If the first episode featured the brand of sadism you crave in your downloadable video games, the second will give you an opportunity to inflict it upon the type of masochist who gets off on that sort of thing. This debut trailer features a handful of bulky leather daddies on the receiving end of a beatdown from two of the Watchmen, as well as Nite Owl delivering an impressive pimp slap.

Women in cages, dominatrixes and blood spurts, Watchmen video game style?! Sign someone other than me up!

While the Xbox 360 is getting Watchmen: The End is Nigh Parts 1 and 2 as a standalone retail release, the PlayStation 3 is getting a much more enticing release. The two-disc set combines the director's cut of the Watchmen film with both parts of the downloadable game, with exclusive artwork thrown in for good measure. The director's cut of the movie contains 25 minutes of footage not seen in theaters, but still no giant squid.

The releases will coincide with standard DVD release on July 21st, with The End is Nigh Part 2 also available as a standalone download on Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network.

Deadline Games director Søren Lund has told 1UP that both "The End is Nigh" and the second title will be released together on the same disc, and that it should be shipping at the same time the movie is out on DVD and Blu-Ray (due in the US on July 21).

Does this mean the second game won't be released digitally? No idea, but it wouldn't surprise us.

Watchmen Retail Disc Confirmed [1UP]

Watchmen: The End is Nigh II has been rated M for Mature by the ESRB, described as featuring "Sexual Content" not seen in the first Watchmen game. You'll still control Rorschach and Nite Owl in part two, this time using "crowbars, baseball bats, and knives to kill various bikers, gang members, and thugs."

Come for the senseless beating, but stick around for the... molestation revenge?

Yes, as Rorshach and/or Nite Owl, players will "track down a villain who has molested an actress appearing in a pornography film." As the Watchmen, you'll kick thug ass in a strip club that "contains go-go dancers in cages, peep-show booths, and a pornographic film playing in the background."

There's no nudity or sexual acts, according to the ESRB's description, so you'll have to settle for "moaning and suggestive dialogue."

The second episode was originally planned to arrive alongside the home video release of the Watchmen movie. Ready to dole out more cash for another Watchmen game?

But are you the type of person who is going to enjoy Watchmen (the game)? Well now, that depends. On a number of things, namely what happens when you get past the game's surprisingly attractive visuals.

Hated
Recycling - The levels in this game are one long, confusing parade of the same basic building blocks. The bad guys are, depending on the level, one long parade of the same 2-3 character models. Same goes for the "puzzles". Basically, each of the game's six levels consists of the same room and the same bad guys recycled 15-20 times in a row. Which ruins the good work done by implementing a solid, combo-based fight mechanic, as the simple joy of combat soon gives way to crushing boredom.

Lowest Bidder - Imitating the comics with poorly-animated 2D cutscenes looks, and sounds, cheap and nasty. While Rorshach and Nite Owl are voiced by their motion picture actors, the jobs are some of the worst in recent memory, maybe even worse than Robert Downey Jnr's in Iron Man. The game smacks of cut costs and a deadline only barely met, and it shows most in the presentation.

No Bang For Buck - So what, it's only $20, right? Wrong. Even with each level strung out to pad proceedings, the game is short. And very easy. Oh, and you can only choose from two players, who in everything bar special attacks are almost identical, Worst of all, though, multiplayer is relegated to offline split-screen only. No online play. At all. Even though you need to be online to buy the game in the first place.

Warner Bros - the publishers backing this game - may have thought that pushing a $20 price tag on the game and releasing it as a downloadable title would help us overlook the game's many, fundamental flaws. It doesn't, as the one area you'd expect such a title to skimp on - the graphics - is about the only thing they got right. Even $20 is too steep for a game that's so depressingly repetitive, and which does so little to distinguish itself as either a Watchmen product or even as a run-of-the-mill brawler.

Watchmen: The End Is Nigh was developed by Deadline Games, and published by Warner Bros. Interactive. Released March 4 on Xbox Live Arcade, March 5 on the PlayStation Network. Retails for $20. Played single-player to completion on Xbox 360, tested co-op mode.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

UPDATE - Apologies for the error regarding the voice acting.

