|
Well, as mentioned in the game a few times; Duke Nukem Forever was a long time coming...
Was it worth the wait? Almost definitely not. But, before you stop reading… What would be after such a long time?
I think the question that should be asked ‘Is it a good game?’ The answer being; Yeah, kind-of.
Anyone who knows the history of the entire development period (all 14 years of it, I think?) knows that it wasn't because the game was being refined. It was mostly rebuilding on different engines, legal and financial issues etc.
The game reflects it a little in a sense that it feels like it was slapped together and rushed out to earn a quick buck.
Don't get me wrong it is a reasonable 'classic' shooter, but as a quick summary the levels are extremely short, there's not a lot of anti-aliasing, load times are quite long (and very often), the mini-games are un-refined and the story is un-inspiring.
When I started playing, I was looking at the game as I would with most modern shooters, playing it carefully and strategically. The result being that I wasn't enjoying it for quite a few levels. However, as I got to about the half-way point it started to sink in that the game has been made to play like Duke Nukem 3D. IE: Go in gung-ho and you'll enjoy it (and mostly do well). The downside to this strategy is that you might die a few times. Every time you do, you have a 30 second to 1 minute loading time to get back into the game, which is agonizing. Especially if you're in a Boss-fight and it's the 10th+ time you've died.
By the time I finished the game and went back to previous levels for a few final collectables I'd missed, I was enjoying it and was a little disappointed the game wasn’t longer. I was playing on the hardest difficulty (that you can play from the start - not insane) and I think that if the Boss-fights and semi-boss fights were easier I probably would have gotten through it inside of 5-8hours. Because of some scenes being a complete pain in the butt, I probably spent about 8-10hours finishing it up.
Obviously the graphics are improved, but they aren’t anything revolutionary; in fact they’re very average. It's fun if you've played previous Duke Nukem games, with the same kind of attitude as before. The jokes are still there as well, with Duke ripping out casual puns on just about everthing including modern games, eg: there is Halo, Gears of War, Borderlands, Valve games, as well as a few movies etc. I chuckled at a few and smiled at most.
The 'adult' portion of the game (I won’t spoil the details for anyone – also I am not sure the forums are rated for the details), ie: the Hive levels - I actually found to be a little disturbing. Could just be me though. See the “I Need a Towel” Achievement description for some hint/details to a part of these levels. It wasn’t bad, just had me cringing a bit.
I find it hard to give it a score out of 10.. So I’ll just say if you liked Duke Nukem 3D, can endure long load screens and have nothing better to play, you’ll probably like Duke Nukem Forever. Just don’t expect it to be the best game ever (or 'for-ever' ??).
Ps – I didn’t touch the multiplayer element of the game. Not something that interested me.
_________________
|
