Preview: Watchmen: The End Is Nigh
With its embargo lifted at last, I can dish a bit about the preview of Watchmen: The End Is Nigh that I saw a short while ago. I have to admit that despite being a Watchmen fan I had little foreknowledge about the game, under development at Deadline Games in concert with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. A brawler featuring Rorschach and Nite Owl was not what I expected, and my first reaction was disappointment, until I learned that this is the first of a series of episodic adventures, in which case the rather pared-down roster of Rorschach and Nite Owl makes more sense.
Taking place a full decade before the novel, we follow the Odd Couple of Watchmen heroes on their adventure to beat the crap out of some fairly standard thugs. The pure brawler control scheme isn't complicated, but does include some special abilities particular to each hero. The unstable-ish Rorschach will flip out with rage during his special moves, rushing enemies with a burst of speed and strength. Nite Owl, however, like the less-angry Batman cipher that he is, relies more on expert combat training than pure fury, but can charge up his armor to unleash electrical attacks.
The most striking thing about Watchmen: The End Is Nigh is the production quality - Deadline and Warner Bros are aiming to make Watchmen the most advanced, polished downloadable game to date, and from what I've seen they'll meet that goal. With the exception of Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest For Booty, I've never seen a downloadable title look this good.
There's one catch to that statement: the game's cutscenes are produced in a style based on the motion comics, only not quite as well done. Creepy, actually. If you've seen the floaty, weirdly-paced motion comics you might understand why this makes me cringe. That said, you don't really play a brawler for the cutscenes, so it isn't exactly a crime against nature.
You'll be able to download this bad boy in a matter of weeks, when both film and game launch. You'll find it on XBLA, PSN and PC.
tiny dancer
Posted to Hot Stuff, Video Games on 12 February 2009
Other stuff like this: deadline, hands on, warner bros, watchmen: the end is nigh
