Hack the world with Watch Dogs mobile companion game 'ctOS'

Watch Dogs is a great-looking console and PC game that just came out, and alongside it is a companion game that allows mobile players to compete against others live online for free. Anyone on an Xbox, PlayStation, or PC plays as a vigilante bringing justice to a futuristic Chicago by hacking the world with their phone. Meanwhile, players on Android or iOS act as the police force, viewing the pursuit of the criminal from a bird's eye view. To slow him down, those officers use the creepily omniscient ctOS operating system to control traffic lights, blow open steam pipes, buzz the area with a chopper and mounted sniper, and dispatch ground forces to bring the other player down. Fast forward to 4:40 in the above video to get a feel for how the mobile play works out.

There are 13 races and 13 free rides all told. Races require console players to drive through multiple checkpoints in rapid succession before the clock runs out. Free ride is a bit more open world, as there's no GPS tracking, and the distance between waypoints is larger. Progress in ctOS is completely separate from Watch Dogs, so you don't need the console game to compete on mobile (though it also means any progression you're making on iOS or Android isn't carrying over anywhere else). Still, you can play against any of your buddies online, and there aren't any in-app purchases whatsoever.

This is a really promising tie-in to a AAA console game, and I'm eager to give it a shot. What about you? Have you already picked up Watch Dogs?