Darkwatch

Edited by: Ken Nelson

Seems like most of the big name shooters released today fit into either the category of “military themed” or “science fiction”. And with fantastic titles like Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, Halo and Half-Life 2 being released in said categories, it’s hard to argue with such finely established formulas. Well, it may cause one to wonder how on Earth can a western shooter fit in the roster of big names such as these? The perfect formula for a fantastic shooter seems to be intense action (realistic or over-the-top), a focused gripping storyline, a wide variety of weaponry, cutting edge online play, and much more. With a western backdrop for our vampiric hero, who is akin to Van Helsing (but much cooler) makes it his duty to slay any and all demons and underworlld scum that dares show it’s face. It is a shooter that brings an all new attitude and style to the Xbox, and looks to be a western themed FPS that won’t disappoint.

The story follows a bandit by the name of Jericho Cross. Little did he realize that a fairly basic train robbery would become the event that forever changed his life. It isn’t the same simple robbery for the bandit as he walks into a car littered with dead bodies and a battle between a group of vampires and an unknown band of gunslingers. As Jericho makes his way past the bullets and bodies that fall before him he stumbles across the coffin of the vampire lord Lazarus Malkoth. Depending on your idea of what a reward is and isn’t, the lord takes a bite right out of Jericho, slowly turning into a vampire and unleashing a monster. Jericho joins forces with the gunslingers who he finds out to be Darkwatch agents. It seems that they came to stop the vampire lord whom Jericho accidentally let out. If he manages to kill the lord, he will be turned back into a human, and lift the curse placed upon him.

The CGI rendered opening sequence demonstrates the presence of the outlaw gunslinger Jericho Cross and his trusty steed Shadow. Although not completely polished, the opening alone will pump you up for what looks to be a fairly compelling experience. As with almost every FPS on consoles today, the controls and setup are similar to Halo. The face buttons perform actions such as jump, reload, weapons swap and melee attacks. The D-pad is used for a lean action when pressed against a wall or a corner offers a bit more variety then to simply running through the levels. The first part of the game takes place before the actual unleashing of Lazarus and receiving the bite on the neck, Jericho is not yet granted any special abilities or weapons yet. Armed only with a six shooter, the game gives a bit of a tutorial during the first few moments of the game. There is an advanced body damage system in which any limb can be shot with it’s own unique reaction. This should lead to some unique ways to kill the various enemies, including bosses. Advancing through the car, you’ll deal with repaers, creatures that attack in waves. Luckily, you should be able to send them packing with little effort.

Although Jericho packs only a six shooter before he joins the Darkwatch, there is sure to be a large variety of weapons ranging from four barrel shotguns to bazooka-like rail guns. As screenshots would suggest, the early stages after Jericho is bitten renders him quite weak to the curse, feeding on his horse shortly after the run in on the train with Lazarus. As Jericho morphs into a monster players are introduced to the first horseback mission in the game. Much like the vehicles in Halo, the horseback missions will be from the 3rd person perspective. It starts off slowly to give the player an idea of how to control Shadow and perform other actions (shooting etc.). After getting the control of the horse down, a chase ensues. Undead riders chase Jericho down, reminiscent of many old western films. With an aiming reticle and a complete 360 view while riding the horse, as well as the d-pad to lean left and right, Jericho is placed in a unique situation, due to the fact that once in cover Jericho cannot fire his weapon.

The first few levels are undoubtedly more of a thrill ride, but as you progress on through the game, there will be more variety in the gameplay. The nice action sequences within the game’s few screenshots and early movies showcase the vampire abilities to be rather weak in the beginning. However, as they develop, Jericho will have more physically enhanced attributes, such as a double jump, a vampire vision mode,which act like thermal vision goggles, causing enemies, valuable items and allies to glow while your vampire vision is activated. With there are daytime missions in the game that render most vampire powers useless, it adds a bit more strategy to taking advantage of shaded areas in most levels. There are eleven vampire abilities in total for you to gain as you progress through the game, but not all will be accessed, it depends heavily on the path you choose. The moral system lets players decide whether Jericho will be either good or evil, similar to the systems found in the KOTOR titles and Jade Empire. In particular parts of the game, Jericho will face ‘feat events’ to determine which side he will join; choosing either the good or evil path completely through the course of the game makes for a different list of abilities. For example, if Jericho was to go completely evil throughout the game’s duration, he would attain all of the dark abilities; the same is true for those following the good path.

