Immediately following my reading of Watchmen, I was compelled to endulge myself in the entire universe of superhero realism that Alan Moore had to offer. I saw the movie and was very pleased with it, so I decided to try out the game. I purchased “Watchmen: The End is Nigh” for $6.99 at my local Gamestop and questioned the quality of the game based on its inexpensive price—even the older good games are still a heftier price, at the very least twenty dollars. However, I was very pleased with the game. There is two parts, Part 1 and Part 2, and they both have different stories that develop the vastly contrasting characters that are Rorschach and Nite Owl. The first story is about a blackout occurring at Sing Sing prison, where Underboss has broken loose and all of the inmates are taking over the premises. The warden of the prison strongly advises against the masked vigilantes interference, but the duo ignore his demands. Their journey through the prison leads them to Jimmy the Gimmick, who caused the prison riot as a distraction to release Underboss, and we later discover that the entire prison breakout was a set up to frame Underboss for the murders of two missing reporters who intended to leak information against Nixon regarding the Watergate conspiracy mentioned in the book and film. At the end of Part 1, we see Comedian, working for Nixon, shooting Jimmy the Gimmick and framing Underboss for the murder of the reporters, who would ruin the winning streak for Nixon’s presidency. Part 2 consists of Twilight Lady, a BDSM villain who was mentioned only briefly in the book as Nite Owl’s former fling. She is the main villain in these piece and we really see Rorschach and Nite Owl’s different perspectives: Rorschach is disgusted by the hookers and strippers brainwashed by Twilight Lady to be her slaves, and Nite Owl feels that they are just lonely souls who went down the wrong path. Nite Owl shows sympathy for Twilight Lady and, at the end of the game, fights Rorschach to save her. Rorscach insists that there should be no compromise in the punishment Twilight Lady must face, who had ‘kidnapped’ an underage girl and forced her into porn. Twilight Lady justified this by saying the girl is eighteen when they filmed, and that the girl did this voluntarily. Rorscach insists that this behavior is unacceptable, even if it is still technically ‘legal’ and attempts to kill her. Depending on the hero you choose to play as, Twilight Lady either dies (as Rorscach) or is rescued and condemned to leave for good (as Nite Owl). The gameplay of “The End is Nigh” highlights the differences between the duo as well, for Nite Owl fights with precise technique and gadgets, like Batman, and Rorscach is much more barbaric and uses his anger to his advantage, like Wolverine. Nite Owl’s suit charges and can send out electronic blasts that stun your enemies, as well as throwable smoke bombs. Rorscach, on the other hand, has a rage meter that charges with the more enemies you kill. Once in rage mode, he moves faster and is harder to hit. The game truly did enrich the entire Watchmen experience and allows one to understand both of the characters mentality and psychology before venturing into the comic or film. Rorscach’s mother, Laurie, Dr. Manhattan, Big Figure, and other characters are either seen or mentioned in the game that allow the viewer or reader to understand small comments regarding backstory. Although Twilight Lady is only briefly shown in the comic, she will still offer the ‘hey! She was the main villain in the game!’ that will excite the reader and allow them to engage more closely with the world that Moore has created. I played the game with my 3 year old nephew and 7 year old niece and even though there was excessive cussing, blood, porn mentions, a strip club, fighting strippers and BDSM men, they were fascinated with the fighting controls of the game and the co-op option that many games don’t offer. So while sharpening my Watchmen lore with this awesome game, I am spending time with my little ones. And maybe when they are old enough to understand the awesomeness of Moore politics and poetics, they will be just as fascinated with the comic and film as they are with the game that they are currently growing up playing.
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