First Encounter
By Chris Zimmerman
They've been around for centuries … watching, waiting, preying on humanity (no, not telemarketers … vampires, goof). InDarkwatch™, a new first-person shooter from publisher Capcom and developer High Moon Studios, it's your job to finally lay the dark creatures to rest. Just one hitch—the blood of the beasts runs in the veins of anti-hero Jericho Cross, whose humanity wanes with every second spent wandering the Wild West.
Blood In, Blood Out
Almost as unique as the title's storyline and neo-Gothic aesthetic—note how every weapon, including shotgun and redeemer pistol, could double as a sadomasochistic centerpiece—is, of course, its setting. The tale opens atmospherically enough, as Jericho leaps onto a train roaring through the moonlit night. A wanted outlaw with a string of robberies and assaults to his credit, Cross has come seeking treasure. What he finds instead, after fighting his way through jittering cars filled with meat lockers and savaged corpses, is destiny. Or rather, a royal pain in the neck, in the form of a blood-sucking psychopath named Lazarus. After unintentionally being released from the vault where he's held captive, Lazarus proceeds to bite the bandit. And, just for fun, he alters the shape of the land all around, uproots trees, annihilates frontier outposts, and summons the dead from their graves. Bummer.
Wait a minute … you're not the porter!
Luckily, life as a plasma addict isn't so bad; you're rescued from eternal enslavement by Cassidy, a sexy female gunslinger. Following her lead, you first stave off Lazarus' immediate attacks (he teleports around the roof of the train, sending sickle-wielding zombies your way) then make a break for it on horseback. After hopping into the saddle, you thunder across an open plain, controlling your steed's movement with the left thumbstick while popping shots at the cadaverous cowboys using the right thumbstick to aim. Blow baddies out of their chaps or shoot their mounts out from underneath them, and you might just live to join the Darkwatch, an ancient organization which protects humanity from supernatural horrors. Plus, have some good old-fashioned (if not necessarily kid-friendly) fun, literally taking enemies apart piece by piece.
Check out the rims on that horsie …
Tales From the Crypt
Exploring open-ended levels such as cemeteries, secret passages, crypts, canyons, and mausoleums, you discover most of the title's entertainment value comes from pure gunplay. Furthermore, the action's fast, furious, and of the ultra-violent variety. Dark lighting and scary scenery props—rotted tombstones, splintered saloons, and creaking shanties—set the stage for mayhem, as you empty your six-shooters and unleash explosive crossbow bolts into the hordes of rotting corpses.
Enemies, who stumble on after you've blown off arms, legs, and even heads, actually exhibit considerable intelligence as well. Lob dynamite or a grenade towards an immensely fat, fanged blob (armed with twin swords and capable of vomiting bile your way) and it flees with surprising quickness. Take potshots at snipers lurking atop overlooking ravines, and they duck behind rocks for cover. Pump flammable projectiles into a banshee, and she floats around dodging subsequent assaults, even though it's obvious permanent obliteration is both certain and imminent.
Sorry, honey, I meant to call you—I swear!
Fangs for the Memories
As the game progresses, your powers increase—no Nosferatu would be complete without a host of unholy abilities. You begin with basic talents including blood vision (the ability to spot enemies, power-ups, and exits through a crimson haze) and a regenerating blood shield. Collect blood clouds dropped by fallen enemies to fill a special meter. Once it reaches maximum capacity, you've got the option of invoking additional talents such as damage-enhancing effects, mystic shields, and sweet techniques that literally put the fear of God into adversaries.
Blood vision in effect.
Interestingly, the specific skills you acquire are determined by your moral outlook. To wit, at various points during the adventure, you're presented with ethical dilemmas. Choose to save a woman infected by Lazarus' bite versus kill her, for instance, and you align yourself with good instead of evil. As a result, you move further away from having the option of sucking out enemy souls, but one step closer to gaining the choice of calling down chain lightning.
Whatever your philosophical preference, rest assured you're in for a frighteningly good time. Spookier than Serious Sam, more haunting than Halo®: Combat Evolved, and every bit as atmospheric as Area 51, Darkwatchshould lay skeptics' doubts—plus several hundred supernatural beasties—to rest when it ships this August.
