From its premier during E3 2012, Watch Dogs ignited gamer’s imaginations with a vivid sci-fi imagining of a future Chicagoan landscape. The integration of technology with society was subtle and expertly done while convincing the player that this future was a realistic one. While the city itself felt like a major character in the game, the game’s protagonist, Aiden Pierce, shared the limelight. He is a troubled man looking for revenge for his murdered niece. He battles the criminal underbelly of Chicago looking for those responsible and he’ll stop at nothing to get answers. That includes hacking into the central core running in the city and mining through personal information to get what he needs. Needless to say, a major franchise was born that day and we’ll sure see greater sales for this title as well as more games to come in the future.
With that said, the game’s art direction was the first thing that really grabbed gamers by the shoulders and never let go. The underground hacking collective, the ctOS technology littered around the city and Aiden’s control over everything was remarkably designed. So much so, that many people believe that our world is headed to a Watch Dogs like existence. Thankfully, Titan Books managed to capture the art and design behind this vision with The Art of Watch Dogs.
The Art of Watch Dogs is an art book consisting of 144 pages full of conceptual and final art designs directly from the team that created it. The art in this book revolves around character and apparel designs for Aiden Pearce, his allies and enemies. Interestingly enough, the book also goes further into how the team approached building a new Chicago with some of the design work that went into that. Finally, you’ll see some of the design of the tech and gadgetry used to hack and control the ctOS system, Aiden’s method of controlling the city.
Clearly this book is made for fans of the game, so if you loved Watch Dogs, and chances are you do, this is a great addition to your collection. Seeing the transition from concept to final art is fascinating and reading the extended captions really immerses you in the artists mindset. Seeing the concept art in this book brings you closer to the characters likenesses than you ever could in the game. Seeing them evolve and the motivations behind the looks added a level of depth to an already deep character set. As a bonus, you also see some of the tech designs for the ctOS system which is a nice touch to the compilation.
Titan has released quality art books that expand your knowledge and appreciation of gaming’s largest franchises for a long time. While this specific book doesn’t really offer anything new, as far as feature of the book are concerned, it doesn’t detract from the beauty of this art collection. This is a must own for Watch Dogs fans everywhere and it comes with our highest recommendation. We loved the book itself, and if you want to learn some of the behind the scenes details of your favorite Watch Dogs character, this is the go-to book.