In short, I found it very frustrating, with hardly any redeeming qualities. I can't recommend it.
About the only interesting thing about the game is the art style. It reminded me of that 2004 Van Helsing movie with Hugh Jackman, only with a western twist. It's the main thing that drew my attention to it, along with a tentative recommendation from a youtuber I like. And, yeah, the weapons and some character designs and locations look kinda cool, but that's where the good ends.
The main issue are the controls. They are very twitchy, making it very hard to aim. I tried messing with the sensitivity setting, but it didn't help. I found myself getting frustrated from the start because I couldn't seem to consistently hit even enemies who were right in front of my face. Even grenades wouldn't go where I wanted them. Somehow they always landed either too close or too far. I was never quite able to adjust to the aiming. It made the game way harder and more frustrating than it should've been.
Poor controls aside, there's just nothing worthwhile here. Just an average shooter with a campy boring story. The visuals are alright, but nothing special. The music didn't really stand out to me - it was suitably westerny and that's about it. The game ran mostly fine, but with some heavy slowdown when things get hectic. I've seen better and I've seen worse.
I saw some players comparing it to Halo in reviews. There's a shield system that's similar to the one in Halo and also a warthog-like vehicle you drive in one of the levels. Aside, from that, I saw nothing Halo about this game. I wouldn't have made the association myself and it's certainly not in the same league.
By the time I got to the final boss I couldn't wait to be done with it. I had no patience for it so I switched to easy, just so I could get to the ending. I would have cheated, if it was an option and I rarely ever do that.
Evidently, some people see something in Darkwatch. Maybe if you played in an emulator with a mouse and keyboard it would be an alright experience. It would still be a very unremarkable shooter, but probably a lot less frustrating. Maybe some would enjoy the story in a campy sort of way. Maybe it would be fun in co-op with a friend (apparently, the Xbox version has online multiplayer, but not co-op for the campaign). I wouldn't know. For me it was a waste of time.
About the only interesting thing about the game is the art style. It reminded me of that 2004 Van Helsing movie with Hugh Jackman, only with a western twist. It's the main thing that drew my attention to it, along with a tentative recommendation from a youtuber I like. And, yeah, the weapons and some character designs and locations look kinda cool, but that's where the good ends.
The main issue are the controls. They are very twitchy, making it very hard to aim. I tried messing with the sensitivity setting, but it didn't help. I found myself getting frustrated from the start because I couldn't seem to consistently hit even enemies who were right in front of my face. Even grenades wouldn't go where I wanted them. Somehow they always landed either too close or too far. I was never quite able to adjust to the aiming. It made the game way harder and more frustrating than it should've been.
Poor controls aside, there's just nothing worthwhile here. Just an average shooter with a campy boring story. The visuals are alright, but nothing special. The music didn't really stand out to me - it was suitably westerny and that's about it. The game ran mostly fine, but with some heavy slowdown when things get hectic. I've seen better and I've seen worse.
I saw some players comparing it to Halo in reviews. There's a shield system that's similar to the one in Halo and also a warthog-like vehicle you drive in one of the levels. Aside, from that, I saw nothing Halo about this game. I wouldn't have made the association myself and it's certainly not in the same league.
By the time I got to the final boss I couldn't wait to be done with it. I had no patience for it so I switched to easy, just so I could get to the ending. I would have cheated, if it was an option and I rarely ever do that.
Evidently, some people see something in Darkwatch. Maybe if you played in an emulator with a mouse and keyboard it would be an alright experience. It would still be a very unremarkable shooter, but probably a lot less frustrating. Maybe some would enjoy the story in a campy sort of way. Maybe it would be fun in co-op with a friend (apparently, the Xbox version has online multiplayer, but not co-op for the campaign). I wouldn't know. For me it was a waste of time.
Enjoyable edgy Halo knockoff that's pretty serviceable and fun but definitely loses focus as it progresses. Some of the late game level design is awful, the controls aren't great, and that final boss sucked to fight. Somehow every enemy feels identical, and that also goes for the weapons aside from the rocket launcher and the club. The edgy stuff gets truly very funny - the corny sex scene? The fucking spiky crushers killing tied up women in the final boss arena? Absolute gold, truly comical and ridiculous in a campy way and what makes it extra enjoyable is the game is 100% genuine and unironic about it, it doesn't realize how silly it is and that makes it all very charming. It isn't amazing, but it IS co-op vampire cowboy wackiness, so it's still a pretty fun time.