Below are user reviews of Darkwatch and on the right are links to professionally written reviews.
The summary of review scores shows the distribution of scores given by the professional reviewers for Darkwatch.
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User Reviews (1 - 11 of 19)
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very unique
4
Rating: 4,
Useful: 2 / 3
Date: August 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User
I must admit i was surprized at how good this game was. From all the prievews i saw and all the hype i figured it was just another over rated fps and the grahpics and enemies looked lame. But now that i rented this game and gave it a shot im very happy with it, they improved the grahpics and they are very good and also the enemies look uniqe and scary. This also has a very good story line with a fresh feel.The story is prety simple but good , you are an outlaw cowboy who robs trains in the west and you are very good at it until you make one big mistake and jack the wrong train,you end up releasing the original vampire and the most powerfull of them all he can resurect the dead and control them all. The only thing that saved humanity from the undead was the dark whatch for years but when Jericho releases lazarus from a train caried by dark whatch he unleashes hell on earth and he also becomes half vampire after being biten by lazarus himself.SO its your job to save the world and kill lazarus which will bring down all the other undead with him. But you will need the help of the dark whatch and also become an agent for them which is when the fun realy starts and you realy look like a bad ass. A very fun feature was the choice of good and evil for some things such as saving souls and drinking human blood, i chose mostly all the evil ways because it was funner and the evil side has beter powers to unlock through the game. SO this is just no average fps its very fun unique and has many good features and game play and also very fun online play which was a surprize. This game is not perfect tho it tends to get a litle boring at times when wave after wave of vampires come but it makes up for it later .Think of this game as a mix of red dead revolver and blade.This game is great and one of the best games to come out in a while seeing how this is a very bad time for games . So my advice rent it and have fun i wouldnt say its worth the 50 big bucks so rent it or wait a lil while till its cheaper but try it out soon because its very fun and something difrent instead of the same old fps's . TRY IT OUT NOW!!
A dark shooter meant for adults
3
Rating: 3,
Useful: 13 / 14
Date: August 21, 2005
Author: Amazon User
Darkwatch is a mature gaming title set in the old west. You're an outlaw set on robbing a train - but suddenly you're turning into a vampire and joining up with a group of monster slayers.
The atmosphere of the game is dark and moody. You are at times running along a dark, rusty train, or riding on your vampiric horse, or perhaps running through a graveyard. Along the way you absorb blood from your enemies, gain in powers and work towards your goal of slaying Lazarus - a vampire who has been around since the days of the Roman Empire.
Primarily a first person shooter, you can choose from a number of "period" weapons - crossbows, rifles, handguns, etc. There are of course the traditional tweaks to add interest - the crossbow shoots dual rounds, your horseback weapons spring unlimited ammo that never need reloading.
I'm intrigued and happy that both of your main friends are female, and are just as good at vampire-slaying as you are. Together with the Darkwatch, you move through Arizona slaying evil.
There is slight "customization" as you go - you can choose to do good or evil actions to certain characters. It doesn't change the course of the game, but it does let you earn different types of powers as you go. Other than that, the game is primarily about shooting a lot, moving to the next map area, shooting a lot more, and so on.
The game is definitely mature. When you fight the enemies, you can decapitate them, lop off arms, and generally cause a lot of bodily damage. There are sexual situations as well. The game is meant for and marked for adults.
I found the graphics on the disappointing side for an XBox title - they were more in line with PS2 graphics. The sounds were reasonably good - I was amused that the title theme was almost a direct take-off from a certain classic western movie.
All in all, the game is a relatively short play, and while you can re-play to try different good-evil combinations or try on different difficulty levels, it is primarily a shooter. If you enjoy shooters, the old west and a dark, undead atmosphere, you'll probably enjoy playing this as a way to relieve stress in a relatively mindless way. We all have our games that we enjoy for this sort of situation - tetris, gauntlet, etc. On the other hand, if you're looking for a more multi-threaded good-evil atmosphere like KOTOR or even Fable, Darkwatch will seem very linear to you.
Recommended for adults who enjoy dark shooters.
Cowboys Meet Vampires and The Best Auto Save Feature EVER!!!
