Watch Dogs' lead writer explains the game's unlikable anti-hero

Aiden Pearce is not a good guy. In the opening moments of Watch Dogs, you'll see him do some pretty terrible stuff--all in the name of vengeance. We spoke with lead writer Kevin Shortt and asked him: are you supposed to like the "hero" of the game?

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Aiden Pearce is not a good guy. In the opening moments of Watch Dogs, you'll see him do some pretty terrible stuff--all in the name of vengeance, mind you. But still, he's a rather despicable person. We spoke with lead writer Kevin Shortt and asked him: are you supposed to like the "hero" of the game?

"I don't think you'll like him very much at the top," Shortt admitted. "He's very singularly driven. that's part of his problem, i think that's part of what he's going to have to overcome. He's very focused on mistakes that he's made, which can be more important to him than the people around him."

In a surprising twist (for a game, anyway), your character isn't seeking revenge for his murdered wife or girlfriend. Instead, he aims to protect his sister. He has family, but his inability to have intimate relationships beyond that is a key attribute of his personality. He's "very much a loner," Shortt added.

Although "he's very much an antihero," Shortt hopes that players will eventually get a sense of who he is. He may be "bull-headed," but players will discover that "his morals are in the right place" even if "the methods he uses to get what he wants is questionable."

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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