The open-world DriveShoot games Watch Dogs and Grand Theft Auto V have enough in common that they beg a certain amount of comparison. Despite GTA V's generally higher production values, Watch Dogs handily outdoes it in one crucial way.
Back when GTA V came out, I wrote an article about how the game's shooting doesn't work very well.
GTA V is overly reliant on auto-aim, to the point where if you set the game to manual aiming, zooming in jerks your aim up and makes it difficult to hit anything without first re-calibrating your reticle:
Furthermore, GTA V lacks a persistent reticle (except in the shooting range above), which makes it very hard to line up follow-up shots while in free-aim mode. Meanwhile, Watch Dogs' shooting works much better:
For all the complaints I have about Watch Dogs, Ubisoft deserves recognition for making the on-foot action handle far better than GTA V. It's easier to run, easier to corner, and easier to take cover. If only GTA V's foot-chases and shootouts could handle like Watch Dogs!
It's a state of affairs that's even stranger given that Rockstar's own Max Payne 3 handled even better than Watch Dogs does. And of course, they got the aiming right, too:
We can always hope that the next-gen/PC versions of GTA V will feature re-tuned shooting controls. Failing that, there are always PC mods…