Topic: THE WORLD IS ENDING 14 JUNE 2011. (*DNF DNF DNF*)

[Layabout]

Its pretty awful. There are some genuinely good moments there, but the game just feels stale and uninspired.

Loading times on both 360 and ps3 are atrocious. I hear PC is pretty quick.

But it's a Duke Nukem game, after Duke 3d, you expect it to be full of dick and tit jokes. Too bad BULLETSTORM did that kind of humour so much better 6 months ago.

So if you want a Duke Nukem game, just go buy Bulletstorm.

[SpacePirateCaine]

It would be great if I could have gotten my First Access Club code so I could actually try the demo. Unfortunately, 2K are restricting demo access to some countries (Japan, in my case) so I either have to wait until sometime next month to actually get my code, or buy the game imported on good faith and realize that the First Access Club was basically completely pointless.

Region restrictions really annoy me to no end. I've dealt with publisher licensing agreements before - if there was any announced partnership with a Japanese publisher to get DNF here in Japan, I'd be a little more understanding; but since 2K has their own publishing arm here in Japan, there's absolutely no reason that they shouldn't be able to release it to us. Sad thing is, I'm hearing mostly negative feedback on the game, but I want to give it the benefit of the doubt. I loved Borderlands, but Gearbox/2K are kinda rubbing me the wrong way with this one. I thought they were better than EA on this kind of effed up international policy.

[monkey_05_06]

"But SpacePirate," echoed the cry far and wide, "'effed up international policy' is the best way of running a successful business!"

[InCreator]

[SpacePirateCaine]

Blood was sweet. And to be honest, I hardly played the original Duke Nukem 3D (Played the 2D platformers a bit way back when) - I skipped a lot of the peripherary FPSes, like Hexen and Redneck Rampage and basically just stuck to id FPSes - Doom, Doom II, Quake, up until around the time when they dropped single player altogether.

Got a huge kick out of Outlaws though. Now that was a great FPS. Sure, it's essentially the swan song of Lucasarts' original IPs before they decided that all they ever need are Star Wars games, but I don't let what it heralded get in the way of what it was.

[WHAM]

I expected a new Duke Nukem game, and I got a new Duke Nukem game. It's crude, was released too late, could have looked better, has low-end macho humor, and is incerdibly sexist in the way only Duke can create.

I love it! The gameplay is lacking and slightly sub-par compared to other modern games, but then again, Duke Nukem 3D's gameplay, and graphics, were lacking and sub-par when it was released and the game was still F****n awesome. I give it a "F*** yeah" out of ten.

[ThreeOhFour]

Got a huge kick out of Outlaws though. Now that was a great FPS. Sure, it's essentially the swan song of Lucasarts' original IPs before they decided that all they ever need are Star Wars games, but I don't let what it heralded get in the way of what it was.

Outlaws was lovely. Beautiful animation in those cutscenes and beautiful soundtrack.

[LimpingFish]

I bought DNF on Friday, but I only booted it up last night.

The fact the it opens with the "It's time to chew bubblegum..." line, as though this is Duke's legacy to gaming, and not, as it originally was, a line lifted from a movie, just rubbed me the wrong way. If Duke is such an iconic character, why does he have to rely on stolen one-liners? Even "Groovy!" isn't a Duke original.

As a game, and I've only played as much as I've gathered was in the demo, it seems fine. Dated, but fine.

The PC version is lacking somewhat in the configuration stakes (visual options are quite limited, and apparently the config file is off-limits), though, and the mouse control is a bit old-school.

[Ascovel]

Duke Nukem 3D's gameplay, and graphics, were lacking and sub-par when it was released

I have no idea what you mean - that's completely the opposite of how the game was received back in 1996. It was Quake - released a few months later - that many considered lacking in comparison - more advanced technically at the price of being brown, ugly and dull.

[monkey_05_06]

I realize this is off-topic, but what the hell, it's my topic and I'll do what I want!

Besides, that's more consideration than some of you gave.. :o

Outlaws was actually quite brilliant despite my utter loathing of all things that fall under the Western/cowboy/redneck/hillbilly/Chuck-Norris-lover/white-trash category. I'm a bit embittered still by the attitude of about 500+ high school aged students that fall under this category making my high school years completely miserable. But hey, who's counting.

