Duke Nukem Forever
Rating:
4 Stars
Duke Nukem. Many people know the name, and many people also know at least a little bit of the story behind the making of Duke Nukem Forever, regardless of whether or not they even play video games. Stuck in developmental hell for 15 years, the impossible happened when Duke Nukem Forever was finally released to the public in June 2011. Suddenly the cool thing to do seemed to be bashing the game. Critic after critic gave it horrendous reviews, often in the range of 2-3 points out of a possible 10! Metacritic’s score for DNF sits right around 49% for any console. Despite all of this, it still had notably strong sales on release week, although they dwindled out later on that month to a mere 376,300 units. Despite the fact that Take-Two Interactive ultimately did state the game was profitable for them, the big question is, though, was the bashing justified? Or is Duke just another victim of the media?
The Fun Stuff:
Hail to the King, Baby!
What could be more fun than finally getting to play as the larger-than-life Duke Nukem? One of the most ridiculous, over-the-top action stars of all time is brought back in Duke Nukem Forever, and you get the chance to run and gun as The King. Duke has got himself an arsenal of fantasy weapons, goofy one-liners, and some awesome pop-culture references to play through the campaign with.
Freeze Ray! Freeze Ray! Freeze Ray!
Yup, that’s right, the freeze ray is back, albeit a little differently from the original, but it’s still a freaking freeze ray! The fun doesn’t stop there though. There’s the Devastator, which is a dual-chamber rapid fire rocket launcher – every man’s dream weapon! You can also get your hands on the Railgun, which is like a sniper rifle combined with the Spartan Laser from the Halo series. There are many more to list including the basics like the M1911 pistol, a shotgun, shrink ray, RPG, pipe bombs, and trip mines. No matter which weapon you pick up, you simply can’t go wrong. Just make sure you try them all out!
That’s one dead space marine…
If you love pop culture references, you’ve got a lot in store from you. Games, companies, movies… nothing’s safe from Duke Nukem. If it’s been big in the last 10 years, it’s going to get a reference in one form or another throughout the game. Without spoiling anything you’re going to see or hear, expect to catch references to Halo, Valve, and the movie Old School among many other things. The majority of the humor throughout the game comes off as groaners, however quite a few of the pop-culture references are enough to get you to laugh out loud.
We need more crates!
The longest running joke in the first-person shooter genre is the presence of crates anywhere and everywhere in every single game. Think of many mainstream shooters. Take World War III, the setting of some random faceless town already blown to bits, grab a bunch of troops, and run them through a warehouse filled with crates. They’re always there to for some cover. Now I’m not trying to say DNF doesn’t have crates… there certainly are some there, but the best thing about DNF’s setting is that it’s not rinse and repeat. One minute you’re swimming underneath a dam and the next you’re out in the desert driving a monster truck or riding in a mine-cart Donkey Kong style!
The parts that really shine through are when Duke gets shrunken down by the aliens. Now the environments have the charm of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids! but with the flavor of Duke, of course. When you were a kid, didn’t you always want to just hop into your RC car and drive it around? Well, you get that chance in DNF. You’ll also be spending time running around inside ‘Duke Burger’ while micro sized. It’s actually a surprisingly nice change of pace getting to see the world from another perspective. Make sure you look around carefully while you’re tiny Duke! At first it may seem like you’re just running past a bunch of generic condiments; but upon closer inspection, you’ll notice each one has its own little humorous description written up on the labels. There’s a lot to be found outside of the main objective when you’re shrunk.
Why So Serious?
All these war games are intense, really intense. Can’t we just lighten it up a little? Sure we can! If you’re looking to branch out from the seriousness of war, Duke Nukem Forever is the way to go. Technically you’re still a one-man army blasting your way through a war… but the tone of the entire game is a complete 180. Duke Nukem Forever knows better than to take itself seriously. If you’re looking for some foul mouth, immature, potty humor, you’ve picked up the right game. If you’ve got a sense of humor, you’re guaranteed to find something in this game that will make you laugh… just don’t expect all of it to appeal to you.
The Frustrating Stuff:
Loading… lOading… loAding… loaDing… loadIng… loadiNg… loadinG…
If you like to take frequent bathroom breaks during your video games, fear not, for you will have plenty of time to do so. The most frustrating thing about Duke Nukem Forever might just be its loading times. On average, they sit around 45 seconds for each loading screen… and you’re going to be facing multiple throughout each level. Don’t even think about dying either, because each time you’re going to have to wait the full 45 seconds again to reload everything. If you plan on playing through the harder difficulties, you might want to consider having something to do on standby to get you through the loading times.
Hey! Let’s just make them play through every difficulty at the same time!
That’s how it feels sometimes anyway. Some bosses are defeated by the simple strafe-around-in-a-circle-while-blasting-the-crap-out-of-them-with-explosives technique while at yet another point on the same difficulty you literally have to abuse the aim-assist system to pass it, and that’s just barely making it. The inconsistency of difficulties can make you really dislike this game. Most of it is a breeze and you’re just enjoying yourself as you fly through this game… and then you hit a choke point. Maybe somebody was having a bad day when they designed that part of the game, or maybe they just let their dog jump around on the keyboard for a while… whatever the reason, there’s no excuse for the Grand Canyon that sits between the easiest parts and the hardest parts in any given difficulty.
She said what?
There is such thing as too over-the-top, and DNF certainly manages to hit that point at least once in the campaign. It’s guaranteed that someone was going to take offense to this game; however, there are a few things that just seem to cross the line and can hardly be justified in the game. Luckily, these parts are easy to get through so you just have to hold your tongue and move on.
Bottom Line:
Duke Nukem Forever was surprisingly some of the most fun I’ve had with video games in a while. Although some parts almost made me want to throw the game out the window, the majority of the game was incredibly enjoyable. Deep down inside, we were all rooting for The King to make another appearance, and with 15 years of development, it’s obvious it would never meet everyone’s expectations. If you go in with an overly critical attitude, you’re going to hate it, but come in with good humor and you’ll be laughing while overlooking the slightly outdated graphics and game mechanics. Seriously, though, how could you not love a game when the loading screen says, “Remember, if you get stuck, you can always cheat by looking up FAQ’s online!”
Duke Nukem Forever was developed by 3D Realms and published by 2K Games. It was released in North America on June 14th, 2011 with an M rating from the ESRB and an MSRP of $59.99; it now sells for $39.99