5
Rating: 5,
Useful: 5 / 6
Date: August 22, 2005
Author: Amazon User
In Darkwatch you are Jericho Cross. A hybrid between vampire horror and Western shoot-em up. If you're looking for a first person shooter, Darkwatch is the game fore you.
Capcom offers intense gameplay and presents a original excellent presentation of new characters.
It's refreshing to see a first person shooter with a theme that isn't played out which makes it well worth checking out.
Jericho Cross hardly does the talking. Others speak for him while he jumps and robs trains.
By mistake you release the soul of Satan's son, Lazarus, who curses you to a vampire. He unleashes his undead minions to plague the old west.
The only organization that can stop him is a secret army called the Darkwatch. Cassidy, one of the army's "regulators" witnesses what you did on the train. You'll spend the beginning of the game by her side, as she leads you back to the safety of Darkwatch. You begin to understand the new powers you have as a vampire.
You'll of course have access to a variety of different weapons, ranging from pistols and rifles to my personal favorite the exploding crossbow and a rocket launcher.
Each gun offers different strengths and weaknesses, and each one is fun to use in its own way. Since the enemies in Darkwatch take location-based damage, it's possible to blow off the heads and limbs of most enemies with the more powerful guns.
Each gun also offers you a powerful melee attack, and the weaker enemies in the game will actually go down with just one satisfying strike.
The power of these attacks and pacing of the gameplay make melee a viable option, particularly in caves or other close-quarters areas. You'll also have access to dynamite that you can throw, which serves the same role as a grenade.
Stationary turrets are also sprinkled throughout the later levels. Cross can carry only two weapons at a time, so you'll often need to make important tactical decisions about which guns you want to pick up and drop as you make your way through each of the game's single-player missions.
It all adds up to fast-paced, eye catching gameplay that will keep you entertained throughout Darkwatch's single-player missions.
Your vampire powers will become the key to staying alive even though your undead. Which seems like a plot loop hole at first but once you realize that he quickly regenerates his health, I'm sure I won't find you complaing about this when 20 skeletons come running at you with TNT or butcher knives.
One of my personal favorate powers is the double-jump! You basically feel like you can fly and control your direction in midair, which is useful for getting up on rooftops or jumping from steep ledge to ledge. Don't worry, there isn't any real platforming neccessary in the game. Another vampire-related power is the blood shield, which acts more or less like the shield in Halo.
You'll love your blood shield and then get back behind cover and let it recharge before taking damage.
Blood vision is another Vamp Power that will allow you to see the weapon pick ups and power-ups by highlighting the screen.
Enemies leave behind blood clouds that not only increase your health and powers but follow you when you get near.
This makes the BEST Auto health restore and Save feature in any game I have seen to date. No only does it replenish your health but it also charges up a special power meter, which lets you unleash your special vampire powers once full.
There are eight total of these special powers in the game, four that are "good" and four that are "evil". These unlock throughout the campaign as you come across innocent victims who've been cursed by Lazarus.
One cool feature is that you choose to cleanse their souls "GOOD" or devour them for your own selfish pleasure "BAD".
As you make choices, you build a reputation as either good or evil. So you're encouraged to stick with one side until you've maxed out your powers then start choosing the other.
This aspect of the game probably sounds more interesting than it actually is, as the choices you make don't really affect the story, aside from one major choice you make toward the end that determines which one of the two different endings you'll see.
The single-player campaign of Darkwatch is varied, but definitely not lengthy. A single play-through shouldn't take more than 10 hours for most people (FIVE for me personally) and even if you went back to the mission that branches the storyline and replayed from there to see the second ending, it would only add about an hour or two more to your gameplay time. The good news is that while the game is short, it's pretty fun while it lasts. There's a good variety of monsters to fight against, ranging from scythe- and gun-wielding skeletons and zombies, to banshees that float around high in the air, to blood-spitting demons. These repeat throughout the game.
The endgame boss fights are also fairly challenging, but not overly frustrating, as the midpoint of each fight acts as a checkpoint.
Darkwatch's enemies offer no rest for the weary.
