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Let me start off by saying I've played all the Duke Nukem games (including the original 2-D side scrollers) and loved them. I was really looking forward to see the latest incarnation. I was disappointed to see all the negative reviews and thought it couldn't possibly be as bad as they say. I rented the game from Redbox to check it out before shelling out the full price. I am saddened to say the game really is bad.
My complaint is with the mechanics of the game play and not the crude humor. It's Duke Nukem after all. If you don't like crude, vulgar, sexist humor (and I do) then you shouldn't buy it to start with! The problem is the poor game play, boring levels, frustrating targeting and unbalanced damage received vs inflicted.
You have to interact with your environment by opening doors, picking up objects and pushing buttons, many times while trying to avoid enemies. Duke has to align precisely with the objects in order to interact. This is tedious when not fighting and deadly when trying to pick up an object to throw at an enemy while it is inflicting damage on you. The targeting on the weapons is difficult to control while in a battle resulting in a lot of wasted ammo. Also, the crosshairs are white and tend to blend into the background making it hard to determine where you are shooting. You can also only carry two weapons, which takes away a lot of the fun of the old game where you could kill enemies in varied ways by switching between the many weapons you carried. You also tend to run out of ammo quickly because you only have two weapons.
Some levels are frustratingly tedious like the RC car level where Duke is shrunk down and drives an RC car. The whole level is spent driving around and trying to figure out where to go with no obvious destination in mind. The plot and action in general are very slow (you can't jump past story line video even if you've already played it once). The load time between levels is also exceeding long for some reason.
The graphics are good with some humorous references to old Duke Nuken games and more modern first-person shooters (like Halo) but overall the game is not worth paying full price for. Wait a few months and I suspect you will find it in the bargain bin.
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For the first time in my life, I am considering selling a game before finishing it. I wanted to love this game, and it really pains me to say this, but this game isn't worth the frustration it causes--and it certainly isn't worth the absurd price tag.Sadly, this review won't contain any information that hasn't already been stated ad nauseam by all the other frustrated players who are probably wishing they hadn't bought the game, either. Even so, I figured I would add my 2-star review in the hopes that others will take us seriously when we say YOU SHOULD NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!
Let's start with the basics. There's the graphics. It's blatantly obvious (at least to me) that most of the graphics were developed a decade ago, and then were retextured at the last second before final release. Unfortunately, the developers did an abysmal job covering their laziness. In the very first level, all one has to do is walk up to a wall and look at the posters to see the developers' error. Extreme pixelation that becomes blockiness up close? I wouldn't even expect to see that in a game from 5 years ago. I wouldn't even expect to see that on a Wii, which has a fraction of the graphics-rendering power of the XBOX 360. This should not be happening, period. It speaks volumes about the amount of effort that went into this game.
The controls are clunky. They just don't feel right. They lack the kind of smoothness one would hope to see in an FPS. Then there's the slow gameplay in the beginning, and the fact that you find yourself going through the levels with no weapons or enemies to fight for such an amount of time that you will find yourself wondering if you're even playing an FPS. And then there's the weapons... One of my favorite things about Duke Nukem 3D was the ability to carry all of the weapons. In this game, you are limited to 2. This makes ammo a problem. I've found myself running around with empty weapons more times than I care to mention. To be fair, the developers put in a lot of stocking crates, but what about later in the game when the more interesting weapons--such as the Shrink Ray--appear? Am I really going to fight off an army with the Shrink Ray and the RPG? It may be more realistic, but Duke Nukem has never been known for its realism. The ability to carry all of the weapons was a charming aspect of the originals that is sorely missed here.
Finally, the deal-breaker: The loading times in this game are Draconian. If you die in the game, you'll wish you'd have died in real life; by the time Duke is restored to the last checkpoint, you may already have from old age. I have never played a game with such long loading times. Worse, you find yourself looking at loading screens frequently. A skilled FPS player may find himself spending more time looking at loading screens than shooting at Pig Cops; an unskilled player certainly will. Today's sophisticated gaming console allows for a near total absence of loading screens except for those that are necessary between levels. Player death simply does not warrant such long pauses. It's abusive, both of the console's capacity and the player's patience. Having just replayed the same scene 7 times in the last 30 minutes (which speaks more to my poor FPS skills than the game's quality, but I do believe it has to do with the clunkiness of the controls), I put down the controller and stopped playing--for good this time. Until some sort of patch is released to address this issue, the game is unplayable as far as I am concerned.
