There are simply loads of first person shooters on Xbox, to the point of where pretty much every possible style has been covered. You have alien invasions, World War 2, modern day urban warfare, tactical operations, even the strange and sublime. Well I guess it’s hard for developers to come up with original ideas but that doesn’t stop some developers trying. High Moon Studios have teamed up with Capcom to bring you Darkwatch; which tells the tale of bungling train robber Jericho who gets cursed and throughout the game slowly turns into a vampire. Oh and another thing, the game is set in some fantasy wild west setting! There, you can’t complain about originality here now can you?

Gameplay:

Darkwatch is primarily a first person shooter (there are some 3rd person moments but I wont spoil it for you) whereby you go from point A to point B killing everything that gets in your way. Whilst things start out pretty simplified, by the end of it you should have honed your sharp shooting skills (hopefully). As mentioned earlier, Jericho is a man possessed, but in this case it grants him some unique abilities that separate him from regular folks. For starters he has a shield that regenerates (hardly an original concept there). He also has his blood eye which allows him a slight zoom and the ability to see enemies and objects a little more clearly. He also has a super jump, which as the name suggests allows him to do a double jump, which becomes useful for those minor plat forming elements that feature in the game.

Jericho can also replenish health from blood orbs which are dropped from the fallen enemies; and yes there will be many fallen enemies throughout the campaign. Which at times there seem to be an over abundance of them; this becomes more apparent if you master the “head shot” and take down foes as quickly an easily as possible.

The enemies themselves are a varied bunch of vampire like demons, possessed busty women, possessed cowboys to teleporting demons and more. The AI is reasonable but nothing overly challenging as the enemies tend to simply side step, rush you or duck and roll in a sort of pre programmed manner. Either way with the weapons at your disposal you can have a great time despatching these horrible creatures. It’s great to see that individual body parts can be shot off.

The weapons themselves seem like fantasy versions of weapons you would expect in the Wild West, which include pistols, rifles, shotguns and an explosive secondary weapon in the form of dynamite. Jericho can only carry two weapons types at any one time so a little choice is given to the player in what weapons you choose to keep hold of (although some work better in certain situations than others). What is more Jericho can perform a reasonably powerful melee attack with the weapons which is great for knocking off the heads of weaker opponents or getting in a quick attack during a reload animation.

Jericho’s abilities do not stop there as, through out the game he is able to cleanse souls from certain bodies or send them to some sort of hell. In other words you get the choice to be a good vampire or a bad one. Whilst this might seem cosmetic, what it does allow are some extra abilities to your arsenal which although are not necessary if you are a true gunslinger, can help at times. These extra abilities are rewarded according to your allegiance and therefore good abilities will be different from bad.

If there is one thing I would complain about is the fact that the game stops and starts too frequently in places; which really doesn’t help when you are getting into the game. At one point this became pretty annoying as almost like every few steps there would be a cut scene. However I think for the most part, gamers will overlook this especially as the cut scenes can be skipped if needed.

Graphics:

Darkwatch has some very atmospheric levels that look excellent and really do help to thrust the player into this fantasy western environment. Some great looking fog effects are used at times and really do provide some eye candy. As mentioned earlier the character animations are actually very good especially when you lob an arm off here and there and watch the reaction. Some of the levels are rather dull in terms of their design but in general the fast paced nature of the game means that you will probably overlook this. The frame rate remains consistent at all times even during the more hectic moments in the game.

Sound:

Sound is reasonable despite the fact that Jericho says very little. The acting is rather hammy but I guess the emphasis of the game is action rather than Oscar winning performances from the voice over cast. Other sound effects do their job as you would expect them too with some meaty yet cliché Western gun sound effects on offer. The music was neither here nor there for me and pretty uninspiring, but again the focus on combat is more than enough to over look this.

Longevity:

There is a big issue with the length of this title and although it features a number of unlock able content and difficulty levels, the single player isn’t the longest of games at all. This is addressed partially by featuring split screen and online modes which is great for the people that have the Xbox Live service or couple of friends over. I guess with the nature of being a good or bad character throughout the single player game means that players might wish to have 2 attempts at the game which does add some sort of replay value.

Overall:

Darkwatch to me is a no nonsense first person shooter that typically requires little thought whilst playing. For many gamers this is exactly the thing that they are looking for and in this respect, Darkwatch does well. The graphics are bold, full of atmosphere, so you can’t really complain about the looks of the game in general; especially as everything simply works as you would expect. The crossing theme of vampires and Wild West is pretty decent and the additional vamp powers work well in the game. Darkwatch is a fun title and something that I would suggest renting first, then picking up if you really get into the whole feel of the game, begging for more after the rental period is over. No nonsense, to the point, no “brainer” gaming that not only looks good but works well.