Duke Nukem Forever

Players: 1 Player Offline, Unknown Online Players
Publisher: 2K Games
Genres: First-person Shooter
Release Date: June 14, 2011
Developer: Gearbox Software
MSRP: $59.99
Platforms:
Put on your shades and prepare to step into the boots of Duke Nukem, whose legend has reached epic proportions in the years since his last adventure. The alien hordes are invading and only Duke can save the world. Pig cops, alien shrink rays and enormous alien bosses can't stop our hero from accomplishing his goal: to save the world, save the babes and to be a bad-ass while doing it.The King arrives with an arsenal of over-the-top weapons, non-stop action, and unprecedented levels of interactivity. This game puts the pedal to the metal and tongue firmly in cheek. Shoot hoops, lift weights, play pool, draw crude messages on whiteboards or check out the babes that occupy Duke's life - that is if you can pull yourself away from destroying alien invaders. With hours and hours of over-the-top single player action, and a range of bodacious multiplayer modes, rest assured knowing the fun will last.


Handsome Tom and Camera Man Joe walk through the new Duke Nukem Forever Demo. Are you ready to get some?

See more at www.TheGameHeroes.com
Duke Nukem Demo , 2.3 out of 5 based on 62 ratings

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  (62 votes, average 2.3 out of 5)

Duke Nukem Boobs Trailer Trash

Yep, we know that everyone has to wait again for Duke.....assholes... but they gave us this trailer full of boobies and we also show the funny vid they did for the announcement of the date being pushed back.

Duke Nukem Forever First Impressions

Duke Nukem Forever is FINALLY being released in a little over a Week. So what can we learn from the Demo?

Duke Nukem Demo

Handsome Tom and Camera Man Joe walk through the new Duke Nukem Forever Demo. Are you ready to get some?

Duke Nukem is AWESOME! ...but his game is AWFUL!

We went into this episode with a LOT of bias. Bias that was in FAVOR of the Duke Nukem Forever. Watch as our excitement turns into confusion then to anger, and finally depression. This is a sad day for gaming, and the possible end of Duke Nukem... forever.

Sage Reviews: Duke Nukem Forever

Only Duke Nukem can be in a game so underwhelming, and still be so cool.

Duke Nukem Forever Angry Review

After many delays, rewrites, and graphical upgrades Angry Joe finally releases his review for Duke Nukem Forever. Should you always bet on Duke?

Duke Nukem Sketch Master

Orlando gives us this week's Duke Nukem and Babes!
  1. June 05, 2011 at 09:12am
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    In my opinion this demo should’ve come out a month ago and available for all, and non of this “first access” crap. Gamestop pre-order or Borderlands GOTY give the code, no Gamestop where I live and couldn’t give a flying monkey butt about Borderlands, so no demo for me :(

    I just get the feeling that having the demo available to select people is just gonna hurt sales, since demos are a pretty big factor when it comes to buying games.

    Though this rant is pretty meh, since I already pre-ordered the game and live in Europe, so only 5 more days until I can kick ass and chew bubblegum ( though the gum is nonexistent :P )

  2. June 05, 2011 at 12:24am
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    Objection: Serious Sam is not a rip off. While Sam’s original look was ripped off of Duke, by the second installment he had a new look with black hair and a white shirt. His personality is 4th wall parody rather than Duke’s self referential/immature/ego parody. Also, Sam’s gameplay is [walk into room, pick up ammo, kill 100 enemies] while Duke Nukem 3d is [find key, kill 3-4 enemies in a room, interact with environment.]

  3. June 04, 2011 at 08:39pm
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    After 12 years of being the butt end of hundreds if not thousands of jokes, Duke Nukem Forever is finally coming out. The Demo went live today on Xbox Live, steam and PSN, which went back online just yesterday. I had my access pass from Borderlands Game of the Year Edition, and after playing it… I was not impressed.

    You may think it’s unfair to pick on a game that isn’t even out yet, but with such a long development cycle and with release just around the corner, I highly doubt the demo will be significantly different from the actual game. The only way it varies is in length and number of features, but the core gameplay elements are all more or less here. Besides, game demos exist to present a taste of what the full game is like. You are SUPPOSED to judge the full game based on the demo so you can decide whether or not you want to buy it.

    First of all, the game is funny. Anybody who’s a fan of Duke will get most of the in-jokes, like his monster truck being called the Mighty Foot, and the white Ford Bronco hidden in the desert. His attitude hasn’t changed in 12 years, so I have no idea why it should start now. Kudos to the developers for playing up his overwhelming machismo while understanding that he was always designed as a one-dimensional satire. Duke is fully willing to make fun of other FPSes like Half Life and Halo, which is ironic given how much he seems to have stolen from the latter.

    By playing up the aspect of Duke’s insufferable ego, this manifests itself in game as a regenerating shield. If you begin taking damage, you can simply hide behind a rock or cover until your health completely refills. This means a completely different gameplay experience from the original games of the genre, where damage was permanent until you found a health kit. While it seems to fit the Duke Nukem tough guy character more than the permanent mortality of earlier games, it results in doing nothing to make the game unique.

