Watch Dogs vs. Grand Theft Auto V: A Screenshot Comparison Between Two Open World Games

GearNuke: "Check how these two ambitious open world games compare with each other."

[Walker]

Grand Theft Auto V is the best in class, nothing can come close !

[Codewow]

The Watch Dogs devs don't have as much room when making something from a new base. I even noticed they used assets from other Ubisoft franchises... So maybe if they put more effort into the second game it'll be comparable, but maybe it won't... We'll see if they stick with the Assassins Creed, Far Cry crossover or move on to a new system.

[lashes2ashes]

Gtav most likely had a longer dev cycle and is also rumored to have the biggest budget in all of the industry.

[FATAL1TY]

GTA 5 > watch dogs

SLEEPING DOGS > watch dogs

Saints Row 3 > wd

http://www.abload.de/img/ub...

[Dee_91]

Well they have been working on gta v for basically an entire console generation, and it shows, the amount of detail in gta v is bar none.I have still yet to explore everything in GTA v 8 months later.
I'm having fun with watchdogs though.. not exactly what I expected but, still fun

[Anthotis]

Can't wait for GTA 5 to come out for PC.

That'll certainly make me feel better about wasting my money on Watch Dogs.

[user5669510]

GTA SA is way better. GTAV is just what should have been in GTAIV from the start

[Rimeskeem]

Except red dead

[Matt666]

that your own opinion every one has there own opinion. I like both watchdogs and GTA 5.

[Syntax-Error]

@Codewow, I agree. give tme more time with the console and you'll see a big difference. But then again, you're talking about Rockstar and they haven't made a flop yet. Rockstar has to be the industries most successful developer. Even Max Payne 3 looked really well.

[Malphite]

GTA V seem to look better on old gen consoles compared to Watch Dogs old gen version. That's not surprising though considering it was developed for PS3 and Xbox 360 only unlike Watch Dogs.

I really hope that GTA V will get a port for PC and/or PS4 cause I haven't played it yet and I'd like to see how the game looks on a stronger platform.

[DarkLordMalik]

I seriously cannot wait to play GTA V on PS4. I mean the game looked so good, despite the jaggies and obvious cutbacks. Imagine what it can look once unshackled from such ancient hardware.

[Visiblemarc]

Yep, and the big one: framerate.

[DaleCooper]

My guess is we'll see a port of Red Dead Redemption on PS4 and XB1 before we see GTA V. There's just been too many Red Dead rumors lately! That's just my theory though.

[Codewow]

The only problem is it will be what it is called... A port... And with ports, comes less optimazation because it was developed with the same time frame as the original.

[XiSasukeUchiha]

GTA V last gen looks better than Watch Dogs last gen!

[Chuk5]

ok.

[uth11]

They picked rather poor Watch Dogs shots for comparison there.

[demonddel]

GTA 5 look and plays better than Watchdogs on the ps4

[uncharted56]

How? I mean the stupidity in this comment hurts my brain. Usually I never attack people but seriously what the hell! I mean come on there are things where GTA is better then Watch Dogs in certain aspects but man really.

[MorePowerOfGreen]

Just poor WD shots to justify this rubbish click bait. At times WD destroys GTA. Cherry picking shots isn't worthy of article write ups. WD is one of those games where its representation is harmed with online pics and videos.

[Adexus]

This is comparing last gen screens though, not last gen to next gen.

[Ashunderfire86]

What Watchdogs reminds me of is Assassin's Creed 1 where it was just ok, but get better with sequels. Just like Assassin Creed 1, Watchdogs have repetitive side missions. Only the story and the privacy missions really standout. GTA 5 had more variety of missions. GTA 5 beats Watchdogs! I am hoping for a next gen port for GTA 5 too.

[user5669510]

i agree but hopefully they dont go over board. im tired of AC releasing every year. i want the devs to do something new. but i doubt it. ubisoft going to milk them until theyre lifeless.

[MajorGecko]

i think a yearly open-world game would be better then the shet we see now i dont even play cod or assasins creed and battlefield pisses me off with teh glitchyness so anythings welcome.

[ape007]

there's nothing like the brilliance of GTA we all know that but Watch Dogs is a pretty damn nice game, loving it

[WitWolfy]

One of the many reason's GTA is so brilliant too is because it doesnt get released yearly.. It's like this massive wait thats totally worth it in the end.

WD is a great first attempt dont get me wrong, but saying its better than GTA 5 is insulting!

[UnHoly_One]

It's way better than any GTA game, not just 5.