Speaking of checkpoints, Darkwatch's missions include a liberal amount of them, which is good as it helps keep the action flowing. The designers also did a good job of keeping the actual missions varied. A couple of missions have you fighting on horseback, including one where you must eventually try to jump onto a train. Another mission has you driving a heavily armed buggy, which lets you run over lots of skeletons, a la Army of Darkness. Yet another is set in daylight, where your vampire powers are useless. This is a particularly intense level, as you desperately fight from shadow to shadow in order to maintain your shield and other abilities.
Darkwatch's presentation values match the excellence of its gameplay. The graphical style has a very comic book feel to it, with the slightly exaggerated proportions of Cross and the other Darkwatch team members. The other character models in the game are well detailed and animate nicely. Perhaps one of the nicest touches is the location-based damage. There's nothing in the game quite as satisfying as seeing the bad guys literally come apart from the limbs. That is, unless you prefer the fun rag-doll effects from dynamite and TNT explosions. The generous number of cutscenes advances the story between most of the missions, and as for any graphical differences between the two versions of the game, there really aren't any. Both the PS2 and Xbox games look near-on identical, so you're not missing much graphically if you go with one version or the other. The game's sound quality is also very good, with kitschy Western tunes as the soundtrack, and impactful sound effects punctuating every explosion and gunshot. Though Cross oddly never utters a single word throughout the game, the extensive voice work for the other characters is noteworthy. Video game veteran Jennifer Hale voices your guide, Cassidy, and Charmed vixen Rose McGowan lends her voice to Tala, who plays your sultry sidekick later in the game.
The game's visuals offer up a delightfully dark atmosphere.
Unfortunately, it seems that the work that went into creating such a compelling single- player campaign in Darkwatch was not matched for the multiplayer aspect. The game offers online competitive play for up to 16 players over Xbox Live, as well as split-screen action for offline play (which is the only multiplayer you can get on the PlayStation 2). There is a solid selection of maps, based on levels from the single-player game, as well as original ones designed specifically for multiplayer. Only a small handful of game modes are offered, which include your usual deathmatch, team deathmatch, and capture the flag, rendering the multiplayer aspect of the game much like any other first person shooter. You're pretty much just running about looking for the best weapons to blow away your other enemies who are also running down the weapon spawns. The only unique game mode is something called soul hunter, where players run about the map collecting blood in order to fill their blood meter before the other players do. None of these modes are especially great, so if you are looking for a game specifically for the multiplayer action, you may want to give pause before you consider Darkwatch.
Despite the lack of satisfying multiplayer, Darkwatch's enjoyable single-player campaign and satisfying run-and-gun action make it an appealing shooter that's easy to recommend. The game's excellent presentation and unique style should also make it attractive for action fans seeking a shooter that doesn't rely on one of the tried-and-true settings, but still offers excellent action.
Fun shooter with some nice twists but visually repetetive
4
Rating: 4,
Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 24, 2005
Author: Amazon User
Darkwatch for Xbox is an above average first person shooter (FPS) with a few cool features to seperate it from the pack. I'm sure anyone reading this knows what to expect from a FPS game and there are some good descriptions here, so I'll just add a few comments. My main complaint is that it's visually repetitive (both the characters and worlds). There are probably 12 or so character models in the entire game. I would have rather done without the cheesy cut scenes and spent more budget on varied enemy models.
+ It's fun to run around in the old west for a change, and the levels are nicely laid out to include close-up and long range fighting (I am one of those people who love sniping - carefully lining up a long-range shot and blowing off an enemies' head).
+ Throwing dynamite is always fun.
+ The weapons are fun to use and I like the fact that it matters where you hit an enemy (a head shot kills right away, while it may take several body shots).
+ The game moves along quickly and the difficulty increases at a good rate. Each new level is tougher, but not so much that you want to quit.
- There isn't much variation in character models.
- Most of the characters in the cut-scenes are annoying dorks. The voice acting is good, though. Having the 'ghost' Cassidy say stuff like 'Here they come, you'd better shoot them' can bug you real quick-like. I have yelled "No sh*t" or "Shut the H*ll up" at the TV quite a few times during this game.
- You see the same enemies over and over.
