Silent Storm Engine is what many of us only need to know. Update: I know I played the game.
Night Watch is based on a wildly popular movie fron Russia based on good vs. bad vampires. I have not yet been able to see the movie but I hear its worth checking out. What I do know is that based on descriptions the game is very loosely based on the movie and makes the Russian based locale look much cleaner and safer than that of the movie. Perhaps, this was a style choice or just a limitation of the engine.
You play an "Other" who is almost converted to the dark force but is saved by the Night Watch. Almost immediately, you need to select if you are going to become an Enchanter, Mage or Shape-Shifter. An Enchanter can give common items magical attributes, a mage casts spells without much prep work and a shape-shifer,well, shifts its shape. You are then carried away into the "mysterious" plot.
First off the box art makes things look a lot hotter and exciting then they are. Based on questions in the forums I will tell you this is an offline single player game without any monthly fee. There, its been said. Turn based strategy games , for those not in the know, have you basically point and click where you want to move freely as long as there are not nearby enemies. As soon, as enemies are encountered the game turns to taking turns between you and the AI enemies. Attacks, spells, and moving all takes AP which you have a limited amount of in each turn. For example, I click on a bad guy to punch him which spends some AP, I realize that I have enough AP left to give him another punch which then depletes my AP. Since I cannot do anymore I select "End Turn" which allows my enemies to lay the smackdown on me. Rinse and Repeat. It may not sound very exciting at first but unlike classic Final Fantasy type games you can actually move around to an extent if needed and there is a good amount of strategy involved in deciding how you should attack. These games are nice especially for those unfortunate people who do not have the twitch skills to play real-time shooters and action RPGs.
The graphics are admittedly dated but if you enable a high resolution, kick up the anti-alias option and filtering you can get it to look pretty nice. The animations are pretty stilted but the characters control very easily. The camera seems a little wonky but it is a free-camera so you can get it where you want albeit with sometimes a little work. That's okay since its turn-based and not going to cause you to get killed. The voice acting is and in game cut scenes are stilted but not going to make you moan and groan most likely.
Overall, if you like Nival Interactive's previous works then you will like this. However, if you are a turn-based RPG fan and can only get either this or Heroes of Might and Magic V then wait for Night Watch to hit the bargain bin. If you are a new to the genre I would not say this is the best example that you should start with. Go get a copy of Silent Storm I or II on the cheap and see if you like this style of gameplay before jumping in. The demo of this game also should give you a good idea of what to expect.