3
The Last of Us
TV/Movies featured by order of appearance:
Dexter
Breaking Bad
The Sopranos
Mad Men
Mr. Robot
Orange Is The New Black
The Dark Knight
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Its sad that only now people are starting to appreciate the first watch dogs game
I do appreciate that it’s sort of come full circle and there are folks defending it as a missed opportunity now, but I think that’s more in response to the poor reception that Legion received, as opposed to a redemption arc for Aiden.
I appreciated it when I was like 10 on the 360
Ive been playing that game on and off ever since it came out
The terrible launch the 1st watch dogs had over it being nothing like the E3 presentation pretty much sealed the games fate sadly
@@KevinHelpUs it was 10 times better than the second, watch dogs is perfect
Aiden's trauma is what made him one of the best written characters I've ever played. He feels real, in a fictional world.
Agreed!
And that is what Alone digital trip represents there is corupted Nicky and the Loop streets that represent the story of the game and the restoring light means him healing from his selfacusiing and Nicky not forgiving Aiden is his worst nightmare it is in his mind.(why did u shot Maurice)
Exactly and people complained that he was too stoic and full of trauma and I was like "have you even paid attention to the story" of course he wouldn't be in a happy mood and he constantly blames himself for things that are sometimes out of his control that is understandable by how the world is
@@KevinHelpUs Thank you for making this video. Ive always loved Aiden and never understood why people hated on the game I Knew it was because of the graphics downgrade but the story, the character and everything else was amazing at the time. Hell most games arent even that good anymore
@T.L.A.
I really recommending you playing more than a single video game in your life then.
I absolutely always hated how people hated Aiden, he was such an interesting character. The series could have been way better if they had kept him as the main character
I think if they took some of the feedback and revised Aiden in Watch Dogs 2, the series could have gone in a WAY better direction.
@@KevinHelpUs instead they took the wrong feedback and 180', making the game and main character, and all of Dedsec itself, far too bright and cheerful
@@an-animal-lover It’s not that they COULDN’T return to that tone in Watch Dogs 4, but I don’t think Ubisoft has any clue what to do with this franchise anymore.
There's plenty of reason to hate Adien. He toyed with people's lives for the sake of avenging his niece's death (understandable, but still). This also includes his family in which his actions put them in danger yet again.
People don't consider this but odds are you have died multiple times in the game and must have caused a few casualties. This adds up, him playing vigilante has caused a lot of destruction and many unattended lives destroyed in the process of stopping criminals. He has the resources to report this higher-up where criminals are less like to have influence of certain agencies, but Aiden went his own route that ended with lives destroyed. And considering his family despite the trauma forgave him and asked him to stop so they could move on but he refused to let go of what happened (I understand, I hold grudges if I'm in the right or wrong).
Look, I know it is a game but within context the point still stands.
@@dranixrush3306 That’s valid. I wouldn’t call him a ‘good’ person, and yes, he’s certainly responsible for far more deaths than he’s avenged. I think he’s an interesting protagonist, if not a perfect one.
Glad when I said the original Watchdogs game was an underrated game, I wasn’t the only one who felt the same way. Awesome video!
Thanks so much! And yeah, I feel like Ubisoft really took some risks here and got their hand slapped for it. No wonder their games are so similar now.
I agree, it took a few years for people to realize how underrated it was. Those who played when it dropped knew though.
Same
I love watch dogs 1 the most COS of aiden❤
it wasnt underrated it was heavily downgraded so thats why its reception was poor.
One thing I liked in the first watch dogs Aiden calls Jackson the healer, like in his video games. “You’re what keeps me going” and then legion he’s got a degree in medicine and he helps put Aiden back together. Thought that was a nice touch
I know I’m late to this but I just finished watch dogs legion. I was waiting for a good deal and nowadays you gotta wait like a year for game to fix itself and I still had some issues, but I love the watch dogs series.
It was a nice touch!
Aiden is one of my favorite character who displays a great deal of realism as a morally grey character. I’m glad he’s getting the recognition and credit he deserves.
You’ve got great taste! And I agree, going back to play this again, there was such a missed opportunity here.
@@KevinHelpUs you do too! And I’m glad you understand my point I’ve made, there’s so much more to Aiden then what’s been show from the e3 demos and heard about him. For thoses who labeled Aiden as bland and unlikeable didn’t really looked into the deep meaning of his character arch and didn’t knowledge his character growth at the end of the last story mission.
