BioShock Infinite... ly harder...

So, enjoyed the BioShock series so far but just feel a bit like it was maybe lacking challenge?

Do you long for the halcyon days of “proper” difficulty levels?

Missing the sense of fury with yourself you used to get back in the “good ol’ days” when you got stuck in a gaming dead end?

Worry not fellow masochist, for Mr. Levine et al are here to save the day!

BioShock Infinite’s new “1999″ mode will return you to the cold-sweated fear you used to feel back when it’s great, great-grandfather, was stalking the futuristic corridors in the form of System Shock 2 (which was released in… … 1999).

Unforgiving, brutal, tense, worrying, panicky, fraught, desperate… just some of the terms I expect, nay guarantee, when you read the first reviews of this game mode upon the game’s release.

Whilst you will still be able to “save & load” the bygone days of; Death -> Vita-Chamber -> Death-> Vita-Chamber -> ad infinitum will be but a distant memory if you actually choose to ensure 1999.

Of course this will only be an option, with the usual, “ENH” (Easy Normal Hard) modes still also available.

Indeed the game’s creators are so concerned at the effect of introducing new players to this “old school” level of difficulty that 1999 mode will be “hidden” in the menu system by some cunning device… (I vote for requiring pipes to be laid out so that fluid can flow from one side to the other before the mode is available, or even better still something involving hacking & ICE?)

Anyway, this can only be a great move for all involved… well balanced “standard” gameplay modes for sane people, augmented by not only a “hardcore” mode for us “old school” fanboys of the series, but a “hidden” hardcore mode… oooooooooohhhhhhh…..

- Richard “Rax” Burley
@Raxous

The Darkness 2, the sequel to one of the most underrated games of this generation

The Darkness 2 is a dark comic book inspired shooter that puts you in the role of a mafia hitman, named Jackie Estacado, that is posessed by a dark parasitic entity known only as The Darkness. This creature grants Jackie numerous monsterous abilities, including two gigantic tentacles that can rip men to pieces. Read our full preview to find out why this may very well be an essential purchase when it is released in the UK on 10th February.

2k tell us that the game is losely based on the novel Hearts of Darkness, which also inspired the film Apocalypse Now. Players will be tasked with venturing in to Dubai, which has been decimated by a gigantic sandstorm, to find a missing Colonel. The city is now overrun with bandits and other threats, such as sandstorms, which are capable of dramatically transforming the landscape as you play.

Spec Ops: The Line is due to be released on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 in 2012.

At a recent behind closed doors event newbreview.com’s Ian Young was fortunate enough to get some hands on time with 2k Games’ The Darkness II, sequel to 2007′s cult hit first person shooter The Darkness.

While there Ian met with Matt Roche, 2k Games’ PR Executive, to discuss the way this dark and gritty title has moved on from the original, and what they feel sets this game apart from all the other first person shooters on the market.

I’ve just finished playing the two demos and immediately the first thing that struck me was the game’s dark, visceral comic book art style. What do you think is the game’s biggest selling point? After all there are a lot of first person shooters out on the market right now.

Basically, as you touched on, it’s the graphical style. One of the things the developers really wanted to get across was the whole graphic noire (art style), which is in the comics they’ve done at Top Cow, and taking them into the game. One of the things that you may’ve seen in the demo is Quad-Weilding, which lets you use all four shoulder buttons (Left trigger, Left Bumper, Right Trigger, and Right Bumper) on an Xbox (controller). This basically means that you can dual wield but you also have two demon arms.

One of these demon arms is called Slashy, which lets you slash things, you can cut people in half, and other cool moves like that. It’s a little bit gory! The other is called Grabby, which that ability you can actually grab people or objects in the world. For example, you can grab doors, you can use them as a shield or throw them at opponents to slice them in half. You can also use (Grabby) to grab enemies and do execution moves – pull off their head, do a thing called Anaconda, where the demon arm wraps around a guy and spears him through the stomach – all kinds of nasty things!

It really is a change from more natural first person shooters, and very different from other shooters. It has also got a great story written by Paul Jenkins, the guy who actually wrote some of The Darkness comic books for Top Cow, as well as the original (video game’s) story, making it a true continuation of the story from the first game. Hopefully fans of the original will really like it, and there’s a whole mixture of things that contribute (to setting it apart) but I think those are the three main things.

Your demon limbs can be used to perform some gruesome executions

One of the things that I liked about the original game was the stealth mechanic, where you had to shoot out lights creating darkness, making you feel like a real predator. Does stealth still play a part in The Darkness II?

In the game this time around the developers felt that the lights in the first game, while they were good, didn’t make much of a difference. So what you will see this time is that when you go into the light your vision is impaired, you can’t really see anything because it is very bright, and you can’t use your darkness powers in the light. You do still have to shoot out lights, but one of the things is that The Brotherhood, a group that you encounter in the game, throw light grenades at you. These explode in a big ball of light, and basically blind you.

There is still a tactical element to the game. Later on in the game there are these guys with big light guns, they’ll point the light at you, blinding you, and you’ll have to be quite tactical about how you take them out. There are also sections where you can also play as a Darkling (one of The Darkness’ minions). If you remember there were parts of the first game where you played as a slithering demon arm, in The Darkness II you play as a Darkling instead. This leads to some cool stealth sections, creeping around, executing people. For fans of the original there is a mixture (of gameplay), but this game is more action orientated, more bad ass Jacky Estecado style action, but yes, there are stealth sections as well.

One of the most obvious changes is the shift from the dark realistic graphical style to a more cel shaded look – any thoughts on the reason behind that shift?

One of the things that Digital Extremes (The Darkness II’s developer) wanted to do was to make it look more like the comic books. They’re massive fans of the comics, and if you go to their studio they’ve got all of the source material on their desks, and they’re big comic book fans anyway. They really wanted to recreate the comic books, and their vision was to make The Darkness II seem like you were playing through a graphic novel. You can see from screenshots that the lighting effects are nice and clear, and really gets across the look of the game. It really is fantastic. It is supposed to represent the look of the comic books, the graphic noire comic book look, as opposed to look of the original game. I think it looks great, and it’s one of the main stand out points of the game, and I hope that consumers will like it.

