Price is a huge deal for downloadable games. For a piece of entertainment that will offer only a few hours of enjoyment, an expensive price will make gamers balk and run away in droves.

Which is why it’s so strange that the first episode of Watchmen: The End is Nigh will be hitting Xbox 360 and PS3 this week (Wednesday and Thursday, respectively) for 20 bucks.

Granted, it’s one of the better-looking downloadable titles to hit, and of course the anticipation is at an all-time high thanks to the film, but for people already planning on purchasing tickets this week it’s a tough pill to swallow. Especially since it’s only one part of a full experience. The internet is already a-buzz with people bitching about it.

We first told you about the game here, which is actually a Watchmen prequel of sorts, letting you follow Rorshach and Nite Owl in the good old days in an old-school beat’m up. You can control either character and bring along a friend for the ride, although online co-op is noticebly absent. They even went to Watchmen editor Len Wein for help on the story, so it should be just as good as we’d hope.

But that price… that price. Can you get over it?