@@KevinHelpUs you forgot to mention in watch dogs 1 dlc where you play as T-bone and later in the story or at the end calls aiden and aiden is cooking or making banana bread
@@KevinHelpUsAiden Pearce is probably an assassin descendent with some training but they must have died before inviting him in like how ezio wasn't technically an assassin till the end of ac2
Also the games have been connected sense black flag with npc duologue that mentions blume and hack files that mention ctos
Aiden has one line that I like a lot.
After killing Quinn he says:
"Quinn's dead. This is the part where I'm supposed to say I feel empty, right? I'd be lying to myself, I finally feel awake... Like I can breathe again."
Always loved how they didn't go with the "I've killed my enemy, now I feel hollow, vengance isn't good" cliche. It also really shows that Aiden is still remorseful and that he thinks he's doing the right thing.
I fucking loved that scene. When Aiden asks himself "How do you feel now?" after killing Quinn he just goes "I am ROCK FUCKING HARD and READY FOR MORE" shit was fucking awesome
That was such a fantastic line. Like really one of the best lines in a ubisoft game I’ve heard personally.
I like even more that, for Aiden, it was about being able to do more and not just revenge
I remember being excited to receive Watch Dogs 1 for Christmas in 2014, and I played the hell out of this game on my 360. At that time I didn’t realize there was hatred toward Aiden. I thought Aiden was fucking cool, and this story kept me on the edge of my seat the whole way through. I’ve replayed the campaign at least 22 times now, and I have fun every single time.
22 times? You're a legend!
22 times ON THE 360?????
fuckin same...though, i didnt beat it 22 times lmao. i just really liked aiden and never realised there was hate for him
Me too buddy. I was 12 when the game released and I was hyped since the first reveal. I remember saving money to buy it day one and when I finally got it, I played the heck out of it. I didn't finish it 22 times, but 5. My favorite part in this game, by far is how alive and beautiful the city of Chicago feels. I love this game and it has always been in my top 10 of all time
I love that sniper rifle that instantly incapacitated vehicles, shit was so fun. I had a max level police chase standing on the back of a car, and I'd just take potshots at whatever cruiser or helicopter tried to get near me
I miss Watch Dogs man
Its so weird to me that people didn't like Aiden for being very realistically morally grey when Batman is one the more popular characters ? Like what's great About Aiden is that despite his skills he's mostly just, a dude, that got caught in something horrible and had his niece die because of his mistake, I always thought he was a great character, that played really well into how you can use the hacks for good and arrest criminals or go on a rampage and steal from everyone
You're forgetting how old Batman is.
Batman isn’t morally grey. He is very morally simple, he just likes black. I say this as a huge Batman fan.
Batman is an anti-hero@@simoneidson21
I think Aiden is an assassin descendent because the games have been connected sense black flag
Batman is one of the most moral paragons in fiction right next to Superman, wdym
What I love the most about Aiden's character is that his vigilante actions end up getting him only deeper in trouble, deep enough that all of the warring factions in chicago (two of the cities gangs, Chicago PD, and Blume Security) have all put out bounties against you. That for all your "good deeds" in weeding out corruption you're only reward is to force yourself into exile to save the one thing closest to you.
Yep, there's no happy ending there, and it would have felt forced if it had one. It couldn't have ended any other way.
this is really underrated, i thought watch dogs was a story that shows more than it tells, the game never tells that Aiden is a hipocrite with psycopathic tendencies, the only time he feels bad about killing is when it gets to his family, and the game simply shows that, there isn't written files or audio tapes that tell the psycological state of Aiden in the game and people just thought that was boring back then, and it's also really sad how "big" video game reviewers didn't noticed that and decided to roast the game for having the same elements as assassin's creed instead of seeing what the game was actually trying to acomplish, great video dude
Thank you! And I agree, everyone jumped on the bandwagon about the graphics and failed to see (intentionally or not) the great game underneath.
Aiden is far from a hypocrite with psychopathic tendencies, He's just a tragic hero who lost someone he cared about and brought justice for his family and also for the city. If we were to compare him to a marvel character, he would be similar to Spiderman
@@panthraxofficial Aiden is not the kind of guy that helps old people Cross the streets, or save cats from top of trees, Aiden has a way more tragic backstory than spiderman, where spiderman had his uncle as sort of a figure to look up to Aiden grew by himself and his figure in life was his father wich was a gangster
I mean should you feel bad about killing all these Gangsters and Criminals who probably are actually like what you described Aiden as
@@panthraxofficial uhhhh aiden isn't that blank of a slate that you mentioned aiden... the game showing that aiden is a troubled sociopath is what makes him interesting and not just a 'tragic hero' - he was a criminal before anyways and he became like that because of what he went through in his younger age
Honestly, Aiden is probably the best part of the first Watchdogs' story. He really deserves to be in a better series.