- There seems to be about 7 or 8 enemy types, and they get boring quickly. I would have appreciated if the developer just changed the color of clothing on enemies once in awhile. You'd think with all of the space on a DVD, you would not have to look at 20 of the exact same monster coming at you (over... and... over... and... over...). Come on guys - if there are 5 Banshees coming for you, how about a few different dress colors? It's like playing Robotron or Space Invaders. There's one character model for the guys that help you. It's like you are playing on clone planet.
- Did I mention that the enemies all look the same and keep repeating?
- Also, there are the same character models used again and again...
Excellent Multiplayer
5
Rating: 5,
Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 26, 2005
Author: Amazon User
Id recommend this game for anybody with an xbox live account but if you dont have xbox live you might want to think about renting it first. How about you come up with your own review instead of ripping it off from gamespot only to change a word or two here and there and taking all the credit for it though S. Areias "secretbuyer"?? There's a word for what you just did and it's called plagiarism.
Does Darkwatch Deliver?
4
Rating: 4,
Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User
Darkwatch : Curse Of The West combines both the horror and western genre with a first person shooter aspect to gives players some very intense eye catching gaming action. The fast paced gameplay offered in Darkwatch is a fresh and crisp appeal, quickly bringing the player into the feel of a true western environment .
You take on the role of Jericho Cross, an outlaw train robber who makes the mistake of trying to rob the wrong train, a Darkwatch train. His actions release all hell and havok as he blows open the safe releasing the son of Satan, Lazarus. Lazarus in turn curses Jericho as a vampire and unleashes an army of the undead. You now must journey into the west trying to win back your soul in a battle against yourself and the diminions of hell along with the spirit of the former regulator Cassidy by your side guiding you thru the different western terrains as you venture to the Darkwatch headquarters. Darkwatch is a secret mysterious society that has been protecting all of civilization from the evil's of hell since the dawn of time. Clay Cartwright rushes you in as you endure some physical battles to prove yourself worthy in order to become the newest Darkwatch agent. It is up to you to now stop Lazarus & his hoard of evil undead, if you fail then you must walk the earth as another one of Lazarus's damned, however if you succeed then you will win back your soul.
You will come across such enemies as; scythe and gun-wielding skeletons, floating banshees, shadow hiding vipers, blood-spitting oozers and many more evil monsters that will try to stop you in your path. However you will have a variety of weapons available for your access. The weapons provided for your disposal are ; 'The Redeemer' a modified revolver, 'The Carbine' a rapid firing musket, 'The Argus' a four barreled shotgun with plenty of stopping power, 'The Range Rifle' a sniper rifle, 'The Rail Rocket' a mortar hand canon, 'Dynamite' great for clearing out a hoard of the undead. At some point in time you will need to use every one of these weapons to clear out the hoards enemies & pass a mission. Each gun also offers you the opportunity to use it as a melee attack, allowing you to take down many of your enemies with a few butts from your weapon, saving you your ammo for situations in which you may need it more. You will also find yourself capable of taking up position in stabilized turrets and tearing down your enemies with a rain of bullets, however if you are wanting to keep your accuracy rating high then don't just shoot nonstop. You cannot carry all of the weapons so be sure to make your tactical decision upon which weapon to drop & which to pick up. My favorite thing to do is to take and melee attack on the enemies, by doing this you can save on your ammo, which you don't have any trouble finding ammo as you can pick some up from enemies you kill & along with a few other outlets, but it also helps you to keep your accuracy percentage from going so low.
Guns are not the only thing that Jericho will have to rely on in order to take out the undead, but there is an impressive array of vampiric powers that can be earned & used to take out the undead. These powers are earned by releasing tormented souls & sucking the blood of those you come across. There are two sets of powers, good powers & evil powers, both have a set of 4 powers, however you can earn more than just four powers during your journey as you fill up your power meter. Your good powers are; Silver Bullet, Fear, Mystic Armor & Vindicator; the evil powers are; Blood Frenzy, Turn, Black Shroud and Soul Stealer. Depending upon whether you suck blood for the fun of it or for saving the poor condemned people, will decide whether you have a good or bad reputation, it is best to stick with one or the other until you fill up your power meter & unlock all of the powers for the side that you have chosen. You are definitely going to need the vampiric powers in order to beat the boss's , so make sure to check in every place to find any chained tormented souls. So you must choose, will you follow your inner dark side or choose the path of good and righteousness ?