    Another aspect stripped directly from Halo and other modern shooters is Duke’s ability to only carry 2 weapons at a time, which really feels incredibly limiting. Duke has always been portrayed as more than human, and in fact more than a man. If anyone should be able to carry a pistol, shotgun, shrink ray, freeze ray, rail gun, chaingun, RPG and dual shoulder-mounted rocket launchers, as well as ammo for all of them, it’s going to be Duke f***ing Nukem!

    Also, from a purely aesthetic standpoint, the game looks very underwhelming. The graphics are okay, but coming from Gearbox, the same company that made the gorgeous Borderlands, Everything really stands out. Level geometry is jarringly low poly in areas, shrubs and plants actually stretch as you get close to them, and certain polygons look painfully unfinished. Enemy gibs are uninspired and clunky, with the game doing nothing to hide the fact that the character models are simply deleted from the game and a particle explosion is put in its place.

    After so many years, there is no WAY Duke Nukem Forever can live up to the hype of its development time. But the least we could expect is a competent shooter with enjoyable one-liners from every gamer’s favorite man’s man. In that respect, I suppose Duke Nukem Forever will end up delivering when the full game comes out. Gearbox Software seems to be capitalizing purely on the hype. Simply due to the buzz and talk about this game, it’s almost a given that it’s going to sell well. They have had 12 entire years of free publicity. But in a sea of shooters where you either die in a single firefight, or survive to have your entire health bar recharged, Duke Nukem Forever does nothing different. Gearbox could have taken risks and made this game a throwback to classic FPS games that the original fans fell in love with, or given us something that was truly unique and worth the hype. Instead, they seem to have taken their free publicity as a sign they can be lazy and give us something that will just be the bare minimum to placate the fans. While much of this is also the fault of the now defunct 3D Realms, when Gearbox took up the mantle and decided to finish the game, they have to understand the burden is now on their shoulders. It plays just like every modern shooter with the unique distinction of being a Duke Nukem game, and as much as I love the guy, that’s not enough to sell me on it. I won’t be standing in line first day to purchase the full game.

    • June 19, 2011 at 01:34am
      In response to TestZero
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      Sorry what? I cant see over this wall of text.

      This is a game everyone will need to at least TRY.

  4. June 04, 2011 at 06:38pm
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    for the people saying it looks bad if u play it on PS3/PC it look so much better it will take your air away

  5. June 04, 2011 at 02:06pm
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    Well, if anything, then all of this has reminded me that I never finished “Land of the Babes” :P

  6. June 04, 2011 at 01:00pm
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    You guys really need to fix the ghosting on your next video. This screams amateur. I know you’re better than that.

  7. June 04, 2011 at 10:54am
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    I just had to create an account to comment on this.

    This demo is one of the most bland demo’s I’ve seen. Graphics aren’t much either.
    If this is the way the game is gonna be, I’d stick to my serious sam.

    But I don’t know if this video was supposed to be a joke, because you did not say anything negative about it much.
    I really loved the part where you say ”that was the demo? that was…” and then you pause and change the topic.

    Just because the developement has taken a long time is not a reason to buy the game. Or the nostalgia. AND yes I have played the older ones. I just don’t see why this game would be worth it or more enjoyable than other similar games like this that have came out before this.
    + I did not expect a full prize game.

    If I said something offensive about you guys, I didn’t mean it. But still CRITICISE the demo a bit.

    • June 04, 2011 at 05:08pm
      In response to ileko
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      After watching this Let’s Play, I definitely have to say that playing the demo for yourself is much more gratifying than watching somebody else play it. Some things were lost in translation, such as much of the music and sound was watered down since Tom and Joe were talking over it, etc. If anything, find a way to play the demo for yourself before determining if this is a must-buy, or must-ignore.

  8. June 04, 2011 at 08:46am
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    eeeesh, it just doesn’t look very good at all. I’m aware of the old Duke games, but I never grew up with them or anything so it obviously isn’t meant for me, but can a game afford to have so narrow a focus in this day and age? It’s all well and good expecting the old school fans to forgive the shoddy graphics, poor animation and the like but what about everyone else who will simply see a sub-standard game?
    At least it looks nicely varied, but the movement and controls looked pretty clunky – though that could just be the guys playing the demo – and nothing ruins a game faster for me than shoddy controls.
    It’s the very definition of a rental I think. A decade ago, what this game offers might have been enough, in this day and age it just doesn’t quite pass muster without a heavy dollop of nostalgia to paper over the cracks.

  9. June 04, 2011 at 06:43am
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    I won a money bet long ago that this game would come out. I’m disappointed in the bland color scheme & it’s not as funny as Serious Sam 2.

  10. June 04, 2011 at 05:54am
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    Looks like rather basic FPS game.

  11. June 04, 2011 at 04:46am
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    in any case, with Duke Nukem Forever..its like, I expected something much more from the gameplay itself…idk like they’d do somehting really fun for the gameplay sense the humor is so funny but it just seems so…bland.

