Console: X-Box 360, PS3, PC
Developer: Valve
Synopsis: The sequel to a popular short game, most commonly released as a part of the “Orange Box”, this game sees you reprise the role of Chell, once again being tested by the evil A.I. GLaDOS. This is primarily a puzzle game where you use a portal gun to solve the best method to get to the next exit. The difficulty and number of challenges from each puzzle has also been expanded from the original game.
Console: X-Box 360, PS3
Developer: Gearbox Software, 2K Games
Synopsis: The King is back. Duke Nukem was last seen on much inferior consoles, but remains in the hearts of many a young adult male from over a decade ago from the alien killing mayhem and the essentially irreverent nature of the character. After 12 years of peace, the aliens are back, and Duke is still around, ready to send them home.
There was a lot of hype leading up to this game, but in general the critics have not been kind. Regardless, I went ahead and bought the game to try it for myself. The game was certainly faithful to the Duke character, with achievements for looking at porn, and ego boosts (replacing the word shield) for tipping strippers, aswell as for the actual business of alien slayage.
All well and good, and frankly this is the type of stuff I loved… over a decade ago. The simple fact of the matter is that where I grew up, Duke hasn’t. Potentially this will be great for 15-year-old boys that will have no memory of the original so that they can rediscover it for themselves, but it wasn’t for me. As for gameplay, it is your classic first person shooter, a genre I do play, but not my genre of preference. That said, the gameplay is a bit addictive, so I can’t say I wish to bag it out either. The game gets more interesting when Duke is shrunk down to the size of a rat, and also in levels where he rides in monster trucks or goes underwater, but these levels are few. The big bosses can be pretty frustrating, but in the end the key to beating them is the same. Keep moving, don’t get hit, pummel the hell out of the thing. It gets a bit tedious.
I will admit, I pushed through with it. Yes, I did even complete the game, and 48 out of 50 achievements. I was even tempted to try for the last two, both of which I would have gotten for completing the game at Insane level. If I was not a fan, why did I do this?? So that when I trade it in for something better, my OCD doesn’t tell me I didn’t give it my best before parting with it. I got to about level 5 on Insane and got to a point I could not beat, then realised, why am I wasting precious hours doing this?
The game is a bit addictive, yes. There are some amusing one-liners, and occasionally the more juvenile elements do appeal to a sense of nostalgia. But they also occasionally go to far. I am posting below a video of our friend The Cyber Siren’s opinion, which was a bit more glowing than mine. In the end, the game wasn’t bad, it was a good way to kill a few hours, but it gets old if you play it long enough.
2 stars out of 5
The Cyber Siren’s review
Just as I have posted two days worth of posts on the Gamestraders Blacktown first birthday, the Cyber Siren has done so as well. Myself and Bride of Film Nerd feature again, though I think this video does a lot to capture the fun of the day. I echo Lauren’s sentiments here, I want to live in that store!!
Click here for our Saturday post
Click here to view Cyber Siren’s video report of Saturday
Bride of Film Nerd and I headed back to Gametraders Blacktown today for a day that was even more fun than yesterday. Not only were there more people in store to help celebrate, but between 12-2pm, the store held its cosplay competition. The prize being a $100 voucher for the store, I felt compelled to compete!!
Unfortunately for me, Westpoint security was not happy with my costume, and asked for me to remove my mask. The friendly people at Gametraders jumped to my defence though, and I was allowed to wear the costume inside the store. I just was unable to cross the threshold to the outside…
There were a few good costumes around, and I think we managed to get photos of almost all of them. I put them below here, starting with an image of myself with our new friend Lauren, the Cyber Siren, as Emma Frost.
Film Nerd with The Cyber Siren
Film Nerd with new mate Adrian
Film Nerd with new mate "Logan" Luke
The results for the cosplay competition will be decided after close of business today. May the best costumes win 
I had a blast this weekend. I would highly recommend Gametraders Blacktown to anyone, both on the basis of fantastic merchandise and really friendly staff. I intend to make myself a regular at the store from this point forwards!
Following up from our post earlier this evening on Gametraders Blacktown’s first birthday bash, The Cyber Siren has posted her video of today, including an interview with myself and Bride of Film Nerd. Check it out!
