A groundbreaking graphic novel with an extraordinary story...made into a button-mashing beat-’em-up? It sounds like a lame angle for a licensed game, but the Watchmen game is an unusual case. Unlike the recent film, it distills the comic’s marvelous complexity into a core element — and the result is oddly appealing.

That element is violence — an aspect of the graphic novel that rocked readers back in 1987 and saturates this Arcade spinoff. Even hugely desensitized action gamers like us did an initial double-take at the brutality of Watchmen’s streetfighting superheroes. Their punches draw gouts of blood; they snap limbs with a sickening crunch; and typical combos end with a deadly kick in the neck or elbow to the groin. Playing as the vigilante-ish Rorschach lets you wield vicious weapons (pipe wrench, bottle, knife), but being the Batman-ish Nite Owl offers its own perks, including gangster-stunning grenades and the ability to grapple to rooftops.

The combat’s emphasis on combo moves over simple punches and kicks keeps the fighting challenging — especially when you’re facing a 10-man mob — and its ruthlessness is surprisingly entertaining, even when the “new area, new enemies” mechanic has dazed you with its repetition. Better-than-Arcade graphics add good atmosphere, too, with gloomy lighting and menacing shadows. So color us disappointed by co-op play that’s same-console-only (for shame!) and the game’s $20 price, which is too high for its four-hour playtime.

The conclusion also bummed us out. Set 10 years before the graphic novel, the game fills in some backstory, showing you Rorschach and Nite Owl as partners and more of bad guy Underboss. It sets up a surprise reveal that it doesn’t do much with; maybe that’s because The End Is Nigh is actually the first game in an episodic series, but even so, its ending feels weirdly anti-climactic. To twist a Rorschach line, Watchmen fans will play it because they are compelled. And they should. But they should come for the carnage, not the story.

On Xbox Live Arcade

+ Street-brawling combat is fun, gleefully violent.

+ Great graphics for XBLA; enjoyable co-op.

- No online co-op; way overpriced; blah ending.

? Can we please play as Dr. Manhattan in future episodes?

7.0