Watchmen: The End is Nigh Part I Review

admin — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 05:22:08 +0000

Despite some very positive reviews coming back on the Warner Brothers film, “Watchmen,” many die-hard fans of the ’80s DC series/novel are up in arms. Just like many novels turned into movies, there are rumors of some interesting liberties that have been taken with the original storyline. It looks like we could have another “LotR”/ “The Hobbit” fiasco on our hands, folks. The good thing about movie video games is that they needn’t follow the exact plotline of the movie. In fact, it is often the case that the game made to cross-promote a movie is given an entirely fresh plotline or serves as a prequel. The latter is the case with Deadline Games’ Watchmen: The End is Nigh, as it has been designed to give a bit of a backdrop for those who didn’t read Moore’s acclaimed series or for those who want a refresher before hitting the theatres on Friday. While it is positive news that movie video games are normally given the artistic freedom to nudge an IP’s general gist—just like Watchmen: The End is Nigh has done—the bad news is that most games based on big-budget Hollywood films aren’t that great. While Watchmen: The End is Nigh isn’t a terrible game commissioned to help pull a movie through, it really doesn’t have the OOMPH!, BANG! or POW! to stand on its own as anything more than a mid-grade XBLA title. On a positive note, the idea to make Watchmen: The End is Nigh an Xbox Live Arcade game, rather than a full standalone title, was wise. The “Watchmen” series is a niche market masterpiece, which means it’s tough to see how it would have flourished as a full-priced 360 game. Deadline Games also made Watchmen: The End is Nigh a co-op affair—another wise decision for a pick-up-and play brawler based on a somewhat obscure graphic novel. Making a 1600-point (or about $20), co-op XBLA game was the right choice in Watchmen’s case; it doesn’t carry with it the widespread appeal of Batman…yet. The downside there is that The Deadline had to stick to two characters for the sake of size. This isn’t quite as a big of a deal as it could have been since the movie had to pare back the graphic novel’s cast too. The street-tough Rorschach and martial artist-slash-bird man Nite Owl made the cut. These two “Watchmen” characters are as good as any for a quick-hit video game that hovers around the action and fighting genres. But put the best comic book brawlers of all time in a game that isn’t really that special combat-wise, and you’ll have the same result as Watchmen: The End is Nigh: it’s just not that fun to play. The tried-and-true third-person masher light/heavy attack system is in place for Watchmen: The End is Nigh and comes complete with the de facto move list. You can combo up on any foe, which does help to add a bit of flair to the standard button mashing, but the mixture of a sketchy camera and an unpolished fighting engine don’t always allow the compound moves to shine. Users can quickly center the camera with a stick click, but the lens likes to move around on its own and wavers a bit too much from the action for any real skilled hand-to-hand to break out. When the camera does behave, loose hit detection and no real technical answer for simultaneous enemy attacks (the engine doesn’t like to lock on to any one baddie) make for some frustrating brawls. Truly clueless AI. enemies, coupled with repetitive base combat makes the couple of hours of Watchmen: The End is Nigh a bit of a drag. Luckily, special moves and some visually enticing finishing moves keep the game alive. The specials are meter-based, and depend on—what else?—ass-kicking for replenishment. Both Nite Owl’s energy blasts and Rorschach’s Wolverine-style berserker should keep you entertained a bit as you move through this formulaic brawlfest. The finishing moves are more aesthetically pleasing than the specials, but they are only triggered with a button-matching icon system that will do little to excite those gaming senses. So, you’ve probably gathered by now that the gameplay of Watchmen: The End is Nigh is on the bland side, and it’s not completely sound from a technical standpoint. But just like a smiley face with a bullet in its forehead, Watchmen: The End is Nigh shows real fortitude and spirit when it comes to its overall art direction and visuals package. Watchmen: The End is Nigh looks more like a full-fledged Xbox 360 game than an XBLA game. In fact, it may be one of the better-looking XBLA games in the history of MS’ service. Comic book-style cutscenes, solid voice acting and in-game graphics replete with advanced shaders and intricate textures smack of a superhero stalwart rather than some mutant wanna-be. Watchmen: The End is Nigh is a visual statement thorough enough to sell seats at the box office, which is at least part of why it exists on Xbox Live Arcade less than 48 hours before the film’s release. But just as a “talkie” can’t function with lackluster sound, a video game can’t flourish without solid gameplay. Yes, Watchmen is worth…well, watching, due to its outward beauty, but its essence doesn’t lie in the gaming medium. Maybe the movie will prove something similar—that Watchmen’s mid-’80s comic book-series brilliance cannot be outdone. Achievements Watchmen: The End is Nigh wins the award for the oddest Gamer Score point totals for Achievements ever. 8 points? 11 points? While some of the scoring is paltry for what are some pretty tough tasks in Watchmen: The End is Nigh, there are a few 36-point (again, ??) hits that make completing the game—and the Achievement list—worth your while.

Source: TeamXbox

Online Games » Watchmen: The End is Nigh Part I Review

Watchmen: The End is Nigh Part I Review