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    Duke Nukem Forever

    Game » consists of 14 releases. Released Jun 14, 2011

    After approximately fourteen years of development, the heavily infamous sequel to Duke Nukem 3D was finally released, in which the macho Duke must damper yet another alien invasion.

    av_gamer's Duke Nukem Forever (PC) review

    Avatar image for av_gamer

    It's not great, but it's far from bad.


    Original Box art.
    Original Box art.
     
     
     
    Duke Nukem Forever is a game that became a myth and legend as time progressed in the gaming world. The game was hyped as not only the sequel to Duke Nukem 3D, one of the most celebrated old school FPS (First Person Shooter) of all time. Duke Nukem Forever was also suppose to be an ambitious game that would take shooters to the next level. As time went on the game kept getting delayed year after year, while other shooters that innovated and reinvented the wheel, came out. After a decade,  the makers behind the game, 3D Realms,  gave up game development for game publishing.. However, the game was picked up by Gearbox. The developers claimed they didn't want the dream to die. Gearbox was the same developers behind Borderlands, so gamers were hopeful that not only would the game finally come out, but it might actually be a good one, considering Borderlands was a big hit. Well the game is finally out. Does Duke Nukem Forever take shooters to the next level?  
     
     
    The game opens with an interesting intro. Duke is in the bathroom of a football stadium. Then he goes to the football field and takes on a giant alien. Once you kill the alien, you discover that the whole thing was part of a video game Duke was playing in his penthouse hotel sweet. This sets up the opening story for the game. The perverted humor becomes heavily applied when two young ladies, of whom are identical twins, come into view. This humor becomes standard throughout the rest of the game.  Duke gets ready to appear on a  talk show, when breaking news comes on of a possible alien invasion. He's told by both the President and a General not do anything while peace talks are going on. As you suspect, the aliens attack and Duke Nukem must save the world once again. 
     
    Slaughter
    Slaughter

    Duke Nukem Forever has basic shooting gameplay in the first person. The gun battles aren't that bad and provide some excitement. The AI controlled enemies provide some intelligence, but don't expect any advanced Call of Duty type of challenge. The Pig Cops will either rush and melee you, or try to shot you from a distance. You even have dual gun wielding Pig Cops that rush you. You also have jet pack flying aliens that teleport and try to flank you. These are just some of the alien enemies you encounter throughout the game. 
     
    When you fight a boss, only heavy weapons like a rocket launcher can hurt it. When you've done enough damage, a short quick time mini-game happens where Duke does a finishing move. These are similar to how Kratos finishes enemies in God of War, but not nearly as epic.  The game also has turret gun play segments, that's you've seen and done before.
     
    If the gameplay was just shooting, Duke Nukem Forever could have been a decent, average, shooter with a nasty sense of humor. However, the game contains platforming segments. And if there's one thing most gamers can't stand, is platforming in their shooters, especially in the first person. These segments break up the momentum of the game and causes bad pacing. The game also has vehicle segments where you drive and avoid obstacles. These are also badly timed and cause bad pacing.  Another gameplay element is the EGO health system. The EGO health system works like most modern shooters these days. It's a shield that recharges after taking damage. If you take too much damage the screen goes red and the focus becomes blurry.  However, what makes the EGO heath system different, is the ability to increase it as you progress through the game. You do this by interacting with different objects in the game. For instance taking a piss at the beginning of the game raises your EGO. Interacting with objects in the game is actually well done. You can do everything from writing on a white presentation board, to playing the official Duke Nukem Pinball game. Successfully completing interaction challenges gives you a big EGO health boost.
     
     Interacting with objects increases your EGO.
     Interacting with objects increases your EGO.

    Throughout the game you'll encounter many puns and jokes. The game tries its best to poke fun at the modern shooters, but it does a poor job. For instance, in one area of the game, a solider tells Duke not forget his power armor.  Duke responds by saying "power armor is for pussies". The armor itself looks like the one Master Chief uses in the Halo games. The joke falls flat, because the EGO health acts just like the power armor throughout the game. The game is also filled with ladies whom all act desperate for Duke Nukem. They often make comments that hint how much they want to have sex with him. This is suppose to make the player feel like a Big Man, but feels forced to the point of absurdity. The game also has many scenes of ladies showing their breast. Considering that the original Duke Nukem 3D had full blown nudity pics taken from porn magazines, the content is actually tame by comparison. 
     
    The graphics in Duke Nukem Forever is bad by today's standards. The game has a very drained and washed out look to it. The textures also look like early Xbox and PS2 games. The developers tried to add a shiny coating to the environments, but it does little good. If there is one thing the graphics does, is show players the time period the game should have been released.  Another benefit to the graphics, is how easy it is to play the game on modern PC's. You can max out the graphic settings and even add anti-aliasing. The game still runs at a very high frame rate. The game also has quick loading times between levels. These are actually benefits to the PC version only, as the console versions have even poorer graphics, bad frame rate, and longer loading times between levels. 
     
     
     "Come Get Some!"

    The sound and music of Duke Dukem Forever is standard shooting affair. Atmospheric music and sounds of destruction happening around you, when there is fighting involved. You also get the occasional rock like tunes, including a slight remix of the Duke Dukem theme. Like Duke Nukem 3D, the game has a lot of funny voice overs. Or at least the developers tried making them funny. The voice actor for Duke returns and adds new one liners. Unfortunately, they are not as epic as the lines used in the first game. Many of the lines even come off as corny. I don't blame the game itself for this. This just once again shows the time period the game should have been released in. 
     
    The game has multiplayer but it's nothing special. You have the standard death match modes and capture the flag. The capture the flag mode stands out, only because women (or babes) are used in place of the flag. Some of the maps use locations from Duke Nukem 3D, but aren't anything special to look at.
     
    Bottom-line, this game should have been on store shelves in early 2000. The game might have made a much bigger impact. Today, the game stands as a historical document of what 3D Realms was trying to do, but couldn't pull off.  If you're not expecting an innovative masterpiece, then Duke Nukem Forever is a standard shooter with old, outdated, gameplay concepts. I wouldn't pay 60 dollars to enjoy it however. I would either rent it or wait until it drops in price, which shouldn't be a long wait at all.

    Other reviews for Duke Nukem Forever (PC)

      Turns out practice does not make perfect 0

      Duke Nukem Forever is quite possibly the best example of game design evolution ever conceived.From the antiquated character design and minimal plot to the inconsistent pacing and repetitive gameplay, Duke feels old. I would like to say It's a product of its time, but I can't be sure when that time was.The story of DNF takes place 12 years after the events of Duke 3D. Aliens are back to steal babes, President doesn't like you, Army General does. Go. Along the way you'll also run into Dylan, you k...

      12 out of 18 found this review helpful.

      Forever in the making, but still not sure of its identity 0

      A few years ago Duke Nukem Forever was dead. Sent to the doldrums of many a cancelled game, destined to never see the light of day. And yet here we are; the year is 2011 and Duke Nukem Forever is actually a finished game – a physical item you can sit down and play yourself. It’s quite a surreal experience considering the twelve year development hell that became the gaming industry’s longest running joke. It had gone through multiple iterations before Gearbox picked it up and set about finishing ...

      2 out of 2 found this review helpful.

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