Duke Nukem Forever

I just have played this game quite a lot, still haven't finished it yet but I have already killed the three or four first bosses which means I'm fairly long into the game. (I have no idea how long this game really is.)

Anyways, on with the bad things first: Okay, I do understand that games usually force you to watch the first intro videos et cetera because it took them a lot of time to do and they want to show it to you, but even so you usually are able to Esc them away the second time. Well in DNF it seems like you are forced to watch every single cut-scene, intro, character introductions and so on every single time. This game isn't Final Fantasy so it really kills the game a bit. Even in Max Payne you can actually fast-forward the cut scenes or press Enter to quit them instantly.

Second bad thing is that I haven't found any way to save your progress, you simply ONLY have save check-points, which is stupid. My brother first played the game for about the second boss, then I wanted to start a new 'game' and had to play from the beginning all the way to the part where my brother left it off at. Let's say we are in the final boss and then someone starts a new game... well you just got f'ked. And you have to play through the whole game again.

Things like these really kill the re-playability, I REALLY don't think I can bother playing this game over one more time, because whenever a cut scene comes in, I would probably just go take a dumb or something to wait over the time...

However, the good parts, well they are all there, plenty of them. Finally we got a game for people who like to explore and goof around, basically after every action scene you will come into a room filled with games (maybe as a reward?), and you can gain your Ego boost bonuses by playing mini-games; beat the high-score in Pinball, clean a table of Pool, throw a basketball into the net, lift weight, beat a guy in air-hockey etc. I probably wasted 20 hours or something just on these silly mini-games, really love them. But of course, there's also plenty of Shoot 'em up moments, and half-naked girls.

Another fun thing is how the environment affects the gameplay, like you can shut down the lights and the poor girls will get afraid of the darkness... though, if you are that guy who likes to SPEED-RUN through games then you will probably miss out 80 % of the fun.

I will give this game a solid 7 because it really is super fun to play this through, the 3 numbers away from a 10 is because of the re-playability, why screw a otherwise good game over with non-skip-able scenes.

Being a big Duke Nukem fan while growing up, I have to say this was a big letdown for me. And I'm far from the only one. While I don't consider it terrible, it isn't good either.

Twelve years after Duke Nukem 3D, our cool, wise-cracking, and hypermasculine, womanizing hero is living like a king in Las Vegas. Then, unsurprisingly, the alien scum return and it's up to Duke to once again kick ass and save the world.

Thanks to a very troubled development, the graphics and animation were outdated and looked average at best for the time. All the levels looked plain and barren, and there's inadequate lighting everywhere. Some of the enemy models were decent, but the NPC models were as unimpressive as the graphics, looking more like lifeless animatronics. The performance was sluggish, the loading screens were irritatingly long, and the multiplayer was chock full of bugs and lagging that made it nigh unplayable.

For the most part, the gameplay was routine and predictable, mostly involving running around, killing aliens, rescuing civilians, spouting one-liners, etc. Sure, it's par the course, but nothing new innovative for Duke Nukem or any other game for that matter. At least the armament was extensive and included classic weapons like Dukes trademark gold-plated handgun, pipe bombs, a freeze ray, and others. You'll fight classic enemies, like Pig Cops and Octobrains, bringing a bit of nostalgia to the game. And finally, Jon St. John is as entertaining as ever voicing the titular hero, so there's at least a few highlights.

Clearly the developers were trying to ride on Halo's coattails by copying its formula; like giving Duke access to vehicles, having regenerating health called EGO, and being able to only wield two weapons at a time, but this just made the game feel warped and jarring. Plus, there were annoying and difficult minigames that felt completely out of place. If they included more traditional Duke Nukem features, like exploring and discovering secret areas and captured babes, or including more gadgets in single player, like Duke's night vision goggles or his ever-trusty jet pack. This could have been better.