As Jericho takes his fight across the now cursed West, there will be a number of levels that will put his growing abilities to the test. In one level by the lovely name of the ‘Torture Maze’ combines the sadistic twist of horror and traps found in the film ‘Saw’ and with the run-for-your-life atmosphere of Manhunt. This training room where Darkwatch regulators are trained is filled with a large amount of traps, caged monsters, secret passages, and little oddities that are best described as ‘surprises’ await Jericho in his chance to prove he is worthy of becoming a Darkwatch agent. The lighting effects and surroundings are stunning, best described as an iron maze, accompanied by almost never ending darkness along with gritty rust, blood and deviously placed traps make the level stand out, leaving a fairly graphic first impression upon the player. As shown in the Darkwatch trailer where our anti-hero Jericho fights off a horde of the undead beasties, and brings us to hang town. Before the awakening of the vampire lord, it was the spitting image of what you’d imagine a town in the Old West to look like. Now it’s nothing more than a playground for the damned.

From sadistic training rooms to vampire abilities, Darkwatch already looks like it’ll be interesting, to say the last. As you progress through the game, the levels themselves will have players relying on straightforward gun wielding and aim specific strategy. As we have covered the gameplay, the storyline, abilities, and levels, the most interesting and original aspect behind Darkwatch will be the weaponry this game offers. Not only after Jericho is admitted into Darkwatch and becomes a respectful agent, is he given a large aspect of unique weaponry with a lot more destructive power than his old handgun.

The first weapon of choice against the undead, and what also seems to be the most used, is the redeemer. This is a non-specific weapon, essentially good against mostly all enemies depending on the type. The long barrel and cylinder load beneath it make it look like a shotgun, as well as being equipped with a jagged blade along the lower part of the handle. With these features, the redeemer makes for excellent up close fighting and melee attacks. Next on the list is the rail rocket. As with most rocket launchers that are more or less operated by one man, the rail rocket is most effective and useful against larger enemies. The large cannons are also equipped with a mallet on the end of the butt of the gun to make up for its inabilities at extreme close range. The Carson range rifle is the powerful bolt action sniper rifle of the game, not essentially for close or repeated use, but for long range attacks. The name Carson comes from an ex-squad leader who first used the prototype, and in execution fashion managed nine headshots in a field test. From the standard pistol redeemer, the long range rail rocket and Carson rifle we move onto power. No better testament to raw power is available in Darkwatch than the Argus. Also having long barrels, jagged edges and sharp blades for melee use, the Argus is a quadruple barreled shotgun. With quicker firing, four barrels, and a wicked sick six inch blade extending from the handle of the gun, it is arguably the most stunning, omnipotent and inventive gun in the game. Named after the Greek god Argus Panoptes (all knowing), it serves as a weapon that will anihillate any poor organism unlucky enough to be on screen the moment you fire it.

Almost every weapon in Darkwatch will have it’s own melee attack as well. The melee attack is similar to Halo: Combat Evolved‘s melee attack: simply devastating, and always a great alternative for most enemies. Although not covered, other weapons to be in the game are dynamite, gattling turrets, dual crossbow, dual pistols, splitter grenades, cannon turrets and the Darkwatch scepter.

The wide range of weaponry will do well against the many horrific enemies you’ll be rumbling with. The range and types of the enemy follow from the braves, large zombie like American Indians that use axes and a bow and arrow combination, to the quick and agile reapers. The reapers are introduced early in the game, with two sickles and a boney body. Next on the roster is the almost indescribable, simply disgusting Oozer, an overly fat glob of skin that rumbles the foundation whenever it is near. The large beast is more or less over 10 feet tall, holds two meat cleavers and a toxic vomit that peels the skin from the very bone. Aside from the reapers, keggers are around the same height as there bony brethren, but unlike there dual wielding brothers, they are essentially suicide bombers for the more fiendish and powerful nightmares.

Wrapping the game up, Darkwatch seems like it will compliment the Xbox’s heavy hitters, like Halo 2. Darkwatch seems to be delivering everything you’d expect from a FPS today: a decent single player campaign, weapons that get you all giddy with delight with every pull of the trigger, and networked play . While nothing is set in stone, Darkwatch should be arriving sometime soon.