Duke Nukem Forever - Review

(The original Duke Nukem)

That's right folks.  Ranxerox was a creation that was published in Heavy Metal Adult Comics before the creation of the Duke Nukem 1.  This guy had edge and brutality that would make the Duke look like Santa Claus by comparison.  Not so much quantity of villains (like Duke) but more the brutality against even the tiniest of social infractions.   Like say for instance the guy sitting on Duke's throne would have been kicked in the ass so hard that he would have gotten airtime and needed surgery after.

Could the creators have used Ranxerox as a template...or could Duke have been made not that long after it and just happened to have the same formula for a protagonist?  Who knows but really?  Not likely for the latter. 

  

Background

In any event Duke Nukem Forever is here at long last.  I remember 'Duke Nukem 3D' coming out in '96.  It really kicked ass and chewed bubble gum.  That game was created by a passionate crew that had a vision about Duke and had some new technology at the time that was not used by anyone else.  'Technology' would be the stumbling block for the attempt to pursue a sequel.  The small team kept having their incarnation of the project become obsolete before they were halfway close to finishing. Eventually, two heavy hitters came to the aid of the Duke;  2k Games and Gearbox, and DNF got done. 

Up Front

The game starts off very fun.  Duke re-enacts the final battle from DN3D with modern embellishments.  Afterwards, pulling back from a TV screen, you see Duke was actually playing his own game.  I won't spoil what happens but there are a couple of women dressed up like school girls who finish up giving  Duke an oral report sans words.  Duke has his own casino...strip club...burger franchise... you name it.  There is even a 'Duke' musical.  A lot of the farce is still alive and well. 

The parts do not equal the whole

How can you recreate Duke that won't disapoint an audience that either remembers the impact of the old Duke or one that is a new audience that just completely doesn't get it?  Challenging to say the least.  There is heart to this game.  I'm not sorry that I bought it.  It was, however, seemingly done by a committee in it's mechanics.  I will discuss these points:

Super size the duke!  Instead of saying 'power armor is for pussies' A Duke wearing serious armor to boost his strength and protection could make a fun romp and killathon. 

Where's the damn jet pack?  It's not in the single player campaign.  Yeah...we'll throw that away along with the key cards and have these movement puzzles all over the place...you know...add the worst fucking part of Half-life.  Don't get me wrong...I'm all for juxtaposition.   The last thing I would want is to turn Duke into a cacophony of gun fight and non-stop action like 'Call of Duty'.   It's just that if I were to enjoy a little down time, I'd rather be anywhere else than to wade in shit looking for the right size barrels to throw into a hopper.  

Duke is trying to make too many people happy...and ends up making no one happy.  In the old Duke, you could choose your pace.  You could literally get the jet pack in 45 seconds and end the first level in under a minute and a half if you were so inclined...of course you would miss out on all the stuff to see and grab in between.   If you had the jet pack, you could cut corners if you were so inclined.  The beauty of it is that you wanted to see what was around the next corner. 

STOP TRYING TO IMPRESS EVERYONE   The new generation of gamers are picky to say the least.  Do not try to sacrifice fun for realism.  To a point...sure.  But you need to know that level.  It doesn't matter if Duke is carrying around 3 tons worth of weapons and ammo...if the player is enjoying himself...that is all that matters.  Enjoyment is coupled with immersion for gaming.  If you can destroy a boss with a static discharge from rubbing yourself against a carpet...you lost me.   Losing half the weapons available to you because you can only carry 2 mains is way too far the other way.   Someone wasn't really in charge of the full artistic development of the project in regard to the mechanics.  In other words, this was done by committee.  You can't have a pizza with all the toppings and have everyone who likes at least one of the toppings enjoy the entire pizza (all committees do this) rather you should pick the toppings that work well together and reflect the main aspect of the game.  Which leads me to my next point.

Aspect to the game.   What are you trying to do?  Do you want a movement puzzle game like Halflife or a free flowing fly around on the jetpack game?  Well...lets think about this.  IT'S DUKE FFS!!!

Do you want a 'Design combination' 2 weapon slot type game that would keep things interesting in Multiplayer because not everyone can have all weapons...or...Do you want everyone to be able to carry all the weapons and plenty of ammo?  Well you don't start with Prepackaged combinations of weapons (like you would in Team Fortress) and it makes sense.  It's not an army game and there is no sandbox to set up an attack strategy in the single player game.  In 3D you had options.   People liked having options.  You can't plan an attack strategy not knowing what is going to happen next.  You end up picking the 'Safe' weapons and not having as much fun.  I found that one out walking into a fight with a couple of Assault Commanders with a fucking shrink ray (as it turns out, it's hard to squish something under your feet that, even shrunk, is bigger than you and is flying over your head...funny about that). 

Do you want a visually interesting game or do you want a game that is grey, dark and spooky.  I'd say that when you go 'Dark and Spooky' go 'Seriously Dark and Spooky'.  Step the fuck up to the plate.  I don't want any more of this bullshit where I have to constantly switch between night vision and standard vision wondering which one sucks less.  Some games use darkness as a means to enhance intensity.  The plot or intensity of the characters tends to enhance this effect.   Slapping wall tits isn't exactly one of those things that enhances intensity...and I'd rather be slapping wall tits than being all serious and spooky all the time...once again:  IT'S DUKE FFS!!! 

Bubbles in Swimming to catch my breath?  Ok...obviously (and hopefully) sarcasm pointed at any stupid game where you stand on a vent blowing out air bubbles to breath underwater (Sonic the Hedgehog).   Or at least I hope so.  This serves a second purpose in the fact that it guides a player to his destinations. 

What did I like?  The Ego as a shield and being able to build that up.  I loved the strip club in the middle of it.  The fetch quest was completely tongue in cheek.  I liked the fact that Duke kept having fun with pop culture references and satires.  At the end he satired 'Call of Duty Modern Warfare'.   I liked the cheesy one-liners...in moderation.   The enemies were mostly tough and you didn't have to flood the area with them to make it a challenge.  To be honest...I liked the T'nA.  I liked the bling and materialism and the interaction with other people was a step in the right direction as well.

I would normally give this game a  6 out of 10 but the Duke factor takes it to a 7.  Well that and I'm a big fan of satirical humor.