There's unwanted gross out humor everywhere, like pissing, belching, and throwing crap. Ugh! Seriously? This could have been better if the developers tried to keep up with the times but instead stuck with outdated and immature humor involving innuendo, swearing, and rampant chauvinism that really made Duke look like a sad, washed-up has-been who should have retired years ago. Yes, I know that's his character, but it just didn't belong in the 21st century, and it was so overdone, it made you cringe.

In the end, this game was mediocre at best and would only be enjoyed by die-hard Duke Nukem fans or bored gamers stuck at home on a rainy day. Still, it probably would have been best if it stayed in development hell instead of becoming one of the biggest let-downs in video game history.

Caught up in over a decade of delays and a company change, Duke Nukem Forever finally sees the light of day fourteen years later. Duke is back, full force and still as vulgar as ever, to take on aliens that are now taking Earth's women away. Especially the hot ones.

You control Duke, obviously in first person, going from place to place shooting aliens, pissing, collecting weaponry, driving a monster truck, shrinking in size, and so on. There is a lot of variety, but it isn't utilized to the fullest. The big problem is the control.

The controls take getting used to, flickering occurs sometimes, and the screen ripples when turning. After about an hour of straight forward playing I really didn't notice it at all. The graphics, while nice and colorful, aren't very elaborate. It looks like first generation Xbox, but again, they could've been a lot worse. There is still major detail in places like the strip club and on food containers.

What's one thing you hate doing in any game? Dying. Well, in Duke Nukem Forever, I hate dying for the wrong reason; the loading screen. It takes a good thirty seconds to jump back in the action. You're mad not for dying, but for having to deal with the loading screen. Being that Duke Nukem is an action game, you naturally want to respawn as fast as you possibly can to get back in the action. Doing that here is impossible. You must cope and wait patiently for the game to load.

So far, after two days, I find myself on chapter seventeen ("The Shrunk Machine") with a 360 gamerscore in the game. Getting the achievements aren't very hard. Again, you are awarded for things you're expected to do. Kill ten, twenty, fifty, one hundred, two hundred and fifty aliens and you already have over one hundred points.

Though it has its share of peculiar achievements. Pick up a piece of crap, quite literally, and you have ten points. Watch the end credits all the way through, five points more. And so on. This is a game where you really don't need to try and get the achievements. They come to you.

The two most frustrating levels of all, are "The Duke Burger" and "Queen Bitch." In "The Duke Burger," you have to rescue some blabber mouth woman who is stranded in the middle of the restaurant's kitchen with electricity going ape on the floor. You try to concentrate, but she will not stop talking stupid things; "Be careful, Duke!" Gee, thanks for the tip. That's what I was trying to do.

In "Queen Bitch," you must kill the alien queen. It took me four times and the course of two days because of how frustrated I got. I could get her down, but then she'd spit aliens out at you. Two hits and you're dead. No recovery time. But after you defeated the three-breasted beast you go to Duke Nukem's Titty City. The title speaks for itself.

The nostalgia value is high, but outdated. The fun is there, but not at full force, and the replay value is medium depending on your satisfaction. Maybe if I waited all fourteen years for this followup to Duke Nukem 3D I would've been letdown greatly. After three days of almost constant playing, my time was well spent. For a shooter it's good, for a sequel it's fair, for a fourteen year wait it's a fail to the king.

I have remarked that critics have been quite negative towards this game because it is bound to be compared to recent 2011 shooting games which is a shame as it has been suggested it would've been appreciated more if it was released sooner . Needless to say that doesn't take away from the fact that the game can still prove to be enjoyable.Due to the timing of the game's release; critics cannot really help you to decide whether or not to buy it as only your own opinion can help you here as the bulk of the reviews more less compare it to more up to date games which really isn't very helpful when picking a game to be honest. Aren't people forgetting that this would've been out a few years back were it not for the issues 3D realms ran into? I cannot deny that it seems dated compared to recent games but I don't care; graphics are not everything besides what were people expecting when Gearbox was polishing up what 3D realms started; it's not like they were going to start from scratch again? This game is not unlike shooters of the late 1990s and early 2000s; some people will find favour with this while others won't.

