Darkwatch / Jericho Cross
The game's story the exploits of Jericho Cross, an outlaw-turned-vampire, and his employment in an ancient vampire-hunting order known as the Darkwatch (hence the game's title). After unwittingly releasing the Darkwatch's greatest enemy, a vampire lord named Lazarus Malkoth, Jericho is conscripted into the Darkwatch as an elite operative. Jericho, however, is slowly turning into a vampire himself, after being bitten by Lazarus. The game outlines either Jericho's struggle for humanity or his descent into darkness, depending on the player's actions.The game begins in Arizona Territory in 1876 with Jericho attempting to rob a Darkwatch train that is transporting the captured Lazarus Malkoth to the Darkwatch Citadel, a frequently mentioned and often visited location in the game, and in doing so releasing Lazarus into the West. In a seeming bit of mercy, Lazarus bites Jericho and gives him the curse of the vampire, causing him to slowly turn into one. The game continues with the introduction of Cassidy, as well as the appearance of Shadow, Jericho's undead horse.
As the game progresses, Jericho finally make his way to the Darkwatch Citadel, where he meets Clay Cartwright, the leader of Darkwatch, who brutally tests him to see if he deserves to be a Darkwatch Regulator. The test completed, Jericho begins to do missions for the Darkwatch. Missions include fixing some of the damage he has caused, to acquiring Darkwatch equipment, such as the Darklight Prism, a stone that allows vampires within its vicinity to use their powers and walk in sunlight. On some of his missions Jericho is accompanied by other Darkwatch forces including his new partner, the ruthless temptress named Tala.
A final showdown ensues with Lazarus attacking the Citadel and bringing about a massive fight, in which Jericho arises victorious, and a choice is given. Either Jericho rids the west of the Curse of Lazarus, or he becomes the Curse. The player's choice determines how the game ends. If the character were to choose the good option, then the final fight will be against the vampiric Tala, and if they player chose to take Lazarus' curse for himself, then he must fight the ghost of Cassidy. The bad ending shows Jericho killing Tala and riding into the night, while the good ending shows Cassidy's soul being released.
Jericho is met with multiple choices of a good or evil variety, allowing the player to select morality awarding Jericho different powers based on the same choices. The evil powers tend to be more rage oriented and deal higher damage per use, while the good powers deal less damage but tend to be more effective against enemies in general.
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Sadly, I never got to finish the game so I can only go by accounts on the net as well as my friends who did finish this game. There is a moment in the game for example when one of the victims of a vampire bite is shambling about in a near mindless haze as the curse begins to engulf her body. The game stops and offers you one of two choices – drain the woman dry to feed yourself but ultimately kill her and turn her fully to a vampire (it’s one or the other) OR drain her just enough to remove the vampiric taint in her blood by taking it into yourself and cleansing her of the curse. The choice for me seemed obvious – I saved the woman and moved on in the game, in the process gaining a new power based on the side of light. Now sure this was just a game but the offering of moral choices or ambiguity is a recent trend in video games, IMHO a maturing aspect in the evolution of video games. I also think the game teaches a valuable lesson in morality. Unlike previous games which lock you into a set pattern – it offers you in a sense what we all want – a choice rather than have our fates chosen for us without any say in the matter. It also shows us the consequences of our actions, be they beneficial or destructive. Ultimately, if you follow the path of light the game rewards Jericho for his willpower, for his self control, and helping others even when every urge inside him begs him to crush them. The emphasis of how difficult it is for Jericho to resist his dark urges is constant but as described above he does not go about it alone. The chance to redeem himself is offered but not without sacrifice and he is incapable of success without true conviction. Choosing the path of darkness you are in a sense also rewarded but this ending eludes to the fact that Jericho, now having fully embraced his evil nature, rides off to cut a swath of destruction and misery with a high body count in his wake. But the choice remains that of the player. In real life we do almost always have a choice to do the right thing and when it presents itself we should take it. Sometimes we fail or give in to anger or the emptiness of loss – I don’t care how strong you think you are – it is going to happen. When this happens it is our obligation to seek help and put ourselves on a path of renewal that casts aside the dark shadows we sometimes create within ourselves. While doing so however we should remember that sometimes the consequences of our conflicted selves victimize others and those victims in turn lash out in response. Feeling intense disdain for someone because of their recurring negative actions does not preclude one from feeling sympathy for them as a human being when they suffer. In a nut shell, I may not like a specific person for what they have said or done but on a basic human level it should not impossible for us to feel sympathy for them. That being said, the sympathy we offer survives or perishes based on the reactions of those who receive it…at least that’s how I see it.