If you're interested in the game make sure to hop onto the official Playstation Blog today for a chance to speak with Jerry Pritchard, the associate producer for Watchmen: The End is Nigh, during a hosted live chat from 11 a.m. to noon (Pacific).

As much as I loved the graphic novel, the movie is starting to get some negative buzz. I can't quite tell yet about the game, but I don't have high hopes for the brawler.

Watchmen Live Chat Tomorrow at 11am PST

Definitely not a case of PC taxing, Deadline Games' Watchmen: The End is Nigh carries the same $20 price tag as the version going up on Steam, which translates into 1600 Microsoft points. A hefty price tag, to be sure, but other games priced at such a level have generally had the content to back it up. Watchmen features six chapters of action as Rorschach and Nite Owl battle to take down Underboss, recently escaped from prison and now "ruling with vicious darkness", whatever the hell that means.

With the Xbox Live Arcade version sharing the same price as the PC, expect to see the PlayStation Network version follow suit. Is it worth it? The game basically needs to be a god Batman game without Batman in it. Don't think I'm gonna chance it.

The patch fixes a problem with Game Launching, which caused crashes when you opened the list of game sessions available and then tried to launch one. Most of the clothes are generic items — both free and for-purchase — but there are two complete Watchmen-themed outfits and some black-and-white shirts to celebrate the film's release next week. Sounds like not all of them are up yet, so keep checking back.

Beyond that, we have some game-themed content to look forward to:

Street Fighter IV
The unlockable items are already available in Home and are rewarded for winning online matches in the game.
Purchasable outfits will be available within a few weeks.

Home Square
A slightly updated Home Square will arrive in early March, possibly as early as the 5th.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Space
This is currently being worked on and we hope to release this for you within a few weeks

SOCOM: CONFRONTATION Space
This Space is also nearly ready but a specific date for its release is not yet available, but we are expecting it within a few weeks.

Siren: Blood Curse & Resident Evil 5, Warhawk
Content for all of these have arrived here and are being prepared for SCEE's audience now. We will bring you more information on these as it becomes available.

Game Launching
Many titles are preparing support for Game Launching but this often requires a patch to their title. It is not our intention to be announcing new releases and patches to other titles here in the Home community but hope to bring you news in the coming weeks.

Music within Home
Playing your own music to others within Home is an extremely complex licensing issue that will take time to solve, if it is at all possible.
In the meantime we are investigating various ways of allowing you to play your own music to yourself. We are also talking to other 3rd parties about making their music available to you in various ways.

Having seen an early version of the Uncharted space in Home's beta, I think I'm looking forward to it the most. The Watchmen clothes might also be cool, but I'm still out of sorts over the $20 price tag confirmation for End is Nigh PSN and Xbox Live. (The remedy? This webcomic.)

News update - 26th Feb [PlayStation Forums via CVG]

This is most visible in the difference between the story cut scenes and the in-game cut scenes. The former are done in the style of the comic with bright colors and the Dave Gibbons lettering in text bubbles. The latter goes for realism with dark, gritty settings and shiny rain-slick surfaces.

The two halves don't fit together well – but that's not to say the game is completely without pluses.

What Is It?
Watchmen: The End is Nigh is an 8-12 hour action adventure tie-in game to the movie based on the comic written by Alan Moore. Associate Producer Jerry Pritchard stressed that the game wasn't supposed to be a sequel or a prequel – he called it "a chance to explore more of the world." The plot stars "heroes" Rorschach and Night Owl as they try and solve the mystery behind a prison break that leaves Underboss on the loose. The game will be a download for PC and on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.

What We Saw
I watched Pritchard play most of my thirty minutes with the game in a hotel room booked by Warner Bros. Interactive for their showcase. This covered the first cut scene and roughly a level and a half. During that second level, I was given a brief chance to punch while playing as Rorschach — the highlight of this being that he puts his hands back in his pockets after he hits people.

How Far Along Is it?
The End is Nigh is scheduled to release the same day as the film – March 6. The build I saw was near-final.

