[Games] Vampire Cowboys And Zombie Indians: A Review of Darkwatch

by Nick Judin
October 5, 2005

Platform: PS2|Xbox

I’m surprised by “Darkwatch.” I don’t think you could blame me for being skeptical about a game that can’t even decide what stereotype it wants to use, but after looking past the cover, I found it to be a genuinely fun game. “Darkwatch” stars a Grade A anti-hero, Jericho Cross.

When the game begins we see him charging a large, ominous train, committing the last raid in a long spree of robberies. But aboard, he finds something sinister. The entire train is crawling with the undead. Our lovable bandit then does what any sensible man would do when faced with legions of the damned. He opens up the cargo they were after. Cue all -hell-breaking-loose across the Wild West. After being infected with Vampirism, he joins up with a female from the Darkwatch, a group of vampire hunters, who at this point should be pissed at him.

Aside from the spotty plot, which actually adds to the campy fun of the game, there’s little wrong with “Darkwatch.” The system is an FPS, adding strange guns and vampiric abilities to the tried and true shoot-em-up formula.

The pacing is very fast, and even on the easier difficulties, you may find yourself overwhelmed by the many ways to die. Playing like a simplified “Half-Life 2” on crack, the gameplay allows extensive use of the different guns and melee moves for all of them.

There’s something beautiful about crushing a zombie skull with the base of an 1800s-style rocket launcher.

The graphics are an interesting blend: They take dark, dusty western scenes and combine them with hellish landscapes. The design level is fairly thoughtful, and aside from a couple arena-like areas, the game rarely keeps you in one place for a long period of time. The characters don’t have the best looking models, but they fit the gritty feel of the plot well.

The theme for “Darkwatch” is a rendition of “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”, instantly giving it points in the sound department.

Like most action games, replay is completely absent. The game was fun the first time, but there’s no reason to go back through the whole thing.

posted by Jocelyn on 10/07/05 at 11:51 AM