Watch Dogs 2 is the closest match if you want to hack cameras, drones, vehicles and city systems while moving through a modern open world. Choose Deus Ex: Mankind Divided for denser stealth and mission choices, Cyberpunk 2077 for a much larger RPG, or Ghost Recon Wildlands and Breakpoint for tactical stealth shooting. Sleeping Dogs is the atmospheric urban alternative, but it does not reproduce Watch Dogs hacking.
What makes Watch Dogs different
Many open-world action games have stealth, guns, cars or a contemporary city. Watch Dogs combines those ingredients with a connected-systems sandbox. Ubisoft describes its world as one where you can manipulate traffic lights, detonate gas lines, shut down electricity and interfere with other city infrastructure. Steam’s genre tags identify the same blend: open world, hacking, stealth, third-person shooter and adventure.
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Watch Dogs Legion - PlayStation 4 Standard Edition | $9.40 | Buy on Amazon |
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Watch Dogs | $28.95 | Buy on Amazon |
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Watch Dogs xbox one | $9.49 | Buy on Amazon |
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Watch Dogs 2 - PlayStation 4 | $23.11 | Buy on Amazon |
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Watch Dogs Legion (PS5) | $22.75 | Buy on Amazon |
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Hacking is not just a menu action in Watch Dogs. PlayStation’s hands-on coverage described it as extending through combat, driving, surveillance and stealth. A blackout can hide a movement through a guarded area; a traffic-light change can create a crash or escape window; a remotely triggered device can distract a guard; and disabling a pursuit helicopter can change a chase. The appeal comes from combining these interventions rather than following one fixed route.
That combination matters when choosing an alternative. A game may offer a hacking skill tree but lack a living city to manipulate. Another may offer excellent stealth and multiple routes but use compact hubs instead of a seamless metropolitan sandbox. The comparison below separates those experiences instead of treating every game with a computer terminal as a Watch Dogs clone.
#1 Best Overall
- Recruit and play as anyone from London. Everyone you see has a unique backstory, personality, and skill set for unique situations
- Hack armed drones, deploy spider-bots, and take down enemies using an Augmented Reality Cloak
- Explore a massive urban open world featuring London’s many iconic landmarks and fun side activities
- Team up with your friends as you complete co-op missions and unique game modes
- Upgrade to the Gold Edition or Ultimate Edition for access to the season pass and more
The Watch Dogs franchise has passed 40 million players worldwide according to a publisher-reported Ubisoft figure. Ubisoft does not provide independent methodology or a publication year for that number on the referenced franchise page, so it should be read as a company claim, not an independently audited measurement.
Quick comparison
| Game | Hacking and systems | Stealth and route choice | World structure | Progression | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watch Dogs 2 | Closest match: cameras, drones, vehicles and city infrastructure support creative remote play. | Strong nonlethal and indirect options alongside direct combat. | Large contemporary city sandbox. | Gadgets and abilities focused on hacking. | Readers who want the Watch Dogs formula refined. |
| Deus Ex: Mankind Divided | Hacking supports infiltration and problem solving, but not a whole-city simulation. | Deep stealth, augmentations and missions built for different solutions. | Compact hubs and mission spaces rather than one uninterrupted city. | Augmentations and build decisions. | Stealth-first players who value alternate routes. |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | Hacking is integrated into combat, scouting and enemy networks. | Stealth is one viable approach among many. | Large open world within a role-playing campaign. | Attributes, perks, gear, dialogue and character builds. | Players who want hacking with full RPG depth. |
| Ghost Recon Wildlands | Systemic hacking is not the central loop; scouting and tactical tools matter more. | Suppressed weapons, reconnaissance and coordinated assaults. | Large open map organized around enemy positions and operations. | Weapons, skills and tactical equipment. | Stealth shooters who prefer squad tactics. |
| Ghost Recon Breakpoint | Closer to a tactical gadget approach than city-infrastructure hacking. | Reconnaissance, concealment and planned firefights. | Open-world military setting with mission areas. | Gear and character progression support tactical play. | Players seeking a more combat-oriented open world. |
| Sleeping Dogs | No Watch Dogs-style hacking systems. | Stealth is secondary to action, driving and melee. | Dense modern-city setting built around a crime story. | Story and ability progression rather than hacking builds. | Readers who want urban atmosphere and crime drama. |
1. Watch Dogs 2: the closest overall match
Start with Watch Dogs 2 if the part you remember most is using technology to improvise. It is the direct follow-up that most closely preserves the open-world hacking fantasy. Cameras, drones, vehicles and connected devices can be used to observe an area, create distractions, set up a nonlethal takedown or trigger a chain of events before your character enters the scene.
