Using the available means of transport | Activities and hints Watch Dogs Guide
Last update: 02 February 2017
In Watch_Dogs, there are several tens of means of transport available where, unlike in the case of, e.g. the GTA, you do not have access to airplanes or helicopters. The selection is restricted to cars, bikes and boats only. The elements that makes Ubisoft's game different from Grand Theft Auto V, is the fact that the vehicles are much more difficult to handle. What has a considerable impact on that is the mass of the vehicles and they skid very easily, which is not always possible to counter. Due to all of that, it is best to select those of the vehicles that suit your current needs. For example, a fast bike is ideal for a time trial, which assumes reaching the other end of the highway, but is a poor choice in the case of a police pursuit, during which you can be easily knocked off, as a result of collision with a police car. I recommend that you test various vehicles and commit several personal favorites to memory, so as you can order them, via Car on Demand, whenever necessary (to learn more, see Obtaining the Means of Transport).
Note - I recommend that you use trucks only if required by the current mission. They are very slow and handle poorly. The same is true for the weak, "cheap" cars. Also their performance statistics are low and, in many cases, their durability is low.
There also are two other, unique, functions, when it comes to using vehicles, in Watch_Dogs. First of all, it is possible to choose the camera from the interior of the car. Personally, I recommend that you do not do that, because it is much easier to follow what is going on around, using the camera of the exterior of the car.
The other of the innovations is the option to hide in the car and it is useful, whenever you are chased by the police. To learn more about this option, see the chapter entitled How to escape the police?.
To driving cars, an entire branch of the ability tree has been devoted and it has been shown in the above screenshot. Therefore, it is a good thing to unlock further improvements, on a regular basis, thanks to which you can increase the durability of the vehicle, or make vehicles handle more easily. Descriptions of all the abilities of this, and the other groups, has been included in the chapter entitled Abilities.
Each of the cars that you drive, or bikes, can be destroyed and the increasing damage will be brought to your attention, first of all, by the black smoke from the engine. It is a good idea to start then looking for another means of transport. Fortunately enough, the utter destruction of a vehicle, is not equal to its explosion, unless the opponents used grenade launchers, or explosives, to attack you.