He really does.
Franchise is fine, More like a better developer
Ubisoft nailed at making this character, he’s easily the best watch dogs character and the best watch dogs game ever.
They nailed it, and they had no idea what to do with him. Agree, this is the best Watch Dogs game!
Aiden Pearce was a character way ahead of his time, now that antiheroes and characters that aren't neccesarily good are the new trend I hope Aiden gets the recognicion he never did.
I was 13 when I first played this game, and it was the first time I was exposed to a character that wasn't absolutely morally good, Aiden Pearce as a character dragged me out of my infant bubble that thought "All heroes are good"
It was the first time I actually questioned the morality of a character,, and as a kid I learned that stories about change not neccesarily have happy methods nor happy endings.
I've grown up since then, and Aiden Pierce is still one of my favourite characters, he's way more deep of a character than the game developes, Aiden is way more broken than we are told and even seems to hide it from the player, makes you think how much can a person take.
In the very end, you are playing as a villain with heroic ideals.
I found the first one, more interesting, cause it gives me more of a "What would a guy that kinda lost everything do if he had control over every part of a massive surveillance system"
Meanwhile two was more like " script kiddies go around and cause mischief"
Yeah, I like two, but they overcorrected and proved with Legion they had no idea what to do with the series without Aiden. Shame.
@@KevinHelpUs you can see that especially since when you play legion as Aiden in the DLC or even the main game it actually becomes more enjoyable.
You can delve deeper into Aidens character through the Watch Dogs: Dark Clouds book. It expands upon the story and Aidens background.
Why haven’t I heard about this?
@@KevinHelpUs surprisingly, it's a good read. Might be the best videogame based book.
@@Ronaldo-se3ff I’ll have to look for it - thanks for mentioning!
Aiden Pearce is the Man!!! The man of Watch Dogs. He will always be the main man of Watch Dogs, who started the franchise.
Totally agree!
Aiden Pearce is the only reason why I’ve keep playing, even Ubisoft knew my few weakness why I brought Watchdogs: Legion just to pay my DLC BloodLine. But my complaint is they should’ve make BloodLine actually sequel instead of a DLC but it’s a worth games. And also you’re video is worth to watching.
Thanks so much for saying so! I’m glad they gave Aiden a proper arc in Bloodline, but I wish Watch Dogs 1 had gotten a proper sequel.
Massive props to you man, Aiden Pearce is one of the most misunderstood videogame protagonists🙏🏻🔥
I agree!
Really nice to see more appreciation for Aiden Pierce nowadays! I imagine some of it is due to Legions and the Bloodlines DLC but I never found him to be bad, and always felt he was overhated. The first game definitely is an underrated gem.
Agreed!
Aiden, and the whole Watch Dogs 1's story and setting are top tier. With just a tiny bit more polish in the development and it would for sure be considered "up there" with other memorable titles. The whole concept of walking around like in GTA but being able to hack each person and object is brilliant. It added a whole new depth to the world, because an NPC is much more than just a bot walking around... you can see their name, age, what they do, etc. so IMO the game was groundbreaking regardless of its great flaws.
Aiden Pearce is a man who got caught in the wrong situation at the wrong time and had to tie the loose ends.
He's a man who is like everyone else. Trying to get by, he has goals, and he will do whatever he needs to achieve them.
He's a visionary, but also a man who will definitely kill to protect his family.
He's The Fox, the man who has problems and sadly has to end them however he can. He brings realism, seriousness, and grayness to himself.
That's why I love him.
Great summary!
Watchdogs had such a gritty story and I loved Aiden and thought he was a bad ass. Going through the projects to get Iraq was probably my favorite part in the game. The whole campaign was awesome. Couldn't get into Watchdogs 2 and never gave Legion a chance.
You’re not missing anything with Legion, unless you want to try Aiden’s DLC.
Idk, it seems to me that people either like 2 / legion or 1... I like all three, each of them is unique in some ways.
I didn't initially give legion a chance, but I got it in a Steam sale for 7 USD... and it blew my mind.
The graphics is amazing, the roleplaying options "infinite" - so many options as to who play, depending on what you want... you want a gunfight? Get a dude with machine gun for the mission. Want to sneak? Well, get uniformed access and voila.
The story is fine, it doesn't need the protagonist that much.