The important similarity is systemic rather than cosmetic. You can often approach an objective physically, stay outside and operate remotely, or combine both methods. A drone can scout an area while a camera reveals guard positions; a hacked device can pull attention away from a doorway; and a vehicle or environmental object can alter the timing of an escape. This makes the city feel like a toolset instead of a backdrop.
Watch Dogs 2 also suits players who found the first game’s atmosphere too severe. Its tone is lighter, but the central loop remains technology, surveillance, movement and creative problem solving in a contemporary city. It is the safest recommendation when the request is specifically for an open-world hacking game rather than merely a modern open-world action title.
Choose it when
- You want the nearest continuation of Watch Dogs’ city-system hacking.
- You prefer third-person movement and driving over an immersive-sim viewpoint.
- You enjoy solving encounters indirectly instead of clearing every area with gunfire.
2. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided: best for stealth and mission choice
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is the better choice when infiltration matters more than map size. Its spaces are more compact and hub-based than Watch Dogs, yet missions give stealth, hacking, augmentations and route planning a larger role in solving problems. You may search for an alternate entrance, bypass security, manipulate a system, talk your way through a situation or fight when other options fail.
Rank #2
- HACK THE CITY: Control the city's infrastructure, in real time, with Aiden's cell phone; Trap your enemy in a 30 car pileup by manipulating the traffic lights; Stop a train, and then board it to evade the authorities; Narrowly escape capture by quickly raising a drawbridge; Anything connected to the city's CTOS can become your weapon
- SEAMLESS MULTIPLAYER EXPERIENCE: Discover a new level of interaction, cooperation and confrontation between players thanks to a brand new multiplayer game system that links the single and multiplayer modes into one seamless experience; That means no menus, no loading screens, just instant open world multiplayer action
- DYNAMIC NAVIGATION: Watch Dogs gives you the ability to not only use the city's ctOS to your advantage, but the streets as well; In real world Chicago, cut through one of the buildings or climb to the rooftops to catch your target
- HIGH OCTANE DRIVING: Get behind the wheel of more than 65 vehicles bursting with horsepower to explore the massive city while completing missions; Ubisoft Montreal partnered with Ubisoft Reflections, the acclaimed studio behind the award winning Driver series to develop each vehicle with state of art physics and handling
The difference is one of density. Watch Dogs lets you roam a broad city and connect actions across traffic, surveillance and pursuit systems. Deus Ex concentrates its design on authored locations where vents, locked doors, terminals, security layouts and objectives interact. That concentration can produce more deliberate stealth decisions even though you lose the seamless metropolitan sandbox.
It also changes progression. Instead of primarily unlocking more remote-control tricks, you develop an augmented character whose abilities determine which routes are available. A player who likes revisiting a mission mentally to ask how it could have been solved without detection will find more support here than in a conventional open-world shooter.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsChoose it when
- You value multiple solutions and infiltration over uninterrupted exploration.
- You want augmentations to change how you enter and traverse locations.
- You are comfortable with hubs and mission spaces rather than one giant city map.
3. Cyberpunk 2077: best for open-world RPG depth
Cyberpunk 2077 combines hacking and stealth with a much broader role-playing framework. You can build a character around attributes, perks and equipment, use dialogue and quest decisions, collect gear and approach encounters through combat, stealth or network manipulation. The open world is substantially larger in role-playing scope than Watch Dogs, but it does not reproduce Watch Dogs’ exact city-infrastructure sandbox.
