Monday, November 7, 2011

Duke Nukem Forever Review

Game:  Duke Nukem Forever
Year (s):  2011
Company:  dev.  3D Realms, Triptych Games, Gearbox Software, Piranha Games
            pub.  2K Games, Aspyr Media
Engine:  Unreal Engine 3
Type:  First-Person Shooter

Price (as of 11/7/11 )

Regular price on Steam:  19.99
Lowest Buy-It-Now on eBay (new, with shipping):  17.99

Game Time:  12 hours

Obligatory Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVuuyRGB_BA

Plot
12 years after Duke Nukem saved the world, he's living it up as a celebrity.  Then, the aliens strike again, destroying stuff, killing people, and, worst of all, stealing our women.  Looks like Duke will have to save the day again.


Nudity and Humor

DKF has less boobs than the original.  Two consecutive areas have topless women, the rest of the game just has an occassional calendar on the wall or magazine on a desk. 

The sexual references though, are all over the place.  The humor is the same as the original.  I've outgrown a lot of the juvenile humor, but there's still something to smirk about here and there.


The Long Development


This game was in developed for fifteen years,  The engine was changed several times, the publishing rights were tossed around, and the original company went under.  Four developing studios worked on this game.  Taking that clusterfuck in to consideration, I'm pretty satisfied with how the game turned out.  After beating the game, you unlock concept art, screenshots, trailers, and a timeline spanning the years of development. 

Gameplay and Critics

I last played the original Duke maybe ten years ago.  All of the weapons and enemies I remember return.  The game adds vehicles, some platforming parts, and areas where you have been shrunk.  Different parts of the game look to be from other titles: physics puzzles a la Half Life 2, the "I can see my arms and legs!" from FEAR, and so on.  A regenerating health bar requires finding cover.  You can carry 2-4 weapons, and you have to reload.  This is definitely a sequel, but it is not a throwback shooter.  Anyone that says it is hasn't played Serious Sam or Painkiller.

Critics hated this game, and it has a horrible metascore.  Fuck that.  This is a fun, sometimes silly game.  Given the messy development process, anyone that expected some ground-breaking game was an idiot.  If you liked the first you'll like this.  It should have a metascore of around 80, if everyone got their heads out of their asses and played the game to enjoy it instead of playing the game to bitch about it.

That being said, the AI is basic, the combat easy, and the levels pretty linear.


Final Thoughts

This is not a great game, but this is an alright game.  It's better than a lot of the 12 hour forgettable crap that gets churned out lately.  Is it worth twenty bucks?  Well, it's short, so I'd wait until it goes on sale.  On the other hand, twenty bucks for a new game is dirt cheap.  To each their own.

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