Darklings can be used tactically during gun fights to turn the tide of battle

A lot of people liked the original game, it may not have been a massive success in terms of sales, and it has been quite a while since that was made, so can we hope for a third instalment?

(laughing) Well I personally cannot comment on that, but people really loved the first one. It was a real cult hit in some respects. Speaking to the average gamer on the street you’ll probably find that most people will have played it on their Xbox or PS3. So, for us, The Darkness II is going out there, hopefully people will like it, and then it’s all up to the powers that be if there will be a third one. It’s not up to me, but who knows.

The Darkness II is due for release in February 2012. Currently there is a promotion going on where, if you preorder the game, you are upgraded to the limited edition version of the game at no extra charge. Stay tuned to newbreview.com for our full review of The Darkness II shortly after the game’s release.

In the meantime, why not read Ian’s hands on preview with The Darkness II by clicking on the following link: Preview:- The Darkness II

I know, how/why did we make it this far?

To celebrate this landmark, Kieran is joined by newbreview.com writer (and making his podcast debut) Jose Luis Perez Zapata as well as everybody’s favorite idiot, Adam Radcliffe.

The best games release of the week, Adam thinks and a special interview with Matt Roche from 2K Games about the upcoming The Darkness 2 by returning newb, Ian Young is what’s in store!

MP3 Download / iTunes / RSS Feed

For those that are not familiar with the comic book series, The Darkness is the tale of Jackie Estacado, a high ranking member of the New York Mafia, and the awakening within him of a demonic parasite known as The Darkness, on his twenty first birthday. The Darkness is an entity of untold mystical power that preys on the evil within men’s hearts, both as a source of power and as a means to controlling a vessel that will enable it to extinguish all sources of light and goodness.

If you were not fortunate enough to play the first installment of the The Darkness, I beseech you to go out and rummage in your local store to try and find a copy. Whilst the first game was not perfect, and may appear a little dated with games toting vastly superior graphics nowadays, it was a solid shooter with a dark sombre atmosphere, excellent screenplay and voice acting that certainly left me reeling at the closing scene.
So far you can obviously gather that I was particularly glad when it was announced that a sequel is due for the first quarter of 2012.  This new installment has the potential to create a bold, new franchise for 2k.  A publisher as prestigious as any, with titles including the Bioshock games, the Sid Meier’s series (Civilisation), Mafia II, Duke Nukem Forever, and Borderlands. Despite a change in developer, from what I have played so far, the Darkness II has remained true to its predecessor and any departures from the original have only enhanced what was already an excellent game.

Right off the bat the graphical style, whilst still fitting directly in with The Darkness ethos, is very different.  Whereas before you had a well rendered, gritty, three dimensional environment to wreak havoc in, the same flavour is kept but delivered in a cell shaded, comic book package.  While not as crude as games of yore that utilised a cell shaded style, such as XIII and Jet Set Radio, we still have a black outline around all dynamic objects, with a use of bold colours and a slight two dimensional feel. But a considerable amount of texture and depth was present, especially on all NPCs, making every character incredibly unique, showing signs of a developer pushing its character design and graphics engine.

Plenty of fun can be found playing with your two new best friends "slashy" and "grabby".

A lot of care and attention has clearly gone into the look of characters, especially the game’s antagonist, Victor Valente. His scarred face and physical embellishments were a sight to behold. This also applies to the other grisly NPCs, with the skin of the characters moving and stretching in ways that really had me stare at the grotesque and pitted nature of their faces as they conversed with my character.  Although the graphics were certainly not intended to reflect a real life simulation, I personally felt a greater depth of immersion than if they had gone down that route.

From the soft gloomy lighting of the brothel to the glaring spot lights of the construction site, I fought my way through a range of areas equipped with a variety of textures, colours and tones that accurately depicted, and drew me into, the environments I found myself in.  The level design was consistently at a high standard with everything seemingly unique and hand crafted.  While this can lead to a somewhat linear game, there is room to move as you and your enemies attempt to out flank each other.

Throughout the first game your experience with the story is an excellent blend of first person experience, minimal cutscenes, coupled with Darkness monologues and Jackie Estacado’s  soliloquies to keep excellent flow and pace with the action.  The same artistic flair is present in the sequel. During the first demo I began walking (with a false sense of security) into a restaurant for some sort of rendezvous, only to to find the place ram-raided by mafioso screaming for my blood. During the battle Jackie’s  legs become injured, and it became my job to defend myself, rail shooter style, firing off shots as I am clumsily dragged away from the scene by one of my mafia underlings.  This sequence is a unique, fresh, action packed and well choreographed sequence, and I hope to see more of this creativity in the final game.

Mike Patton from Faith No More reprises his role as The Darkness, using his amazing ability to provide guttural vocal gymnastics.  Celebrities aside, all voice acting has so far been top notch and lent highly to a visceral experience.  Guns reload, pop and fire with excellent authority and ballistics physics keep me content as I dispatched my attackers.  As I worked my way through the demos back to back, I certainly had the feeling of fighting for my life in a less scripted, unpredictable sequence of events that kept things exhilarating.

Darklings can be used tactically during gun fights to turn the tide of battle

With regards to weapons, you will find a good range of short to medium range artillery. For those interested in sniping or being overly cautious, this may not be the game for you.  During my experience I was able to utilise a range of semi to fully automatic weapons such as Uzis, P45s, Glocks, Shotguns and 0.45 Magnums, each behaving as one would expect them to.  The enemies however, are a little different. If you have watched any trailers you will know that some sort of cult is hounding you to strip you of your unearthly power.  With this in mind your enemies know exactly what you are and will use a range of light-based weapons, from high intensity spot lights and augmented flash grenades, to somewhat more demonic weapons and augmentations of their own.

As The Darkness is a conscious entity, and certainly not benign in nature, assists you in a number of interesting ways that take you beyond the average FPS.  First of all you are equipped with an extra pair of appendages namely “Grabby” and “Slashy”.  These hellish appendages, when coupled with the option of duel wielding guns, proudly elevates to what 2k like to call “quad wielding”.  Their function is simple and generally self explanatory. “Grabby’s” job (via clicking the left bumper) is to latch onto anything and everything you can set your sights on for use as either a shield, or to catapult at approaching enemies.  Examples of excellent shields in my experience were both enemies themselves and tearing off car doors, the latter making an excellent projectile in cleaving attackers in half. My favourite move was using rebars and scaffolding to pin my adversaries to nearby scenery. If anyone has played the Alien Vs. Predator games as the Predator with his spear gun, you would already know how sadistically fulfilling this is.