Most (N)PCs share traits, but it's still very diverse, in looks and voices. Idk if they used some sort of algorithm to match "accents" to certain looks, because sometimes it seemed spot on and sometimes I felt like it's way over the top, but the characters grow on you, especially if you don't use 1 same guy + if you keep your team smaller (in the later stages if you liberate borrows you get very specialized guys, a spy, hitman, those are very strong and don't have a negative trait.
But if you want, you can play as an Albion guard, who is unfortunately flatulent, so my sneak in police headquarters turns into massive gunfight and fight for life (even more adreline inducing if you are playing high difficulty and permadeath on) :)
People always say they want something different. But when something different does come out, people either hate on it or it doesn't sell well.
One of the few realistically fallible protagonists for the genre. He felt like a person I could realistically see someone becoming after living his life whether you chose to play him as a heartless killer or a vigilante that walks the knife's edge of morality and revenge. I played this game late (only about a 2 years ago) but it was everything I was anticipating and a little more. Would highly recommend it to freinds👍
*Charcter dosent crack up a joke every 5 seconds*
Casual gamers: BAHD CHARCTER !
Aiden Pearce is one of my favorites in the whole Watch Dogs franchise and one of the best anti-heroes in video game history.
Mine too! (Obviously.)
He is my first favorite Watch Dogs character and Wrench from Watch Dogs 2 and Legion is my second favorite because of how funny and creative he is and his mask that displays his emotions is so cool. Playing as those 2 in Legion is totally a lot of fun!
@@Jokerslayer460 I think it’s hilarious how Wrench became more popular than Marcus - that mask of his is so great.
If there's one man who can play Aiden in a movie, we all know it's Ryan Gosling. Literallt me fr
As it was with Altair and the first Assassin's Creed, the first of the series is always more immersive and even more mature. It brakes my heart to see a company listening to the other side of that demand... assuming the decay in quality is intentional and only worrying about big fast way to buck.
Honestly, I don’t think they had any idea what to do with Watch Dogs when the first one was criticized. They pivoted way too hard and it feels like a franchise they’re ready to forget, but part of that is Ubisoft being short-sighted yet again.
They really should have gone further with Aiden's viciousness, it feels like Ubsoft was pulling there punches in regards to how far he will go for vengeance.
Also I'm not a fan of how the game tries to present Aiden like he's some kind of anti-hero, when he's clearly not.
He is an anti-hero technically, if you play him as a good guy. A lot of the good he does is mostly for the purpose of his goal though.
Bloodline is what's worth it in Legion, especially when you go into Aiden's head as Jackson and see how messed up it is, with how traumatized he is years later. Mostly due to the Trauma Loop that is mentioned.
There's a whole PT Silent Hill segment and everything.
A fellow Aiden enjoyer? You just got another subscriber
Yessss one of us one of us
People hated Aiden or Watch dogs 1 for not being super-cool, bruh like they are better in reality.
I'll always love WD1. It was my first "rated M" game , I played it in my WiiU for hours nonstop... Years later I have it in basically every platform. It's still one of my favorite games.
Wow someone else who brought it on WiiU
Same here. Played 3 play through's cause I liked it too much. Good run. Bad run. And then everything in French.
Man, watchdogs was amazing, it was the first game that made me feel what the protagonist felt. There was a mission in which some tugs are harassing Aiden nice, and I remembered that I literally went full speed in a car to do the mission, which technically activated only when you were in the zone so there was no need to speed up. That's how invested I was. And also hated Damian so much!
Damian was the worst!
And here I was, thinking watch dog 1 was better than 2 solely due to Aiden and a more serious story
Kinda ironic how Jackson ended up following in Aiden's footsteps
Aiden may not have gone off to join the Dark Brotherhood but he certainly pulled off one hell of a contract for a... certain group of people. Ezio would be proud.
Requiescat in Pace.
I will say though…it was a missed opportunity to not have Clara’s death be; in a more direct way; Aiden’s fault. It could have pushed him beyond his limits to realize the theme that vengeance would only cause more problems than it solved.
It would have been a much stronger character moment if he got (in his eyes) yet another person who trusted him taken down.
In a way it was indirectly his fault, he pushed her away when he found out Clara had a role in his niece's death which made her feel extremely guilty that led her to be wide open for murderers when she was in a public cemetery
Im so glad I wasn’t the only one who loved Aiden Pearce. I thought we was interesting and he made the Vigilante concept so rad. He could be non-lethal and hyper lethal depending on how you played. He could become a force for good in Chicago or he could become a menace. I thought he was like a more realistic Batman!
There are dozens of us!
