2K Games Australia were reppin’ it in New Zealand recently and Game Culture was invited to check out early code of upcoming releases Duke Nukem Forever and The Darkness II

The venue for 2K’s preview was Take 2 Interactive’s quaint offices in Albany, Auckland. We were met by Ross and Ben from 2K Australia and were ushered into the best seats in the house (smack-bang in front of the HDTV is just about right!)

Back Into The Darkness We Go…

First up for our viewing pleasure was The Darkness II. You may recall its predecessor, The Darkness, which was actually a pretty decent (and underrated) title back in 2007. While it wasn’t quite as big as some games that released that year, The Darkness did have a relatively interesting storyline and contained different game elements not normally featured in shooters such as use of supernatural powers and a rather sarcastically-mouthed minion that followed you around.

However, it’s now 2011 and things have drastically changed in the franchise – but in a good way. The games’ protagonist, Jackie Estacado, is still in the hot-seat and surrounded by evil and predatory characters who are only after one thing – The Darkness. Jackie’s still getting himself into bad situations which only his supernatural power (and a whole lot of guns and bullets) can seem to fix. There’s plenty of ‘running and gunning’ to be had as well as a lot more interaction in the world, which has been greatly improved since the first game.

Another major change in The Darkness II: the graphics, which now have a ‘comic book’ look and feel, giving The Darkness II a much grittier and darker appeal. As the game is based on a comic book series, we thought it was definitely a step in the right direction.

The Darkness II doesn’t seem to lack for action-packed scenarios which includes a whole heap of shooting, killing and random intervals where your friendly minion will urinate on just about anything! Unfortunately, the release is still a wee (excuse the pun) way off (we’re told it should be releasing in October this year), so you’ll just have to sate your violent tendencies with some Duke Nukem Forever until then…

”All Hail To The King, Baby”…

And speaking of Duke, we were then handed the Xbox 360 controller to rampage and create sweet, sweet chaos with none other than the Duke himself.

One thing is obvious from the get-go – Duke has aged extremely well, considering the franchise has been in game development limbo since 1997. That aside, Gearbox Software seems to have done a great job with looking after the Duke, and the few segments of the game that we played were pretty sweet.

If you’re unfamiliar with Duke’s exploits, no need to worry, you’ll soon get the idea that Duke is a “line em’ up and shoot em’ down” kinda guy who likes his women (preferably as scantily clad as possible), his beer and shooting just about anything that moves.

In Duke Nukem Forever you’ll be back  in the saddle hunting down aliens and saving the world all in typical, over-the-top Duke Nukem style. Nothing is too big (or small) for Duke and you’ll be shooting your way around (and through) difficult terrain, bad guys and bosses like the one-eyed alien, Cycloid. There’s no lack of weapons to destroy the alien invaders (RPG anyone?) as well as crass and dirty one-liners that’ll make even seasoned fans blush. But hey, that’s what Duke Nukem is all about. If there’s one thing for certain, it’s been a long time coming and Duke is back, badder and dirtier than ever! ”All Hail To The King, Baby”…

To celebrate Duke’s return, we’ve got a DUKE NUKEM FOREVER Swag Bag which we’re literally throwing away. Check out the competition details here.