“Slashy’s” role is a little more simplistic, by holding down the right bumper you can flail him around as a serrated, blood thirsty whip of death in any direction utilising the right analogue stick.  This became particularly useful on higher difficulties when being aggressively flanked by enemies. When in tough situations a perfectly valid tactic is to thrash that right analogue stick as wildly as possible.

Other than your new limbs, the rest of the combat mechanics were mostly hinted at.  There appeared to be a relatively intricate skill tree to unlock an array of darkness powers, which can be earned via consuming the hearts from your fallen enemies. This also acts as a way of replenishing your health.  Other powers available in the demo include the ability to summon a greenish black cloud of ominous fog to descend upon the immediate vision of enemies, which can be used as a short distraction to flank larger groups, or immediately dispatcher smaller clusters. Another power, reminiscent of the first game, was to control a minion, either to send into battle as a tactical distraction, or via possession, able to deftly sneak behind enemies via otherwise unreachable methods (namely ventilation shafts so far) for stealth kills. Although I was not given exact numbers, I was told to expect many more Darkness powers to be included in the final product.

Even on normal difficulty The Darkness II is quite a challenging game

Overall the range of powers seemed to be of a good number implying excellent variety, theoretically I am hoping an avenue to customise a person’s experience and playing style (namely the more patiently clandestine player or ADHD warmonger).

From what I have experienced so far,  I found my proverbial backside being handed to me every two seconds.  The enemy  AI is tuned to work as a team, coordinating movements and communicating to each other so they can take you out as efficiently as possible.  If you are the type of gamer who is a little more casual and wishes to run in feeling like a god of destruction, bathing  in the blood of your foes, you will not find any such experience on a difficulty higher than easy.  Even on a medium difficulty you will be challenged to think as you progress through the levels and re-coordinate your strategies as you respawn during play.  For masochists I assure you, hard mode is as it says on the tin, but without the feeling that you are being cheated with cheap deaths or progressing via sheer luck as much as trial and error.

Overall I think this game has plenty of action to satisfy the average gamer and enough mystery combined with story for those needing a solid narrative to commit to something more than a generic shooter.  With the skill tree and intelligent AI it would seem that plenty of replayability will be found even if there isn’t word so far of a new game+ mode.  Whilst even if you aren’t already a die hard fan of the comic franchise, anyone should be able to pick up this game and receive a challenging, unique, action packed and visceral experience.

The Darkness II is currently due to be released on 10th February 2012 in the UK. Expect our full review to land sometime around that date.

- Ian Young

The Darkness 2: Erm... Darker than Dark?

2K have confirmed that the release date for The Darkness 2 has now slipped from October 4th 2011 to February 10th 2012.

This imaginatively titled sequel to the very well regarded 2007 game “The Darkness” will again be coming to PS3, XBox & PC. When it eventually arrives that is.

Still, better a delay than a premature release, as I’m sure most of you will agree.

- Richard “Rax” Burley

Game:

When reviewing a game, it is important that you’re not overly influenced by the opinions of others. In doing so, I try to avoid any other reviews or opinions on the game from other sources. However it has been nigh impossible to keep away from the sheer wave of negativity that has surrounded Duke Nukem Forever upon its release. Left, right and centre, critics have panned ‘the game that would never be released’, and whilst some of their biggest criticisms may be a little off the mark, it’s hard not to agree with the general consensus. Duke Nukem Forever is bad, in fact it’s VERY bad in places.The main problem lies in the that after 14 years of development hell, Duke Nukem Forever feels unfinished, which is odd thing to say in itself. Such an arduous development should’ve resulted an astronomical amount of polish (after all this is 14 years of work we’re talking about) but Duke Nukem Forever is far from polished.

Graphically the game is a total mish-mash. At first it’s a delight to see Duke brought to the modern generation of gaming. DNF goes some way to compete with the graphical prowess of games of today and, at times, looks quite impressive due to the incredible detail within the game world. Upon first glances the world of Duke Nukem has never looked better. That is until you try to look at the detailed with some depth and notice just how awful some of the texturing within the game is.

It's nice to see Duke kick some ass in full HD glory.

It’s not entirely clear if some of the textures have been used in an attempt to hark back to the early retro roots of the series, as somewhat of a homage, but needless to say some of the texturing looks EXTREMELY outdated. I wouldn’t be over exaggerating when I say that some of the texturing assets look as if they’ve been reused from Duke Nukem 64. It’s that bad, I literally spent minutes gasping in disbelief at the state of the textures on ammo boxes, posters and other in-game items branded with trademark ‘Duke-isms‘ (I know it’s not a proper word but you know what I mean, shut up!).

Even Duke’s most iconic, incredibly sharp and (at times) down right hilarious lines of dialogue (despite what some reviews say, they are hilarious), suffer from the same fate. Whilst DNF doesn’t take itself seriously at all, you’ve come to expect that from Duke Nukem games, it’s littered with toilet humor (you can quite literally throw around poop), and immaturity. This has been a sticking point with a number of gamers, however, I ask why shouldn’t it be? The character of Duke Nukem himself is built around such an image, portraying him in a different light would be nothing short of sacrilege. It’s almost refreshing to hear such memorable lines as “Hail to The King, baby” again. Every time Duke said one of his trademark lines I was taken back to the first time I played the original Duke Nukem 3D.

Nostalgic moments bring a genuine smile to your face,

As you would expect, DNF is also totally tongue in cheek; its self referential and completely self aware, culminating in some brilliant written dialogue, as well as a few intelligent, laugh out loud easter egg moments too (the nod to Valve in particular was a highlight). But there just doesn’t seem to be enough, because unfortunately apart from Duke’s trademark one liners, dialogue is scarce, allowing little room to develop a story.

Speaking of its story, it will come as no surprise that Duke Nukem Forever‘s story is fairly generic, much like your typical Duke Nukem story. Duke Nukem games have never had stories of epic, complex proportions, so the fact that DNF doesn’t have such a story either isn’t exactly shocking. The story is simple, the aliens are invading again, stealing all the world’s hot women, Duke must stop them. Simple, easy, yet nothing new.

