Times have not been kind to Danish wunderkid Deadline Games. In 1996, the Copenhagen-based studio burst onto the gaming scene in a blaze of glory that culminated in the sublime yet largely unappreciated Total Overdose and the re-imagined PSP version, Chili Con Carnage. Since then the recession has hit the studio hard and, in May of this year, CFO Christian Pedersen-Bjergaard announced that the company was no longer able to meet its financial commitments and had filed for bankruptcy. Two months later, their swan song - Watchmen: The End is Nigh Parts 1 and 2 - hit the shelves, which includes the original Watchmen game that was available in downloadable installments on Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation 3 when the movie arrived on the big screen.

This will immediately divide gamers, as those who haven't downloaded the first installment are getting great value, while those who did are only really getting half a new game. Both games are based around Zack Snyder's 2009 big screen version of Watchmen, which in turn is an adaptation of the comic strip created by Alan Moore. For those who missed the film and haven't read the comics, the Watchmen universe is set in an alternative timeline where masked vigilantes take the law into their own (gloved) hands and go head to head against costumed gangs and criminals. The chief protagonists are Rorschach and Nite Owl, two superheroes who are thrown together by chance, each with their own particular outlook on the world and how to solve its problems - and it is this fundamental difference in outlook and political leaning that paves the way for their eventual falling out. Fans of the comic book will no doubt be pleased to learn that Jackie Earle Haley (Rorschach) and Patrick Wilson (Nite Owl) provide voiceovers for their characters, while behind the scenes, Len Wein - the comic book's editor - took a hand in writing the story and Dave Gibbons, the comic book's artist, was also brought in as an advisor. With their combined creative efforts, Deadline has managed to craft an authentic animated comic book featuring pictureboards and artwork that could have been taken straight from the pages of a DC masterpiece.

Part 1 of the game follows the adventures of our heroes as they track down the nefarious super villain, Underboss, who has broken out of prison and raised an army of leather-clad psychopaths to run rampage through New York City. In Part 2, Rorschach enlists the help of Nite Owl to investigate the possible abduction and sexual slavery of a missing girl, Violet Green. Whereas the six chapters of Part 1 take place mainly in the streets, deserted buildings, rooftops and warehouses, Part 2 is a much seedier and darker affair; most of this story features scantily-clad female goons in strip clubs and, ahem, 'houses of pleasure'.

At the heart of both stories is a beat 'em up that features devastating combos, brutal takedowns and punishing attacks, where both heroes have their own unique fighting style - Rorschach is a street fighter who can pick up an enemy's weapon and use it against them, while Nite Owl is a martial arts expert equipped with an array of high tech gadgets. Whichever character you choose, there is an almost bewildering number of special moves and combos to learn - so much so that you might well need to pause the game mid-skirmish and consult the moves list for the best possible options.

While this all sounds pretty promising, The End is Nigh is a mixed bag that surpasses itself in some areas and falls woefully short in the others. The most obvious success is the game's crowd-pleasing visual style; Deadline has truly done justice to the franchise with arguably one of the most graphically accomplished games released so far this year. If they had turned the dial up another notch then it could well have been on par with the likes of Call of Duty: World at War and Gears of War 2; as it stands though, Watchmen's visuals are still so delicious that you will find yourself fighting your impulse to lick the screen!

Sadly however, there are some pretty fundamental issues that drag the experience down and deny it a high score, the most frustrating of which is the lack of an onscreen map; you will find yourself wandering around a fair bit, trying to figure out where to go next. This is a pretty old school method of prolonging a game and, quite frankly, is one that should have gone out with the dinosaurs of generations past. In many parts of the game it can also be pretty difficult to actually see where you're going, as this is a dark story that takes place in a very dark city - and not just dark as in ominous, but dark in "ouch, what did I just walk into?" You are also likely to find the limitations outside of the fighting quite frustrating; you can only open certain doors and jump on certain ledges, and only Rorschach can pick up and improvise with weapons.

Still, this is a beat 'em up after all, and so beating people up is what you spend the majority of your time doing. As you wander from scene to scene you are swamped by screen-loads of villains who, although easy to take down, threaten to overwhelm you by sheer numbers; the number of your foes is impressive, more than the hordes of aliens in Resistance 2 but less than the swarms of zombies in Left 4 Dead.

At this juncture it's worth adding a note of warning: Watchmen is a particularly dirty game - not in the sense of playing rugby in the rain, but in its backbone-breaking, eye-gouging, blood-splattering action. Watchmen easily has some of the most brutal finishing moves seen since Mortal Kombat and, like the comic books, it's definitely not for the faint hearted. Although this will definitely appear to gore fans and fighting game lovers, once the novelty of the sheer brutality has worn off, Watchmen grows stale pretty quickly; there simply isn't enough variety in the gameplay to keep anyone other than the most diehard beat 'em up hooked. The scenes and objectives are all pretty similar - throw a switch, fend off a wave of thugs, find the exit, rinse and repeat. After the first few hours you may well will find your mind wandering and your attention span slowly slipping away. Add to this the fact that Part 2 is only about half the length of Part 1 and you may wonder whether it would have been better to have merged both games into one.

Watchmen: The End is Nigh Parts 1 and 2 is a fairly entertaining game but not one that will be long remembered. While it certainly makes its mark visually, beneath the gorgeously moody stylised graphics and brutal gore, it's a pretty repetitive, by the numbers beat 'em up. It's worth checking out if you're a fan of the film, the comic books or indeed fighting games and the almost budget price point makes it a bargain for those who haven't downloaded Part 1 already, but everyone else need not apply - despite the effort that Deadline Games have clearly put in, this isn't quite the killer movie tie-in you've been watching out for.

Reviewed by Kizzi Nkwocha for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).