  12. June 04, 2011 at 04:40am
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    It has a very funny sense of humor that I really love, and I have my own Nostlagia for Duke Nukem (Zero Hour on the N64 anyone?) but gameplay wise..it seems like a run-of-the-mill shooter. Nothing special and I can’t see myself buying it, which is a shame because I let the hype for this game get to me and somehow I was expecting something more.

  13. June 04, 2011 at 04:11am
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    I just got done playing the demo. I am very happy with it. This game isn’t meant to be mind blowing with the fanciest technology. This is suppose to play like the original Duke Nukem 3D, but on a newer generation of consoles and PCs. Did it succeed in that? Oh yes, yes it did. The humor was there, The simplistic “Run and gun” gameplay was there. Its Duke, what more can you say?
    If you are expecting a detailed, over the top complex shooter, then this is not it. If you never played a Duke game before, stay away.
    My only issue is what other people said. The 2 gun limitation is very annoying, however I was able to look past it with out a care.

  14. June 04, 2011 at 03:56am
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    I played the demo on the PC, and as several people have said, the 2 gun limit is irritating. Part of the fun in Duke 3D was choosing which weapon to use in a given situation from a varied arsenal that was available at all times once you found them. It feels limiting playing through the desert area going “Ooh shotgun (drop), ooh chaingun (drop), ooh RPG (drop)…” As was demonstrated in the video, if you don’t limit yourself to one close range and one distance weapon, you can end up without a useful weapon in a close quarters scenario. It should at least be 2 guns + a pistol.

    The other thing that is concerning is that this seems to be the exact same demo that has been shown off and was playable at PAX. This begs the question, “Why wait until now to give it to the pre-orders?”. It could be because they had to polish a few things, but I was hoping that those who “bet on Duke” would get something, well… new.

    Guess we will just have to wait and see.

  15. June 04, 2011 at 01:42am
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    I don’t care what anybody says in this website. I AM ACTUALLY GLAD THIS GAME IS GOING TO EXIST! Let me enjoy my childhood memories and relive the glory days with this game!

  16. June 04, 2011 at 01:26am
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    Looks like it will be fun, and that’s all I usually ask for out of games. I don’t think I’d pay full price for it, but there are only a few games where I would.

  17. June 03, 2011 at 11:24pm
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    I’m not crazy about FPS games as much as I used to be

    I’ll just put my money on the one FPS that looks the most promising this year, and it’s certainly not Duke Nukem Forever.

    Hint: It starts with a letter D as well

  18. June 03, 2011 at 10:15pm
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    I played the Demo too and … how do I put this…you guys really suck at it on an undefinable level!
    I mean when my only thought throughout the whole video is: “Now come on! Even a monkey could do better!!” you guys didn`t even try to use one half of your somewhat existing brains…
    To put it straight, I list some critique-points I have about that video / playthrough of the Demo:
    -> didn`t use even half of the clearly visible weapons/explosives (Missing: Pipebombs; Landmines; Ripper; etc.)
    -> I´m not going to go into detail about the whole stupidity that involves the RPG
    -> wasted ammo by not understanding that you can PUNCH those planks in half with your FISTS
    … I could go on from here for a while but this should be enough for now.

    P.S.: For all the TL;DR-people out there a summary in a short sentence:
    This Video was just painful to watch.

    • June 03, 2011 at 11:34pm
      In response to Darkagespawn
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      • June 25, 2011 at 07:15pm
        In response to TragicGuineaPig
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        To an extent that is true but If someone is doing a Let’s play of a demo for a game coming out you would at least expect to be shown what each weapon or item does and show how to do it competently.
        I also wholly agree with Darkagespawn that they failed and made this painful, painful video to watch, as with the other viewers who pointed out the Serious Sam screw up.
        But seriously get your mouth off of these gameheroes dick..
        Though some aspects look like a Duke game. This does the one thing Music, Movies, and Video games should never do and that is to make the player/viewer bored.

  19. June 03, 2011 at 10:03pm
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    I was kind of disappointed by this demo. This isn’t a bad game but it’s kind of generic at best. Probably a rental at first and then maybe a buy if the price goes down enough.

  20. June 03, 2011 at 08:22pm
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    As someone who’s never been into Duke Nukem, all I see is yet another brown shooter with slightly flashy guns and crass humour that gets no reaction. Big… friggin’… whoop. I see nothing here to convince me to get it, and before anyone says “tits”, you’ve never used Google Image Search.

  21. June 03, 2011 at 07:34pm
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    The reason it showed all those developers was because all three of those worked on it to release. Triptych is made of old 3d Realms guys and as been working on it a long time when they partnered with Gearbox (which has some old 3d Realms guys including gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford) Triptych did mostly single player but because they are small Gearbox took a lot of the pressure off by doing general development as well as getting Piranha Games to work on multiplay. So DNF is now a truly a three dev game.

    • June 03, 2011 at 07:38pm
      In response to SexyTRex
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      Also those undecided get on board and those who say no way I’m gonna eat your families!