What Needs Improvement?
The Lack of Alan Moore: I'm not saying every Moore endeavor that goes on without him is a bad one – but Watchmen was his one of his lifetime achievements (right up there with V for Vendetta, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and From Hell). It feels somehow wrong to play a game that's "an original" Watchmen story and know that he didn't have a hand in writing it. If it were based off the movie, at least you could tell yourself it was an honest adaptation.

Pick a style: It doesn't make sense to have comic book cut scenes and cut scenes rendered with the in-game engine. I'm not talking about transitional cut scenes, like when the player reaches a door that needs unlocking and a short cinematic shows you where the key is. I watched one sequence that went from comic book scene explaining the prison break to an in game cut scene explaining why our heroes were going to the waterfront district. Jumping between the two styles was jarring and, in theory, you wouldn't need "extra" scenes to tell the story if the comic book scenes got it right.

What Should Stay The Same?
The combo system: You can't get by button-mashing in End is Nigh. Normally, I'd count that against a game, but the combos were easy to chain together and for the most part logical patterns of X, X, Y and so on. The combo system is also well-integrated: the more you do, the more your character's special attack gauge fills (Rorschach has Rage and Night Owl has Charge, as in electric charge) and the more combos you unlock.

The co-op setup: End is Nigh features split-screen co-op instead of online multiplayer.

Distinctive styles: I appreciate the game giving Rorschach and Night Owl distinctive styles so that it feels different to play as one or the other. Rorschach is a brawler with quick, weak strikes fit for melee fights. Meanwhile Night Owl uses gadgetry like electric shocks and slow, heavy hits that work well on one foe at a time. Once you've chosen a hero to play, you're stuck with him for the whole game; so there's replay value here.

The partner AI: From what I saw, the partner AI doesn't do stupid things like getting stuck to walls, running away randomly or ignoring you when you're getting your ass beat. According to Pritchard, the AI can't die and for the most part doesn't need babysitting – but it won't fight all your battles for you and just may allow you to die if you run ahead of him and get into fights.

Final Thoughts
I want to like this game, but I'm anxious that it will cost way too much. The official word from Warner Bros. is "quite a bit more than" $10. The game is good, but if it creeps over $20, I'll have a hard time justifying it to my wallet. And although Pritchard pointed out game writers "worked very closely with the original writers of the comic" Moore himself was not involved. And Doctor Manhattan isn't even a playable character – major bummer.

If End is Nigh does well, we can expect more of these "episode" games – and maybe they will add my beloved blue physicist and other Watchmen to the playable cast. Pritchard says the developer is already at work on a second one even now. Sure, I love all things Watchmen, but if I have to pay way too much for this game, I'll turn my nose up to subsequent ones the way that Alan Moore did to Joel Silver.

In keeping with the preview tradition, Warner Bros. has released new screens of Watchmen: The End Is Nigh. While you pick them apart visually, don't think about the textures, lighting or models. Instead, think about how each particular shot is effective at sending Watchmen scribe Alan Moore into a tizzy.

Which screen shot will he object to most? Which Warner Bros. executive will be the unlucky soul on the receiving end of his wizard's curse?! Only Alan knows...

The beat-'em-up-meets-puzzle-game will be released in an episodic format to coincide with the upcoming film. While Watchman writer Alan Moore is off being bonkers and not involved with the game, Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons is acting as advisor. That's a good sign!

Another good sign? The game is being written by the book's editor Len Wein, and what's more, it's completely in the Watchmen cannon. Gibbons explains:

Alan and I have always resisted doing any sort of back-story to the Watchmen graphic novel — at various times it's been suggested that we could do the Comedian's Vietnam War Diaries or Rorshach's journal, which we thought would be a bit dopey. But the precedent is, at the time the original comics came out, Mayfair games did a role-playing game that Alan helped write bits of, and it's completely canon, so this game uses a lot of that less-well known material.

Gibbons does admit that he doesn't know much about the game as he focused more on the artwork and the cutscenes, trying to retain the look and the feel of Watchmen.

Watchmen: The End is Nigh [Eurogamer]

If so, you'd do well to check out the newest issue of EGM, which features a cover story on Watchmen: The End Is Nigh including first screens, interviews with all involved and probably a heavy dose of disappointment for some of you.

EGM Watches the Watchmen in Our December Issue [1UP]