Unfortunately this retro approach means that DNF hasn’t kept up with the times and adapted to gamers tastes, which echoes throughout. The lack of depth within its story has huge repercussions for other aspects of the game. As I said, dialogue (which is one of the games main selling points due to Duke’s hilarious wisecracks) is fairly limited, but it also means the game lacks excitement, turning the great return of Duke Nukem into a mindless, fairly average shooter, and after all the hype, we were expecting more.

DNF hasn't done enough to keep up with the times..

For all its faults, Duke Nukem Forever plays like a competent shooter. It takes a stripped down and back to basics approach, with no cover system, weapon attachments or RPG-like upgrades, it’s just down to you and your guns as you take the fight to the “alien b*stards”. There simply is no time for fancy gadgets or gameplay mechanics, you’re far too busy blowing off heads with a shotgun or lighting the place up with The Devestator. Such an attitude is bound to turn those that are accustomed to more modern day shooters off.

Only problem is that such gameplay really doesn’t work within a game that is totally linear, especially when you don’t have a particularly interesting story to back it up. Although it may play like a solid shooter, linearity within the gameplay and level design makes DNF‘s singleplayer campaign feel mindless and uninspired. Everything is totally straight forward, from point to point, leaving no room for the exploration which used to be a prominent feature in previous Duke Nukem games. After all, who didn’t love looking all around for secret areas littered around levels? Unfortunately, Duke Nukem Forever features none of this, which leads to an experience which is drab, unexciting and frankly quite dull.

In fairness Duke Nukem Forever does add some variety into the mix which in an attempt to stave off boredom. Vehicle sections make for a nice change of pace, and, surprisingly, control rather well (despite what you may have heard elsewhere). There’s something quite profoundly fun about running riot around a casino as a tiny Duke in remote control car.

The game’s physics based puzzles are also a new and interesting addition to the formula. In some sections players are required to use a bit of intelligence to solve gravity and weight based puzzles, which are a nice break from the laborious shooting. But even the puzzles can’t save the singleplayer from becoming a humdrum.

Much like its core gameplay, DNF also takes a retro approach to the way in which it controls. Control wise it feels loose and slightly inaccurate, even after adjusting sensitivity settings. The game is designed to feel less precise, in that “old school” shooter style of play. Accuracy is replaced by explosions, splash damage and tons of bullets which also gives the games multiplayer (which is a lot of fun), a retro, arena shooter feel.

As a multiplayer experience, it’s fast paced, frantic and over the top, which is refreshing in a genre dominated by serious, war shooters. It also continues the game’s retro tradition, delivering a multiplayer experience free of perks, loadouts, detailed customization and killstreaks. It’s just zany, crazy and its main focus is just to have a blast (pardon the pun). So long as you don’t go into it expecting a serious, simulating FPS, you’ll have an experience that is really enjoyable.

Maps provide memorable playgrounds of destruction, and the different modes to choose from, aren’t necessarily innovative but provide a lot of choice. Almost entirely overlooked, DNF’s multiplayer is one of the game’s highlights.

Duke Nukem Forever's multiplayer is overlooked, yet TONS of fun.

After 14 years of development purgatory, Duke Nuke Forever is the phoenix rising from the ashes, flying straight into the ceiling fan. It’s messy and after all the years and the hype, it wasn’t what the games industry wanted, it simply has not kept up with the times. However, with Gearbox at the helm, and the monkey of Duke Nukem Forever finally of their back, there is hope for Duke and his beloved franchise of games.

Duke Nukem Forever is out, but what comes next will be the true test of the series.

Review Round Up

Graphics 2/5 – Duke Nukem Forever is a graphical mish-mash. At times it’s great to see “The King” brought into the modern age of gaming graphics, but there’s no excuse for textures which look like they’ve been lifted straight from Duke Nukem 64.

Sound 4/5 - Brilliant, iconic soundtrack, as well as some hilarious bits of dialogue, there’s just not enough of it.

Gameplay 2/5 – Although DNF‘s multiplayer is fun, it’s biggest proponent, its singleplayer is incredibly uninspired, far too linear and, at times, plain dull.

Longevity 2/5 – The game series will live on, however this game likely will not. Whilst the multiplayer is fun, there’s no real incentive you keep coming back for more, and singleplayer is a true grind (and not in a good way). Even if you do end up finishing it, it’s doubtful that it’ll warrant a second playthrough.

Overall 2 out of 5

All in all, Duke Nukem Forever is out, which can be seen as an achievement in itself. However, all that development time has not produced the game it should be. DNF feels unfinished, unexciting and not what die hard fans deserved. All we can do is look to the future now, the monkey (so to speak) is off of Gearbox’s back, so lets see what they can REALLY do with the series.

-Kieran Roycroft

Here’s something I NEVER thought i’d say.. Hail to the king baby! Duke Nukem is coming back, bigger, badder and more brash than ever!

It’s been a day or two since I managed to get my hands on an early preview of Duke Nukem Forever and yet I still cannot believe that I have actually played it. Duke Nukem Forever, the game of legend, delays and bankruptcy is actually seeing the light of day – it’s enough to make my little, past-self wet himself in excitement.

Credit where credit is due, what Gearbox Software and 2K Games have done/are doing with DNF speaks volumes for the fan friendly, generous reputation they have garnered.  After all, what better fan service is there than to resurrect a game that you never thought you’d see released and treated with the same boyish enthusiasm that its original hardcore following had? It’s safe to say Duke Nukem Forever will be 2011′s gaming fairytale story.

After all these years, it really is a fairytale that Duke Nukem Forever is finally being released.

And believe me, Duke Nukem Forever is a true fan service, because although I’ve only played a brief preview of the full game, I know that DNF WILL deliver the authentic, Duke Nukem experience that has risen the series to cult status, and transformed its protagonist into one of the most iconic computer game characters of all time.

From the game’s vivid graphical style, to it’s hillarious audio and sound bytes, even down to the way the game actually feels and plays – everything feels quintessentially like Duke Nukem. Everything you know and love about the Duke Nukem franchise looks set to return.  The huge arsenal of over the top weaponry (including everybody’s favourite Shrink Ray and BFG..The Devastator), the voluptuous babes, right down to the Alien “bastards” who’s asses you will kick – they all return in absolutely glorious fashion.