  22. June 03, 2011 at 07:13pm
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    It’s oldschool Duke with a fresh coat of paint. Anybody who expected anything else was just a bit naive. But I LOVE oldschool Duke. And no that does not make this a good game but I’ll buy it and I think I’ll have fun. With the exception of the 2 guns a time thingy I’m not dissappointed at all. It’s Duke. Nothing more nothing less.

    • June 03, 2011 at 11:38pm
      In response to Phoenix210
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      Having fun is what games are all about. I didn’t expect DNF to be anything super innovative or mind-blowing (although that is what the original developers set out to do – 12 years leaves a lot to be desired). But hey, if you enjoy playing it, have at!

      • June 04, 2011 at 04:43am
        In response to TragicGuineaPig
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        Yeah! ;D
        But I agree on one thing with the crowd : I don’t know if I’m willing to pay 60 bucks on this specific piece of nostalgia. I think it looks more like 30 .. ^^

  23. June 03, 2011 at 07:00pm
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    Played the demo too, it’s okay, full game is probly going to be good. But it won’t live up to the hype, I don’t think any game regardless of the producer or franchise would live up to 13 years of hype and cockteasing.

    The 2 weapon thing is by far the most disappointing load-time on PC is a lot faster. But other than that i’m pretty confident this game will serve as a good sequel to Duke 3D plain and simple.

    • June 03, 2011 at 07:14pm
      In response to Eddie
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      My thoughts exactly.

    • June 03, 2011 at 09:03pm
      In response to Eddie
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      Now see, I don’t know…

      Exhibit A – Starcraft 2…

      • June 03, 2011 at 10:03pm
        In response to Nobunaga
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        This argument would be rather valid, but Starcraft 2 at least stayed with one developer for its development time. Duke Nuken has been passed around and rebuilt WAY more than SC2 ever could’ve been.

      • June 04, 2011 at 05:14pm
        In response to Nobunaga
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        No offense, but Starcraft 2 wasn’t that great, in my opinion…

        • June 04, 2011 at 09:06pm
          In response to Kenny F.
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          I respect your opinion, but hey, this is the internet, we all have the right to disagree! :)

          • June 05, 2011 at 12:49am
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            Absolutely, thanks for understanding! :)

  24. June 03, 2011 at 06:25pm
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    The 2 weapon thing is REALLY dissapointing. The Duke should be able to carry them all period.

  25. June 03, 2011 at 06:14pm
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    Not planning to buy. I have to agree with other commentators here, for a game in 12 years of development hell, what we get is mostly just another run-of-the-mill FPS. But honestly, what did any of us expect? It’s a sequel to an old-school FPS that has been in development hell for 12 years. Did any of us really expect any bar-setting innovations?

  26. June 03, 2011 at 06:01pm
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    12 years of development and THIS is what we get?
    Incredibly underwhelming to say the least.
    Don’t get me wrong, I grew up with Duke on the PC and totally understand and get the appeal… Nostalgic and otherwise… But this doesn’t look very good IMO.
    I already knew this was going to happen though… 12 years of development and expectations are insanely high, and this doesn’t look like it’s going to deliver at all.
    This video just made up my mind for me… No longer a day 1 buy for me, gonna wait and watch for a few reviews before.
    Very disappointing.

    • June 04, 2011 at 05:16pm
      In response to akkuma
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      After watching this Let’s Play, I definitely have to say that playing the demo for yourself is much more gratifying than watching somebody else play it. Some things were lost in translation, such as much of the music and sound was watered down since Tom and Joe were talking over it, etc. If anything, find a way to play the demo for yourself before determining if this is a must-buy, or must-ignore.

  27. June 03, 2011 at 05:57pm
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    Well, I’m disappointed. Especially with the “only 2 weapons, regenerative health” modernization, not to mention the extremely average graphic quality and gameplay.

  28. June 03, 2011 at 05:15pm
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    I’ll probably pick this up when price drops, it looks like a 15yo game with fancy paint. Will still be fun just not $60 worth.

  29. June 03, 2011 at 04:45pm
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    Got the demo by buying Borderlands GOTY and, well… I’m not really amazed by Duke Nukem Forever. sure I laughted and and found the game amazingly funny and original, but there’s something in the gameplay that makes me feel like a really old game, with it pros and cons. I’m not surprised nor greatly shocked by its innovation… I liked it but it was really average…

    Does it worth playing it ? Sure thing ! Does it worth 60$ ? Here I’m really not sure actually… I’d rather pay something like 30 and it’s a shame, we waited (not me however, I first played Duke Nukem in 2006) ”12 fucking Years” (-Duke Himself) so I expected just a little more.

  30. June 03, 2011 at 04:43pm
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    Guys, there was a pile of explosives right next to the ammo crate….

    • June 03, 2011 at 04:53pm
      In response to Austin Y.
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      lol, when we capture its on a small screen. Could not see explosives. Thanks though =) Played through again and there are more weapons to try out!