If you enjoy Duke's style in humour then the humour in this certainly will not disappoint you as it's very much like Duke Nukem 3D's ; but obviously it's not for everyone. Honestly I don't really understand why some critics call Duke's humour unfunny but yet praise humour in games that is mediocre at best. As for critics that question Dukes character; I really hope they are joking. I can accept various opinions on Duke Nukem Games but to question the protagonist that makes the franchise so unique and enjoyable definitely raises questions as Duke Nukem is a gaming icon that still has an appeal;even today and is a nice change from the typical serious heroes you see in a lot of recent games.

Oh and don't worry about all the controversy this game has sparked off for all it's mature content; we all knew it was bound to do that if it was going to be a follow up to Duke Nukem 3D which was also quite controversial at the time. If the game was watered down to appease some critics; it just wouldn't be a Duke Nukem game would it?

The game is not without it's flaws but it has interesting elements and very interactive environments. The enemies and bosses are pretty cool and challenging.The only things I don't really like about this game is the linearity in levels, a checkpoint system, only carrying two weapons, strength tests and the new Health system. This game will not have the replay value of Duke Nukem 3D but really what game does these days? Aren't all shooting games nowadays pretty much linear? It's a trend this game regretfully followed but luckily it has things that make it worth checking out.

Now that Gearbox owns the rights to Duke Nukem; I imagine things will go a lot smoother in later games as 3D realms was biting of more than they could chew trying to keep up with the times as they just didn't have the numbers or resources to pull it off while Gearbox is a much bigger company which has been something the Duke franchise has been in need of. It's a safe bet Duke will have more adventures to come; always bet on Duke ;)

I really, really thought... here it is, a FPS Duke Nukem with new 2010 graphics, I thought, let's take a look at it, why not. And I was disappointed. By much of it. Graphics were good, but not that great, some of the ideas where Duke can interact with other objects like in mini-games to upgrade your health... actually, your ego. So, instead to look for medkits around you look for some "manly" stuff to boost Duke's ego... kinda ideal. But still, the old look for medkit idea was better. Other ideas were taken from the 1996 game and just enhance it. The new thing is that Duke can drive a car. Why? and he can carry only two weapons. Why? Why driving and carrying two weapons. I think that they were trying to imitate Halo. The game that also move standards. Why do I feel that they spiced it up with the reality in a way? The game play could be much more better. Duke could be more agile, but here, he is just clumsy, he is stiff as a board, you can barely move! You really get your butt kicked on multiple occasions and when your, here I dare say it "ego" is low, you don't have a medpack and you can't move. You are really easy target, and you are pretty easy to kill, or to get hit, no matter the difficulty. I heard that PC version is better than XBOX or Playstation... I played it on PC, and I gotta tell you... It's not that much of fun. This game repels you. It really does. You are just not that happy to go back to it. Jon St. John is still here as Duke, well they kept that element right and he did a good job as always. Duke is a real badass. But, the humor is basically old and not that rich, also, the Duke's character is also pretty dry and outdated. Duke is pretty much... an a-hole. He is one big egoistical jerk and you just don't feel connected to him. He is loved by all people and they are all in shock and awe when they see him. OK, it's not supposed to be taken serious, but they could have make him more richer and more developed character. In the 1996 game, it was simple, and it was obvious, and it was cool in controversial way. Wall boobs? What a hell? Your opponents returns as enhanced, more powerful than ever, I don't recall seeing any new one... maybe a few. And also what I find irritating... is politics. President is more often here than before. That was not necessary. Game levels looks pretty cool, weapon design is also good, the idea that Duke can go around do some macho stuff as taking leak, playing pool, basketball, pinball and other "manly" activities. It has some good fun, but still, it's not that playable, if you ask me...