Duke Nukem Forever Review

[Andy of Comix Inc]

I am enjoying the hell out of this game. It's some of the most fun I've had with a game in a long time. I picked it up alongside L.A. Noire and it feels like I picked up two polar opposites, which is something of a good thing. (L.A. Noire scarred me with the rape and pedophile scenes... :<)

But yeah, I can't say I'm surprised with these poor reviews, but I can't help but think 3D Realms deserves more credit. Gearbox salvaged a game they had a lot of respect for, and I think that shows. And even though people will point and laugh at me when I tell them I really really like Duke Nukem Forever, well... I do. I really, really like Duke Nukem Forever. Never has my opinion on a game so varied with Mr Pitt's, but there you go.

 

[joest01]

This game is showing me that I'm getting old.

I am enjoying every minute of it. Well except the cheap difficulty spikes but I guess thats a nod to the old school as well

But my own opinion aside, I honestly dont get some of the reviewers out there. This review isn't even as guilty of it but some seem not to get the toilet scene in minute 2 of the game. There is actually very little of that in the game. It's mostly shooting, platforming, puzzling and an interactive environment that helps flesh out the character and level up the health bar at the same time.

And thats where I dont get the above review either. Whats the complaint? Do people even realize that this isnt supposed to be CoD. DN's heritage is a 2D j&r shoot em up. And jumping from bun to bun in a floated kitchen as mini duke does a great job of bringing that back. It's no Retro studios level re-imaging of the Duke. Nor was Duke ever as groundbreaking as metroid. But it does the job. And for people who enjoyed Duke in the past this will not disapoint.

Period.

 

[WildFire15]

I'll take the assumption the console port really is that bad, either that or the fact it's not a serious, realistic war game scares people these days. I'm quite enjoying myself with the PC version, but I went in with no expectations. I was looking for something a bit different, mind, as I'm sick to the back teeth of 'serious, realistic war games', they're 10 a penny and a completely unserious game like DNF hit that spot quite well, though it didn't blow me away by any stretch of the imagination.
So there you go, don't take it even vaguely seriously and you'll enjoy yourself.

 

[Kingpopadopalus]

Duke Nukem Forever Review

Duke is the bastard son of a thousand game developers - and it shows.

Read Full Article

Haters gonna hate.

 

[tzimize]

Its a bit funny. While I was playing DNF I kept thinking...ah man...this could have been a 10. There are so many good ideas in it, and so much poor executions. Still the good ideas were enough to entertain me throughout.

I kept thinking and comparing it to another recent shooter of a different calibre. Crysis 2. Which has stellar graphics and a much more focused "story", and decided to look up the review on the escapist.

The Escapist on Crysis 2:

"Bottom Line: Combining an outstanding setting, tremendous visuals, and an open-ended play style, Crysis 2 is the whole package. Small problems with the story and some minor design annoyances don't get in the way of an otherwise amazing experience.

Recommendation: If you like shooters and are as tired of Call of Duty clones as I am, this is the game for you"

This just seems plain stupid to me. Outstanding setting? In what way? Tremendous visuals...true. Open ended playstyle? Really? Small problems with the story? Are you serious? And "minor annoyances"? While every reviewer is entitled to his own opinion this game ends up at 4 stars. With a description that easily could have fit DNF (excepting the tremendous visuals).

And the recommendation for crysis 2 is just laughable. That line REALLY should be stomped on the DNF review, but instead the DNF review is stuck with "Recommendation: If you are stuck on a deserted island with only this game to play, go fishing instead. Worth playing so that you may be able to say that you did, but otherwise imminently forgettable and not worth your time."

All in all I know DNF is not a perfect game, far, far from it. It has been in development hell for half my lifetime. But still it emerged bringing me more entertainment than a lot of recent titles. I'm not sure what that says most about, me or the games...but I think a lot of people go into this review with the wrong expectations and or mindset.

DNF I finished in a few days. Despite its flaws I enjoyed it, and laughed a lot while playing it. Crysis 2 is still on my hard-drive...unfinished...left to rot because of an awful story and simple dullness even if it looks better than real life.

There is probably a lesson to be learned here...for all that are involved. And I for one, hope its not the last we've seen of the Duke.

 

[Koios]

In any event, I wasn't going to buy this game no matter what scores it got. Bad scores though... certainly make me feel more "right" in that choice.

Review scores aren't everything, as they too come down to personal taste. The reviewer clearly hated this game, I find it enjoyable. If I can enjoy it, are the numbers wrong? No, because they reflect someone else's taste. Therefore, you can't judge the 'correctness' of the decision on other peoples' reviews. The only way to know for sure if you'd like a game is to watch somebody else playing through it and ask yourself these questions: Do I think I would have fun playing that game? Is there something that destroys the playability of this game

You didn't read what I said did you?

I said that I wouldn't get DNF no matter what reviewers scored it as. The implication here is that my personal taste overrides any potential worth that DNF has. My only interest in this game is mere curiosity about how a game that took so damn long to make ultimately turned out.

