Don't expect too much and you might just end up having some fun.
User Rating: 7.8 | Darkwatch XBOX
The first thing you'll notice with Darkwatch is how fast-paced the game is - not only does your character move fast, but the abundance of FMV cut scenes during the game's opening stanza will leave you in no doubt that you are playing a speedy, arcade style game. The in-game graphics themselves are atmospheric in the same cartoon-horror manner as the House of the Dead series; the detail on the zombies not being too cartoonish as to make it a completely cartoonish game. The backdrops are nicely drawn and I had no trouble with collision detection - glitching and getting stuck in walls, seeing through walls, etc. Welcome relief from some of the new games I've played recently. Another thing you'll notice straight away is how easy it is to get a grip of the controls, especially if you've played Halo or even Doom 3 on the Xbox. If this is your first FPS with a controller then expect to be frustrated at first by how the POV turns, though have faith - there are techniques you will pick up that make it much more fun the longer you stick at it (if you've played the Quake series for any length of time you'll already know all about that). Speaking of the Quake series, Darkwatch shares a movement element with Quake 2 with Jericho's 'double jumping' capabilities. Though not as advanced as Quake's, this was a cool feature in Darkwatch, especially since you can abort it by tapping A. And if it hadn't been for this ability to abort the move, there could have been a problem here with the gameplay being frustratingly slowed down by 'space jumps'. The gameplay in Darkwatch, though lacking in longevity, is not lacking in variety - right away you'll notice the part with the horses, and there's also a section later in the game where you control a buggy type vehicle. These things give the game a nice bit of variety and maybe also some nostalgia, should you have liked the buggy/vehicle sections of Halo. There's not so much variety in the weapons of Darkwatch, however, but even though there's not a huge array, the ones that are there serve the purpose well. The power of the melee attack also has to be praised, since so often in FPS games this can be such a weak alternative to other weapons, but in this game it does genuinely serve a purpose. The enemies in the game are varied enough to keep it interesting. I was quite impressed with this aspect because there's nothing that personally bores me more than slaying the same damn enemy model over and over and over again. Perhaps a reason for this *not* being the case in Darkwatch, is the AI - occasionally you will see one of the enemies (in a bunch that is attacking you) zig-zag and evade straight fire, which usually makes them last longer. Though saying that, it's not exactly Ninja Gaiden, and even in Cowboy mode (the game's 'normal' setting) none of the enemies will likely give you too much trouble. Overall, it might be a good idea to rent Darkwatch first, particularly if you're expecting it to be like Halo with zombies instead of Aliens. This game is like the Xbox's seminal FPS game in the sense that you shoot wave after horde of enemies, over and over again while advancing through a series of cut scenes that piece together a story. There are also jumping similarites (I actually liked Darkwatch's jumping better than Halo's) and gun similarites - having to choose which two you want to carry. There is a difference in terms of the crosshair, which in Darkwatch doesn't change. I wasn't too bothered about this but some people might be - which pretty much sums up Darkwatch: don't take it too serious or you might be left disappointed. 