As the vampire curse takes starts to take its course upon you, you will soon find that you have powers such as the blood eye vision & vampire jump. By using the blood eye vision, it will allow you to see enemies, weapons and other key items, as they glow white when you view them with your blood eye. I found that the blood eye is very good to use in order to see snipers. Vampire jump allows you to jump higher in order to reach high ledges and other areas of the game.
The missions are varied, with some allowing you to ride on your trusty steed shadow, trying to take down skeletons on horseback or trying to get close enough to jump on a train. You also ride a steam wagon & can mow down a line of the undead as you go on your way. It is really fun to have the steam wagon and run down the enemies as they rise from the ground. Mostly though you are journeying through different terrains in the west, which are very detailed with the graphics and makes you feel like you have been dropped right in the middle of the west.
My opinions of the game overall are that the game play is fun and can be slightly challenging depending on what difficulty level you play it on. I also like how the controls are very easily set up and it isn't hard to follow or get the hang of them. My complaint is that the game play does seem quite short, I have played and beat Darkwatch on Greenhorn, Cowboy & Shootist level, taking me just 315 minutes to be it on the second hardest level, to me it should take more than five hours to beat a game and when I sit down to play a game I want it to take days to beat & for the story to completely pull me in. With the shortness of game play, there is a bit of loss of the story, it just is not very in depth and to me just leaves a bit of a gap, I love games that can just pull me in & that I can truly feel for the characters & just I overall become consumed by the story. I feel a lot more could have been done story wise. However the cut scenes are nice and short, not drawn out like on some games in which you could run to the bathroom or leave the room for a few minutes , then come back and the cut scene will still be running. There does seem to be somewhat of a lack of some truly satisfying multiplayer gaming. In my honest opinion I say pick up a copy of this game, you will not regret it and you will enjoy a few good hours of intense game play.
Dark Watch Rocks!
4
Rating: 4,
Useful: 4 / 4
Date: August 31, 2005
Author: Amazon User
Darkwatch is a Vampire Western. This game is not for everyone. In particular it is not for young children. However, if you are an adult who like First Person shooters then you should seriously consider this game.
The game is a little dark and edgy...but in my opinion this is a good thing. There is a great battle of good and evil and some cool weapons and powers. It is a Vampire-Western which to me is an awesome concept and I hope it spawns a sequel and possible other variations (time periods).
Controls: The controls are very Halo-like. If you like the controls in Halo you will like these. Enough said.
Graphics: The imagery is in one word awesome. They really did a good job. However the graphics in the end are not quite what they should have been. Don't get me wrong.... They are good, but they are not pushing the limits. I really expected this game to push things forward NOTE: This is my main negative on the game.. which should tell you that this is an awesome game.
Good vs. Evil: There are decisions to be made which lean you either good or evil. However, this really did not work out to enhance the game in my opinion. If there was more of an impact in the game play then it might have worked out. In the end this didn't seem to have a good or bad impact on my impression of the game. If there is a sequel I either would like it removed or enhanced.
Xbox vs PS2: The versions are different. XBOX by far has better graphics then PS2. Each has there own bonus material. PS2 has a War Train level and Xbox has some added Live capability.
Length: The game was a little shorter than expected.... However I had a blast playing it.
Recommendation: If you are an adult then check Dark Watch out! You will either Love it or Hate it! You can probably tell by the cover. If you like First Person shooters then you will probably love it. If you don't then you will probably hate it. I
capcom comes out with another great game
5
Rating: 5,
Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 31, 2005
Author: Amazon User
Darkwatch is an unbelievable game. The game is so good, I hope they defenitley come out with another one in the future. The first thing I'm gunna tell you about is the story line.....
