(PS2, Xbox; $49.99; Rated M for Blood/Gore/Intense Violence/Language/Sexual Themes; www.darkwatch.com)
(three and a half stars)
Howdy Partner, welcome to the Old West- a setting where very few video games survive. The rough and tumble of John Wayne’s playground has proved too wild a place for many a video game developer. With the exception of the educational classic “Oregon Trail” and the more modern “Red Dead Revolver,” games that wore a ten-gallon hat have proved to be more Bad and Ugly than good.
And wandering through the swinging doors of the Gamer Saloon comes “Darkwatch,” a first-person shooter that combines two of the most unlikely of genres- Westerns and Vampires.
Players fill the spurs of Jericho Cross, a one-time bandit that robs the wrong train and ends up springing free Lazerus- one of the most powerful vampires ever. That vampire says thank you by sinking his fangs into Jericho’s mortal neck and starts his conversion from scum-sucker to bloodsucker.
To save his soul, Jericho becomes part of the Darkwatch- a paranormal police force- and sets out to recapture Lazerus. What results is Cross taking on an army of the damned with only his six shooter, and insatiable lust for blood, at his side.
Kudos to High Moon Studios and Capcom for releasing a fresh intellectual property like “Darkwatch.” In an industry that is increasingly becoming saturated with sequels and franchises, it’s always nice to see a new game come out that doesn’t already come from a movie or comic book origin. Of course, with the originality and realm of creative possibilities that “Darkwatch” creates, it’s only a matter of time before Jericho goes multimedia with a movie, comic, and several sequel game deal. Nevertheless, the birth of a franchise is always nice to see- especially one that plays in a genre like the Western that is rarely approached by game developers.
It will be obvious to any fan of First Person Shooters that the developers did their homework with “Darkwatch,” Jericho controls like a fine extension of the player himself. Turning is quick and fluid, reloading is responsive, and up-close melee attacks (which are plentiful) have the right amount of oomph . There’s no doubt that the developers were a fan of the FPS style of gameplay, as the best elements of “Goldeneye” and “Halo” are present in the game.
In fact, the only place that the control responsiveness really suffers is in Jericho’s “vampire jump”- a double jump that can span great distances, but feels too floaty to be able to control correctly. This really becomes a hindrance in multiplayer matches on Xbox Live (of which the PS2 version does not have), when you’ll become as targetable as a clay pigeon whenever you take to the skies.
Freshman mistakes do factor into a lower score for an otherwise entertaining game, like the lack of variety in enemies. Sure it’s always fun to blow legions of zombies sky high, but seeing the same character model on every level becomes a little repetitive. Though snipers, Kamikazes carrying TNT barrels, and other nasties are all adequately represented, more variation in modeling would be nice.
And why is a cinematic game of this proportion not developed for widescreen TVs? 4:3 aspect ratio is so 90’s.
Overall though, “Darkwatch’s” first outing is a solid effort with room to grow. Its unique storyline and wealth of possibilities should be enough for any die-hard ‘Shooter fan to appreciate. Here’s hoping the inevitable sophomore offering expands upon this solid base.
It's finally here: a very special inaugural episode that's comic book themed!