Cost too high for “End is Nigh”

THE NEXT LEVEL

The downloadable game “Watchmen: The End is Nigh” is a strong indication of the high-end of graphics that can be delivered in the downloadable format, but ultimately the game doesn’t live up to its visuals or its source material. Furthermore, the game only offers about three hours of play for around $20.

Spinning off from the movie “Watchmen,” itself based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, “End is Nigh” takes place in the 1970s, when superheroes Nite Owl and Rorschach worked as a team.

The gamer can play as either Rorschach or Nite Owl in a single player or cooperative multiplayer game.

The game takes place in 1972, as Nite Owl and Rorschach attempt to shut down a prison riot in Sing Sing.

As it turns out, the riot was only a cover so that crime lord the Underboss could escape. On each level, Nite Owl and Rorschach must bash their way through a phalanx of thugs as they seek the Underboss. Eventually they uncover a planned assassination attempt, which the gamer will see as a twist from the actual history of 1972. Gibbons was an art consultant on the game, and it’s written by original “Watchmen” editor Len Wein. The story is decent, and the look is brilliant. But the gameplay isn’t there.