Game Title: Darkwatch
Genre: First-person shooter
Console: PS2, Xbox
Publisher: Capcom
Rating: 
One of our favorite first-person shooters this year is Capcom's Darkwatch, an exciting, action game that combines vampires and the old-west to come up with a dark, original game that is completely addicting right from the start. The spooky old-west comes alive as outlaw Jericho Cross becomes an agent of the Darkwatch, a secret group fighting to keep the world safe from evil, after accidentally releasing a vampire lord and his henchman into the world. Cross suffers a vampire bite in the process, and as a member of the Darkwatch uses his new dark powers to stop the vampire lord from taking over.
This shooter is a flat-out good time. In Darkwatch, taking out the undead means an assortment of weapons to use like dual pistols, shot guns, and even cross bows. Even if the hordes of ghouls do get passed all that sharp shooting, turn those guns into melee weapons for some up-close and personal destruction. Easy to learn and streamlined controls means gamers can change weapons, re-load, activate dark powers, melee attack, and shoot all without having to go to a different screen to switch skills or preferences.
Great looking game levels really capture the flavor of a surreal, haunted old-west, and riding Jericho's demon horse breakneck across the desert shooting vampires out of the sky and ghost riders off their horses is some wicked fun. Newbies to first person shooters should definitely check out Darkwatch, because the "Greenhorn" mode allows for exciting gameplay without stomping gamers into oblivion after the first couple of levels. Xbox owners have the option to go online for up to 16 players, while PS2 owners get an extra level, split screen co-op mode and special Splitter Grenades. Darkwatch is a welcome addition to the first-person shooter, offering a new type of adventure that is more than just one mission after another.