Its hacking works primarily as a character capability within encounters. You may scout threats, interfere with enemy systems, weaken targets or support a stealth route, then combine those actions with weapons and abilities from your build. The result is more build-dependent than Watch Dogs: two players can enter the same situation with different tools because they invested in different progression paths.
That breadth comes with a trade-off. If your favorite Watch Dogs moment is changing a traffic signal or shutting down a city block to shape a chase, Cyberpunk 2077 may feel less like operating a living civic network. If you want hacking to sit beside loot, dialogue, quests and long-term character development, it is the stronger fit.
Rank #3
- HACK THE CITY: Control the city's infrastructure, in real time, with Aiden's cell phone. Trap your enemy in a 30-car pileup by manipulating the traffic lights. Stop a train, and then board it to evade the authorities. Narrowly escape capture by quickly raising a drawbridge. Anything connected to the city's CTOS can become your weapon.
- SEAMLESS MULTIPLAYER EXPERIENCE: Discover a new level of interaction, cooperation and confrontation between players thanks to a brand new multiplayer game system that links the single and multiplayer modes into one seamless experience. That means no menus, no loading screens, just instant open world multiplayer action.
- DYNAMIC NAVIGATION: Watch_Dogs gives you the ability to not only use the city's ctOS to your advantage, but the streets as well. In real-world Chicago, cut through one of the buildings or climb to the rooftops to catch your target.
- HIGH OCTANE DRIVING: Get behind the wheel of more than 65 vehicles bursting with horsepower to explore the massive city while completing missions. Ubisoft Montreal partnered with Ubisoft Reflections, the acclaimed studio behind the award-winning Driver series to develop each vehicle with state-of-art physics and handling.
Choose it when
- You want a large role-playing campaign rather than a focused hacking sandbox.
- You enjoy building a specialized character and changing tactics through perks and gear.
- You want stealth to coexist with dialogue, exploration and conventional combat.
4. Ghost Recon Wildlands and Breakpoint: best for tactical open-world stealth shooting
Ghost Recon Wildlands and Ghost Recon Breakpoint belong on this list for a different reason. Their strongest overlap with Watch Dogs is the combination of a large map, scouting, stealth and the freedom to plan an assault. You can observe enemy positions, choose an approach, use suppressed weapons and coordinate attacks rather than rushing directly into every fight.
They are weaker matches for systemic hacking. Their core loop is tactical combat against enemy positions, not manipulating a city’s traffic, electrical grid or connected devices. Treating them as hacking alternatives would set the wrong expectation; they are stealth-shooter alternatives that happen to share open-world scale.
Wildlands is a natural choice if you want a broad operational map and squad-based assaults. Breakpoint also fits players who prefer reconnaissance, concealment and mission preparation in a military setting. The exact balance of progression and equipment differs between the games, but neither is designed around Watch Dogs-style urban infrastructure manipulation.
Choose them when
- You mainly want stealth shooting, reconnaissance and coordinated attacks.
- You prefer enemy outposts and tactical objectives to civilian city systems.
- You are willing to trade hacking depth for military weapons and squad tactics.
5. Sleeping Dogs: best for urban atmosphere and crime drama
Sleeping Dogs is an alternative for the feeling of moving through a dense modern city, not for the mechanics of hacking it. Its appeal comes from a crime-story structure supported by driving, melee combat and urban traversal. The setting can satisfy readers who want city streets, traffic and a strong sense of place after finishing Watch Dogs.
There is no Watch Dogs-style network manipulation to substitute for cameras, traffic lights or electrical systems. Stealth is also secondary to action and hand-to-hand combat. Choose it when atmosphere, character-driven crime drama and physical action are your priorities; do not choose it expecting a digital-sandbox equivalent.