Needless to say, the preview I played had a faint whiff of the “old school” about it. There was no hint at an epic story, simply Duke coming out of hiding to save the day, and the babes.  There were no emotionally engaging moments, no thought provoking sentiments – and rightly so.  Duke Nukem games have never been designed to do that, so why start now?

If your looking for thought provoking, emotional moments... look elsewhere.

However, the game’s “old school” vibe may divide critics and gamers alike. At a time when the First Person Shooter world is ruled by the likes of the Call of Duty and Battlefield series, combined with the time gap since the last Duke Nukem and this one, it’s almost certain that there will be no middle ground with Duke Nukem Forever. Hardcore fans of the series will love it, but there’s a chance that the game will be hit and miss with mainstream FPS fans.

That’s not to say Duke hasn’t kept up with the times, with the almost primitive nature of the earlier games, Duke Nukem Forever has had to modernise and add elements that you’ve never seen before in the Duke Nukem series. Aside from the obvious graphical changes, DNF adds new key ingredients to it’s gameplay. As demonstrated in the early access preview, players will have to use the game’s physics in sections to advance, there are sophisticated interactions with your surroundings (keeping those with a fetish for throwing poo happy), vehicle sections have been added with surprisingly good handling, and overall Duke Nukem Forever is a far more polished, slick and sophisticated beast.

Cynics would condemn vehicle sections within an FPS due to their horrible controls but Duke Nukem Forever's vehicle sections control surprisingly well.

After the 15 year long wait, I just hope that the actual full game fulfils its potential and doesn’t disappoint. The hands-on time I’ve had with the game look promising, but it’s going to be difficult to judge until I’ve got my hands on the full game.  My word to anybody who is worrying about Duke Nukem Forever being a flop is, you should’ve learnt by now to ALWAYS bet on Duke.

-Kieran Roycroft

Bioshock 2 has had something of a rocky road with its downloadable content. The first multiplayer expansion, the Rapture Metro Pack, outraged some by already being on the disk, and outraged others by not actually working very well. Next came the surprisingly entertaining Protector Trials, which added a (sort of) score attack mode to the game, revolving around protecting Little Sisters as they gather Adam.

The good news is that the third and presumably final downloadable add on, Minerva’s Den, is by far the best of the bunch. As the only story-based single player expansion, you play as another prototype Big Daddy, Subject Sigma, freed from slavery by Dr Tenenbaum and tasked with venturing in to an entirely new area of Rapture, Rapture Central Computing.

Within this dark, sealed-off section of Rapture is an advanced computer called The Thinker that, through a complicated mathematical equation, can predict the future. Dr Tenenbaum and her ally Charles Milton Porter need to take this computer to the surface if they are to stand any chance of undoing the horrors that have been perpetrated in Rapture.

The Thinker Knows!

Of course, things are never as simple as they sound in Rapture, and retrieving The thinker isn’t as simple as sending Subject Sigma down to the shops for a carton of milk. The denizens of Rapture Central Computing don’t want you to take their precious Thinker from them, and will do anything they can to stop you.

The characters that you meet in Minerva’s Den are some of the most diverse in all of Bioshock, and all are well realised; Charles Porter, the creator of The Thinker, is a particularly well-developed character. There are not many African American characters in video games, and those that normally turn up tend to lean toward the archetypal ‘gangsta’, so seeing a positive character that just happens to be black is a refreshing and welcome step in diversifying video games.

As you play an entirely different character, independent of the main game’s story, you have to start from scratch in terms of weapons and plasmids. In order to progress through Central Computing you will need to find a variety of familiar plasmids to get through the plethora of locked doors, as well as a new Gravity Well plasmid, which creates a mini black hole, that provides the only means of getting past certain doors.

The Lancer Big Daddies are all new

Other new content includes a new laser-based weapon called the Lancer with three modes of fire (beam, fire beam, and charged blast), security bots that shoot lasers, rockets, or electricity, fire proof Brutes, Lancer Big Daddies, Ice proof Houdini Splicers, and for those that completed the Protector Trials a new gene tonic that amps up the challenge of the Little Sister protection missions in exchange for rewarding even more Adam. Phew.

As well as the main missions, and the Little Sister protection side missions, there are 10 destructible suction machines scattered around Minderva’s Den, each stuffed with ammo and health. A particular highlight is a new mini game in the form of an Asteroids-inspired arcade game. I don’t know about any one else, but the image of a Big Daddy standing at an arcade cabinet playing Asteroids had me in hysterics.

One of the best things about the Bioshock games is that, for the most part, you can handle the situations however you see fit; there aren’t many situations where you need a certain plasmid to proceed through a door, traipse across the map to find said plasmid, proceed through the door and then come across a new door that requires you to repeat the process over and over again. To a certain extent that has been lost in Minerva’s Den: you will get through one plasmid-specific door only to find a door that requires a different plasmid not too far ahead. Though this is not strictly a problem, it is a little disappointing.

In terms of gameplay, there is little to differentiate Sigma from the main game’s protagonist, Subject Delta. The controls remain the same, and you have most of the same abilities. However, where Delta was dependent on the Little Sisters and dedicated most of his game time to the harvesting of Adam, Sigma’s interactions with the Little Sisters are little more than an optional side mission to earn more Adam. There are six little sisters to do with as you please, but upon removing all of the Little Sisters from each section you must do battle with a Big Sister.

The Laser Beam weapon is the only new weapon to be included in this expansion.

The most obvious limitation in Minerva’s Den is the upgrade system. There are no Power to the People upgrade stations to be found here, and a very limited supply of Adam. That isn’t to say that you are stuck with the default weapon types, because you do come across upgraded versions of your weapons as you progress through the game, it just means that the game dictates what upgrades you get and when you get them.

Where this addon really stands out is in the narrative. At first I felt the game was being too vague, and that Subject Sigma was a convenient substitute for Subject Delta, but as the story progresses – supplemented through the collection of audio diaries that fill in a lot of the back story – the story of Subject Sigma is full of pathos and relatable anguish, with a great revelation at the end.