      • June 04, 2011 at 04:55am
        In response to TheGameheroes
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        :S So you’re telling me you made a let’s play in order to show off a game in which you’ve never played or knew how to show off properly at all? Why do you have a tiny window for capturing? I could have sworn i’ve seen other videos with full screens for capturing.

        I mean I understand it’s a lets play and youre just doing it as you go but to have a tiny ass picture and then down talk a game as you play it cause you’re unobservant just seems like an excuse.
        The so called glitch/design problems end up being your own fault, not the game.

        Sure. This game seems like it’s missing a lot for what we expected and what not, even with all the stuff you obviously missed. The humor in it will be enough for me to enjoy it. I know it’s been expected for forever but as stated above, nothing can fit that expectation.

        But when you’re demoing a game and you don’t even try, you shoot out obstacles with all your ammo and run around like chickens with your heads cut off seems… weird. Not something that really qualify as a let’s play to ‘show off’ a game.

        Maybe Im being too critical, who knows. I don’t mean to offend, just give advice. This game is very anticipated, I think it needed a bit more of a real trial let’s play then you gave it. Just my opinion.

        I don’t know. I will not judge this game by this demo.

  31. June 03, 2011 at 04:36pm
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    Looks pretty good. I can’t wait to see the actual game. The 14th is getting closer. Let’s just hope it isn’t pushed back again at the last minute.

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Duke Nukem Forever Satirical DLC Announced

Posted by [ 9 months, 3 weeks ]

Apparently this game feels comfortable mocking the likes of its arguably superior contemporaries. Clearly Duke lacks self-awareness where it counts.

Duke Nukem Sketch Master

Posted by [ 10 months, 3 weeks ]

Orlando gives us this week’s Duke Nukem and Babes!

Duke Nukem Forever Angry Review

Posted by [ 11 months ]

After many delays, rewrites, and graphical upgrades Angry Joe finally releases his review for Duke Nukem Forever. Should you always bet on Duke?

Sage Reviews: Duke Nukem Forever

Posted by [ 11 months ]

Only Duke Nukem can be in a game so underwhelming, and still be so cool.

Duke Nukem Forever Review

Posted by [ 11 months, 1 week ]

Insert 12 year production joke here.

Duke Nukem is AWESOME! ...but his game is AWFUL!

Posted by [ 11 months, 1 week ]

We went into this episode with a LOT of bias. Bias that was in FAVOR of the Duke Nukem Forever. Watch as our excitement turns into confusion then to anger, and finally depression. This is a sad day for gaming, and the possible end of Duke Nukem… forever.

Duke Nukem Forever First Impressions

Posted by [ 11 months, 2 weeks ]

Duke Nukem Forever is FINALLY being released in a little over a Week. So what can we learn from the Demo?

Duke Nukem Demo

Posted by [ 11 months, 2 weeks ]

Handsome Tom and Camera Man Joe walk through the new Duke Nukem Forever Demo. Are you ready to get some?

Duke Nukem Forever has Gone Gold

Posted by [ 11 months, 4 weeks ]

Now there is a headline you never thought you would see.

Duke Nukem Forever Demo Date Announced

Posted by [ 1 year ]

It’s time for another special message from Gearbox President Randy Pitchford.

Duke Nukem Forever Satirical DLC Announced

Posted By about 9 months, 3 weeks ago

Apparently this game feels comfortable mocking the likes of its arguably superior contemporaries. Clearly Duke lacks self-awareness where it counts.

Duke Nukem Sketch Master

Posted By about 10 months, 3 weeks ago

Orlando gives us this week’s Duke Nukem and Babes!

Duke Nukem Forever Angry Review

Posted By about 11 months ago

After many delays, rewrites, and graphical upgrades Angry Joe finally releases his review for Duke Nukem Forever. Should you always bet on Duke?

Sage Reviews: Duke Nukem Forever

Posted By about 11 months ago

Only Duke Nukem can be in a game so underwhelming, and still be so cool.

Duke Nukem is AWESOME! ...but his game is AWFUL!

Posted By about 11 months, 1 week ago

We went into this episode with a LOT of bias. Bias that was in FAVOR of the Duke Nukem Forever. Watch as our excitement turns into confusion then to anger, and finally depression. This is a sad day for gaming, and the possible end of Duke Nukem… forever.

Duke Nukem Forever First Impressions

Posted By about 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Duke Nukem Forever is FINALLY being released in a little over a Week. So what can we learn from the Demo?

Duke Nukem Demo

Posted By about 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Handsome Tom and Camera Man Joe walk through the new Duke Nukem Forever Demo. Are you ready to get some?

Duke Nukem Forever has Gone Gold

Posted By about 11 months, 4 weeks ago

Now there is a headline you never thought you would see.

Duke Nukem Forever Demo Date Announced

Posted By about 1 year ago

It’s time for another special message from Gearbox President Randy Pitchford.

Listen to Duke Nukem Devs Talk Environments, Textures

Posted By about 1 year ago

Wherein the finer points of game design are discussed. It’s significantly more mature than you would think.

