Catherine Demo with Duke Nukem
TL: Hello, folks. I have the opportunity and honor to talk to the one and only Duke Nukem, star of the insanely popular "Duke Nukem" series of games, and of the upcoming Duke Nukem Forever, amazingly enough coming out this May to consoles everyone. Thanks for joining us, Duke.
Duke: GOOD TO BE HERE, TOM.
TL: So you must be enjoying your time back in the limelight, with your new game finally coming out. Especially after the number of issues it had.
Duke: WHAT CAN I SAY, TOM - EVERYONE LOVES THE DUKE. NOTHING CAN KEEP ME DOWN, EXCEPT TRISH AND BARBI BACKSTAGE. AND THEY'RE MORE ABOUT KEEPING ME UP THAN DOWN IF YOU GET MY DRIFT.
TL: I think I do, Duke. So it's been twelve years since anyone has really heard from you; what have you been doing in that time?
Duke: WOMEN.
Mafia II – 2
Playtime: 3 hours (7.5 hours total)
Personal Rating This Session: 6 - The story is still so-so; I'm not a fan of the latest narrative transition and I ran into a lot more issues this session. Still fun to play, though.
Not much has happened in the past 3 hours other than story-based missions, so this post is going to be shorter. First, the good bit: it's refreshing to see a game's neutral-tone objective ticker have some personality.
WoW: Polaroids from Azeroth 5
Part 5 in a series of scavenged pictures and notes that describe the life of a woman called Jacquelle, who comes from a far off land.
On a happy note: I learned how to cook! This is kind of ill-timed, since I've started wanting all my steaks bloody and raw and have no interest in cooking anything. But I feel like I've accomplished something, anyway. I baked bread!
Mafia II
Playtime: 4.5 hours (4.5 hours total)
Personal Rating This Session: 8 - I really enjoy the narrative style and sandbox-lite feel, but if you have a game so dependent on its story, it has to be really good. The story is all right, but the atmosphere is the real lifesaver here.
Mafia II is one of those games I wanted to play on Xbox, but it's always been too pricey. When Steam ran an insane holiday deal during Christmas that included the full game and all DLC for a sickeningly low price, I had to snap it up. I've heard all kinds of things about the game - mostly negative, and mostly regarding the fact that it isn't really a sandbox game, even though it kinda pretends to be, like the scrawny kid in school that stuffs his t-shirt to look bigger so he doesn't get picked on (not that I would know anything about that).
WoW: Polaroids from Azeroth 4
Someone needs to fire their sculptor. At least he lives up to his name, 'Sir Craps-a-lot'
Bulletstorm Demo
I heard this game could be the next Borderlands; since that was one of my favorite games of 2009 (and 2010, really), I was instantly interested. Despite the fact that it's co-developed by Epic (the same lovely people who made Gears of War, the most mind-numbingly machismo-filled brown pile of crap that took 3 complete product cycles to get out of the schoolyard mentality of 'girls are poopy and don't exist'), I still had to give it a try.
The opening screen featuring two thick-necked 'roid monkeys did not fill me with confidence.
WoW: Polaroids from Azeroth 3
My mother always told me you can tell the class of a place is from how many lines of laundry they have running out the windows. I think it's pretty obvious my escape didn't take me through the best areas.
WoW: Polaroids from Azeroth 2
After helping out the guards, I got a new cape! It's probably the ugliest thing I've ever seen, but who wants to offend edgy people armed to the teeth? Besides, I think I heard that puke colors are in.
WoW: Polaroids from Azeroth 1
A few years ago outside a small village in Tunisia, an ancient book was unearthed. Inside were countless photographs of the life of a woman who lived in a time long ago, in a place far, far away. Each picture bore her handwritten notes, which have been translated and enclosed. This is the first set.
Alan Wake: The Writer
Playtime: 1.5 hours (1.5 hours total)
Personal Rating This Session: 9 - Although this DLC has only a tad more story than the previous, the gameplay, level design, and ideas they've put in this episode stand above anything they've ever done.
I was not very impressed with The Signal, the first piece of DLC for Alan Wake, but I still bought The Writer without even a second thought. I also didn't know it was the last piece of content they were releasing, but I after finishing this one, it was obvious there couldn't be anymore. Everything is wrapped up so well, the only possible follow-up would be a sequel (which they are doing, thankfully).
