Watchmen: The End Is Nigh Deadline Games / Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment 2009

This is an episodic video game series that serves as a prequel to the film adaptation of the comic book Watchmen. The game was released in installments in March & August 2009 and takes place during the Crimebusters era, when Rorschach and Nite Owl II were crime-fighting vigilantes before the Keene Act passed in the 1970's. It takes place ten years before the film. Richard Nixon is not president of the United States (yet), and The Keene act, which bans superhero activity, is a few years away from being passed. Rorschach and Nite Owl have partnered up to fight crime, and in keeping with the graphic novel's universe, they fight members of the Knock-top gang, the Underboss' minions, and visit familiar locations like the Rumrunner bar. The duo eventually uncovers a criminal conspiracy, and other Watchmen characters also make cameo appearances. They are the only playable characters in the game's Episode 1 in singleplayer or cooperative multiplayer, which comprises six "chapters." Cutscenes that look like animated comic panels, similar to those seen in the Watchmen motion comics released on iTunes, bookend each chapter. Two of the film's actors, Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earl Haley, provide their voices for their characters. The game features a mix of beat-em-up and puzzle gameplay, with the two characters having different strengths and abilities. Rorschach is faster but weaker and makes use of improvised weapons like crowbars and chairs; Nite Owl is slower but stronger and uses technological abilities, such as "screecher bombs." The characters must work cooperatively to pass puzzles and defeat enemies. The first chapter of the game is a tutorial taking place while Rorschach and Nite Owl infiltrate a prison for unknown reasons. Underboss/The Big Figure, a minor villain Rorschach and Nite Owl mention in the comic book as having been defeated by the pair in the past, appears in the game, as do other adversaries who are only mentioned or briefly shown in flashbacks in the original comic. Nite Owl's flying craft, Archimedes, appears in the game, but it is unknown if the player has control of the vehicle during the game. The game focuses on teamwork between the two characters: in single-player mode, the AI controls the other character aside from the main character, while the game can be played in Local Co-op with two players as both characters. In Episode 2, Rorschach sets on the trail of a missing girl named Violet Greene. With a reluctant Nite Owl in tow, they infiltrate a seedy strip club, where they discover that the kidnapper is the Twilight Lady, an old flame of Nite Owl's. They break into her mansion (which acts as a high class brothel) and discover Violet has been brainwashed into thinking that she enjoys her new work as a prostitute. Nite Owl consents that if Violet is there of her "own free will" then there is nothing that they can do. Rorschach disagrees, and the pair chase Twilight Lady through the mansion, before she is thrown into a skylight. The ending of the chapter depends upon the outcome of the final battle (between Nite Owl and Rorschach). If Nite Owl wins, then Rorschach is thrown through the skylight, and Twilight Lady is rescued. If Rorschach wins, however, then Nite Owl is thrown to one side, and Rorschach smashes the skylight, thus killing Twilight Lady. Whichever character is the victor, the game ends with the partnership between Nite Owl and Rorschach being severed, and Nite Owl teaming up with the Comedian to quell a riot (an event which is depicted both in the graphic novel, and the film).
Screenshots
Level Demo 518MB (uploaded by Game Pressure)
Episode 1 ISO Demo 1.54GB (uploaded by scaryfun)
Episode 2 ISO Demo 1.04GB (uploaded by scaryfun)
Portable Episodes 1 + 2 - Full Demo 2.1GB (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


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