Duke Nukem Forever Review

Duke Nukem Forever Review

Duke Nukem Forever is an age 18 rated game. The 18 year olds of today were 6 when Duke Nukem Forever was announced in 1998. These very same people were 4 when Duke Nukem 3D came out in 1996. So, in the mid-nineties these children were far too concerned with custard and jumping to give a damn about this now legendary announcement. It’s more than likely that the only knowledge these people have of Duke comes from the ramblings of us old people who won’t shut up about a game that never happened. These people will now get to play Duke Nukem and see what all the fuss was about. We old people should get ready to do a lot of apologizing.

PROSIt came out! Actually quite a funny game at times, loads of interactive asides, (boobs everywhere)
CONSThis could take awhile… loading times from the past, dated everything, boring gameplay, poor design, sinking feeling of shallowness
WTF?!Wall boobs that you can slap!

The game starts at the end, the end of Duke Nukem 3D that is. Your tutorial is actually the final boss section from the last game, which when defeated, turns out to just be a game that Duke was playing while women were doing naughty things to him. Soon you discover that the aliens have returned after 12 years apparently in peace. After being told by the president not to engage the enemy, the aliens bring the fight to you and while they are at it steal all the beautiful ladies too. That’s pretty much it for the plot, prepare to shoot aliens and get back the women.

Duke seems to be in no rush to get started. The opening section of the game drags on for quite some time. Traveling from your pent house suite, players get to experience the life of Duke, interacting with random objects and watching people climb over the place to get to you. The first time you do all of this, it’s actually quite funny. Should you have to do this all again however (like me and my corrupting save file), the novelty wears off quickly.

And that’s pretty much the line that can sum up the whole game, ‘wears off quickly’. DNF is a load of ideas crammed into one under finished article and the joy of finally getting your hands on the title dissipates within the hour. When you finally get to combat, your fists and throwing objects are your only form of attack. This is kind of fun, but the enemies are so few and far between that you wonder when anything is going to happen. After some mild drug abuse, you finally get your hands on a gun and everything goes downhill from there.

Either he is really big or Duke is really tiny.

While we’re on the subject of guns, let me start by saying something I never thought I’d have to when it comes to Duke: shooting a gun in DNF is not a gratifying experience. Apart from the shotgun, none of the weapons presented in the game feel like they have any kick to them. Moreover, of all the weapons in your arsenal, the majority of them either chew through ammo, have too little ammunition, or outright feel redundant in design and function. Hell, even the devastator – an automatic rocket launcher with 60 shot –  feels like it does nothing exciting as you strike your enemies with it. And when you do manage to down an enemy with a gun, you are rewarded with one of two different flavors of disappointment. Either you get to watch the enemy rag doll haphazardly in a way not seen since the PS2, or you get showered in meaty chunks which are about as well rendered as those from a PS1-generation game. It seems in their dedication to make the game a call back to the older days of Duke, the team behind DNF forgot to bring gun-based combat into this generation.

Unlike others, I don’t so much mind the absence of the weapon wheel. However, as a design choice that may prove annoying to players, it is worth mentioning. In DNF, players are limited to carrying around two weapons at once, and have the choice to substitute which ones occupy one of the available slots. Personally, I don’t think this is a terrible way to play. However,  my problem lies in the fact that limiting players to only two gun choices seems just one too short. With the shotgun never leaving your care (if you have any sense), the second slot will almost always be reserved for something long range and mildly effective, reducing the weapons with less obvious application to redundancy and obscurity. One extra slot, and the shrink ray or any number of other weapons may have gotten some usage outside of the immediate gratification found in their nostalgia.

Once you actually get into combat, though, these gun shenanigans are the least of your problems. Your “Ego” bar represents your health in Duke, and it functions à la Halo 2. This means that a recharging system is in place, and ducking into cover will see you back to tip top fighting condition in moments. A fine idea in principle, which DNF makes sure to ruin in practice. Seeing no fun in just making your weapons largely ineffectual, the design team has littered the game with enemies that almost entirely deplete Duke’s Ego in one or two swipes, turning the battlefield into one big game of “take cover!” Spoiler: being in cover is not fun.

After 12 years this guy still can't stop the circle strafe

You can extend the period you can spend out of cover by permanently boosting your Ego. To do this, you will need to explore the world and take part in one of many interactive sections scattered though the game. These range from making popcorn in a microwave, to beating the high score on a pinball machine, to looking at yourself in the mirror, to slapping a random pair of alien boobs hanging on the wall. As you can imagine, many of these little health boosters are easily overlooked, but for me, finding them makes up the most enjoyable part of the game. (Did I really just say that side quests make up the most enjoyable part of a Duke Nukem game!?) Honestly, finding a hidden Ego boost is actually quite fun. In one section, you even get to play air hockey, and while the controls may be terrible, it’s better than being involved in that god awful combat.