In other words... your response to me was pretty much saying what I already think, and expressed, to some extent, in my post. :3

I probably didn't do a good job at conveying my thoughts on this one, but my intent was something along the lines of "reviewer scores are terrible things to justify judgements with." Probably. I seem to have forgotten since I posted that. 3:30 AM and all.

 

[squeekenator]

Why is everyone saying that Yahtzee is going to make a scathing review of this game? He already has.

 

[PureIrony]

Wait. A game so atrociously bad as to be more boring than fishing, and apparently features some of the most vulgar content ever conceived in a game, gets 2 out of five stars?

I think we need to rethink the criteria.

 

[Revolutionary]

Well I knew it was going to get a terrible review because I played it...then returned it and used the credit as a deposit pre-order for skyrim. Also I think there should be more videos like this.

 

[grigjd3]

Awesome review.

 

[otakutengu42]

Looks like I'll be buying Alice madness returns.

 

[Ren3004]

"Recommendation: If you are stuck on a deserted island with only this game to play, go fishing instead. Worth playing so that you may be able to say that you did, but otherwise imminently forgettable and not worth your time."

I'm not one to beef about scores too much, but what would a game have to do get a 1-star rating, I mean Jesus Christ xD

1-star games steal your fishing rod and refuse to give it back until you play them to the end. Again, and again, and again, until it is satisfied.

Now excuse me, I've got a script for a horror film.

 

[Neferius]

Wow... this game actually sounds like it might be worse than Fable 3!
And it took then what, twelve years and millions of dollars in development to surpass Peter Molineux's level of douchebagery ?
Good Show! b^_^d

 

[Treblaine]

Ego Mechanic Fixed

(1) Ego recovered by Shooting enemies, or at least shooting at/near them. World at War had a mechanic like this in its alternate co-op mode and it worked well, it was challenging because you took so few hits to die but would work with a higher character HP.

(2) Ego "health" lost by being damaged recovers steadily over time REGARDLESS of getting shot, there is no reason to cower or run away.

(3) Dealing out a lot of damage without getting hit "overcharges" your ego meter. Land enough hits and you go into "berserk mode" where you are temporarily invincible. However just get hit once and your over-charge is completely lost and your Ego-meter gets chipped away some more.

(4) certain items can recharge Ego meter in an emergency such as when very low, too low to go out and shoot. Rare items, best saved only for boss fights.

This works.

 

[Treblaine]

even if the game was a perfectly roasted suckling pig served on a buffet tray carved from the wood of the divine cross at a banquet hall in the lost continent of Atlantis, every video game reviewer would saw it's balls off.

it's safe to say that this game has had one of the most incredible amounts of hype of any game due to it's overly long hiatus and development time. when a game like this comes out, critics and reviewers immediately search for and set their focus on what is bad, ignoring everything that may be good about it.

therefore reviews like this can't be trusted because every critic would love nothing more than to rip it to shreds.

Team Fortress 2

it was in development as long as Duke Nukem Forever, it was hyped enough, it had a huge following though many seem to forget.

When it came out it only got good reviews BECAUSE IT WAS GOOD!

DNF gets what it deserves.

 

[Treblaine]

Why is everyone saying that Yahtzee is going to make a scathing review of this game? He already has.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/1968-Viewers-Choice-Duke-Nukem-Forever

Final comment:

"Lets forget about thing fucking game Forever"

The weird thing is he made that review NINE MONTHS AGO OVER TWO YEARS AGO when the game was "officially" cancelled yet it seems to apply (with satire) just as well all this time later.

I expected the game to be at least competent it doesn't seem to even be that.

 

[gigastar]

I think this will go on my long list of games I objectively acknowledge as terrible, but enjoy playing none the less

This pretty much sims up everything i thought about DNF.

Im still not sure wheter i should squick or squee at the hearing of another sequel though.

 

[Yureina]

I probably didn't do a good job at conveying my thoughts on this one, but my intent was something along the lines of "reviewer scores are terrible things to justify judgements with." Probably. I seem to have forgotten since I posted that. 3:30 AM and all.

I fundamentally agree with you, though the games I like tend to get really good reviews as well. :3

 

[Yureina]

Why is everyone saying that Yahtzee is going to make a scathing review of this game? He already has.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/1968-Viewers-Choice-Duke-Nukem-Forever

Final comment:

"Lets forget about thing fucking game Forever"

The weird thing is he made that review NINE MONTHS AGO when the game was "officially" cancelled yet it seems to apply (with satire) just as well all this time later.

I expected the game to be at least competent it doesn't seem to even be that.

Yahtzee made that DNF review two years ago, actually.

 

[24x7spaz]

Atleast half, if not more, of the things on this list were in the original Duke. Juvenile things like this is what made Duke 3D amusing, well that and it being a solid FPS.

Honestly if you went into Duke Nukem Forever not expecting this reviewer.....you might need to actually play Duke Nukem 3D, because you'd probably hate that game just as much.