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It was only announced last year, but it already feels like we've been waiting forever for Ubisoft's openworld hacker adventure, Watch Dogs, to get here. After a six month delay for added polish and depth, it's finally here - and the critics are suitably impressed.

"Watch Dogs is smart, punchy, HBO-boxset-worthy storytelling spun together with solid stealth, responsive gunplay and voyeuristic power fantasy," says CVG's 9/10 review, concluding: "as the 'next-gen' poster child we were promised, Watch Dogs delivers and then some."

There's a high score from PC Gamer as well, in a review which acknowledges the game's debt to Grand Theft Auto while explaining how hacking and the ingenious multiplayer elevate it beyond the expectred. "When it deviates from the familiar, however, it really soars," reads the 87/100 review. "Hacking the city of Chicago and all its cameras, utilities, and communications is freeing and fun, and invading the games of unsuspecting players is an unusual and welcome thrill."

There's an 8/10 from Gamespot, meanwhile. "I can confidently say that Watch Dogs is a lushly produced and riotous game with an uncanny ability to push you from one task to the next, each of which is just as fun as the last," is their reviewer's verdict.

There's another 8/10 from Polygon which calls Watch Dogs "a thinking-person’s open-world game" and even Edge, that famously choosy serious games mag, deems the result worthy of an 8 after the promise shown at E3 last year. "Whether you’re on foot, behind the wheel or in combat, Watch Dogs delivers on that promise," it says.

Watch Dogs is out now for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC.