Trailer: 'Watch Dogs' multiplayer shows non-traditional approach

With little over a month to go until "Watch Dogs" launches on PC and console, its multiplayer mode -- teased since mid-2012 -- just got a little less mysterious.

Nods to "Dark Souls" and "Need for Speed: Rivals" illustrate the "Watch Dogs" approach to innovating on regular multiplayer modes.

The Online Hacking Contracts mode allows players to surreptitiously invade one another's games, seeking to disrupt progress, gain information, and accrue experience points that further their own character's skills, building on a clever approach found in the "Dark Souls" series.

Another mode leverages the growing popularity of tablet companion apps, and big developers' increasing desire to create multiplayer modes that see PCs and consoles used in tandem with mobile devices.

So where "Need for Speed: Rivals" allowed tablet-wielding players to set up cop chases for fellow drivers, "Watch Dogs" adds a similar conceit via its companion app named "ctOS"; drone-borne tablet users wreak havoc with city sewage and signage systems to catch their chosen prey.

And merging the surprise ambush aspect of the "ctOS" escape runs with more conventional team-based battles is Competitive Decryption Combat, not so different from a "Grand Theft Auto V" scrap for scarce resources, except with the added possibility for players to hack the environment, adding or removing barriers and other obstacles as they see fit.

"Watch Dogs" launches on PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One on May 27, with a Wii U edition expected towards the end of the year.

"Watch Dogs: 8 Minute Multiplayer Walkthrough" - youtu.be/CUIowUR4r0o
Official website: watchdogs.com