Tiscali Games has the first screenshots from the upcoming Watchmen video game from Warner Bros. Interactive, Watchmen: The End is Nigh.
Developed by Deadline Games for PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, the episodic game follows Rorschach and Nite Owl in 1972. The first game will be released in March, around the time of the movie’s debut. A sequel is planned to coincide with the release of the Watchmen DVD.
(via Slashfilm)
November 17th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
I hope Boom Boom, Vinnie, and Epstein are unlockable playable characters.
November 17th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
I should’ve known Moloch was a stand-in for Mr. Woodman!
November 17th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Whats that? Somewhere in the world Alan Moore is screaming %#^*!
November 17th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
So the game follows Rorschach and Nite Owl in ‘72.
Wait, what?
That is practically the most undocumented part of the book. All we know is that’s around the time Rorschach went off the rails, and the Crimebusters have already disintegrated.
I don’t think we can expect a brilliant game out of this, given there is so little action in the book, really, and it ends on such a downer.
November 17th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
..
As long as the world turns to shite in the end, I’ll be happy.
I hope there’s a level where Roscharch gets to burn the child killer? I’m there!!!
Do we watch the mutilation crime? It’s a WINNER!!! The Comedian in Vietman…RIGHT ON!!
So much for sarcasm…Serously There aren’t ANY heroes in Watchmen, just crazy, delusional psychopaths. That’s KIND OF Alan Moore’s point, isn’t it?
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November 17th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Yes, it’s a prequel to the book. All they can really do is make it a decent beat ‘em up. I really wouldn’t expect some sort of brilliant storyline.
November 17th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
About the only way you could miss the point of the source material more would be making a No Country for Old Men game that was an FPS set in the Vietnam war where you play as Carson Wells and Anton Chigurh so you can see what they were like before they became hitmen.
November 17th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
The xbox 36 must be one of those retro consoles right?
November 17th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Alan Moore himself participated in making the Watchmen RPG books in the 80’s.
Of course that was back when it was a great comic book and not some kind of nerd holy writ.
November 17th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
I think you’re missing the difference between “RPG Scenario books” and “3D Beat ‘em Up Brawler.”
Because see, one of them allows for sophisticated storytelling and and the intellectual exercise involved in face-to-face role-playing, whereas the other one is a button masher devoted entirely to beating the shit out of people. Which one of these was the original text of Watchmen more about?
November 17th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
I don’t think of Watchmen as some kind of holy writ, I just don’t think it’d make a good video game. Similarly, I loved the video game Locoroco, but I don’t think it would make a good comic book. Some things are just meant for one medium.
November 18th, 2008 at 4:14 am
.
If it doesn’t have a squid in it, I don’t care.
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November 18th, 2008 at 4:25 am
The game is set in ‘72, three years before Rorschach lost it. And follows Rorschach and Nite-Owl, so no Comedian in sight. So it does follow guys who were heroes at the time. Don’t think of it as a Watchmen game, think of it as a game set in the Watchmen universe and stop being such arthouse snobs. You don’t have to like the game. I assume it’s going to be just as bad as most games created to tie into movies. But stop acting like it somehow belittles Watchmen, because it doesn’t. No matter how terrible the game is, Watchmen will still be the greatest limited series of all time.
November 18th, 2008 at 6:07 am
I always thought Rorschach and Nite-Owl were probably one very kickass crimefighting team. A nice beat ‘em up/detective story would be right up my alley. The whole prequel aspect reminds me of The Warriors game from a couple years back.
November 18th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Actually, Dalarsco, a piece of crap game will belittle and damage the book’s reputation. Think of it like Batman ‘89 - you can’t watch that now without thinking it all leads to Batman and Robin. You can’t watch the Matrix without being reminded it leads to the ‘concortedly’ and ‘vis-a-vis’ crap of the next two. A crap product associated with a superior one will damage the latter’s reputation.
It’s got nothing to do with being snobbish, but I just think any good will DC has built up with the trailers for this thing will be washed away by all the cheap shitty merchandise they throw at the public.
November 18th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
@ Dalarsco:
The problem with the game isn’t that Watchmen/comic books are some high art form that mere video games can never attain to. The problem is that Watchmen just doesn’t lend itself to a video game of this sort, and that this seems like a quick cash-in on a movie rather than an attempt to make a great game.
Maybe it can prove me wrong(Kingdom Hearts took a frankly bizarre concept and made it work), but this just seems like a bad idea.
@Statham:
I don’t think a crappy game will somehow dilute the quality of the comics. The Mario cartoons and live action movie were all awful, but it doesn’t affect my enjoyment of the games. The comics will remain completely unchanged.