Welcome to the Wild West, circa 1876. You are Jericho Cross, seasoned outlaw. Looking for a big score, you raid a secret treasure train. Unknown to you, this train belongs to the Darkwatch, an ancient organization committed to defeating supernatural evils. The cargo of this train is not money or jewels, but a captured vampire lord being transported to the Darkwatch citadel for interrogation. You blow open what you think is the treasure vault on the train, only to release the oldest and most powerful creature of its kind. Perhaps from perverse gratitude, this vampire doesn't kill you. He just bites you, so you slowly turn into a vampire yourself. With growing supernatural powers, you hunt Lazuras , the vampire that bit you. If you gun him down before the curse overcomes you completely, you might win back your soul. If you fail, you will be damned to walk the earth as a vampire, having condemned the West to despair under the rule of evil incarnate.
The gameplay is great. It is a first person shooter and there are great weapons. Ther is the redeemer revolver which has a knife on the bottom of the handle. On all the weapons is a melee weapon that you can use. There are the warmaker pistols which have blades on the handles. There is the blackfish carbine which is like a rifle, it is probly one of my favorites, just seeing the monsters blow back when u pell the trigger. There is the carson range rifle which is a sniper rifle and you can zoom in two times with it. It has a crzy sword on the edge of it. The game also has the shotgun, the FOUR BARREL SHOTGUN. it is so powerful close up and it also has a curved knife. There is also a crossbow which when u shoot an arrow into a monster is blows up, there is dinamite on each of the arrows. There are two swords that come out of the front which you can upercut people. There is also the rocket launcher and it is intense and it has a big hammer on one side of it. You can also get dinamite to throw and sometimes in the game you get to use the scepter which is a sword croiss thing. There is also turrets you can use. The game also has vehicles, there is a darkwatch vehicle which has a gun turret on tope and you use it for various missions, there is also your vampire hporse which you bit during the train incident. The character you are, Jericho Cross, is so cool, if you havn't seen him you have to see him. There is also a whole bunch of enemies in the game so you wont be bored of killeing the same things. After you do some levels you get to join the Darkwatch and then you get to have guys come with you to help you do the missions and you get to choose missions that the darkwatch need to do and you can get guns and ammo from the darkwatch before you start the mission. There is also multiplayer and xbox live where you can verse other people in a gun battle. You can create games and levels to battle in.
Darkwatch is one of the best games I have played this year. I defenitley recommend you getting it. [...] So get this game.
Darkwatch Earns 4 Out of 5 Badges
4
Rating: 4,
Useful: 2 / 3
Date: September 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User
So the day amongst days has finally come and gone. High Moon's Darkwatch has been released onto this earth and with a deadly wrath as copies have been practically flying off of store shelves.
I just last week traversed over two hours (by car) in order to pick up a copy for myself on for the Xbox console.
So after cranking about 10 or so hours into Darkwatch, here is what I have summed up for this Vampire-Western title:
First off, I am somewhat disappointed by the graphics and the lack of a real need for the game's power-ups. I had begun to realize this about half way through the game where Jericho reaches the Citadel where he then has the choice of choosing between 3 different missions (all of which he/you will need to complete one way or another). I have used them only once or twice and a few times on accident because I pressed the white button rather than the black button using the Chieftain controller setting. And speaking of Chieftain controller settings I think that this configuration name is a nice homage to HALO seeing as how this configuration is the closest you are going to controlling Master Chief in Bungie's masterpiece.
Chieftain, Master Chief...coincidence, I think not.
One thing, in particular that I would like to address is the fact that in Darkwatch there is NO RADAR or Vampiric sense power. Only a measly red arrow when something already has the jump on you.
I mean come on you are a VAMPIRE are you not, and to be slashed to death by a group of lowly undead minions before you even know the culprits are there is definitely annoying!
I just finished playing the game on its "Shootist" difficulty (Halo's Heroic) and really does just seem like the game is difficult only for the sake of being difficult, not for the sake of being skillful.
There are some areas in the game where enemies will keep on respawning too...I'm not sure if it is just because I am playing the game on Shootist or what, but respawning enemies can get tiresome real fast...at least in my book they can. I won't speak for everyone.
