Watchmen: The End Is Nigh
Encyclopedia
Watchmen: The End Is Nigh is an episodic video game series that serves as a prequel to the film adaptation
of the comic book
Watchmen
. The game was originally announced for release in downloadable installments on Microsoft Windows
, PlayStation Network, and Xbox Live Arcade
, with the first one released on March 4, 2009 to coincide with the film's theatrical release. The second episode was released on July 30, 2009.
Both episodes were released together on disc on July 21, 2009 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. A limited edition of the PlayStation 3 version was released billed as "The Complete Experience", which also included the extended Director's Cut version of the film in Blu-ray format.
or Nite Owl II in single player or cooperative multiplayer. Rorschach and Nite Owl are the only playable characters in the game's first episode, which comprises six "chapters." Cutscenes that look like animated comic panels, similar to those seen in the Watchmen motion comics released on iTunes
, bookend each chapter. Two of the film's actors, Patrick Wilson
and Jackie Earle Haley
, provide their voices for their characters Nite Owl and Rorschach, respectively. The game features a mix of beat-em-up and puzzle gameplay, with the two characters having different strengths and abilities. Rorschach is faster with unconventional attacks and makes use of improvised weapons like crowbars and baseball bats; Nite Owl is slower but has a solid martial arts method and uses technological devices, such as "screecher bombs", and the grappling gun. The characters must work cooperatively to pass puzzles and defeat enemies.
The game is set in 1972 during the Crimebusters (for the film adaptation, The Watchmen) era. The first chapter of the game is a tutorial taking place while Rorschach and Nite Owl infiltrate a prison. Underboss, a villain mentioned in the comic book, appears in the game, as do other adversaries who are only mentioned or briefly shown in flashbacks in the original comic. Nite Owl's flying craft, Archimedes, appears in the game, but the player never has control over it during the game.
An article on Comicmix.com emphasizes the game's focus on teamwork between the two characters: in single-player mode, the AI controls the other character aside from the main character, while the game can be played in Local Co-op with two players as both characters. The article also mentions there will be no online Co-op mode.
prison to help quell the rioting that has erupted there.
Once there, they find out the riots were a ruse to cover up the escape of The Underboss, a crime lord. They make their way to a bar, the Rumrunner, and question one of the patrons to find out who orchestrated the escape. They find out Jimmy the Gimmick was behind it, so they chase him down the docks to an abandoned amusement park. They corner him on the tracks of a roller coaster, where someone activates the carts to try and kill Jimmy. Nite Owl holds them back with his grappling hook but a mysterious sniper shoots the cable, causing the carts to fly right into Jimmy, causing him to be severely injured. Before his fall off the roller coaster, Jimmy managed to tell them the Underboss is in his old hideout in the sewers, so after calling an ambulance for Jimmy, that is where Nite Owl and Rorschach go.
They don't find him, but they do find a missing FBI associate director, Mark Felt, tied up and bleeding heavily, seemingly tortured. He tells them that someone (who the heroes presume to be Underboss) means to kill two reporters, Bob Woodward
and Carl Bernstein
, the would-be informers of the Watergate scandal. Upon leaving the sewers, Nite Owl and Rorschach are ambushed by the police, Rorschach chiming in that they have been set up.
They fight their way through them to get to the construction site where Felt told them Underboss is, only to find that the reporters are already dead. Underboss claims he had nothing to do with it, that he was set up. The duo chases him up the construction site and manages to corner him, but the Comedian snipes him from afar. It turned out the Comedian was the mastermind behind all the events, working on behalf of the American government to cover up the Watergate Scandal (a reference to a comment made about Woodward and Bernstein by the Comedian in both the graphic novel and film).
In Part 2, Rorschach sets on the trail of a missing girl named Violet Greene. With a reluctant Nite Owl in tow, they infiltrate a seedy strip club, where they discover that the kidnapper is the Twilight Lady, an old flame of Nite Owl's. They break into her mansion (which acts as a high class brothel) and discover that Violet enjoys being a prostitute, however Rorschach claims that she may have been brainwashed. Nite Owl consents that if Violet is there of her "own free will" then there is nothing that they can do. Rorschach disagrees, and the pair chase Twilight Lady through the mansion, before she is thrown into a skylight. The ending of the chapter depends upon the outcome of the final battle (between Nite Owl and Rorschach). If Nite Owl wins, then Rorschach is thrown through the skylight, and Twilight Lady is rescued. If Rorschach wins, however, then Nite Owl is thrown to one side, and Rorschach smashes the skylight, thus killing Twilight Lady. Whichever character is the victor, the game ends with the partnership between Nite Owl and Rorschach being severed, and Nite Owl teaming up with the Comedian to quell a riot (an event which is depicted both in the graphic novel, and the film).
is developing the two properties. WB took this low-key approach to adapting the film to avoid rushing the game on this tight schedule, as most film games are panned by critics and gamers. The game is written by Len Wein
, the comic's editor. Dave Gibbons
, the comic's artist, is also an advisor.
