Old school style beat em up falls short of greatness (Watchmen: The End is Nigh - Parts 1 and 2 (PS3))

Member Name: Midnight_Walker

Product:	Watchmen: The End is Nigh - Parts 1 and 2 (PS3)
Date:	04/11/09 (17 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Over-the-top violence rules the day, co-op can be fun, fun ending

Disadvantages: Too little variety to remain fun for long

The Watchmen: The End is Nigh is a game of two halves. Quite literally. But the two halves are more or less indistinguishable from one another.

The game is akin to Streets of Rage and Golden Axe, but in a 3D world. It's a particularly violent action/beat em up game which you can play through in co-op with a friend, which is great, and something of a rarity these days. You take the role of either Rorschach or Nite Owl and proceed to rid the streets of the criminal underworld. You will do this by beating them up and finishing them in particularly brutal fashion - especially if you're playing as Rorschach. As you progress you'll learn new combos and moves, and although somewhat useful, more often than not you'll just be mashing buttons to beat the enemies.

There's a little difference between the two characters, but not much. Rorschach is clearly the more violent of the two, and can pick up any weapons that are dropped by enemies. And, that's about it. There are enforced differences such as doors only Nite Owl can open, or poles only Rorschach can climb. But other than that, not much.

There's not too much variety with the enemies in the game. They're all more or less the same until you get to the second chapter. There are big enemies, regular sized enemies, and a boss fight every couple of chapters. When you get to the second chapter, women are thrown into the mix, who somewhat disturbingly, Rorschach saves his most violent moves for.

Overall, it's not a particularly bad game, but neither is it particularly good. The inclusion of couch co-op is a welcome addition, but there's so little variety in the game that it gets old before long. However, the final level is worth perservering for. It's a nice and unexpected way to round things off, but I won't spoil it for you here.

Summary: Not bad, but not great. Pick it up if you want a game to play with a friend