Sammy Studios originally announced a new vampire-western hybrid shooter in 2004 and over the course of the last year it's had a treacherous development cycle. Things began to look up though and early in 2005, Capcom announced a publishing deal that would see the release of Darkwatch in the US. With Ubisoft now bringing it to Europe, British gamers are going to find out if it was worth the wait and surrounding hype.

The premise of Darkwatch is actually quite cool and - shockingly - original! As the very quiet Jericho Cross, you're a train robber looking to make one last big hit... and boy, do you do just that. Upon blowing the safe on board your latest train of choice, you accidentally release the son of Satan - Lazarus. Not only does he plague the Arizona desert with thousands of identical looking undead warriors but he also curses you to be a vampire. As such you must seek out blood to survive and also gain a whole new list of abilities, most of which ultimately make Lazarus regret ever placing this 'curse' on you. Unfortunately the story is not told all that well throughout the game; the cut-scenes aren't bad, but they're incredibly quick and uninformative. The game is fast to get back to the action and for good reason: you'll see these cinematic cut scenes and in-game scenes a lot, often interrupting gameplay repeatedly.

In the beginning you run into a deputy named Cassidy, who helps escort you back to the safety of the Darkwatch, a group of special agents who protect the innocent from evil. When you get there, things aren't as they should be however. On your way to the Darkwatch headquarters you can get acquainted with your new vampire abilities, such as being able to jump huge heights and having a shield that regenerates over time. You'll also gain new powers as you make certain decisions along your journey. Every now and then you come up to a victim, either dead or alive, and you have to decide to free him or take advantage and drain his body of blood for yourself. Each time you make a choice, you add to one of two meters, depending on whether you were merciful or merciless in your treatment of this bystander. Upon filling one meter, you earn a new ability. You're encouraged to stick to one side and you should, as each ability has a corresponding power for the opposite side. Other than gaining one of the eight abilities, making decisions doesn't affect the overall story. Each chapter can also be replayed for better completion and rewards, plus you can also view each cinematic sequence from throughout the story.

The gameplay is very frantic and fast; since I've already mentioned that you can jump gigantic heights you've probably guessed that Darkwatch is a very arcade style shooter. Enemies fly back in ragdoll glory and react to location specific shots, often losing various limbs in the process. One of the best parts about Darkwatch is the weapons you get to use along the way; each one puts an incredibly authentic and unique spin on tradition guns like the pistol, sniper rifle, shotgun and even a crossbow that fires arrows which explode after embedding themselves in a victim. Each weapon fires differently, some have unique abilities and they all have powerful melee attacks that send enemies doing flips in great fashion. As with Halo, you can only equip two guns at a time and while it doesn't have the same impact and importance that it does in the aforementioned classic, it still plays a role in making the game somewhat strategic. However, I often found myself running back to find a gun I passed over and dying in the process before I could select the gun to replace and pick it up.

Every usual thing you find in a first person shooter is found here, but fortunately almost all of them have that special Darkwatch touch; for instance, instead of zooming in you use blood vision, where the screen turns red and zooms in slightly as enemies, weapons and key locations glow. Melee attacks come in very handy considering the pacing of this game, especially in close areas and each strike is quite satisfying compared to weaker melee attacks found in other games. Finally, dynamite plays the role of grenades here and while seeing enemies explode after you throw one is great, Jericho has a mighty arm on him that almost always overshoots the toss until you get the hang of it.

While the numerous gunfights can be enormous amounts of fun they aren't particularly challenging and when you do find yourself dying often it is almost always because enemies spawn right behind you while you're fighting those in front of you. The AI isn't remotely smart, even on the hard difficulty setting, so replaying gunfights and sections after dying for arguably cheap reasons can get tedious and tiring quickly. Some of the arena battles can be loads of fun however, especially considering your ability to jump up to high areas like rooftops and ledges, as well as using dynamite and other explosive weapons to your advantage. It would be nice if there was a little more interaction with the levels; as it is, you're almost always following a very linear path where every ladder, opening, crate and explosive barrel is shoved in your face and leaves little to the imagination. But hey, at least there aren't any platform jumping challenges, because Jericho's jumping height and 'floaty' feel would make it a true pain in the ass.

Like most shooters, Darkwatch isn't too long a game and can be completed in about 10 hours, which is a healthy amount for a great single player rental. The single player is a real blast while it lasts and is varied enough to keep you playing until the end, but just doesn't offer anything truly revolutionary or outstanding to make it a must have title, or even one that will last and stand the test of time against the truly great shooters - and when it comes to the Xbox, there are plenty of those.

Bizarrely, the Xbox is missing the offline cooperation mode available in the PlayStation2 version, which is a shame as with the ragdoll physics and all the great weapons, this mode is a real treat for fans of co-op. Xbox players instead get an exclusive online multiplayer mode, which is a bit unfair for those who don't have Xbox Live, as they don't get online play or an offline co-op. However, it is obvious that Darkwatch online will fail to leave any mark on the Xbox Live community; it's too unbalanced and frantic to keep players coming back, lacking the variety of popular online shooters like Halo 2, Rainbow Six 3, Unreal Championship 2 and Splinter Cell. This is one game where the single player mode definitely outshines the multiplayer, which unfortunately just pushes it down even more to rental status.

Graphically Darkwatch is mighty impressive with the guns, explosions and the fantastic ragdoll animations. The enemy designs lack variety unfortunately, so you face familiar opponents constantly, but at least the ones you do face look good. The levels are full of excellent details and plenty of objects, most of which can be destroyed and a select few even used to your advantage in some way. The graphic style is very comic book influenced, featuring character designs reminiscent of Timesplitters, minus the great animations and the tongue in cheek writing and voices. The environments do a good job of creating atmosphere - there's almost always a bright moon in the sky lighting up the deserts and tombstones below and when there isn't a moon out, the sun is blazing down, hindering Jericho's vampire abilities in the process. In these levels you have to make your way into shadows to regain your unique abilities.

You may be surprised when you find out that the initially cool Jericho Cross doesn't actually speak, instantly tossing out any badass quality he could have had. Some may argue that a silent character who just gets the job done is cool, but as you progress through the early part of the game, you're constantly being ordered around every corner by another character, making Mr. Cross feel more like a puppet then a cool, train robbing vampire. Video game veteren Jennifer Hale (Metroid Prime, Star Wars: KOTOR) lends her vocals to Cassidy and while her work is not bad by any means, I must say the accent she used drove me absolutely insane, to the point where I wanted to just shoot her if I could. Rose McGowen (TV's Charmed) and Keith Szarabajka (Viewtiful Joe 2, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge) also lend their vocals to the title. The sound effects are cool, for sure, especially little touches like hearing Jericho's cape move when you crouch and jump; however, one major bummer is the music. You'll hear what sounds like great music tracks trying to be just that - great - but they rarely stay, simply fading away as quickly as they began. Games like Ace Combat and Halo show us how important music is in video games and with such an original concept, Darkwatch could have been much better and even more atmospheric with some great music.

The ever changing campaign, which goes from gunplay to horseback and even skeleton crushing buggies, does a good job of offering new experiences to keep the gameplay fresh, which definitely makes Darkwatch one to spend some time with during the next gaming drought. However if you're looking for a solid multiplayer experience or a deep single player then it's best to look elsewhere, which is unfortunate, as Darkwatch is that rare specimen - truly original in concept and features, something that is really needed at the moment. Let's just hope it does well enough to warrant a sequel that evolves this into the truly classic shooter it could be.

Reviewed by Christopher Martin for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).