The makers of this game are probably kicking back in Aruba with Pina Coladas and little umbrellas, toasting to their brilliance--and they should be; they duped a generation into buying a video game only because it bore the label of a predecessor that was released a decade earlier. While they are busy laughing their way all the way to the bank, I'm going to be trying to find a way to sell this monstrosity before it depreciates into worthlessness. As of this date (July 9, 2011, less than 1 month from the date of release), the game is already selling for $37.99 from Amazon--just over half of what I paid to buy it.
Best Deals for Duke Nukem Forever - Xbox 360
Duke Nukem Forever is a game that was first revealed in 1997. Later thought to be released in 1999, that never quite happened. It's become the joke of the industry. 3D Realms remade the game multiple times on different engines, delayed it over and over again, then it looked like it was finally going to be released around 2008, but 3D Realms went belly up. Looking like it'd never see the light of day, Duke Nukem Forever fell 6 feet below into its own burial spot, but then came Gearbox to save the day. Gearbox decided not only to bring Duke Nukem Forever to gamers, they also decided to buy the rights to the intellectual property. However, was this a wise move? Read on to find out.Positives:
It's Duke Yes, I know, many people won't find Duke's brand of absurdity very entertaining in the current world we now live in, but I still find his crass and raunchy attitude to be very likable. I've noticed a politically correct movement in gaming today. I've noticed politically correct movements infiltrating every kind of entertainment and deeming something they dislike as "offensive." Now, I'm not here to judge morality and what may offend others, but at the same time I know where to draw the line, as it's quite obvious that Duke is meant to be a parody of sorts. He's not meant to offend any group of people, but to offer the same brand of absurdity that he always has, and Duke Nukem Forever delivers on this front. Say what you will, I enjoy Duke. If that makes me immature, politically incorrect, etc., then so be it. Come get some.
Variety Variety is the name of the game in Duke Nukem Forever. While it may let some people down who were expecting non-stop shooting, it'll satisfy those looking for a varied experience. I really enjoyed playing as miniature Duke. Getting in the RC car and racing around is a blast.
Story Stupid, silly, fun; Duke Nukem Forever offers a story that doesn't take itself seriously. You're saving women from pigs and aliens. What's not to like? Duke Nukem Forever won't offer you a sophisticated plot like in a Bioshock, it'll offer you more Duke Nukem, more babes, more alien scum, etc.
It's Fun Plain and simple, Duke Nukem Forever is just fun. It's a game that stays true to its roots. While the level design is more linear and restricted in comparison to Duke Nukem 3D, it's also a nice blend of action, puzzles, vehicle segments, turret segments, etc. This game isn't revolutionizing a single thing. What you see is what you get.
Negatives:
It Took 14 Years? Let's be honest, while it's fun and all that, Duke Nukem Forever reeks of misguided development.
Unpolished Duke Nukem suffers from so many technical hiccups, i.e. super long load times, texture pop-in, unstable framerate, etc.
Duke Nukem Forever isn't for everyone, but it is fun, and in the end that's what matters the most to me. Was it worth 14 years of hype? Nope, not one bit. But this one definitely isn't out of bubblegum. Don't listen to every naysayer, but don't blindly spend $60 either. It's not a 5 star game, it's not a 1 star game. Give Duke Nukem Forever a rent and see if it's your cup of tea.
3.5/5
Happy gaming!
Honest reviews on Duke Nukem Forever - Xbox 360
The graphics and gameplay are pretty good, and as Duke says in the game "It should be after TWELVE f$*%ing years." Good balance of puzzles vs action, but a bit too much time spent in shrink mode.If you have kids or easy-to-offend family members around, this is not the game to play before they go to bed. Profanity, nudity, and sexual content are present throughout the game, and are even level objectives. Personally, I think it's hilarious and often well-done, but it's not for kids.
Biggest complaint by far, though, is the PAINFULLY long load times for each level, or after getting killed. It's well over a minute to reload to the last save point, which is totally unacceptable. When trying to get through particularly tough levels or bosses, you can spend more time waiting for the thing to load than actually playing.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Duke Nukem Forever - Xbox 360
Every time Duke gets killed you get punished with a 5 minute load screen. In difficult levels (which are most of them), this means you will easily spend more time waiting for the game to load than actually playing the game (I wish I were exaggerating).The targeting system is also a pain which is doubled by the fact that you have to carefully ration the ammunition.
That said, Duke humor is all what you would expect and the interactions with the environment are ingenious and sometimes fun. It's a good game for the fans of Duke and an average game in general. Hardcore FPS players and people who don't have a huge amount of patience to sit around waiting should probably skip this one.
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