Watchmen: The End Is Nigh Complete Experience

The Skinny: We were too busy ogling superhottie Malin Akerman in her skintight Silk Spectre costume to play the first part of the Watchmen movie tie-in game, but Warner Bros. is giving us another chance with their compilation package. Included are the first (old) and second (new) parts of the episodic Watchmen: The End Is Nigh game and a second disc holding a director's cut of the movie and exclusive artwork used in and inspired by the film.

The Good: Like its film brethren, the game looks beautiful, especially considering its origins were as a downloadable title. From the character animations to the rotting city surrounding the protagonists, there are obvious indications that there was at least an attempt to not leave out the details, a bad habit you'll find on other movie tie-in games. The Watchmen universe is captured to a T and Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earle Haley reprise their film roles, offering their voice services in bringing Nite Owl and Rorschach, respectively, to life on consoles. The story tying the whole shebang together fleshes out some of the uncharted storylines during the city's Crimebusters era, like The Underboss' escape from Sing Sing. Most who went to see the movie won't really care much for the tangential plot, but fans of the series may appreciate that part of the mythology being addressed.



The Bad: Playing as the fuck-the-world-minded Rorschach or the more calculated Nite Owl may seem like two very different experiences, but even with entirely different move sets, you'll be bored to tears halfway through...Part 1. You basically reach one area, fight off some weird-looking gangbangers, maybe pick up a powerup, and then move on, utilizing the same two buttons to pull off attack combinations. It's a beat-em-up style of gameplay, a la Double Dragon, so if you can't stand doing the same thing over and over again for hours, this might not be your cup of tea. Disappontingly, Part 2 starts you off with all of the combinations already unlocked, so you're just wasting an additional five hours with even more brain-damaging repetition. As for the movie itself, we were disappointed with the extra content found on the second disc, which only has a copy of the director's cut and some of the concept art used to make the film.

Buy, Rent, or Disembowel: If you can pick this up for cheaper—say, 35 dollars—then go for it. For a heavier dose of extras minus the video game excrement mixed in, just pick up the blu-ray for more than half the cost.