amorax said:
I was looking for games made by Nival interactive (the guys behind silent storm and H&S) when I stumbled upon this game. It looks interesting, and I was just wondering if there happened to be any codexers here who have played this game, and if you have, what is your opinion of it?
The first game, Night Watch, is an obvious rush to make some money out of the movie: Amateurish, badly written, an almost terminal lack of polish. The practice of using clips from the movies as silent cutscenes between chapters was an artifact of times past, when ocean and others ruled still the land of movie-to-game conversions. It made me want to facepalm.
The storyline is a mixture of elements from the movies and elements from the books, but again rushed and badly written. What should happen in a matter of months happens in a matter of two or three nights, killing all potential atmosphere and sense. The main character knows things because it is asumed the player knows them or because the plot demans he knows them, but the character shouldn't know them. The main character is ridiculous powerfull at the end of the game, and i mean of almost Gesser or Zavulon level. And that they end the storyline with a "power of love" moment was just shameful.
At times it seems more like a checklist than a storyline: Olga? Check. Tigercub? Check. Zavulon? Check. Gesser? Check. Alice? Check. Twilight's Mirror? Check. That inquisitor from the first book? Check. That all those things, and many more, happen to a guy who have just "awakened" (including TWO close encounters with Zavulon's wrath) and he lives through it all is lame at best, when the setting could do so much more.
The second game, Day Watch, is much better. It is more polished, has a weirder plot and a couple of cool things. You no longer play the moron from the first game, but the only character from that game that was actually somewhat interesting and some slight measure of charm. At the begining of each mission you have a weird minigame that let's you raise or lower the dificulty level, or just leave it as it is and instead activate "secrets" as extra encounters, diferent dialogues, "diplomatic" solutions for some of the harder situations, and party banter. Most of the levels have also "secrets" in designs you can discover and then magickally apply to your clothes and general look, in case that kind of thing appeals to you.
It isn't awesome, it isn't revolutionary, and it still looks and feels more like a Mod than it should, but this time you can actually have some fun with it. Some of the levels can be pretty harsh if you just leave the dificulty as it is or raise it a notch or two, and you get to kill hordes of hypocrite Light Ones by means of throwing enchanted tenis balls at them.
[Edit] Conclusion: Get the second one without removing nothing from an inventory or if it is super-cheap, only. Do not get the first one but if you are a hardcore fan of the setting and have a high saving throw against Lame.
baby arm said:
nonsensical story (even after watching the movie)
The story of the first game makes a lot more sense if you have read the books, since instead of following either they decided to follow both while both usually contradict each other in meaning or theme. And, regardless of it making more sense, it is still pretty awful.
