Darkwatch

Having been delayed for quite a while and then in a state of videogame limbo, Darkwatch had finally been released on the Xbox and fans of first-person shooters will finally have an Old West shooter worthy of the Xbox. Yes, there was Dead Man’s Hand but it was a seriously flawed shooter and the very entertaining Red Dead Revolver was more of an action-packed third-person shooter, but where else can you find gunslingers facing off against the armies of the undead?

You play Jericho Cross, an outlaw who just happens to rob the wrong train at the wrong time. It seems that instead of blowing a safe filled with money, the outlaw breaks open a safety box that released the deadly vampire lord Lazarus as well as unleashing unearthly monsters and undead creatures all over the Arizona territory. With the aid of an agent of a secret organization called the Darkwatch that specializes in the supernatural, Cross manages to combat Lazarus’ minions but is drained of his life in the process. Cross is reborn as a vampire, possessing the strength and power of the damned, but left with the choice of helping the Darkwatch rid the world of Lazarus once and for all.

One of the game’s best features is its style and simplistic controls. Unlike Dead Man’s Hand, a Western game where you basically shoot whatever pops on the screen or ride and shoot whatever gets in your way, Darkwatch leads gamers into a world where you’ll not only shoot to survive but also help defend innocents and ride a horse and, later in the game, drive a dune buggy-styled vehicle known as the Coyote Steamwagon. Of course you’ll do all of the usual first-person shooter things like get your hands on a mounted gun and shoot away at living skeletons wielding sickles or butcher knives, possessed saloon girls turned banshees and even demon snipers. Then again, you’ll also perform inhuman feats like perform vampiric double jumps. You’ll also be able to use different vampire powers you unlock via a series of choices Cross must make.

There are choices to be made, indeed, and the game does a great job of introducing the good and bad choices you can make. While it is not as deep or as interesting as the Knights of the Old Republic games, you are offered choices such as choosing whether you’ll drain a helpless human of his life’s blood to fill your life gauge or purge the supernatural infection from them and help save them from turning into a vampire. Scattered throughout the levels are tormented souls you can release or suck the souls from them to fill the Blood Bar used to unleash your power.

Your reward for performing good or evil tasks come in the types of vampire powers you’ll have access to during the game. For example, do good deeds and you’ll gain powers like Silver Bullet (deals more damage), Fear (strike fear into some enemies), Mystic Armor (shield) or Vindicator (calls down a chain lightning attack). Bad deeds rewards you with Blood Frenzy (boosts damage done by melee attacks), Turn (makes slaves of some enemies), Black Shroud (like Mystic Armor only adds damage to enemies that dare attack you) and Soul Stealer (sucks souls from distant and nearby enemies). Unfortunately, because each power feels the same either way, the only real reward for walking the good or bad path is really what type of ending you get in the end. There are no notable differences in Jericho Cross’ abilities or the way people treat him.

Control-wise, Darkwatch plays like a dream. You can strafe and duck down and switches weapons or use those arms as a melee weapon on the fly. The weapons of choice range from newly designed pistols, shotguns, long-ranged rifles and Old West carbines. Replacing grenades are sticks of dynamite and replacing binoculars is Jericho’s Blood Vision. Thankfully the pick-up-and-play control make jumping into the game a lot simpler and thus allows gamers to concentrate on the mission objectives. The missions are nicely paced and there’s a point in the game when you reach the Darkwatch Citadel that you even get to pick your own mission.

The game also offers online multiplayer fit for up to 16 players, which is handled excellently despite the lack of innovative game modes. You’ll find the obligatory Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch modes as well as Capture the Flag but Soul Hunter and Team Soul Hunter offers something slightly different. Soul Hunter has you going up against other player while attempting to be the first to fill your Blood Bar. The game moves along quickly online and thus makes for short but sweet bite-sized matches without any glitches or slowdowns. There’s also split-screen action for four players and a nice assortment of maps and weapons.

