Nothing like a good ol' game of Cowboys and...VAMPIRES?!

Darkwatch

Release Date: 2005
System: XBox (also available for Playstation 2)
ESRB Rating: M (Mature) for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language and Sexual Themes
Publisher: Capcom

Yes, you read that right - cowboys and vampires.

It's a weird combination, I know - but in "Darkwatch," it happens to work quite well.

"Darkwatch" is set in the Wild West era, and puts you into the role of Jericho Cross, train robber and general criminal. As the game begins, Cross is set to make "the big score" - a train robbery that'll net him a ton of cash.

But c'mon - this is the beginning of a horror/action game, and true to form, things don't go quite according to plan. Turns out the train Jericho hit belongs to the Darkwatch - a society of lawmen dedicated to fighting supernatural evil. And it also turns out that the Darkwatch is transporting one hell of a bad guy - Lazarus, an eight-foot tall, pissed off vampire lord.

Guess what happens next? Yep - in raiding the train, Jericho releases Lazarus, who then turns the outlaw into a vampire and raises the dead for miles around to wreak havoc on the Wild West. Now, Jericho has to join up with the Darkwatch in an effort to stop Lazarus from continuing his bloodbath.

"Darkwatch" is a first-person shooter, which when combined with its Wild West setting makes for a really interesting game. The combination may seem limiting at first due to the low-tech time period, but it actually ends up being very engaging. The weapons you do get - which include a semi-automatic rifle, a shotgun and even a rocket launcher (don't ask me how - apparently the Darkwatch were geniuses at making low-tech versions of high-tech bang-bang) - are all varied enough that they demand a different approach to the game depending on which ones you favor. Plus, they never seem to limit the fun of the action despite most of the weapons being inherently lower-tech than the weapons most FPS fans are used to.

Speaking of action, this game has a lot of it. Lazarus mobilizes all sorts of undead monstrosities to keep you from stopping him, from the standard animated skeletons to Banshees (floating women that "scream" balls of energy at you) to Vipers (big hulking guys that can teleport away, have a massive punch and generally ruin your day). These enemies all demand a different approach to dealing with them, in things from which weapons you used on them to the tactics you use against them, which makes for a lot of variety in the action.

"Darkwatch" also has a "Good vs. Evil" element to it. During the course of the game, Jericho will run into situations where he has to make a choice, usually between saving someone's life or drinking their blood to increase his own power. Depending on which choices you make for him, Jericho will gain supernatural powers - either good powers (which include making bullets more powerful or hurling lightning at enemies) or evil powers (like making melee attacks more powerful and sucking souls from all enemies within reach). These choices will also affect the final outcome of the game. The powers are nice to have when the going gets tough, and while the "Good vs. Evil" conflict isn't quite as polished as some other games, it adds another dimension to the game.

The only real complaint about "Darkwatch" is that it's a little repetitive. The vast majority of the game's levels involve much the same thing - shoot at undead, reload, repeat. There are some horse-riding missions that provide a little variety, but the game mostly follows the pattern laid out above, which will likely leave some gamers wanting more in the way of variety.

Still, "Darkwatch" will make for a good time for most FPS fans. Saddle up and check it out.

Score: 7.5 out of 10 (Lack of variety hurt its score, but the game at its core is a very neat idea that's fairly well-executed)