Why Duke Nukem Forever Was Alright.

[RJ 17]

I bet this topic will get as many views as the game had sales. Hey-oooooooooh!

Anyways, just got done watching The Hour of Love video. At one point the panelists are told to say something nice about DNF and Jim starts talking about how at least Gearbox was willing to stand proudly by their bullshit. While this does echo a quote one of my writing professors in college said ("Most of all writing is nothing but bullshit, what matters is having the right kind of bullshit"), it also actually points to why I think DNF was a decent game, one whose bullshit Gearbox could stand beside proudly.

Quite simply: it was another Duke Nukem game.

I mean seriously, what was everyone expecting? A genre-smashing, mind-blowing, awe-inspiring game that was going to show how every moment of the decade+ developement was flawlessly spent in ensuring that DNF would be the greatest masterpiece ever seen? Or were you expecting another Duke Nukem game? Did you imagine that we'd get the game Yahtzee describes in his fake review of the game (i.e. the one before the game actually came out)? Or were you expecting a game about a chauvinistic macho-man spouting corny one-liners and slapping a big ol' set of tits on the wall?

We're talking about the sequel to a game that most remember because if you hit spacebar on a stripper she'll show her boobs.

My argument is that DNF was exactly what I expected it to be: another Duke Nukem game. Now, I'm not saying it was fantastic, I'm just saying that as far as my expectations were concerned, I had a good idea of what I was in for considering I was about to play a Duke Nukem game, and sure enough the game delivered.

It just seems to me that a lot of people had way too high of hopes for the game. I can only assume this came with the decade+ developement time, but even so: it was STILL going to be a game about a chauvinistic macho-man spouting corny one-liners and slapping a big ol' set of tits on the wall. Yeah the story sucks. When was Duke Nukem known for good writing? Gameplay was more or less the same as any shooter about an alien invasion. Graphics were up to par with the current generation.

Really, other than people expecting way more than they should have for a Duke Nukem game, I don't see where the room to complain is. As such, I submit that DNF really was alright. Granted I rented it because I was certain it wasn't worth buying and it proved me correct. BUT! For the brief period of time that I had it, I enjoyed it for what it was: another Duke frickin' Nukem game.

 

[Gorilla Gunk]

But after 10+ years of development time it should have been more than just "another Duke Nukem game" and that's why it sucked.

 

[RJ 17]

But after 10+ years of development time it should have been more than just "another Duke Nukem game" and that's why it sucked.

And I'd argue that if it were anything more than just another Duke Nukem game then it wouldn't BE a Duke Nukem game.

We're talking about a game whose predecessor is based off poop jokes and pixilated breasts...what did you want from DNF? Political humor and...well..better quality breasts? Because at least one of those was delivered.

 

[DJ_DEnM]

The only thing I liked about it was the trailer's music: Invaders Must Die by The Prodigy. Other than that I loathed the game's story, gameplay, etc. from the get-go. Never have wanted to buy that game, and I doubt I ever will. Even if it's some free Gamestop offer for buying another game. I'll just leave it on the counter.

 

[Gorilla Gunk]

what did you want from DNF?

A good game that wasn't a buggy, festering pile of ass.

These "Hey guys! DNF wasn't really a bad game! You just didn't understand it!" threads that pop up every now and then are boring and tiresome.

 

[RJ 17]

what did you want from DNF?

A good game that wasn't a buggy, festering pile of ass.

These "Hey guys! DNF wasn't really a bad game! You just didn't understand it!" threads that pop up every now and then are boring and tiresome.

I'm not saying that people didn't understand it. God, I'd certainly have to hope that was the case. Nor am I saying it wasn't a bad game, as I've thought that every Dukem Nukem wasn't that great to begin with. I'm just saying it seems that people expected much more from it than they should have. It was a problem of standards being too high, not a lack of understanding.

 

[CAPTCHA]

Well I thought Duke3D was the worst of the best shooters of its day (and I hated all the other Duke games), so I didn't hold any real notion that DNF would be a return to form, as it had none in the first place. But DNF is just an old stale pizza slice that Gearbox decide to throw in the microwave for a cheap lunch.

 

[daveman247]

I'm not saying that people didn't understand it. God, I'd certainly have to hope that was the case. Nor am I saying it wasn't a bad game, as I've thought that every Dukem Nukem wasn't that great to begin with. I'm just saying it seems that people expected much more from it than they should have. It was a problem of standards being too high, not a lack of understanding.

I think the game was gonna get shat on no matter what happened. Even if the game was quite good it would have still been shat on because it wouldnt have justified the time it took to make. I don't think anything could justifiy 15 years...

Yeah, i think people were expecting some kind of messiah-like game XD


im still hopeful though, randy pitchford said he would still love to make another duke game. One built from the start by them i bet would be something.

 

[Timzilla]

I bet this topic will get as many views as the game had sales. Hey-oooooooooh!

Ironically, wasn't DNF a commercial success?

