Watchmen: The End is Nigh, released to tie-in with the DVD release of Zack Snyder's film adaptation of the famous graphic novel, is an out-and-out simple brawler which fleshes out the Watchmen universe by following Rorschach and Nite Owl's vigilante partnership a few years prior to the events of the novel/film.

The atmosphere is just what you'd expect from a Watchmen game: seedy, dark environments (complete with abandoned fairground!) all rusted up and decrepit and teeming with lowlifes whose necks need a good snapping. The cutscenes are by far the game's best asset and they look and sound great. The main characters are voiced by the actors from the film and the animation is identical to the motion comic which was released just before the film hit cinemas.

Part 2 is much less subtle: in trying to rescue a girl kidnapped by a porn and prostitution ring you fight through strip clubs and brothels to take on someone from Nite Owl and Rorshach's past. This strains relationships within the group and leads to the eventual splitting of the partnership, tying up with the novel.

The gameplay couldn't be simpler if it tried: you control one of the two 'superheroes' in 3rd person with two attacks and a throw button. ‘RB’ blocks and opens the enemy up to a useful counter-attack. String combinations together and you'll deal more damage. Do enough damage and a button will appear above their heads opening them up for the best part of the gameplay—the finisher.

What was said about the finishers can really be applied to the gameplay as a whole: once you've played through the first level of Part 1 you won't see anything new. Combat involves the same three types of enemy with the same tactics and no increase in difficulty (just in numbers), and once you get counter attacking worked out you'll never take damage again. Although the environments change a bit nothing else does and occasionally splitting up or operating levers does nothing to break up the repetitive combat. It's disappointing to see such potential for two player gameplay wasted on simple lever-pulling exercises.

Co-op does make the gameplay a little more bearable, but not much more. In single player your AI partner is next to useless, so you're pretty much clearing the levels on your own—with two humans it's a cakewalk. And the co-op's only halfway there, offline only, which is strange since most other games go the other way and only support online co-op.

Watchmen: The End is Nigh, despite being atmospheric and having nice visuals, does nothing to enamour the fans of the graphic novel or possibly even the film. Where the GN is smart, complicated and holds your interest until the end the game is nothing like this. It's shallow, repetitive and you'll have lost interest way before you start fighting fat S&M goons and dominatrixes. If you do want a beat 'em up then you'd be better off saving your money for the hugely anticipated Batman: Arkham Asylum.