I played "Watchmen: The End is Nigh" a couple of weeks ago in New York and can finally tell you about it, show you screens and explain what "Watchmen" director Zack Snyder did to it.
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(Click to see our gallery of 25 new "Watchmen: The End is Nigh" screenshots and character art)
I got my first try at "Watchmen: The End is Nigh" recently, button-mashing my way through the download-only co-op brawler coming next month to the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
It's a brawler, the kind of game that doesn't reveal its complexities without repeat, dedicated play. What I played was simple and straight-forward: I fought in the gentleman style of Nite Owl, using an electric shock gun and dashing martial arts moves. Then I fought as Rorschach, tumbling on the ground and bull-rushing opponents.
For "Watchmen" fans, it's notable that this game is official. It's a prequel to to graphic novel, occuring 10 years before the mid-80s era focused on by the movie and comic. The comic's writer Alan Moore wasn't involved (he's not involved in next month's movie, either), but the comic's editor, Len Wein, wrote the script. The comic's artist, Dave Gibbons, oversaw the creation of the comic-book style sequences that play between the game's six chapters. The movie's actors voice their characters -- only Nite Owl and Rorschach are playable; whether Dr. Manhattan and the rest of the fiction's core cast appear isn't being shared with the press.
"Watchmen" movie director Zack Snyder took a pass at the game. In the words of the game producer playing the game with me, he "made it more subversive to fit the mood of the movie." With writing partner Peter Aperlo, Snyder got a level added, tying the game into Watergate, an event that turned out better for Richard Nixon in the fiction of the Watchmen than in real life. (Snyder has already confirmed that Woodward and Bernstein are killed during "The End is Nigh".)
The action of the game was meaty, full of fists flying and swarming crowds of enemies. Battles were in dark streets. Enemies were lumbering and persistent. Up to 20 of them can join the fight, according to the game's official fact sheet. With the right button combos I could twist limbs, disarm enemies, beat my enemy brawlers with bats. The cerebral aspect of the comic was not emphasized in what a played. The griminess was.
The co-op aspect of the game involved two-player opening of certain doors, the hoisting of one player into a separate part of the level than the other, and a lot of shouting to co-ordinate violent crowd control. The action is all splitscreen. Online co-op is not an option.
The game's development studio, Deadline Games A/S, has created something that, if nothing else, has the looks to be sold on a disc. Two years ago I wouldn't have expected to see a game of "Watchmen"'s graphical detail offered only for download. But this is indeed download-only, another chapter in one of the big gaming stories of early 2009: the rise of the marquee downloadable games for consoles -- "GTA IV: The Lost and Damned," "Flower," the "Fallout 3" expansions and now the official game for one of the most hyped movies on the calendar.
The "Watchmen" game is set for a March 2009 release. The movie is slated to hit theaters on March 6.
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