Why am I just now seeing this?!?? I remember playing this game when it came out and was floored by how great it is!! I still play it over and over to this day!! 🔥
I remember the first time I saw watch dogs gameplay in person, went to my “recreational providers” house to pick up a delivery and he was deep in the campaign sneaking around some port/warehouse and I was blown away, I didn’t even have an Xbox 1 yet and I couldn’t believe what I saw. I ended up hanging out for a few hours and I’ll never forget that. Each console generation every gamer remembers that first time their eyes grace the screen of a new consoles power and you just never forget it, was really disappointed with watch dogs 2 and 3 compared to the first and I hope someday Ubisoft gets their head out of their asses and get back to making great games again
Honestly Aiden is one of my favourite characters ever. He's very much trapped in his mistakes and couldn't get over it for so long he became quite literally haunted by it. Convincing himself he had to do this and not knowing any other kind of life for over 10 years. He does horrible things again and again all for this delusion that he has to and that it's all he can, yet despite it all the family he cherished so dearly were able to bring him out of this pit of despair.
There is literally 15 years of open space to continue aidens story, send him to Detroit, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, anywhere that could be a great location
I’d love to see him go to Detroit. It’s turning into a bit of a tech hub with all the cheap office space.
If you play legion, Aiden has already caused a lot of chaos in other countries (his bio shows he's banned from Honduras, Qatar and 3 other countries)
aiden is by far my favorite video game character all time since the game came out, ever since i first played the game i was so drawn to his character for one reason or another maybe because i relate to him so much as a person
It makes me feel good to be one of the people who genuinely enjoyed the first watchdogs. The level where you fight your way through the projects building one floor at a time was easily my favorite part of the game.
This is a wonderfully written and edited video. Absolutely underrated
Thanks so much for saying so!
Imagine thinking that Aiden is supposed to be a good guy in watch dogs. People nowadays don’t get it, he’s meant to be a villain like character who has his own morale. He takes revenge for his dead family and kills people. Also, he’s not that boring honestly. He’s quite entertaining to watch.
U know, Adien is called "The Fox" in the online forums.
Its his hacker/fixer name.
And "the vigilanty" is the name the news gave him do to his hero like actuvities in the city.
So glad I found your channel, theres always this question I couldn't put my finger on it.... you perfectly described every single detail not to mention how well written your video were. Deeply appreciate your effort
I thought default was a good match against aiden, and i like the fact that hes smart, it makes him so much more threatening
One thing ive seen that no one points out is in the mission where Aiden Pearce is hunting down Angelo Tuccu a fixer trying to interrogate the man who say Aiden’s face Aiden tracks and kills him-using his niece. The game calls you out on this with the man who interrogate before as well asking “Why do you want his family.”
Even Clara asks, “What do you want with this poor girl?” Aiden used someone else’s family to get to someone else. Never brought attention to brilliant detail.
Oh, interesting. I hadn’t looked at it that way!
I was one of the people who preordered it, I still remember booting it up for the first time. When people starting saying it's bad cause X I was so confused. I thought the story was descent and Aiden and cool protagonist with just the right amount of edge. Hell I still like him and think he's badass. When I found out about the tragic backstory I was saddened and a little taken aback by it, cause usually the lost loved one is a wife or child or even a sibling. But instead it was his niece. At 14/15 I didn't quite grasp how important the drive was, but now, ten years later, I'm an uncle to my 2yo niece who Ive helped raise, who also loves seeing me and asks to say hi to me on the phone. If Aiden was even a little bit as close to his niece as I am with mine, I fully understand his actions and want for revenge.
But even back then, I saw him as this badass vigilante using Dedsec for his own goals.
As for 2? Lacking. The only character I liked, and everyone else did too, was wrench. Otherwise everything just seemed way too, "How do you do, fellow kids!" Everything was way too... much. I got so bored of it all I quit sometime during the rocket mission.
To sum it up, I like Aiden Pierce because he was essentially a normal ass dude that had, to quote the Joker, "One bad day." That sent him spiraling. What did the other guy have? If he had something, I missed it or hadn't gotten to it. The goal didn't feel vital, it just felt like a bunch of college kids fuckin around. Well, the others had genuine reasons for doing it that I can't remember, I think. Idk, maybe I'm an outlier in that department, or maybe I'm just biased towards brooding characters.
THIS. Aiden very much reminded me of this one BCS quote “My brother is not a bad person. He has a good heart. It's just he can't help himself. And everyone's left picking up the pieces.”
Aiden in numerous instances actually goes out of his way to not harm people, such as with Maurice or that one survivor.
uhhhh that's debatable
he still needs Maurice and literally has him being tortured by a psychopathic hitman that both aiden and jordi get along pretty well
@@godzillazfriction why does he need Maurice? He doesn't, Jordi doesn't even get it.