It could almost be said that the Ego boosts are the one well executed part of the game, if it wasn’t for the fact you have to look for them in a world designed behind blindfolds. Really, it has been a long while since I have seen such poor level design. Not only does this game host one of the worst cases of pop-up textures in the UT3 engine wheelhouse, but when the textures do load, the game makes you wish they would go away again. DNF is ugly in a pre-2007 kind of way. When the 360 was first released, this would have been a good look at what the console was capable of in its early stages, but now it’s just hideous. I’ll admit that every now and again the game surprises you, and pulls out some really sporadic quality, almost like it had been spit-polished in certain places. But far and few between a visually enjoyable game does not make. I does make you wonder what the team was up to when you realise that the naked women are the best rendered models in the game. Perhaps if they put that kind of effort into the rest of the game we would have a winner on our hands.

Prepare to spend a lot of time on turrets and not enjoy any of it

It’s not just the graphics that are sub-par. The actual layouts for the levels are from another time, and as a hint, that time is not the future. 90% of the game is made up of dull, lifeless environments that grind away your very soul. The flow of DNF is never smooth, and the whole experience feels rather disjointed at times. The underground level is a perfect example of boring design, full of lifeless corridors with repetitive pseudo-puzzles and well hidden unintentionalpit-traps. Half the time, it’s not even clear which way you should be going. Walk off the beaten path and you’ll only be treated to bad lighting and possible instant death. The joke on the loading screens which had me chuckling along with the game – ‘if you fall of a high ledge and die, it’s probably your fault’ – becomes less funny when you realize it’s really not.

Speaking of loading screens, I hope you like them. It’s a good thing that the 12 year wait for the game taught Duke fans patience, as consumers of this title are going to need it. When Half-Life was released in 1998 (the year this game was announced), there were loading times roughly every 10 minutes of gameplay, which took maybe 5 seconds to complete depending on your PC. DNF makes sure to pay homage to the year it was announced, and has loading times every 10 minutes, all of which take around a minute or two to finish. And if you die (and you’ll die), expect to see these loading times again. It’s simply inexcusable, especially considering the pop-up that then occurs every time the game comes back into existence.

So after all of these complaints, is there anything positive to say about the game? Not really, I could go on about how the driving sections are terrible, the variety of enemies is criminally small, etc, but it seems pointless. I will, however, step up to defend a rather contentious element of DNF. A large number of reviewers, journalists and other commenters have questioned the themes, and  the crassness of the humor presented in the game. That, to me, is like shooting fish in a barrel labelled “shoot the fish in this barrel.”  Yes, the game makes fun of subjects that may be a little touchy, but knowing what Duke Nukem was, and for that matter, strives to be, people should have been prepared for that going in. Viewed as the base, but self-aware humor that it is, the game’s array of political incorrectitude is actually done in pretty good jest, in my opinion. In fact, I’ll go out of my way to say that I laughed out loud at some of the jokes.

Don't draw a willy, don't draw a willy, don't draw a….

And that’s truthfully the best part about DNF,  for me: the humor. Jon St John returns as the voice actor from Duke Nukem 3D, and does a great job of getting the cheesy one liners just right. Sly humor about Christian Bale, the Halo series and more innuendos than you can shake an erotically shaped stick at litter the game. It almost makes up for the problems. For all the mistakes in the game, you can never claim that the developers got Duke’s personality wrong. One small gripe even in this department, however, is the frequency with which Duke spouts his cheesy one-liners (read: at every possible opportunity). Some of the gravitas of his character is lost due to this over-use, which also stops any of the new one-liners from becoming all too memorable.

Ultimately, after 12 years of waiting for a game that at many points looked like it would never come out, DNF turned out to be an utter disappointment. With only a few redeeming qualities – none of them fully realized - the game will likely become more of a joke than its production time. I don’t doubt for a second that it was the troubled lead-up to release that lead the game to be so jilted and confused, but that’s no excuse for the $60/£40 price mark attached to the disc. My only hope is that Gearbox can now start a new Duke Nukem project from the ground-up and get the game completed in one run. That is, if this experience didn’t damage the legend beyond redemption. I mean, this title wasn’t just bad, it was heart breaking. If it wasn’t for the fact this is a Duke Nukem game, I would have stopped playing and returned it after the first few hours.

And it’s on that note that no other review badge will do for this game but Legendary. This is a title that has been talked about for over a decade, been in the media spot light more times than I can count, and seen the end of the studio that set out to create it. It will live on in memory for years to come. This is the bad game everyone will mention. DNF is the game that everyone told those once-6 year old children about, helping to boost its status (and no doubt sales) so high that the let down can only be described as… well… legendary.

At least we still have Serious Sam!

This game was purchased on the PS3 by the reviewer from his local game store. He regrets this, and wants his money back. Seriously. The game was played for roughly 10 hours on multiple difficultly settings, and was completed. There is a multiplayer mode that was not played.Duke Nukem Demo , 2.3 out of 5 based on 62 ratings

2/10

Duke Nukem Boobs Trailer Trash

Yep, we know that everyone has to wait again for Duke.....assholes... but they gave us this trailer full of boobies and we also show the funny vid they did for the announcement of the date being pushed back.

Duke Nukem Forever First Impressions

Duke Nukem Forever is FINALLY being released in a little over a Week. So what can we learn from the Demo?