Electronic Gaming Monthly
announced the title of the game to be Watchmen: The End Is Nigh and had the game as its cover story for December 2008.
A teaser trailer premiered on Spike's Video Game Awards show on December 15, 2008.
The PC and PlayStation 3
demos were released on 3 March 2009, available on Steam and the PlayStation Network respectively.
The Xbox 360
version of Watchmen: The End Is Nigh - Part II was released through Xbox Live Arcade
on Wednesday, August 26, 2009.
s Daniel Wilks commends the game for its "rain effects, shadow and character models" as well as its "decent fighting engine". However, he criticises the game for "repetitive action and level design [and being] not particularly difficult". Video game talk show Good Game
's two presenters gave the game a 4 and 5 out of 10
Watchmen (film)
Watchmen is a 2009 superhero film directed by Zack Snyder and starring Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson. It is an adaptation of the comic book of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons...
of the comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
Watchmen
Watchmen
Watchmen is a twelve-issue comic book limited series created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colourist John Higgins. The series was published by DC Comics during 1986 and 1987, and has been subsequently reprinted in collected form...
. The game was originally announced for release in downloadable installments on Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, PlayStation Network, and Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
, with the first one released on March 4, 2009 to coincide with the film's theatrical release. The second episode was released on July 30, 2009.
Both episodes were released together on disc on July 21, 2009 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. A limited edition of the PlayStation 3 version was released billed as "The Complete Experience", which also included the extended Director's Cut version of the film in Blu-ray format.
Gameplay
The game allows players to take on the roles of either RorschachRorschach (comics)
Rorschach is a fictional comic book character and antihero that was featured in the acclaimed 1986 DC Comics miniseries Watchmen...
or Nite Owl II in single player or cooperative multiplayer. Rorschach and Nite Owl are the only playable characters in the game's first episode, which comprises six "chapters." Cutscenes that look like animated comic panels, similar to those seen in the Watchmen motion comics released on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
, bookend each chapter. Two of the film's actors, Patrick Wilson
Patrick Wilson (actor)
Patrick Joseph Wilson is an American actor and singer. Wilson has spent years singing lead roles in major Broadway musicals, beginning in 1996. In 2003, he appeared in the HBO mini-series Angels in America...
and Jackie Earle Haley
Jackie Earle Haley
Jackie Earle Haley is an American film actor. Establishing himself from child actor to adult Academy Award-nominee, he is perhaps best known for his roles as Moocher in Breaking Away, Kelly Leak in The Bad News Bears, pedophile Ronnie McGorvey in Little Children, the vigilante Rorschach in...
, provide their voices for their characters Nite Owl and Rorschach, respectively. The game features a mix of beat-em-up and puzzle gameplay, with the two characters having different strengths and abilities. Rorschach is faster with unconventional attacks and makes use of improvised weapons like crowbars and baseball bats; Nite Owl is slower but has a solid martial arts method and uses technological devices, such as "screecher bombs", and the grappling gun. The characters must work cooperatively to pass puzzles and defeat enemies.
The game is set in 1972 during the Crimebusters (for the film adaptation, The Watchmen) era. The first chapter of the game is a tutorial taking place while Rorschach and Nite Owl infiltrate a prison. Underboss, a villain mentioned in the comic book, appears in the game, as do other adversaries who are only mentioned or briefly shown in flashbacks in the original comic. Nite Owl's flying craft, Archimedes, appears in the game, but the player never has control over it during the game.
An article on Comicmix.com emphasizes the game's focus on teamwork between the two characters: in single-player mode, the AI controls the other character aside from the main character, while the game can be played in Local Co-op with two players as both characters. The article also mentions there will be no online Co-op mode.
Plot
The End Is Nigh takes place during the Crimebusters era (renamed Watchmen for the film adaptation), when Rorschach and Nite Owl II were crime-fighting vigilantes before the Keene Act passed in 1977. Upon hearing a police bulletin, Nite Owl and Rorschach make their way to Sing SingSing Sing
Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison operated by the New York State Department of Correctional Services in the town of Ossining, New York...
prison to help quell the rioting that has erupted there.
Once there, they find out the riots were a ruse to cover up the escape of The Underboss, a crime lord. They make their way to a bar, the Rumrunner, and question one of the patrons to find out who orchestrated the escape. They find out Jimmy the Gimmick was behind it, so they chase him down the docks to an abandoned amusement park. They corner him on the tracks of a roller coaster, where someone activates the carts to try and kill Jimmy. Nite Owl holds them back with his grappling hook but a mysterious sniper shoots the cable, causing the carts to fly right into Jimmy, causing him to be severely injured. Before his fall off the roller coaster, Jimmy managed to tell them the Underboss is in his old hideout in the sewers, so after calling an ambulance for Jimmy, that is where Nite Owl and Rorschach go.