But yeah, no matter what 3D Relms/Gearbox released, it would not have been received well. I think we can all agree that. Nothing would have been worth the time it took, and all critics were just waiting to tear that game apart.

 

[RJ 17]

I bet this topic will get as many views as the game had sales. Hey-oooooooooh!

Ironically, wasn't DNF a commercial success?

But yeah, no matter what 3D Relms/Gearbox released, it would not have been received well. I think we can all agree that. Nothing would have been worth the time it took, and all critics were just waiting to tear that game apart.

Did it? I admit I haven't seen any specific numbers but I thought I had heard it more or less bombed since the players of today were far too mature for a game about gratuitous sex and violence...and grabbing dookie out of a toilet just to get an achievement.

 

[distortedreality]

My only gripe with DNF was the gunplay - it wasn't that it felt dated, it just felt shit IMO. Everything else was pretty much what I was expecting, but the gameplay just didn't hold up for me.

 

[DustyDrB]

Are you on a "This game isn't as bad as you guys said" kick? If so, can you do Alpha Protocol next?

 

[Stavros Dimou]

The fact that disappointed me was that it didn't played as Duke Nukem 3D,but instead it was a Halo clone. No healthpacks, no secret areas, no maze-like levels,no exploration,no keycards,no jetpacks,no scuba gear,no this,no that... I wanted to play a game with the original Duke gameplay formula,not a Halo clone.

Still the game had many faults,with the most obvious being that there was no good communication,organization,management across the team. It was like gameplay designers and level designers worked with each team of professionals working on different buildings thinking they where making different games. For a FPS with regenerating health you would except more cover points than the bare the level design provides,which results in many frustrating unfair player deaths. Another result of this mess was that once I exited a level with 2 weapons and these weren't the appropriate to fight the enemies of the next level,so I had to load an old save of the level I had already completed,just so I can exit it with the appropriate weapons for the next level. It was like the level designer thought that Duke could carry all guns with him without ever knowing there was a limit on how many guns you can carry.
That broke the game,and placed the nails on its coffin.

 

[Lazy]

If it really was just another Duke Nukem game, you'd have had a proper health meter, multiple weapon slots and a series of large, non-linear levels full of bad guys to shoot your way through. Instead, you got a third-rate Halo knock-off that's way too pleased with itself.

I was never a fan of the franchise, but it's not hard to see how someone who was would be let down, regardless of the long wait. DNF wasn't a good game, and it definitely wasn't a good sequel.

 

[distortedreality]

Are you on a "This game isn't as bad as you guys said" kick? If so, can you do Alpha Protocol next?

But AP was actually good .

 

[DustyDrB]

Are you on a "This game isn't as bad as you guys said" kick? If so, can you do Alpha Protocol next?

But AP was actually good .

Yep. It was.
Also, I'm gonna say it was good again because low-content post stuff apparently doesn't count when you're being redundant.

 

[Triforceformer]

My problem with the game was the health regeneration and 2-weapon system. Sure they're not necessarily bad, but they're boring. There's little strategy in combat when the game just gives you a weapon it hard balanced to be the one for that section, as well as little strategy to sucking your thumb for five seconds to get your health back.

Contrast it to the DNF of mods, in terms of expected Dev time to actual dev time, Black Mesa. It doesn't just give you ammo for whatever it wants you to use, it gives you a little of everything and lets you use decide what in your sizable arsenal is best for the situation. You have to be the one to decide how you're going to fight. If you're hiding behind a wall in Black Mesa, it's because you're trying to hide and conserve health so you can survive; you're not hiding to get it back.

I'd have also preferred they put a little more effort into the story; I see some good ideas in what's there, but they never bother to try and go beyond "Duke does this because this happened." It all makes sense and has good pacing, both in terms of gameplay and actual escalation of events, but there's no real dialogue with other characters. Duke simply does. I'm not asking for Mass Effect dialogue trees with moral choice systems, but have a little more character interaction and make Duke talk to people.

It was alright though. Enjoyed it on a relatively similar level to most other games I've played. 7/10, would play again but already did.

 

[Zhukov]

The "you just had high hopes" argument is rubbish.

I wasn't expecting a masterpiece. However, I was hoping I would at least not be bored shitless for the duration.

It was so dull I couldn't even derive the "Hurr hurr, this is sooo dumb" kind of amusement from it.

 

[Nieroshai]

Objectively, it didn't suck, it just wasn't great. Most gamers, however, judge a game by its hype. I, for example, was VERY stoked about Dante's Inferno. I was not only disappointed but crushed. I was afraid to have the same hope for Dead Space 2 because of this, but I think DS2 was actually worth its (only barely) controversial hype. I didn't care much about the DNF hype, so I was able to play it as a shooter featuring a musclebound pig (fighting literal musclebound pigs lol) instead of hoping it would be worth 10 years of production. I play a lot of games that would be called mediocre just because of graphics or anachronistic gameplay, and still have tons of fun. My favorite shooter to date is Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2, an old-as-dirt shooter from the mid-nineties with multiple endings and Force powers.