When Minerva’s Den was first launched, there was a problem with the Xbox 360 version that meant that the achievements you unlocked failed to add any points to your gamerscore. Normally this sort of thing would really sour me to a game, but in this case being given an excuse to experience the content again once the issue was resolved was a real joy. Perhaps that’s more telling than any other praise I could give.

Review Round-Up

Graphics: 4/5 Minerva’s Den has the same graphical style as Bioshock 2, with mostly the same enemies and weapons. The designs for the new weapon, plasmid, and Lancer Big Daddy are as strong as the designs in the main game.

Sound: 5/5 Bioshock has developed a reputation for excellent voice acting and a brilliant sound track. This tradition continues with Minerva’s Den.

Story: 5/5 At first I felt that the story seemed a bit too vague and contrived, particularly the reason for Subject Sigma coming to Rapture Central Computing. How wrong I was. As the game progresses, and you find more audio diaries, the back story is fleshed out, revealing the story of a man that would do anything to – well, I won’t spoil it.

Gameplay: 4/5 While it is a little disappointing that the game mostly revolves around finding plasmids in order to progress through assorted locked doors, the inclusion of the Little Sister protection and the hunt for audio logs and suction devices both provide fun distractions.

Longevity: 4/5 Minerva’s Den is made up of three levels, lasting about 3 hours in total. There are dozens of audio diaries, six little sisters, and 10 suction devices to find which add extra length to the game if you are that way inclined.

Overall 4.5 Eve Hypos out of 5

Frankly I wish more developers would make content like this; using the same engine as the main game, Minerva’s Den is entirely separate from the story of Bioshock 2′s main singleplayer game, with a new plot and fresh characters. Lasting a few hours, depending on how much time you want to put in to collecting all of the collectables, this expansion is free to flesh out and expand the Bioshock universe, without requiring people to buy a full new game.

Bioshock 2: Minerva’s Den is available to download now for 800 Microsoft Points (about £6) and on Playstation Network for £6.99.

-Luke Mears

Game: Borderlands: The Secret Armory of General Knoxx
Format: Xbox 360
Developer: Gearbox Software
Publisher: 2K Games

The Newb Review Game of the Year nominee Borderlands received it’s third piece of downloadable content last week, and to cut to the chase, it is brilliant. After the shambolic mess that is Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot which cut out all of the fun aspects of Borderlands: exploration of vibrant open areas, looting, and levelling up, we are treated to a lengthy new campaign, complete with expansive environments, new enemies, new weapons, and a further 11 experience levels to unlock.

Taking place directly after the events of the main game story, your character is contacted by Athena, an assassin who has recently quit working for the Crimson Lance and asks for your help bringing them down. Summoning you to T-Bone Junction, an entirely new town that you can access from any fast travel station, you are tasked with destroying the last stronghold of the Crimson Lance, in particular the titular Armory of General Knoxx.

T-Bone Junction and the surrounding area is large. Each area is linked together by Highways that are overrun with Crimson Lance soldiers. Your main objective is to destroy roadblocks in order to gain access to new areas such as a Prison and Deep Fathoms, which is a dried up lake. During your travels you will meet a number of memorable characters, and while the story is not exactly great, the dialogue is as fantastic as ever. General Knoxx in particular shines with his apathetic messages regarding his superior officer who send him taunting orders written in Macaroni and Crayons. As well as excellent new characters, a number of old faces make a return including Scooter and Mad Moxxi, complete with amusing dialogue.

New vehicles and enemies are abundant in this add on

In order to access the new areas you will need to construct new vehicles to break through the Crimson Lance’s road blocks. The three new vehicles comprise of The Racer (a speedy version of your standard car), The Monster (a Jeep armed with machine guns and homing missiles) and The Lancer (A four person tank armed with mines, machine guns, a laser canon, and a pulse blast). Each of these vehicles has their own strengths and weaknesses, such as the Racer being incredibly fast but vulnerable to damage. The vehicles are very useful when facing off against the new enemies that have been added to the game.

As well as the elemental shock troopers; armoured soldiers that have weapons that inflict either shock, explosive, fire, or corrosive damage, there are a number of new bandit types and new creatures called Drifters: towering spider like creatures. On top of the new enemies and environments, a new super rare class of weapons has been added. These Pearlescent weapons (coloured a sort of turquoise blue in your inventory) are incredibly rare and devastatingly powerful.

The enemies you face are very tough

Due to the fact that the main story of this add on takes place after the ending of Borderlands, you cannot access any of the missions until you have completed the main game’s story. Consequently, the enemies that you will fight are pretty tough. It is very clear that this pack has been designed with multiplayer in mind, as there are a large number of enemies on screen at any one time.

There are a number of side missions included in the game, ranging from simple assassination missions to general Fed-Ex quests. One mission in particular “the Super Secret Final Boss”, is actually impossible to beat on your own as the boss is a level 64 character. The level cap has been raised to 61 in this game, which means that even if you completely upgrade your character, this boss is 3 levels stronger than you are. The only way to beat him is to team up with other high levelled characters and work together to take him and his minions down. You will be rewarded with some of the rarest items in the game for beating this boss, but it is no mean feat.

General Knoxx is an apathetic bastard.

As with every other mission in Borderlands, The Secret Armory of General Knoxx can be played through twice by each character; once on playthrough one, and the final time on a second run. The second play through features stronger enemies of a higher experience level, which should keep this add on challenging even for those with exceptionally strong characters.

Review Round-Up

Graphics: 5/5 Brilliant character designs with bold, colourful, expressive graphics. Very stylish overall.

Sound: 4/5 The strong voice acting you would come to expect from a Borderlands game returns. The music remains as strong as ever, and the sound effects are as varied as usual.

Gameplay: 4/5 A wide variety of missions ranging from simple assassination missions, to your typical fetch quests. The three new vehicles shake things up a bit, with each of them having their own strengths and weaknesses. Although it is easier to play this add on with other players, and probably more fun, it is possible to play through it in single player so long as you have a strong enough character.

Longevity: 5/5 The main story missions will last a good few hours, and there are a number of optional side missions. The inclusion of a further 11 experience levels could also provide enough reason to go back and complete more missions in order to get as much experience as possible.

Overall: 4 Pearlescent Shotguns out of 5 It seems Gearbox have listened to the critics of Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot and delivered an incredibly strong add on that builds on all of the original game’s strengths. Exploring a large open world populated with memorable characters and a ton of new equipment has brought new life to Borderlands.

