Darkwatch
| Darkwatch: Curse of the West | |
|---|---|
North American cover art
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| Developer(s) | High Moon Studios |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Director(s) | Chris Ulm Emmanuel Valdez Clinton Keith |
| Producer(s) | John Rowe Brian Johnson Steven B. Sargent |
| Designer(s) | Paul O'Connor Brent Disbrow Matt Tieger |
| Programmer(s) | Stephane Etienne |
| Artist(s) | Farzad Varahramyan Sean Miller Francis Tsai |
| Writer(s) | Paul O'Connor Chris Ulm |
| Composer(s) |
Mike Reagan Asdru Sierra |
| Engine | Modified RenderWare (uses Havok and Quazal) |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2, Xbox |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | 77.53% (Xbox) 76.10% (PS2) |
| Metacritic | 75/100 (Xbox) 74/100 (PS2) |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| Eurogamer | 5.0 |
| G4 |   |
| Game Informer | 8.5 |
| GamePro | 8.0 |
| Game Revolution | B- |
| GameSpot | 7.9 |
| GameSpy | |
| GameTrailers | 7.6 |
| GameZone | 8.0 |
| IGN | 7.9 |
| OXM (US) | 8.0 |
| PALGN | 6.5 |
| TeamXbox | 8.3 |
Darkwatch: Curse of the West is a 2005 first-person shooter video game for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It was developed by High Moon Studios (formerly Sammy Studios) and published by Capcom in the United States and by Ubisoft in Europe and Australia.
The game mixes western, horror and steampunk genres, telling the story of Jericho Cross, an outlaw gunfighter in the late 19th-century American Frontier who has been turned into a vampire and then forcibly recruited by the titular monster-hunting secret organization to fight against supernatural forces. The gameplay system of Darkwatch is reminiscent of Halo: Combat Evolved.
Darkwatch was met with a generally positive critical reception, acclaimed in particular for its relatively unique Weird West setting and artistic merits. The game was accompanied by an extensive promotional campaign and was planned to be the first installment of a new media franchise, but its sequel got canceled in 2007 and the film adaptation remains in development hell.
Darkwatch features a reputation system that affects player's abilities in addition to the player character Jericho's starting, neutral vampiric powers of "Blood Shield" (a regenerating force field similar to the energy shield from Halo), "Vampire Jump" (a that can be aborted at any moment) and "Blood Vision" (a system of heat vision highlighting enemies and objects that also acts as a zoom). Through the game, Jericho is met with multiple choices of a good or evil variety, allowing the player to select morality awarding Jericho new powers, called "Brands", based on the choices he made. This system was compared to the one used in the role-playing video game Star Wars: KOTOR. The good path powers are "Silver Bullet" (making the player's weapons cause more damage), "Fear" (confusing minor enemies), "Mystic Armor" (an extra shield system) and "Vindicator" (bolts of lightning destroying all nearby enemies). The evil powers are "Blood Frenzy" (granting an immunity to damage and extremely powerful melee attacks), "Turn" (turning undead enemies into allies), "Black Shroud" (stealing life force from nearby enemies) and "Soul Stealer" (destroying nearby enemies and stealing their souls). The powers can be activated for a limited time when the HUD's blood bar, which is fueled through collecting souls of the slain enemies, is completely full. Jericho's health is also restored through collecting the souls.
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Wikipedia