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- EXPLORE THE MASSIVE AND DYNAMIC OPEN WORLD OF SAN FRANSISCO BAY Experience an incredible variety of game play possibilities in the winding streets of San Francisco, the vibrant neighborhoods of Oakland, and cutting edge Silicon Valley
- HACK EVERYTHING Every person, vehicle and connected device can be hacked. Take control of drones, cars, cranes, and more to use them as your weapon
- CONNECT WITH FRIENDS Play Co op and Player vs. Player activities in a seamless shared world
- YOU ARE IN CTRL Develop your skills and combine hacking, weapons and stealth to complete missions in ways that suit your playstyle
How to choose by the feature you miss most
If hacking cameras, vehicles and infrastructure is non-negotiable
Pick Watch Dogs 2. It is the only recommendation here that preserves the same combination of contemporary-city traversal and connected-system manipulation. Cyberpunk 2077 is the next choice if you can accept hacking as part of an RPG encounter system rather than a citywide control layer.
If you want the most flexible stealth routes
Pick Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. Its smaller hubs are an intentional trade-off for missions designed around infiltration, augmentations and alternate solutions. Watch Dogs 2 remains preferable if you need a seamless open world, but Deus Ex gives stealth more concentrated design attention.
If progression and character builds matter most
Pick Cyberpunk 2077. Its attributes, perks, gear, dialogue and quests make hacking one part of a long-form role-playing build. Expect more systems overall and less emphasis on manipulating public infrastructure.
If you want stealth combat with a large map
Pick Wildlands or Breakpoint. Scout, suppress, reposition and coordinate attacks across tactical objectives. These games answer the stealth-shooter part of the Watch Dogs formula while leaving out its urban hacking identity.
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Pick Sleeping Dogs. Its similarity is atmospheric and structural, not technological, so it is best treated as a city-life alternative.
Best Value
- Open-world London, explore a massive urban open-world where you can visit London's many famous landmarks
- play as anyone, experience a never-seen-before gameplay Innovation. Anyone you see can join your team complete with a unique backstory, personality, and skill set
- weaponise London's Tech infrastructure. Hijack armed combat drones, deploy stealthy spider-bots, covertly take down enemies using an augmented reality cloak, and much more
- bring your team online and join forces with up to three friends and explore the world together or take on entirely new co-op missions
A practical comparison framework
When comparing any other candidate, score it on six questions instead of relying on the word hacking in a store description:
- Hacking depth: Can you alter the environment and networks, or only trigger a few scripted gadgets?
- Stealth freedom: Are cameras, distractions, nonlethal tools and enemy awareness connected to one another?
- World openness: Is the world a seamless city, a set of hubs or a sequence of mission arenas?
- Mission-route variety: Can you combine remote play, stealth, combat, dialogue and alternate entrances?
- Perspective and feel: Do you want third-person urban action, a first-person immersive-sim style or an RPG viewpoint?
- Progression: Are you upgrading gadgets, augmentations, perks, weapons, loot or a complete character build?
This framework explains why the recommendations are not interchangeable. Watch Dogs 2 wins on the specific fantasy of controlling a connected city. Deus Ex wins on authored stealth choices. Cyberpunk 2077 wins on role-playing scale. Ghost Recon wins on tactical combat. Sleeping Dogs wins on urban crime atmosphere.
Edition and buying notes
Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs Complete Edition page lists the base game, Season Pass, a new game mode, additional weapons and outfits, extra missions and a T-Bone campaign. That package is relevant if you are searching for the Complete Edition, but price, physical stock, platform support and regional availability can change. Verify the current retailer listing for your country and platform before purchasing.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →The same caution applies to every game in this guide. Store editions, downloadable content bundles and platform support can differ by region and may change over time. The comparisons above describe the games’ design priorities, not a guarantee that a particular edition or storefront currently sells them.
Bottom line
For the closest experience, play Watch Dogs 2. For deeper stealth and alternate mission solutions, choose Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. For hacking inside a large RPG, choose Cyberpunk 2077. For open-world tactical stealth shooting, choose Ghost Recon Wildlands or Breakpoint. For a dense urban crime story without hacking, choose Sleeping Dogs.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