The Secret Armory of General Knoxx is available for download now on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

[starreview tpl=16]

Any devoted readers of our site will know how popular last year’s Borderlands was amongst the staff. We must have loved it, because it was one of our nominations for Game of the Year.

The real joy we found in Borderlands came from not only the tight controls and the charismatic characters, but from the compelling loot system. The game boasted the fact that there were millions of different types of gun, each with their own individual statistics. Arguably, it was the search for bigger and better guns that made Borderlands so compelling. You can imagine our disappointment when upon loading up this latest piece of downloadable goodness, we discovered that there is essentially no looting to be had at all.

Moxxi provides commentary during each round... And it gets pretty stale.

To set the scene, Mad Moxxi is a woman looking for love. After three failed marriages – including one to a recognisable character – Moxxi founded the Underdome Riot. This is an arena-based battle to the death, with the hope of possibly finding husband number four along the way. Moxxi herself is a typically charismatic character with well written dialogue.

However, in terms of gameplay, Mad Moxxi’s Underdome is a very dull place. There are three arenas: each based on areas you visited in the main storyline and you are tasked with defending yourself against wave after wave of opponents. The first set of challenges has you fighting against five waves of enemies. However, each wave is made up of five rounds, meaning you have 25 rounds to fight through before completing an arena.

At the end of each round you fight a randomised boss character from the story mode. In a way it is similar to the fire fight mode in Halo ODST: up to four players keep fighting their way through increasingly difficult waves of enemies, with certain waves having unfair advantages, such as being immune to headshots. This is all very well and good, but the real problem with this format is that you gain no experience for each person you kill, and they drop no loot.

The only way to get loot is to defeat the boss round at the end of the wave, and a randomly generated gun will fall out of the sky at your feet. So far I have yet to be given a gun that is actually any better than the ones I had previously found.

The new waving robot had them completely entranced

The second problem with this add-on is that the enemies are often too tough, as they have no set experience level. Instead, they match the experience level of the player that hosts the game. In true Borderlands fashion, if you are unfortunate enough to not at least match the experience level of the host, then you have absolutely no chance against the enemies. They are all just too strong.

You could argue that this is where teamwork comes in, allowing you to strategise with your team mates. But there is little time for strategy as the enemies tend to just come charging towards you. Once you eventually make your way through all 25 waves in each of the three arenas, you unlock the advanced challenges. These place you in the same three arenas, but this time you must fight through 20 waves of enemies in each arena, bringing the total number of rounds to 100. Even completing the 25 five waves of the original set of challenges became tedious, and as of writing I have given up slogging through because it has become so mind numbing.

Having listed the faults it would be unfair not to list the few good points of this DLC. A new bank system is introduced, allowing you to store items that previously you would have to have dropped if you found something new and interesting.

Round 1! By round ten you'll want to scratch your eyes out...

Moxxi herself is a good character, although it is sometimes easy to forget this when you are forced to listen to her repeat her phrases for the 131st time in a row.

Finally, if you can stomach beating the Underdome then you are rewarded with one new skill point, which will please the more hardcore players that have already reached experience level 50, and are looking for some way of advancing their character.

Review Round-Up

GRAPHICS: 3/5 Borderlands’ graphical style remains unchanged. The new environments are made up of parts of levels already experienced in the story mode, which is a little disappointing.

SOUND: 3/5 As usual, all the sound effects remain pretty much unchanged. New music will play in the game when you reach the boss fights and this is suitably fast paced and pleasing to the ear. Moxxi’s voice acting is competent, but after the 200th time of hearing her yell “horde wave!” you may get sick of her.

GAMEPLAY: 1/5 While there is a certain amount of fun to be had playing these challenges in multiplayer, it only lasts so long. This add-on is as tedious as it is long. While I appreciate the inclusion of various handicaps in rounds – such as enemies only being able to be harmed by shotguns – by the time you beat the first three arenas you will probably have seen everything there is to see.

LONGEVITY: 2/5 Each of the first set of arenas will take approximately half an hour to beat. When you move on to the final three arenas, which are four times as long, you can expect to spend a few hours on each map. However, the removal of one of the key elements that made Borderlands fun in the first place (the looting) will likely mean that you won’t bother.

OVERALL: 2 Horde Waves out of 5. It seems the developers have forgotten what made Borderlands fun in the first place. Having chosen to remove all the fun of looting and expansive environments to search, they decided to stick you in a familiar looking set of arenas and force you to shoot at wave after wave of generic enemies.

[starreview tpl=16]

Game: Borderlands
Format: XBox 360
Developer: Gearbox Software
Publisher: 2K Games

At first glance you could be forgiven for thinking that Borderlands is a fairly derivative game. Sure, it appears to have taken the wasteland setting and RPG elements of Fallout 3, mixed it with the “proper” first person shooter controls of your Call of Duty and Halo games, and even added in the cell shaded visual style of games like Jet Set Radio and Crackdown. You have got to give it to Gearbox, they’ve taken elements from some of the best games in recent years and created something entirely new, and frankly quite fantastic. Borderlands is not only an excellent shooter, it is a brilliant RPG, with the option to play through the entire thing with up to three friends, or go all the way on your own.

Missions range from the bright sunny surface, to dank dark caves

The game takes place on the planet Pandora, far in the future. Pandora is a desolate junk yard planet, populated with mutant creatures, bandits, and frontiersmen. So if Pandora is such a hell hole, why would any sane person want to go there? The answer lies in the legend of The Vault, an alien treasuretrove just waiting to be discovered by any adventure hunter brave enough to search for it. You take control of one of these treasure hunters. There are a total of four types of adventurer and each is armed with their own special ability. Roland, the Soldier, is your all round character, who is especially good with combat riffles and shotguns and can use a turret if things get particularly sticky. Lilith is a Siren, and is able to turn invisible for short periods of time, giving off an energy pulse. Mordecai is a Sniper who possesses a hunting bird that he can send to attack his enemies. The final character to choose from is Brick, who is proficient with explosive and shotguns, and is able to go in to a blind rage and punch the daylights out of his enemies. Unlike many other RPGs you cannot really customise the appearance of your characters, beyond changing the colour of their clothing, which is a shame but it does not harm the overall experience. As you level up your characters you are able to customise your character’s abilities through a fairly expansive skill tree. You can also equip various types of energy shields, squad modifications that bestow special abilities such as ammo regeneration, and modifiers for your grenades. It sounds complicated, but the game slowly eases you in to the customisation of your character through the first four or five missions or so.

