Vampires and cowboys- two of my most favorite characters from way back when I was a wee lad. So imagine my excitement when High Moon Studios put out the word that their upcoming game DarkWatch would combine the two in furious first person shooter glory. My hands trembled with anticipation as I opened the cover and placed the game in the disk tray of my beloved Xbox. Was it everything I had hoped it to be? Read on and see...

Story:

You are Jericho Cross. One of the most notorious train robbers along Arizona's south border. The game starts with you getting ready for your final heist- the one that will provide you with enough loot to end your life of crime and begin your life of leisure. As you make your way through the heavily armored Darkwatch train, you begin to get the sensation that this is no ordinary train you are robbing. Fueled by greed, you make your way through the cars to your final destination, the vault. It is here that your life of crime does indeed end... but it is no life of leisure that waits for you. It is the a life of either revenge or redemption? The choice is yours.

Inside the vault car you meet up with Cassidy Sharp, a Darkwatch operative, who tries to warn you that there is no treasure in the vault, but instead awaits something that should not be unleashed upon this world. The warning comes too late, and you manage to pull her to safety just as the door blows. Congratulations Jericho, you have just released Lazarus Malkoth, Vampire Lord and all-around bad guy. Lazarus attacks Cassidy, and as you save her, you become the next victim of the curse of Lazarus. Welcome to the undead, pardner. Only by vanquishing Lazarus can you save your soul and free the west of the minions at his beck and call.

I was not completely blown away by the story. I love the idea of marrying vampires and cowboys into one game, but I thought the story could have been a little more convincing. There isn't much in the way of character development, and at times the plot seems very contrived. But with the solid foundation of the game overall more than makes up for the lack of an inspiring storyline, and I still found myself waiting to see what the next level would bring, even if I didn't care what the story was telling me.


Gameplay:

Darkwatch is straightforward first person shooter fare. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad... it's just nothing new. But once you get past its simplicity, there is something very cool about being an undead cowboy. The integration of vampire abilities with your gunfighting prowess is a novel idea. From the start you have Vampire vision, Vampire jump, and your Blood Shield. The vision is kind of like thermographic vision, but with the added bonus of being able to detect weapon and heath pick-ups as well, and also serves as a low magnification zoom, which is handy if all you have is your pistol on hand. The vampire jump reminded me of platform games, as it basically consists of a double jump, which can help you get to some hard to reach areas. The Blood Shield is
nothing more than a fancy vampire name for a shield, which regenerates over time so long as you are not in sunlight. Other Vampire powers you unlock through the course of the game are granted by doing good or evil deeds. Some of those powers include Fear, which causes weaker enemies to cower in your presence, Silver Bullet, which adds damage to your shots for a limited time, and Blood Frenzy, which adds power to your melee attacks. Though cool in concept, I found it easy to get through the game without relying on anything other than vision, jump, and shield, which are readily available so long as you are not in sunlight. The other powers are only available after you fill up your blood meter, and only last for a short time. An interesting sidenote- of all the powers, the ones you were awarded for doing good deeds seemed a little more useful than those you got for being bad. A morality lesson perhaps?




It's Colonel Sanders... of the damned...


Besides the first person shooter aspect of the game, there are a few vehicle oriented levels thrown in as well. Although the horseback and Steamwagon sections felt a bit tacked on, they did lend a welcome break in the gameplay. The horseback areas were particularly fun, though the Steamwagon level was more of an excercise in frustration. But more on that in the controls section.

Enemy AI was nicely done, and adversaries use both cover and flanking tactics to try to end your quest. The only bad guys that ever stand still long enough to give you an easy shot are the snipers, and you usually don't know they are there until half of your bloodshield is gone. The enemy gunmen dodge bullets intelligently, and the lower echelon grunts travel in packs and use mob tactics to attmept to bring you down. A very welcome surprise indeed.