Also I have been noticing that there isn't much room to explore or space to free-roam in the levels in the single player game. It would seem that High Moon had to compensate by adding high-walled and tiered levels for the double jump, when personally I would just rather have a mediocre, average jump and more X-axis space to roam around in. Basically I feel a bit confined in the levels...especially with NO RADAR! This is a definite pain in the ass when you are being swarmed by Banshees! And especially seeing as how you have no clue as to where they are attacking you from some of the time...before you know it...you're playing the "kiss the ground" game for the umteenth time! Not fun, more like frustrating.
I am not saying that this is a bad game by any means.
Seeing as how I bought it on the 18th and just last night I was up playing it until 6AM this morning. Darkwatch's gameplay is simply addicting and the score thus far is haunting and comes in at all the right times. The same can be said for the voice over work; they are all nicely done and very memorable especially the General and Cassidy's voice.
SPOILER ALERT:
There must have been a pretty blank look smeared across my face when I saw this one. I was completely and utterly bummed out when after only 30 minutes into the single player campaign I realized that just as soon as I saw Cassidey's head fall from her torso and the rest of her body, courtesy of Lazarus, that I found myself literally talking out loud and repeating to myself the following: "Yup, she's dead, that's pretty damn weak..."
I honestly wish that High Moon could have found a way around this that would allow her character to live so there could have been just a little more variation in the later levels where perhaps Jericho would head off in one direction and the game play would convert from Jericho's perspective to Cassidey's. This would definitely allow for a more in depth storyline and more variation amongst the redundant gameplay. I am certain that it could have been a complete success to introduce another playable character into the single player campaign of Darkwatch just like you take over playing as the character Arbiter in Halo2 at certain key points. It would most definitely provide a better sense of wholeness and completion to the Darkwatch story. Especially for those who would like a little more history and backbone for who the Darkwatch are and what it is that they do.
Furthermore, with all of that said, there is nothing more that I can do now except to sit around and perfect my Darkwatch game and ready up for some Xbox Live...it's all about the online game play (right, that is just as soon as broadband internet access is introduced to my locale). I guess I will just have to wait for that one.
Ok, you got me, I will admit to have taken a few solo trips into the multiplayer maps just to get a sense of the scale of some of the levels, in which there are many, 16 to be exact! All of the maps that I have ventured into have been designed with sheer perfection; designed by gaming gods! There is a harmonious balance of geography for those of you who love close quarters combat, such as melee beat downs, and there are also plenty of dark corners and niches for those, like myself, who love to strategically snipe and headshot the unaware and the "noob!" I also feel that more than half of the Darkwatch multiplayer maps rival or succeed where other FPS multiplayer maps have failed.
Another reason behind my roaming around the ginormous and highly detailed multiplayer maps is an attempt to learn the all of the exact locations of the warps and the different weapons that are generously scattered about them. Boring sure, but come to game time I will be sure to kick some undead ass!
In conclusion, I believe that Darkwatch has a lot of potential and is a great game with a lot of bonus art work and FMV animations to be unlocked by playing and completing certain tasks in the Gunslinger missions, that is, if you are good enough of course. That alone should keep you busy for a while...at least for the next week or two. The Gunslinger mode in Darkwatch is pure statistical FPS mayhem!
CHEERS!
THE HEARTLESS
Way too much hype
2
Rating: 2,
Useful: 3 / 4
Date: September 17, 2005
Author: Amazon User
I bought this game because at the time there were no new games for the xbox at the time that i thought were worth spending 50 bucks on. Dark Watch had so much hype online, in magazines and in stores that i thought id get it, bad mistake. The game is fun for 20 minutes then it becomes clear that each level will be the same as the last and this will continue to happen. It is so repetitive that the game could be playing the previous level with a new name and i would have believed it. Each level involves shooting a skelton, zombie or banshee in the head with a very small amount of guns, fun at first then a pisser after. It starts off as a small challenge, but once you get hang of the controls and get good at shooting the enemies in the head(quickest way to kill them) it becomes a synch. I beat the game in 3 hours, no joke. Then i looked around the options to see if there is anything else to do, there was none. Pissed off that i had just spent 50 bucks on this games i put it in the case and havnt touched it since.
Pros: Fun for 5 mins, decent graphics, origional story line.
Cons: disgustingly repetitive, lack of "cool guns", way too short and easy.
Dont get it, and if your thinking of renting try another game
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