My choice to be a costumed activist has made me some good friends along the way….and sadly some bitter enemies. These enemies would like to convince you that their disdain for me and others who do what I do in the community is worth every drop of venom they spill about us. But behind the smoke and mirrors the real reason for their disdain is that unlike so many others I refused and still refuse to look the other way when they start spreading their verbal poison like a plague. Some RLSH look the other way even as the foes of the RLSH/costumed activist movement attack their peers and their movement or even engage them like it’s no big deal. It’s the equivalent of getting a pat on the back from them with one hand and getting stabbed in the back with the other. I often wonder what the point is of constantly going after the RLSH with so much hatred. I mean really, does the fact that some us dress up in costumes and patrol or do charity work have such a devastating effect on the lives of our detractors? Are they emotionally, spiritually, or physically paralyzed by the fact that some of us go out and hand sandwiches to homeless, visit hospitals to bring joy to sick children, engage in patrols, ect.? To be blunt, do your lives come to a grinding halt because we exist? On the rare chance that your life does stop completely because we exist I offer you no apology because the fact that you cannot cope with the existence of an infinitesimally small percentage of the human populace dressing in spandex and doing what we do is rather ridiculous. Like the saying goes “you got issues”.
The truth is what the RLSH/costumed activists do generally have no direct impact on your lives. The RLSH/costumed activists don’t go into their actions thinking that their primary reason for doing it is “to piss you off”. When I do homeless outreach I don’t give them food and think “yeah because me giving this guy a bottle of water is going to infuriate those RLSVs”. If the actions of the RLSH/costumed activists had a legitimately direct and profound negative effect on the lives of our detractors then I would understand the anger, the hatred, the bitter poison directed at us from your safe and anonymous confines of the blogosphere/internet. But deep down inside and whether they want to admit it or not we both know that is not the case and that’s what makes your hatred of us so false, the conviction of your anger so hollow.
I have never, for one day, despite the barbs and abuse I have taken, regretted the choice I made to be a costumed activist. I’ve helped a few people and made them happy and if the sum of my actions thus far has made even one life better then all of it, the good and bad, has been worth it. So those of you who harbor hatred or anger for RLSH/costumed activists consider two things..
1) Do the actions of the RLSH/costumed activists have a serious and direct effect on your lives?
2) If the answer is no, then what is the point of directing so much animosity towards a group of people who do
not have any serious effect on your lives?
Now I am not naïve. I know this blog post probably isn’t going to change anything but that was not the point of writing it. No doubt the detractors of the RLSH/costumed activist movements are going to continue their barrage of insults and defamatory posts. If you’re a RLSH/costumed activist or considering being one and are willing to go about it in a sensible way (example – Silver Sentinel) and decide to quit or walk away because of the harsh words of the haters then take your candy ass back to wherever it is you came from and stay there. Doing good is about staying the course, even in the most tempestuous of times. When you make choice, understand that you will have to deal with the consequences of that choice and make sure your resolve is strong.
Much like in the game Darkwatch, I chose the path of light and come what may I’m gonna walk it until they put me six feet under in a pine box.
Damn, where’s a Play Station 2 and a memory card when you really need one?
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