Watchmen: The End is Nigh (PC)

[aruljothi]

   Release Date:
ESRB Rating: Rating Pending
Genre: Action
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Developer:

You know, I could easily get angry about the existence of a Watchmen videogame. But I won't.

For one thing, it's not a game-ified version of the original story. I'd be on the anger train if it did something like turn Dr. Long's interview with Rorschach into a banal branching-dialogue sequence. Instead, it picks up on a couple of side remarks (notably Nite Owl and Rorschach reminiscing about taking down the Underboss), and expands them into a beat-em-up-friendly premise. This way, the game is no more conceptually offensive than those random Star Wars novels centered on aliens who had twelve seconds of screentime.

With that out of the way, Watchmen: The End is Nigh actually ends up being a decent HD-generation beat-em-up. One immediate thing I notice: it's gorgeous. The rain falling all over the asphalt, the lighting of a helicopter searchlight or a neon-sign filled alley, the way Rorschach's ink blots shift around -- it all makes for tremendous renditions of the decrepit settings. It's simply the prettiest downloadable-game-not-called-Flower, and at times rivals or even outperforms traditional retail games.