iPhone game Watchmen: Justice is Coming thwarted by connection issues

We were undeniably excited about the sudden arrival of the costumed crime fighters of yeasteryear landing on the iPhone in a full on 3D MMO, and our crack team of iPhone gamers over in the US were ready to pounce on 1970s New York and review Watchmen: Justice is Coming.

Unfortunately, like so many other virtual vigilantes, we were stymied by the instability of the game and impenetrable server lockouts.

The Watchmen movie and game have both just made it to the UK, but App Store reviews from cape-less crime fighters aren't good. The game still appears to be broken, and even though it only weighs in at 59p, the inability to log in to the servers in an online only game makes it 59p too much.

The game's support website initially didn't acknowledge any problems with stability or server access, and offered players no clue as to whether it was a systemic fault or their own copy of the game.

The good news is that developer Last Legion added a comment to the site yesterday, advising players that it's working hard to fix the MMO game.

"Last Legion here. We wanted to officially acknowledge the current connectivity issues with the game and inform you that we're working around the clock to resolve them. This was an ambitious undertaking on a new platform and we were unable to do a pre-release beta. Please be assured server stability and game updates are on the way! We apologize for any inconvenience and greatly appreciate your support. Stay tuned..."
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Admittedly, testing an MMO is nigh on impossible for a games developer. Until the public is braying at the server doors, uncovering potential instabilities is immensely difficult.

On the PC, we generally see open beta tests running for some months before a game's official release, though the strict security of the iPhone has meant Last Legion were unable to do this.

Perhaps a free demo version of Watchmen: Justice is Coming would have been preferable to charging players to perform these vital tests, but we can only hope lessons have been learned and Last Legion is able to get the game up and running in a timely manner.

We'll be ready with a review as soon as normal service has been resumed, so keep watching the Watchmen right here on Pocket Gamer.