FULL REVIEW! Watchmen: The End Is Nigh adds a new chapter to the Watchmen franchise for $20.
GAMEPLAY
It really depends on your personal taste on whether you like the gameplay or not. If you were looking for an open-world detective game with some action, the game isn't for you. The game is strictly a Beat 'Em Up. You run around a few locations such as a prison, alleys, and sewers as you beat up a bunch of thugs and rarely solve some weak puzzles. Yes, the game does get repetitive, but it tends to be fun. It's perfect if you're in a really bad mood. Rorschach can pull off brutal and violent finishing moves which can really make the game feel more complete. Nite Owl has some nice finishing moves as well, but none of them can compare to the brutality of Rorschach's.
The game really disappointed me with Co-op. The only Co-op is local, meaning that the game has to be played on the same console. There isn't any online play at all, so if you want to play Co-op, you'll have to have your friend come to your house instead of simply being able to connect to Xbox Live or Playstation Network and play with anyone. Co-op had so much potential, but the developers didn't do anything with it.
GAMEPLAY SCORE: 8.0 out of 10.0
STORY
Watchmen: The End Is Nigh has a decent story, but it doesn't have much depth. It all happens so fast, without a lot of detail. I expected more from such a great franchise like Watchmen, but there wasn't too much to it. But the story doesn't play a big part in the game anyway; the main focus is the gameplay and mood itself. If you're looking for a good story, you'll be disappointed, but if you just want to play the game, the story won't hurt the game for you too much. Overall, the story isn't too bad, but a little disappointing.
STORY SCORE: 5.5 out of 10.0
GRAPHICS
For a downloadable game, the graphics are fantastic. The environments have fantastic lighting and texture. The character models are also well done, although Rorschach's shifting mask looks a bit strange at the main menu. In my opinion, the great in-game graphics weren't anything compared to the cut scenes. The cut scenes were beautiful and had a great feel. The cut scenes are similar to the motion comic, but in better quality and I personally think it has better colors than the comic. The style in it was one of my favorite parts.
GRAPHICS SCORE: 9.0 out of 10.0
THE SMALL STUFF
CONTROLS: The controls in this game felt very smooth and easy to use. Counter-attacking feels very natural when you're using normal attacks. Rage attacks with Rorschach also fit well with the controls.
CONTROL SCORE: 9.0 out of 10.0
GLITCHES: I didn't really find many glitches in this game. The only thing I seemed to have trouble with was using Nite Owl's charge. Whenever I was in a swarm of thugs, my charge attacks rarely worked. I would press the button multiple times and Nite Owl would just stand there.
NON-GLITCHING SCORE: 8.0 out of 10.0
NITPICKS: I didn't have a lot of nitpicks with this game, but lock picking was very frustrating. It took me quite a while until I could figure out the right way to pick the lock.
SCORE (AVERAGE): 7.9 out of 10
GUILTY PLEASURE SCORE: 8.5 out of 10
See the advanced review and more at: http://halfswissgamersblog.wordpress.com/