My mom still has the Outlaws CDs I believe, unless I snatched them last I was over there, in which case they're lost in the national disaster area known as my room (moving 7 times in the last 3 years might have something to do with it, or it might just be an excuse ).

Anyway, I probably won't be playing DNF any time soon given my present financial situation, which leaves buying games pretty low on the priority list. But I'm reading some mixed reviews here, so I'd probably be willing to give it a fair chance myself just to see what they've come up with after all this time.

[WHAM]

It was Quake - released a few months later - that many considered lacking in comparison - more advanced technically at the price of being brown, ugly and dull.

Technically Quake was far more advanced than Duke Nukem, with actual 3D instead of the faux 3D Duke's engine was producing. 3D character models instead of 2D sprites, while less pleasing to the eye, was far more smooth in comparison. Even with all the brown, Quake was exhilarating and exciting in an all-new way, and was superior in many ways. The only main difference was in the attitude of the games, with a more serious, broody horror setting of Quake catering to a whilly different audience than Duke 3D's "pig-cops, explosions and pixellated titties" -approach.

It's the same thing as today: Duke Forever, when compared to other modern games, has an interactive and detailed world, is silly, macho, technically at a disadvantage and is hard to take seriously. The only reason it will never be such a cult classic and a success as its predecessor, is due to the changed attitudes of modern day gamers.

I stand by my earlier fanboy statement: "Hail to the king, baby! This rocks!" *plays the old Duke 3D menu theme music on the speakers for the umpteenth time today and starts playing Duke Forever*

I hope we're still close enough to the original topic...  Sorry monkE3y_05_06

[Ponch]

Even with all the brown, Quake was exhilarating and exciting in an all-new way, and was superior in many ways...

While Quake had a better 3D engine, Duke 3D had much, MUCH better game play, in my opinion. Prior to Duke, shooters relied on the same set of weapons. Pistol, Shotgun, Machine Gun, Super Big Gun.

Duke really changed all that. The laser trip mines, the remote detonated bombs, the shrinker, the freezer, the steroids that made you blazing fast, the medkits you could carry around with you. Holy cow, I remember playing so many Duke Matches back in the day. That game changed the way online fragging was done! It's kind of taken for granted now, but back then it was next level stuff!

Don't get me wrong, I loved Quake too. But most of the fun of that game came from the user community. (Anyone here remember Quake Kart?) The game itself wasn't that impressive once I got past the novelty of true 3d. It was just so uninspired. The weapons: Shotgun. Super Shotgun. Nail Gun. Super Nail Gun. Explosive Launcher. Super Explosive Launcher. The bad guys suffered from the same problem. Zombie Marine. Super Zombie Marine. Death Knight. Super Death Knight. Etc. Etc.

Duke has fallen a long way from his glory days, but at the time that game blew me away and raised my expectations for what I wanted from future games in much the same way Half Life and later Portal would do.

Lastly, I'll be buying Duke Nukem Forever next pay day. Even if it sucks, I'll have my own copy of gaming vaporware history!

(Also, I LOVED Outlaws. I even had the mission pack! What a great game!)

[Snarky]

Yeah, from what I remember at the time, the response to Quake was "Nice 3D engine." The response to Duke 3D was "Awesome game!" The graphics were not as technically advanced, but they had way more detail, variety and color than Quake's generic brown corridors. There were city blocks, building interiors (with real decor), sewers, mountains, deserts, a space station, alien bio-environments, and dozens of specific movie references and other one-offs and jokes. And it was all interactive! (Or at least it seemed like it.) Shooting left bullet holes, windows and mirrors would break, palm trees would catch fire, machines, toilets and pool tables could be used or broken (did the game even include functioning arcade machines, or am I mixing that up with DOTT?), and you could blow holes in walls to find secret entrances, tunnels and short-cuts. The first or second level even has you demolishing a whole skyscraper!

So no, neither the graphics nor the gameplay were "sub-par" when the game was released. The engine wasn't bleeding-edge the way Quake's was, but the rest of it was first-rate, even discounting the toilet humor and the strippers.