@@MelindaSordinoIsLiterallyMe uhhhhh so you didn't play the game then
Year old video, I know, but I haven't seen anyone talk about Aiden's audio logs. Reviewers always talk about how Lena's death effected Aiden but no one talks about his past with his dad that's hinted at through the game. Those hints show that Aiden was already a fighter before the crash, it just made him more like his father.
I liked aiden first time i played this game. I liked his control and how he was smart enough to keep a situation under control. I have no clue why reviewers didn't like this game because me and my friends for sure did. I liked everything about the story, i remember i think this is the first game that truly played with my emotions the way it did. Whenever his sis was taken and whenever Jackson called for help i felt the same panic aiden may have felt deep down. At the end whenever clara died i felt the same anger to the point i stopped caring about what cars i ran into because i was in a truck just pushing cars out the way like i was in the batmobile lol. I chose the obvious at the end with not killing what's his name after having found all his burner phones, it was unnecessary because he would live with what he did. I was rewarded with aiden's monologue at the end, confirming he was thinking the same way. It was tremendous
This this THIS, this video is a perfect explanation why Ubisoft truly missed out on making sequels about Aiden
I also recommend talking about delsin rowe he's an underrated character imo
Thanks so much for saying so! I played a bit of Second Son and I need to dig into it more. I was a big Cole stan.
@@KevinHelpUs I reckon you won't be disappointed, I never got to playing Infamous 1 or 2 but I sure enjoyed the hell outta second so
Bro, I was like the only person who liked the first watch dogs, I even got the platinum for it.. And I didn't fully understood the hate this game got (apart from the tech demo) so thank you for this video because I never bothered with the other games and that bloodlines dlc thing at the end really made me nostalgic for the first game and gave such a good conclusion to it. Superb video!
So glad you enjoyed it!
I will never forgive Ubisoft for not giving us a fully fledged Aidan perice sequel.
I like the clothes and walking movement
9:45 the problem with this was that they specifically made the evil route give no reward and actually made the game more difficult while making everyone hate you. The problem with evil routes in games is that they're way less fleshed out than the good route everyone takes, and there are games where people love to do evil routes like undertake or deltarune, but that's because those games actually give you a brand new experience by doing it.
I would also say as it came to mass effect, the paragon path has more unique encounters, such as appealing to sarens conscience and triggering him to commit suicide, whereas the renegade just had a boss battle.
I'm glad I got recommended this, Aidan was honestly one of my favorite characters because he reminds me of the punisher. I know its a popular comparison but it's very fitting due to them having similar trama especially if you look to the 2004 punisher movie
Aiden Pearce is Ubisoft's own Max Payne with a different brand of style.
Equally, they got nothing to lose when their loved ones got taken away from them.
I never understood why people didn't understand this. One of the biggest points of the game is that aiden has good intentions most of the time, but he's extremely flawed and does plenty of horrible shit
I love Watch Dogs 1 and Watch Dogs 3 for very different reasons, the original for its open world story and Legion for its perspective of “let’s build a rebellion”
One of my favorite feature about this game is how when there is a shootout on the streets, some npcs will be stuck in their car, too terrorized to move. Aiden can help them get out and run away
It's a small thing, but I always loved how Aiden was born in Belfast. Sure, we get Irish characters all the time in games, but Northern Irish characters are a fair sight rarer and it's always cool to see someone from that background, since I'm from Belfast myself. The only other example I can think of is one of the playable characters in Far Cry 2, but they just barely count as a character.
I remember Watch_Dogs being the first M rated game I ever played. The atmosphere was great, smooth gameplay, and I liked the serious tone and open world elements such as the vigilante open world random encounters. Aiden was grounded but at the same time when he does get over the top and all deep voiced it can be funny too, kind of like Chris Nolan's Batman. Maybe if Ubisoft didn't overhype with the graphics and whatnot and the game released later next to GTA V it wouldn't have flopped that badly and been regarded better.
Oh and the music. Fabulous.
I loved the music too! Hearing Screeching Weasel and Alkaline Trio in a video game made my day. Agree that if they didn't overpromise and under-deliver with the graphics, the franchise might be very different now.
@@KevinHelpUs I meant the OST/video game music. The crime detection music is one of my favorites in particular, as well as the chase music that plays in one of the missions when tracking down Raymond Kenney.
@@josepadilla1277 Oh! My mistake. That was great too!