Visually speaking, Darkwatch looks sharper on the Xbox and, while it’s not the most gorgeous of games, it manages to do justice to the Old Western theme. The towns look authentic and the terrains in the desert areas aren’t at all plain or ugly. The character models are not incredibly detailed but thanks to the Havok physics deaths look great. The cutscenes, on the other hand, are not handled as well as the in-game graphics. It’s really quite choppy in places and the characters seem to be cast in a dreamy and unflattering light. The effects are great, particularly in the end when you face off against Lazarus.

The sound is also done nicely, although the Sergio Leone-styled soundtrack is not as prominent here as it is in Dead Man’s Hand or Red Dead Revolver. Still much of the soundtrack does a great job of setting the mood just right, especially when it comes to the quick transitions from cutscenes to in-game scenes that set up each situation. The voice acting is also nicely done but don’t expect to hear much from Cross. The great voice acting comes more from Jennifer Hale who voices Cassidy Sharp and Rose McGowan (from the WB’s Charmed) who voices dark-haired vixen Tala.

Nicely executed and filled with all the good things we like in a first-person shooter, Darkwatch is a game that was well worth the long wait. While the moral choices that cross Jericho’s path was a good idea, it’s not implemented the way it should have been but it does not take away from the game’s overall spooky thrills or the bullet-fueled action both off and online. Capcom and High Moon Studios has brought us a Mature game worthy of a purchase or at least a weekend rental for those who like a good shooter set in the Wild West.

Gameplay: 8.7
Fast-paced and straightforward enough to make each level wonderfully challenging; gamers will be drawn in by Darkwatch’s easy-to-get-into controls. While there are no branching paths or massive environments that allow you to explore, the game offers choices to be good or bad and you are granted vampire powers. You’ll wish for more enemy variety but what’s there isn’t that bad at all.

Graphics: 8.5
While not as gorgeous as Doom 3, the graphics in the game are not bad at all. You’ll find sharp textures and nicely rendered character models that look good in action. The environments themselves are true to the period but look more menacing in the moonlight. The cinematic cutscenes, on the other hand, are choppy and somewhat grainy.

Sound: 8.5
What is not to love about a game with great sound effects and top-notch voice acting? Guns sound like Old Western period firearms and your boots crunching on the rough Arizona ground is a nice touch. While Jericho Cross is the silent type, actress Rose McGowan does a marvelous job of bringing Tala to life. The music isn’t bad, either.

Difficulty: Medium
Despite the fact that you seem to fight the same type of enemy throughout the game, the Banshees, living skeletons and demon snipers put up quite a fight. Things get tougher when the game introduces abnormally obese machete-wielding demons, undead Indian braves and monsters that resemble Mexican bandits. Overall, the game is quite challenging even in the game’s normal setting.

Concept: 8.0
Shooters set in the Old West have been done before but Darkwatch introduces a supernatural twist Capcom is famous for and it works well. Choosing the good or bad path is a good idea but the game does not reward players with anything more than just two different endings and powers that are somewhat similar to one another. The game also includes shooting on horseback and, at one point, the use of a modernized vehicle.

Multiplayer: 8.5
My hat’s off to the Xbox Live support that makes for fast-paced multiplayer deathmatches against 16 players. Online the game moves at a steady framerate and delivers all the basic game modes we’ve all seen and played before (Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag) with the exception of Soul Hunter and Team Soul Hunter. There’s also split-screen multiplayer for four players using a single Xbox. No System Link, unfortunately.

Overall: 8.2
While it might not change the way we look at first-person shooters, Darkwatch is a competent shooter that wonderfully blends action-packed gunslinging with Capcom’s brand of nightmarish chills. It’s also one of the most enjoyable shooters set in the Old West you’ll find on the Xbox thus far. This is a Must Buy for those who thought scary first-person shooters can’t get any better than Doom 3.