Meet the cast: Roland the Soldier, Lilith the Siren, Mordecai the Hunter, and Brick the... errr... Brick.

At first Borderlands can seem quite daunting. At the start of the game your standard weapon is fairly weak, but you should not have any problems dealing with the bandits and creatures called Skags, a weird cross between dogs, lizards, and rhinos. As you kill more enemies and explore more regions you discover more loot, including better weapons and shields. The developers proclaimed early on that there were millions of weapons in the game, and that is easy to believe. For the most part the differences between the weapons are subtle, with the main differences between guns being a few points in the damage capabilities, accuracy, or firing speed. However, as you progress further in to the game you discover weapons with elemental damage bonuses which can cause serious damage to your opponents. Yet, it will take more than a cool gun to get you through the game. Each mission is labelled with a recommended experience level for you to be at in order to succeed, and in my experience I found these guidelines were very strict. For instance, early in the game I was a level 7 and a mission required me to be level 10. Feeling confident in my abilities, as I had discovered an excellent sniper riffle, I decided to go ahead with the mission anyway. As you can imagine I was utterly obliterated every time I attempted that mission until I reached level 10. At this point I was able to succeed, as if by magic, by meeting their guidelines. At first this felt a little cheap, like an artificial way of increasing the game’s length, but those feelings soon subsided as I progressed realising that it was a lot of fun running around doing the side missions in order to boost my experience level.

There are plenty of enemies to keep you occupied as you travel the land

The world of Pandora itself is fairly large, and while it is very open, it is not entirely an open world. Each section of the planet that you can access is more like a large arena, with mountains and valleys stopping you from straying too far instead of artificial walls. To progress through one area to another you must travel through a gate, which prompts a loading screen, taking you to the next area. In some ways this is a little disappointing, but for the most part it actually makes the game less daunting and gives it a decent level of structure, as you are mostly unable to wander too far away from your objectives. Being a wasteland, the world is mostly made up of barren deserts, but there has clearly been enough thought put in to the design of each section to prevent the world from becoming boring. The world is densely populated with hostile forces, so you will often find yourself being attacked as you attempt to travel from one place to another. If you see an encampment, or run down building, chances are that the bandits have taken control of that area, so you will have a fight on your hands if you dare to explore or go looking for loot. Each section that you visit is fairly large and expansive, and takes a long time to traverse on foot. Thankfully cars have been included, allowing you to quickly drive around, and shoot at enemies with either a mounted machine gun, or a rocket launcher. Each vehicle can hold two people – a driver, and a gunner – so if you are playing multiplayer you will probably need two vehicles. Vehicles are fairly easy to come by, with several garages in each section of the world, all you need to do is press a switch and a vehicle will appear. Upon reaching the second main area in the game, you unlock the fast travel ability, which lets you teleport from one section to another, avoiding all of those nasty enemies.

Vehicles can make things a lot easier for you, but they are not invincible.

As for the story itself, I do not think that it would be unfair to say that it is pretty weak. Each story mission merely serves as a way of progressing you from once place to another, rather than enriching the story. Yet the writing for the individual character’s dialogue is often hilarious, with some of the incidental side characters being very memorable. The story revolves around your quest to discover the vault, and prevent the evil corporation that claims to own the planet from getting there first, but to be honest, it all seemed fairly generic and uninspired. The real fun in this game is in the exploration, the discovery of loot, and the combat. The action is fast paced and frantic, especially when you are playing in four player co-op. Thankfully you can play in co-op with any combination of character types, so you can all be soldiers, or whatever you want, with no penalties. If you choose to play the game in single player, then you are entirely on your own, with no AI controlled team mates. It is clear that this game is designed with 4 player co-op in mind, as the more players you have, the more enemies you will face, and the better loot you will find. There is a very handy feature in the game that takes place if you are killed – before actually dying you drop to your knees and are given a few seconds to try and kill an enemy. If you are successful you spring back to life with a little health, and can continue. There is no real punishment for dying apart from a small fine, as you merely respawn at health stations, and can continue from where you left off, although any enemies still standing will also have their health refilled if every member of your team dies. As an overall experience, Borderlands is fantastic fun and incredibly hard not to recommend.

REVIEW ROUND UP:

GRAPHICS: 5/5 Originally Gearbox were going to go with fairly generic “realistic” graphics for this game, and thank god they decided not to. The thick black lines and bright colours gives the game a charming and distinctive comic book look.

SOUND: 5/5 Some of the voice acting is superb, and the sound effects for the guns are impressive. The screams the bandits make when they are killed with a corrosive gun, and turn in to a pool of ooze, are incredibly haunting but satisfying. The music is subtle, but memorable, and can create a sense of tension when you are bombarded with enemies.

GAMEPLAY: 4/5 The missions usually revolve around collecting items, or going to a certain location and killing someone. While some missions can become a little tedious, the experience is overall a very positive one. The enemy AI is pretty stupid for the most part, as they just tend to charge at you. A lot of the time gunfights involve you walking backwards slowly and emptying your gun in to a crowd of enemies. Thankfully there are no times racing events, and no escort missions!

LONGEVITY: 5/5 The first play through will probably take over 20 hours to complete, especially if you aim to complete as many of the side missions as possible. Upon completing the game you will be a level 30ish character and can start a second play through, keeping all of your attributes and loot, facing much tougher enemies. The inclusion of 4 player online co-op, and 2 player split screen co-op can potentially keep you coming back to the game for a good while to come.

OVERALL: 5 Critical Hits out of 5. Borderlands is a surprisingly fun experience, especially when playing online with friends. If you are the sort of person that enjoys hunting for treasure in games, always trying to have the best equipment possible, then you will find a lot to enjoy here. Those looking for a deep and lengthy story telling experience may be left a little disappointed, but the dialogue of the characters makes up for that particular shortcoming. The RPG elements are slowly introduced to the player so that even a novice will quickly pick up the complexities of the game and be equipping modifiers with the best of us.