I think it’s also important to note that the developers also had no plans initially to make watch dogs for ps3 and 360. So that’s also the cause for the corners cut. I’ve always loved Watch Dogs. When it came out, I adored it. I’m playing through it again and 10 years later I empathize with Aiden even more so. Probably because I’m getting old and jaded. But still. The game is a triumph. And I’d love to see a sequel starring Aiden with slightly softer edges.
I'm so glad someone agrees with me, it's been years and every time I hear that Aiden sucks but I've never felt that way.
Ain't no way this has only 1.5k views, way too good must be a glitch
I AGREE
I absolutely love this video, I love seeing Aiden and Watch Dogs as a whole getting the recognition they deserve. I know it doesn't work from a narrative perspective since his story is over, but I would love another game set in this universe with Aiden. Or hell, even reboot the second and third games so the tone is brought back to what the first game (and DEDSEC) were originally, none of this hippy-happy hacker crap, they were practically terrorists in the first game. Also these hypothetical reboots would ideally have Aiden back as the main protagonist.
Sorry if that comment was a little all over the place, with the DEDSEC rant, I really hate what they were turned into in the next two games.
@@an-animal-lover Yeah, it's a shame what they did with such a promising franchise. A reboot (hopefully with Aiden) would probably be the optimal outcome, but Ubisoft has changed so much that I don't know if they have any idea what to do with this franchise anymore.
Great well edited video man. I really like him as a character too. He just fit the whole theme of the game and revenge perfectly. Poor Aiden dude, PTSD and trauma everywhere but he uses the grief for good....mostly. And you can choose how edgy to make him with the clothing and Vigilante rating. Also holy crap, Bloodlines is the best part of Legion, might just buy it on sale *just* for that.
I will say that my only complaint about Bloodlines was that Jackson didn't become a playable character in the main game, to my knowledge. But then, I thought about it, and Jackson had already been through hell and high waters before he even became a teenager. He deserves to graduate college, attend protests if only for the purpose of being a street medic and caring for others, and decide his own future. It would have been cool to play as him, but I can appreciate why Ubisoft didn't go that direction with him. Fantastic video, btw! 👍🏾
Watch_Dogs is the first game I ever 100% completed. The aura... the sad tones throughout... Aiden's story. Its masterful. Its such a shame this game didnt do as well as it couldve.
This game is a genuine masterpiece, I love the watchdogs series however I was I introduced via the second game a bit after it released. I got really good at the PvP and the more combat focused gameplay of watch dogs one had me very intrigued. I just played through the first mission today, I’m both happy and disappointed to say watch dogs one is the best in the series. Seeing the actual effects of blackouts, the moral compass effect the game can have on you: it’s honestly in my opinion triple a title worthy should it have some graphical and interface improvements. Nonetheless aiden Pearce is an amazing character I wish they could have expanded on even more than they have with the wdl dlc
Enjoy the game - you’re in for a ride!
You are so good at this. Never played Watch Dogs but great video!
I’m sure it’s on sale for next to nothing - give it a rip! (And thank you!)
I loved Watch Dogs 1 and Aiden so much! Never really liked or got into WD 2 or Legion. But Aiden just got something inside of me... Really love him and his story.
This video is a year old and it was recommended to me. As someone who suffers from trauma loops from my own losses. I appreciate knowing about characters that have similar situations. This video is fantastic. Keep it up man
Thanks so much for saying so, glad you enjoyed it.
Aiden's backstory lists his place of birth as Belfast, North Ireland. They could've just made him from the Chicago area, but instead they made him a grim, stoic Ulsterman.
Yeah, I wish they had done more with his Irish heritage as a backstory for him, but I think it gets mentioned all of twice in game.
I think making him from somewhere else added depth and worldliness to his character.
@@howardmctroy3303 I agree, if they ever make another Watch Dogs game, I hope they’d explore it more.
Tbh i like Aiden Pearce more than wd2 he had morals to be a vigilante whereas in watchdogs 2 u can literally kill civilians without it affecting ur status
And tbh i feel like im a bland guy but i like Aiden as what he is
I absolutely agree. I was so confused by the reception of Aiden Pearce because I thought it was blatantly obvious that he was suffering from severe PTSD. People were complaining that he was making the whole thing about himself and ignoring his sister and nephew's feelings on the matter. And that his vigilantism was putting them in danger rather than protecting them. And I was just like "Yes? That's literally the point of his story arc." The game is about him realizing that and doing his best to rectify it. It's like looking at the movie Click and going "I hate this guy, why is he always prioritizing work over his family? What a bad movie!" The reason he's okay with stealing cars and money is that he believes that the ends justify the means. Therefore it's okay for him to steal, because he's a good guy. But everyone else are bad, and therefore not allowed to steal.