[Plagasx]

Man, I can't wait to see what they do with GTA V once it comes to PC! It already looks amazing on 9 year old consoles!

[killzone619]

by the time GTAV makes it to PC, GTA6 will be released...

[Joey_Leone]

Here we go with the comparisons again. No game will ever touch GTA just face the facts, Driver,Saints Row, True Crime and Watch Dogs have never been successful compared to GTA. I'm starting to think GTA haters exist. Please kids, stop with the unnecessary comparisons.

[WeAreLegion]

Let's compare their budgets, as well.

[trywizardo]

V is the best open world game ever , with its visuals and scale and draw distance , its a beast
WD is great for its being a new IP , the devs took a lot of elements from AC games but they made and original IP that have its own ideas and great potential
WD can't be compared to V , not even a bit , but its seqels might reach the mighty GTA greatness one day

[Tru_Ray]

I agree with this comment 100%! It is unfair to compare the seventh iteration of the franchise with the first iteration of another. While WD is no GTAV, it is still a franchise with enormous potential.

Tru_

[Moe-Gunz]

I like Watch Dogs way better than GTA V and GTA IV...sue me.

[UnHoly_One]

Agreed. It's a better game than any GTA could ever hope to be.

[ape007]

LMAO, i know it's your opinion but how can anyone say this, the driving, the thrills, the atmosphere, the carnage, sound, trademark gta feel, vibe, variety, brilliance, all those aspects are head and shoulders better n gta than watch dogs, if u asked ubisoft, they'll tell ya the same

[Skankinruby]

THANK YOU! GTA 4 and 5 were overrated GARBAGE. Worst plotlines and character development with insanely unjustified critical acclaim. I'm so glad someone else can see it for the trash that it was.

[KonsoruMasuta]

Watchdogs suffers from those same issues.

[DieCamperDie]

GTA IV's story was great, GTA5's story was horrible... Watchdogs story is okay so far from what i'm up to but I am sad that it is repetitive... I feel like I am playing Assasin's creed, it has the same features... In the fun level GTA 5 rules Watchdogs.

[PCGamingNoobs]

gta has a terrible plot line, yet watchdogs main lead one minute is crying about what he is doing and what he has become killing all these people then hes like " OH WELL off to the next place to slaughter a load more folks"

the story in watchdogs is just lazy and the characters are unbalanced all over the place.

[TomahawkX]

I'm pretty sure that Watch Dogs was delayed due to how awesome GTAV turned out. Ubisoft did a great job though considering its their first time creating a city with such scale and detail.

[Tru_Ray]

It is pretty obvious that this game has been influenced by GTAV (for the better IMO). More importantly, it is great that there is new contender in the open world genre.

Tru_

[itisallaboutps]

Why compare budgets? At the end of the day you are only paying 60 bucks. And watch dogs is okay but gets old fast. Why are so many people in denial?

[Sketchy_Galore]

The lighting in GTAV is much better than that of Watch dogs. As people have said, at night in the rain it can look pretty good but in broad daylight it's all so flat and washed out looking. Even on a dry night the city has that thing I thought we had left behind last generation. That thing where you can see everything in the distance as clear as day only it's all coloured dark blue. It reminds me more than anything else of the first game in the Prototype franchise. It just lacks any atmosphere.

Strangely though during the 'Alone' digital trip it all looks pretty good. The darkness looks quite good and plays well off of the shining search lights. The hazy white lighting after an area is cleared looks good too. Despite that digital trip removing all of the civilians and moving vehicles from the city I actually found the world far more immersive than in the regular game.

[YodaCracker]

The lighting in GTA V really is remarkable. It makes the whole world look so natural and believable. The way the light reflects off different surfaces is perfect and makes every object feel tangible, like it belongs in the world. Los Santos can look nearly photo-realistic at certain times of the day and vastly better than Watch Dogs on ANY platform, in my opinion.

Rockstar truly are masters at crafting a believable open world. The level of detail in every inch of Los Santos is downright absurd. The polish and production values are unrivaled. No other open world game even comes close in that regard. Other developers simply lack the time, budget and, dare I say, talent.

