Review: Dragon Ball Z – Ultimate Tenkaichi (PS3)

The Watchmen has been a property sitting in limbo for so many years, it has dust upon its dust.  The series is considered one of the best pieces of comic literature ever written.  But for some reason, people were never able to get the right people to get a game or a movie made based on the Watchmen series.  Only after languishing in Hollywood hell for 11 years are we getting a Watchmen film, and this week, we also saw the release of Watchmen: The End Is Nigh, a prequel leading up to the events that we see in the book and adopted film.  I tried said demo today, and I have to say that is this is the best the Watchmen series can give us, the the world might need more help.

I downloaded the demo for Watchmen on Steam and it actually translates well to the controls on the PC.  Everything is logically laid out, with heavy and light attacks attached to the two main mouse buttons.  A grabble/throw is attached to the clicking of the scroll wheel.  You can also play as either Rorschach or Nite Owl, and for the most part, beat your way through timed swarms of enemies.

The demo level takes place in a prison, where you decide to help with a riot that is occurring due to a loss of power.  Here may be where the main problem lies.  A prison is not a very scenic place to grab a buying public.  It is drap and depressing.  As a matter of fact, I had to brighten up the pictures to give viewers a look at the actual levels.  The bigger issue is that the reuse entire layouts of prison over without changing anything.  A good example is that I walked through one section of the prison which was about five to six rooms.  They then cloned that same section two more times, with everything in the exact same place.  I had to double check to make sure I did not go the wrong way.  For $20, and episodic content, I better get more out of you than repetitive levels that look identical.

The characters look true to the comic, and the violence they put down is ruthless, and efficient.  There is no sugar coating, as teeth are knocked out, blood spattered and the occasional crunching of bone.  The tone of the Watchmen is there in spirit, but all the generic feel around them, killed any enjoyment while playing the demo.  I would say that right now, you should wait, until it goes on sale.  If it was half the price, I would probably go for it, but at $20, it is just too much for the little investment you are getting in return.