March 4th 2009 11:35 am PT

@Computerdude103 again, prices are chosen by publishers NOT microsoft, and they have always said they would allow more if they felt the game deserved it, Portal is over 600MB for example, I’m actually sure the regular limit is 250mb unless it’s changed

Warner Bros has obviously spent a lot of time and money on this and they probably feel they should get some back

Via Joystiq

“Let’s accept that, yeah, with a $20 asking price, Watchmen: The End Is Nigh goes in with one arm tied behind its back. It should come as quite a testament, then, to the sheer tedium of the game that I quickly forgot how much was being asked for it, and was instead stunned that so much development effort and cash would be spent on a game that’s so very, very boring.

TEIN begins by letting you choose whether you’ll play as demented vigilante Rorschach or the much more upstanding Nite Owl. Savor that selection screen, friends, because once you’ve selected your hero, the die is cast and you better be braced for three hours of punching.

Light attack or strong, it doesn’t really matter, they both seem to be pretty effective. You can occasionally do a finishing move with a timed button press, or you can just keep punching the guy instead. You can do a counter attack to disarm an enemy, so you can punch … but with a bat. (Full disclosure: There are also kicks.) If you are unsure of which of the punch buttons you’re pressing, don’t worry, as that information is displayed on screen every time you do it to help you string together combos. Yeah, it’s very immersive. It’s all sort of brain-numbingly fun for about 30 minutes, until it becomes mind-meltingly dull.

Okay, so there are a couple of other things happening. Rorschach gets a profoundly unenjoyable lock-picking minigame and Nite Owl can occasionally shoot a grappling hook. A few times per level, you’ll have to press “A” to open a gate for your teammate, though I refuse to classify that as “gameplay.” I’m pretty sure the developers are just testing to make sure you haven’t trained a baby or beloved family pet to mindlessly pound the “X” and “Y” buttons.

But that’s not the big surprise. What shocked me was just how much work was put into nearly every other facet of the game. It’s the best looking XBLA release I can remember, it’s got impressive voice acting and the combat animations are brilliant, especially those of Rorschach, who fights with a sort of visceral, wrestling-inspired style that almost (but not quite) makes the hours of punching bearable. There’s even a cool conspiracy story underlying the whole thing.

The presentation work feels like Warner Bros. desperately trying to justify a weighty price tag, but its efforts are clearly misdirected. I’d actually consider dropping two sawbucks for a sub-3-hour experience. What I can’t abide is paying $20 for a game that made me wish it was even shorter.”

Wow this is the worst game ever made.

Here’s hoping that the de facto rule of movie tie-ins applies and the quality of the game is inversely proportional to the quality of the movie.

Man this game was bad.

Ugh.

@ TUSOCK

EXIT 2 was released in our region as it was NEVER submitted for classification at OFLC, the publishers only submitted it to the ESRB which is AMERICA. it’s seems they did the same thing was WATCHMAN in your area, does New Zealand have a classication body that you can do a search on, and see if it was?

You’d think for the outlandish price we are paying for Watchman that it would be for all regions!

Major who is responsible getting games classified? ah forget it you never answer questions!

@ShaggyB: Actually I do recall playing ET at a friends house when I was a kid… (I had ColecoVision, he had Atari).

I think I might honestly pick ET over this.

Is there a reason why this is €5 cheaper on PSN in Europe?

Or is it just MS points ripping off people with stronger currencies as usual?

@ Vegemite 98. Firstly, Marmite is better!
NZ is ok with the OFLC call if the rating is under M15. If it is higher then it goes through the NZ Censorship Board, funny enough I found the January Release list and Watchmen is on it!!??!!

http://www.censorship.govt.nz/pdfword/January%202009%20games%20newsletter.pdf

I really liked this… but won’t buy it … I wish it was cheaper.

I’d may of got death tank if it was 800 points seems the right price for anyone who likes that sort of thing. Games with little staff and that took well over 2 years + (castle crashers which is dept) was only 1200 points.

Some crappy game with good graphics for a arcade game and they want half retail price for it basiclly, no thanks I’ll pass Least the next arcade game I’ll get [if it comes out <.<] is Peggle and that won’t be stupidly priced, 800 points.

Well popcap ain’t stupid they are making A LOT of money in the casual market, the guy who made XBLA what it is now works for PopCap. Them sales charts show the story. (no shock that Braid is no1 this week with it being on sale last week)

@Nitramuse – yer i know there keys, i ain’t thick, all other keys for likes of dead space, need for speed etc, got announced on here though.

Played it loved it got it LOL. The co-op is cool so i thought what the hell its only 13 GBP and got the full game.

its fun and i love the animations but i will wait for a deal of the week

I’ll save my points.. I enjoyed the 15 mintues the demo offered… That was enough for me.
800ms points yeah sure.
1200ms points no thank you sir/maam
1600ms points!!!!!!! lol you’re kidding me? Oh, you’re serious? I best be on my way……

@Duarte360LIVE
Does this work in your region: http://www.themediamall.com/playon/ ?

1600 justified? Most 3 hour long gamed can never be justified for $20. Oh wait, this game has great graphics? Gasp! Never mind then, it’s definitely worth the 20 bucks!!

1600 justified? Most 3 hour long gamed can never be justified for $20. Oh wait, this game has great graphics? Gasp! Never mind then, it’s definitely worth the 20 bucks!!

doesint work its just a black screen