[ape007]

it's TALENT, Rockstar north aka DMA design are legends in the business, been a die hard fan ever since their golden gem Body Harvest on N64, it feel exactly like gta, same trademark Scottish brilliance

[blady_man]

I dont care which ones better as long as i can play both, period. We have the opportunity to play both so there is no point for me to say which one is better as i have both and enjoy both tbh

[iistuii]

If I stood my character at a certain angle I may beable to get it looking like those GTA shots. But as soon as I walk/drive you can clearly tell how jaggie it is. It's never as smooth looking as WD's, it has poor frame-rate & a much lower resolution. Anyone who has played both games can clearly tell WD's is the better looking game by far. GTA5 was the last straw for last gen for me. I knew whilst playing it that the generation was over. It was too much for the old console. It had textures missing/loading it had terrible jaggies it's frame-rate was everywhere. I stopped playing it as it was ruining the experience for me.

[alti]

"It is unbelievable how stunning the game [GTA:V] can still look despite being almost an year old game"

Sigh. Anybody can be a writer these days.

[windblowsagain]

Personally GTA in any form just isn't for me.

I've tried to like it, i bought GTA4 and i played SA on older consoles and PC, but it just never sucked me in.

WD has, personally character wise it's better. I like the hacking thing, and the world is busy enough.

As for graphics between the two. I really don't get what people are going on about with GTA5. Characters don't look as good as WD, shaders are not as good.

WD wins it for me.

As for other open world.

I'd pick Infamous.

[objdadon]

I played the hell out of gta 5 and enjoyed myself for quite a while but I'm playing watchdogs now and even a blind man can see after actually playing both games that watchdogs is miles ahead of gta in the graphics dept.! Lol! Come on! Get rockstar's nuts out of yall's mouths! Both games I love very dearly!

[llMurcielagoll]

I will be frank here,

If I want to start comparing graphics fidelity, Watch_Dogs of course has the upper hand in lighting visuals for one thing (PC Xbox One and PS4 versions) and aliasing too. But in terms of quality, I am going to go with GTA V.

Why is that you might ask? Personally, I do pay attention to the small details. With GTA, I never complained about poor quality because RockStar really put a lot of effort to deliver a beautiful experience.

Watch_Dogs? Well, aside from the massive downgrade they did which was a bummer, One time I was behind a building, the ground looked beautiful with the rain droplets and lighting reflection, the ally way leading to that area had a completely different set of lighting and colors that it looked asymmetric with the rest of the ally. Could have been a bug.

Another example, I fell off into the canal and was swimming. the noises of water splashing coming from swimming sounds EXACTLY like the sound effects of an Assassin's Creed Game.

This is what I can remember off the top of my head.

I think I am done with Ubisoft all together.

[SuperBlur]

what was it for me was the car damage system .. my expectations weren't that high .. i thought it would be similar to GTA IV or V but nope , it was the closest thing to getting a GTA 3/VC rebuilt in hd .. the damage is so unreal .. a huge turn off for me that i returned the game still wrapped

crazy i know.

[cfc83]

I like watch dogs, though they have to take their time with the next one, and make it new gen. Some things in wd are better than gta, and vice versa. At this moment in time gta is technically better, but some of us prefer stronger stories and characters. The story is the thing for me, so if ubisoft take their time i'd lean towards watch dogs. They need to sort out the driving though. As for gtav, it ticked so many boxes, but the story, missions and characters didnt live up to the rest of the game. They painted a mona lisa, and someone drew a moutache on her.

[Perjoss]

Would be fantastic if ubi put a 2 year gap between each WD release and really refine this franchise based on reviewer and community feedback. But something tells me they will churn this out yearly and WD might never reach its full potential.

[LetoAtreides82]

How would using the PS4/PC screenshots of WD be an unfair advantage? Rockstar could have released GTA5 on PS4/PC too. The author goes on to say that WD being released on old gen and current gen platforms hampered its potential a bit, so why not show how hampered the PS4/PC version of WD is compared to GTA5?

Also those are the ugliest and blandest locations I've ever seen in Watch Dogs, it's not hard to find beautiful locations in WD, it definitely looks like the author of the article went out of his way to make WD look bad. You'd think WD only has tiny buildings.

[kingahmad90]

that makes me more excited for Rockstar's new game for the current gen
hopefully it's a new Red dead

[tamulmol]

well thats what you get when you have a $700 million dollar budget - GTA V

[plaZeHD]

*200 million dollar

[Clown_Syndr0me]

WD and GTA are totally different games, except theyre open world...

[Meatyboy]

Graphics aren't just the amount of pixels its what the artists can do with it. GTA has hardly any cookie cutter at all which is incredible considering the size. Both look good but ubisoft couldnt really match gta's massive budget and amount of people working on it, watch dogs looks great still but imo gta has the better look.