First person shooters (FPS) seem to be churned out a one a week intervals, with nothing new to offer, but we’ve found a title that we believe is worth handing over your hard earned cash for.

Darkwatch doesn’t offer anything new from the FPS genre, but it does grip your attention with immersive gameplay and a decent storyline, often a rarity these days.

Think half Red Dead Revolver and half Hunter: The Reckoning, and you’ll have a mental image of the kind of game we’re talking about.

Cited as a blending of the vampire-horror and western genres, you play as outlaw Jericho Cross who bites off more than he can chew when he attempts to rob a Darkwatch armoured train.

Unaware that the Darkwatch is a millennia old society protecting humanity from evil, he unknowingly sets free an evil vampire lord.

Unluckily, he gets bit in the process, and then has no choice but to work with the Darkwatch to hunt him down before turning fully vamp himself!  

This is where the fun begins. Graphically it doesn’t make us gasp, but the pure fun it offers with its simplistic shoot and survive mentality keeps us coming back for more.

Furthermore it’s playable and appealing to all levels of gamer as there are four different difficulty settings to choose from.

Whereas these types of games can usually get monotonous, Darkwatch differs by offering lots of short levels over long, dull ones and also variety; in settings, monsters and weapons etc.

Thanks to the Darkwatch support you eventually gain, we got to play with anything from dual pistols, shotguns and exploding arrowed crossbows to dynamite and armoured assault vehicles.

Plus, with the bonus of weapon specific melee attacks, we didn’t get bored for a moment with our myriad of violent toys.

On top of this you evolve to gain vampiric powers which grow as the game unfolds - either in the direction of good or evil depending on how you approach specific decisions that have to be made.

Also a plus point for those lacking ‘hardcore’ aiming skills is the vampiric sight ability that lets you see both weapons and attackers much more visibly, therefore making them easier to gun down.

All this in just the single player mode! But, for a night of gaming with friends, Darkwatch still has a place.

Multiplayer options include both co-op and versus options. Unfortunately we only got to play the PS2 version (2 player maximum), but we’re gagging to try out the up to 16 player deathmatches available via Xbox Live.

If the multiplayer aspect is as good as its single player counterpart, we can see Darkwatch having regular appearances on gaming nights far and wide.

Truly, its only downfall is that it isn’t outstanding on the graphics front, but who really cares when it’s such an enjoyable game to just pick up and play without having to give up a whole evening (but you’re just likely to do that anyway).

With release imminent, we hope that Darkwatch becomes the success we think it could be.

IN SHORT:
A fun, simple to pick up and play FPS blastfest.

PROS:
Gameplay is simple and addictive, and a range of difficulty levels mean it can be played by occasional and hardcore gamers alike.

CONS:
Graphically its not amazing, and occasionally the never-ending gun shots can irritate the eardrums…

SCORE: 8/10               Out: October 7th(UK)