[InCreator]

The most important thing that Quake did for gaming was NOT fully 3D world.
Quake came in 1996, and before it we already did have full mainstream 3D fps, it was called Descent.

What puts Quake into history is introducing proper mouse + keyboard control into fps games. All other games did it in some own, non-functional way, even Descent. Well, either Quake or Cyclones, I wouldn't bet money on what I just said. But Quake is the one that teached me to use mouse in fps-es... and boy it felt weird at the beginning, I thought it's dumb and will never get popular. Until Half-Life in 1998 carved it into stone...

[kconan]

  Duke Nukem Forever is as I expected it would be...Which is a linear, subpar shooter loaded with scripted moments and minigames.  The comedy was hit and miss, and the nostalgia moments were as well.  Some of the boss fights are a blast, and others monotonous and boring.  It's fun in parts, and would be a better game if the platform puzzles were replaced with more blasting pigcops.  Basically...just as I was about to quit, something fun would happen to string me along.  It is the most uneven gaming experience I've had in many years, and I mean "uneven" in a variety of arenas: graphics (some things look great, others crap), gameplay (its like ADD with all the minigames), and overall fun.

  My main complaint is FAKE DOORS.  Every time I went up to a door that didn't open I mentally punched a Duke Nukem designer/programmer in the face.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I was never much on the fps games of the time but I sure as hell did enjoy Duke Nukem 3D.  I think it's the combination of memorable quotes from movies, 'the boot', and the completely out there combination of enemies and hot chicks that kept me playing.  I should be receiving the game today so I suspect that as long as it delivers these things I'll still find it an entertaining experience.

[Paper Carnival]

I never actually had a lot of fun with Duke Nukem 3d.

I liked the design of the levels and stuff like that, but the actual battle wasn't fun. I don't know how to describe it exactly, but it wasn't as challenging and rewarding as Quake. In D3d if felt like the enemies were just there to fill space. Evading enemy projectiles or the enemies themselves, how they reacted to your ammunition etc worked much better in Quake, which has much better action.

As for DNF...
I tried it out, and I didn't like it. I wasn't even prepared to not like it, I lowered my standards to a realistic level and I still expected more. The battle is just crappy and boring. Maybe I'll play a bit more and see if it gets better.

Also, maybe it's just me, but a lot of the interactivity that comes in games like this (such as being able to pick up poo and throw it around) is totally unnecessary and gimmicky when it doesn't add anything to the gameplay.

Edit:

I finished it today. The problem with the game is not that over 12 years of development are unjustified, but because it's, at best, a mediocre gameplay experience. There weren't any memorable moments... Winning fights wasn't satisfying and the fights themselves were repetitive and challenge-less. Well, I admit I did have fun eventually. I even chuckled at a few jokes .

I've not seen this in any review I've read, but I have noticed elements of conflicted design. The whole thing about recharging health seems to have been added much later in the development. For example, in some levels there were things like electricity jumping that you had to time to pass through... Getting hit by electricity costed health, sure, but why should I care if I'm still going to recharge? Note that there weren't any enemies whenever you had to go through things like this. These kinds of damaging obstacles were boring because they were there just to be there.

Being able to carry only two weapons is more annoying than I thought, but most of the time I was carrying the shotgun and the ripper because they are the only weapons you actually need in this game (aside from the RPG/Devastator which are the only weapons that can be used against bosses). But you rarely get a chance with the shrinker  or the freeze ray.  The fact that I couldn't save up the 10 shrink bullets for later because I could only carry 2 weapons made the weapon seem like it was there just for nostalgia value. Same goes for the freeze ray. It actually recharges but it's too short and depletes too early for large fights, so it's actually quite useless.

I did find the shrink parts interesting. It was probably the only unique thing about the game, even though it also existed in D3d. Fighting behind cans and sauce jars or using toasters as a means to jump and reach a high shelf made me wish the whole game was like that.

To sum up, the game felt rushed (!) and that it wanted to be much bigger. It's lacking what the developers themselves actually wanted, but they wrapped it up in a lesser package and shipped it away. However, it does provide some fun and it's worth playing just for nostalgia and curiosity.