I think Marcus Holloway was an over correction on Ubisoft's part. Watch Dogs 2 has much better gameplay, but it never topped the story of the first game. And the fact that Marcus Holloway lacks a good character arc like Aiden is part of why I think that.
One real complaint I have about the first game is that the fixer side missions doesn't make any sense for the story. So many of the missions are "I need to keep the cops busy while some criminals are doing their thing." Why would The Vigilante be ok with that? If the cops are busy it would make more sense for him to stop the criminals himself.
Also, I think the reason Aiden didn't hold Jordi's betrayal against him is because Jordi is the embodiment of "It's not personal it's business". When Jordi betrays Aiden, Aiden is not thinking "How could you?". He's thinking "Dammit, I knew I should have paid extra for the 'No betrayals'-package."
Man I loved the first watch dogs and the main character I'm glad people like you exist so my statement can be heard
Despite the downgrade i still got 100% completion and i loved the game, the exploration in the city felt like i was actually in Chicago. Most of the hate for Aiden gotta come because of Angry Joe, he literally skiped the cutscenes and called him a bad character for killing cops, when the story literally says the cops are corrupt. I wanted to make video explaining why he's not a bad character, and i'm glad you did it.
Ive always loved aiden, more than any other character in wd2
Awesome Video! I only ever played and finished WD2 and throughout the years i've seen people hate on Aiden. It's so nice to have a totally different perspective. Keep making more of these! Gained a new fan! 🔥
Thanks for saying so - and welcome!
I really liked the side activities on Watch Dogs 1. Some of the most unique activities I've played in an open world game. They were called "Digital Trips" and the best one imo was called "Alone" where you're hunted by robots Skynet style.
Watch Dogs NEEDS a reboot more than anything else. If Ubisoft remade WD1 with better writing and gameplay it would be amazing. Maybe a setting like the Watch Dogs Resurgence concept art.
If I thought they would do it justice, I’d love that.
I really hate that Ubisoft never gives a character a chance to shine, rather changing to a different character for the sequel just to follow the trend. Because I wish Watch_Dogs to be like Sam Fisher or Ezio.
I don't like Edward in AC4, but love him when I read about his journey after the game. I don't like Arno in ACU, but love him when I read about his journey after the game. I don't like Connor in AC3, but love him when I read his journey after the game.
Yeah, I feel like they made a great character, didn’t know what to do with him, and then overcorrected. Such a shame.
When I first played watch dogs I immediately liked Aiden, and he ended up being one of my favorite video game characters. He along with the original Alex Mason of black ops fame. Hearing just how much people hated Aiden genuinely surprised me.
I love Aiden Pierce when I watch all the Campaign of Watch Dogs 1 in UA-cam during 2015 and now it's one of my favorite characters in video-games because I can know more about playing the game by myself.
I'm gonna play Watch Dogs 2 after this video, great video and more great analysis
I love aiden pearce he is one of my favourite videogame characters and he inspired me to pursue hacking
How'd that go?
They complained about Aiden being brooding the storyline in the game his Niece died a of course he will be brooding. I’m sorry but people are so stupid
I always appreciated Aiden as a character because, aside from not knowing about him more, he really seemed fleshed out, more realistic than the average protagonist. I was nice to find an analysis after all these years with the same point of view.
As someone with combat related PTSD, no amount of accepting ever stops you from being hyper aware. At best, it gives you the ability to function. But you're always hyper aware. And I am not going to lie, it has saved my life in so many ways from avoiding being in a horrific accident to being able to take slip an attempt carjacking at gun point.
Shame Ubisoft dropped that noir-esque gritty atmosphere and story approach right after tbe first game
2:33 i love Adrian Pearce and I can kind of see myself in his place, did I have a friend who was close to being the host, someone who can't stand ort no, so I follow the guy in Adrian's place in the game
Something I noticed is that Jordi was mostly always wherever Aiden was, he was in San Francisco during the same time as aiden was taken prisoner during that one mission and also calling and talking to him in london (although he might not be out there to help or watch things play out himself so he threatens to send fixers)
True, Jordi cares about Aiden but would never admit it.
Aiden Pearce was always one of my favorite game protagonists from the video games I had access to growing up. Sure he was edgy and gruff, but that was cool to me (and still is). He acts like a pulpy action movie character with lots of drama, intrigue and slight sci-fi (like how many different things can be hacked) and I love every second of it. The only part of Watch_Dogs 2 I cared to watch was the mission clips with him in there.