Skip to main content

Long read: The beauty and drama of video games and their clouds

"It's a little bit hard to work out without knowing the altitude of that dragon..."

If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

GTA5 mod teaches Watch Dogs new tricks

Hacks.

There's an impressive new Watch Dogs mod for Grand Theft Auto 5 which replicates the technology-tampering gameplay from Ubisoft's open world hackathon - and surpasses it.

The mod, posted online by GTA coder JulioNIB, reproduces Watch Dogs' ability to change traffic lights, set off car alarms, erect bollards, crash helicopters, turn off streetlights and somehow even burst fire hydrants, all using your trusty mobile phone.

It also goes beyond what Ubisoft's game allowed by letting you remotely drive cars, gifting you the ability to cause mayhem from afar. The camera switches to within the empty vehicle, while you stand at a distance.

Cars can also be programmed en masse, so whole intersections of traffic can be forced to suddenly accelerate into a heap of burning metal, or simply sit and rev their engines until they burn out.

Trains can be derailed and ATM machines made to spurt out fountains of money, with crowds reacting/panicking appropriately.

The whole thing works extremely well, embedded in to GTA5's Los Santos map. You can even play as gruff Watch Dogs antihero Aiden Pearce, snazzy hacker coat and all.

Right now it is the closest we've got to a full-blown Watch Dogs 2, although we may not have long to wait for the real thing. A recent report suggested Ubisoft would deliver a San Francisco-based sequel later this year.

Watch on YouTube