Xboxist

Watchmen: The End is Nigh Preview

The upcoming Watchmen film has created quite a stir among lovers of the comic book genre. The original Watchmen graphic novels are a beloved series for comic fans, and the upcoming feature film by director Zack Snyder (300) looks set to impress.

Fanboys are a little bit less enthusiastic about the video game adaptation of the movie, currently underway at Warner Brothers Interactive. We know what you are thinking: every other film-to-video game project since Goldeneye has sucked, so why should this one be any different? Last year’s utterly bad Ironman video game is still very much burned in our Pavlovian memories. After having taken a closer look at Watchmen: The End is Nigh for the Xbox 360 however, we have reason to be optimistic.

Just don’t expect anything too cerebral: The action-focused video game acts as the prequel to the story in the Watchmen novels and movie. The game will take place one decade before the action of the film to flesh out the relationship between vigilantes Rorschach and Nite Owl, as they beat down the bad guys in 1972. According to the developers, The End is Nigh will be all about “bloody visceral combat”.

Just like arcade beat-em-ups of yore, The End is Nigh also features multiplayer cooperative play, so a friend can get in on the action and play the role of the second vigilante in all of the campaign missions.

The two characters will play and fight very differently, just like they do in the film. Rorschach is more of a hand-to-hand fighter, who will dispatch foes with pure brawn. He has a rage meter that, when filled, allows him to dish out the violence in orgiastic abundance. Nite Owl is a bit less aggressive, preferring to use his brain just as often as his fists. His meter fills up a shock armor attack that can paralyze and subdue enemies in proximity to him when activated. In a cool twist, the game will actually change its visual look depending on which character you select.

Unlike traditional film-to-game releases, The End is Nigh will be released episodically over Xbox Live and PSN. Unlike typical episodic games, however, the production values and polish present in the Watchmen game will be on par with a retail release. We aren’t sure why the publisher has decided to go the episodic route, but perhaps it has something to do with matching the release window of the film, whish is set for early 2009.

Character artwork from the upcoming Watchmen video game.