Ubisoft closes their E3 showcase with the phenomenal next generation of stealth-action gaming.

Last week we reported on what games and events to look forward to at this year's E3. To be honest, the list was pretty paltry; aside from a few big-hitters, this year's expo seemed a bit bereft of titles that were really worth getting excited for. Certainly, aside from games like Assassin's Creed III and FarCry3, nobody really expected Ubisoft to come out with anything really memorable except for a cringeworthy display of "funny" presenters reminiscent of last year. Boy, were we wrong.

After an incredibly solid performance that overshadowed both Microsoft and EA's shows earlier this evening, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot emerged to wrap up the show with the reveal of a new IP. Aside from that, we had nothing to go on. Ten minutes later, live streams, chat channels and discussion forums across the Internet exploded as Watch_Dogs was made known to the world for the first time.

The game follows the events of an alternate (or is it?) real-world setting where the everyday machinations of society are operated entirely through a central operating system known as ctOS, which allows private corporations to use the information of the nation's residents as a commodity in commercial enterprises. It brought up the questions on modern privacy in an interconnected society, the fragility and insecurity of a system automating systems, and who really controls the lives we live.

And then the gameplay started.

Watch_Dogs follows the events of Adam Pierce, a hacker exploiting the system that operates everything in the city around him in order to track down infamous something-or-other Joseph DeMarco. What we saw showed some of the game's versatility in the games hacking system, which included jamming a doorman's communications to sneak into an exclusive club, performing background checks to track down DeMarco's associate inside, and messing with traffic signals to create a huge crash in order to draw out Pierce's target. The game seems to focus on stealth gameplay in a huge, vibrant open world, but some pretty heavy combat systems were also shown, including close-quarters fistfights with bouncers and cover-based shooting with De Marco's henchmen. What's more, as Pierce made his hasty retreat at the end of the demo with police in pursuit, the action unexpectedly switched to an enigmatic onlooker tasked with providing a distraction to accommodate Pierce's get-away, heavily hinting that the game will also incorporate co-op elements.

No more details have been forthcoming other than what we've been shown, but the game already looks incredibly polished and seems to function fantastically smoothly, so we might be able to expect a release in the first half of 2013. This is definitely a game that we're going to be keeping an eye on here at Shadowlocked. Check out the E3 reveal at the video embed below.

Be sure to check back tomorrow to get our full post-E3 blowout!

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