They don't find him, but they do find a missing FBI associate director, Mark Felt, tied up and bleeding heavily, seemingly tortured. He tells them that someone (who the heroes presume to be Underboss) means to kill two reporters, Bob Woodward
Bob Woodward
Robert Upshur Woodward is an American investigative journalist and non-fiction author. He has worked for The Washington Post since 1971 as a reporter, and is currently an associate editor of the Post....
and Carl Bernstein
Carl Bernstein
Carl Bernstein is an American investigative journalist who, at The Washington Post, teamed up with Bob Woodward; the two did the majority of the most important news reporting on the Watergate scandal. These scandals led to numerous government investigations, the indictment of a vast number of...
, the would-be informers of the Watergate scandal. Upon leaving the sewers, Nite Owl and Rorschach are ambushed by the police, Rorschach chiming in that they have been set up.
They fight their way through them to get to the construction site where Felt told them Underboss is, only to find that the reporters are already dead. Underboss claims he had nothing to do with it, that he was set up. The duo chases him up the construction site and manages to corner him, but the Comedian snipes him from afar. It turned out the Comedian was the mastermind behind all the events, working on behalf of the American government to cover up the Watergate Scandal (a reference to a comment made about Woodward and Bernstein by the Comedian in both the graphic novel and film).
In Part 2, Rorschach sets on the trail of a missing girl named Violet Greene. With a reluctant Nite Owl in tow, they infiltrate a seedy strip club, where they discover that the kidnapper is the Twilight Lady, an old flame of Nite Owl's. They break into her mansion (which acts as a high class brothel) and discover that Violet enjoys being a prostitute, however Rorschach claims that she may have been brainwashed. Nite Owl consents that if Violet is there of her "own free will" then there is nothing that they can do. Rorschach disagrees, and the pair chase Twilight Lady through the mansion, before she is thrown into a skylight. The ending of the chapter depends upon the outcome of the final battle (between Nite Owl and Rorschach). If Nite Owl wins, then Rorschach is thrown through the skylight, and Twilight Lady is rescued. If Rorschach wins, however, then Nite Owl is thrown to one side, and Rorschach smashes the skylight, thus killing Twilight Lady. Whichever character is the victor, the game ends with the partnership between Nite Owl and Rorschach being severed, and Nite Owl teaming up with the Comedian to quell a riot (an event which is depicted both in the graphic novel, and the film).
Development
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment was announced to be publishing two downloadable games during the theatrical and DVD releases of the 2009 film. Deadline GamesDeadline Games
Deadline Games A/S was a video game developer based in Copenhagen, Denmark,, operating between 1996 and 2009. Its last published game was Watchmen: The End Is Nigh, based on the Watchmen.*Blackout*Globetrotter*Globetrotter 2...
is developing the two properties. WB took this low-key approach to adapting the film to avoid rushing the game on this tight schedule, as most film games are panned by critics and gamers. The game is written by Len Wein
Len Wein
Len Wein is an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men...
, the comic's editor. Dave Gibbons
Dave Gibbons
Dave Gibbons is an English comic book artist, writer and sometime letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries Watchmen and the Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything"...
, the comic's artist, is also an advisor.
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
announced the title of the game to be Watchmen: The End Is Nigh and had the game as its cover story for December 2008.
A teaser trailer premiered on Spike's Video Game Awards show on December 15, 2008.
The PC and PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
demos were released on 3 March 2009, available on Steam and the PlayStation Network respectively.
The Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
version of Watchmen: The End Is Nigh - Part II was released through Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
on Wednesday, August 26, 2009.
Reception
The game's reviews have been mixed. It scored a 5.5/10 on IGN and garnered poor reviews from FEARnet and Joystiq. 1up.com's review stated that the game was a "decent HD-generation beat-em-up" but cautions that "as gorgeous as everything is, it's also repetitive." GamePro awarded a 4 out of 5 while X-play gave it a 3 out of 5. Xbox Magazine gave it a 7 out of 10, while saying co-op was fun, but that they were disappointed no online co-op was given. HyperHyper (magazine)
Hyper is a multi-platform Australian video game magazine. Australia's longest running gaming magazine, it has been in publication since 1993, and was released the same month as the better known UK magazine Edge...
s Daniel Wilks commends the game for its "rain effects, shadow and character models" as well as its "decent fighting engine". However, he criticises the game for "repetitive action and level design [and being] not particularly difficult". Video game talk show Good Game
Good Game
Good Game is an Australian video gaming talk show television programme created by Janet Carr and Jeremy Ray currently on ABC2. It premiered on ABC on 19 September 2006...
's two presenters gave the game a 4 and 5 out of 10