Duke Nukem Demo

Handsome Tom and Camera Man Joe walk through the new Duke Nukem Forever Demo. Are you ready to get some?

Duke Nukem is AWESOME! ...but his game is AWFUL!

We went into this episode with a LOT of bias. Bias that was in FAVOR of the Duke Nukem Forever. Watch as our excitement turns into confusion then to anger, and finally depression. This is a sad day for gaming, and the possible end of Duke Nukem... forever.

Sage Reviews: Duke Nukem Forever

Only Duke Nukem can be in a game so underwhelming, and still be so cool.

Duke Nukem Forever Angry Review

After many delays, rewrites, and graphical upgrades Angry Joe finally releases his review for Duke Nukem Forever. Should you always bet on Duke?

Duke Nukem Sketch Master

Orlando gives us this week's Duke Nukem and Babes!
  1. August 02, 2011 at 10:56am
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    12 year production?

    I don’t buy it. I honestly thought this game felt rushed out. Are we sure that 3D Realms actually left Gearbox Studios anything to work with beyond a series of half-assed concepts based on shooter fads before the studio shut down? That’s the only way i can explain pathetic weapon variation with no impact, the utterly bizarre tonal shift when Duke enters an alien hive, and the fact that there seem to be some environmental glitches that instantly kill you. The game performs worse than the original Halo for fucks sake. If you held it to standards from 2004 it might look like the shit, but this is 2011 and it tries to mock games that have far surpassed it. Dear God… it’s actually making me look back on Halo 3 and think of it’s story campaign positively. I need to start saving up for Crysis 2…

  2. June 27, 2011 at 01:57am
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    The Mainstream gaming media , the critics, and pro gamers can stuff it. Their opinions are made to make them look cool.

    • August 01, 2011 at 01:20am
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      You Duke fantards never cease to amuse me with your delicious tears. Opinions when it comes to videogames are made to inform you uninformed basement dweller,not to make anybody look cool. The real idiots around here are the little children defending a terrible shitty game and attacking others for speaking the truth.

      Don’t worry though because retarded reviewers such as PC Gamer who clearly have their nostalgic glasses set on too tightly and have never played a great FPS in their entire lives are giving this pile of festering feces unjustified inflated scored.

      Buyer’s remorse?

      And to Kenny F. Dude you need to buy yourself a clue. Halo like it or not will be remembered fondly while DNF will not. Get over it and quit liking a butthurt fan.

      The PC Gamer review is nothing but complete and utter bullshit. In what fucking universe is this former king of vaperware deserving of such a generous score.

      At least you are nowhere near as braindead as Wesker500 over at Deivantart who constantly has Chris Redfield killed by the Duke when Duke is not man enough to be holding his jock.

      I could only imagine what would happen if Spoony reviews this game.

      To all of the Duke Nukem supporters,go play a REAL videogame.

  3. June 23, 2011 at 11:32am
    Sai
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    I think that reviewers questioning the crassness and attitude of this game just shows how much the industry and gaming culture has gotten over gross-out humor and objectifying women. Especially that last part, I mean these days people can find porn within a 2 second internet search, so now it’s just annoying to have pseudo-porn in entertainment. It’s just part of what makes this game so very dated.

  4. June 21, 2011 at 05:30pm
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    I expected more from you Angry Joe! A 2/10? I agree that there needs to be way more enemies… the game isn’t running on Unreal 3 its using Unreal 2.5 and you are playing the Xbox version =x really bad load times. The game runs way faster on PC with 5 second load times and a bit better looking visuals.

    The overall game is nothing like you reviewed lol, the game is decent and can be engaging.

    Bad Angry joe bad! you mke me really mad!… hey that rymed.

    • June 22, 2011 at 07:28am
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      Your one confused puppy! This is my review. If you want to see Angry Joe’s then you need to head on over to his video review. It currently is displayed in the links at the top of the website.

      Just because we both have sweet facial hair and my name translated into English technically is Joseph, doesn’t mean we are one and the same!

  5. June 20, 2011 at 02:37am
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    “At least we still have Serious Sam!”
    That’s what I thought when I realised how crappy the new Duke Nukem game is.

  6. June 18, 2011 at 01:32pm
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    To me, it’s okay at best, I don’t think it’s that terrible nor that amazing, it’s just okay.

  7. June 17, 2011 at 05:59am
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    I don’t care how bad it is I want to play it, can’t wait for it to hit the bargain bin…
    How long til Joe’s review is up, that would be hilarious xD

  8. June 17, 2011 at 02:23am
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    i paid 67 euros for this shit and pre-ordered it i played it once never touching it again i rather see how the duke nukem next-gen ends up atleast it’s free and it uses better graphics engine and it is hopefully old school shooting game… but here’s the problem i have somewhat somesort code of ethics never throwing a game away but i really want to return this monstrosity and get my money back or atleast a better game for it help me to make a choice people but thumbs up for this comment if you think i should just return the damn thing and thumbs down if you think i should just keep it

  9. June 17, 2011 at 02:19am
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    What in world is a Duke Nukem?…
    Yeah…I am one of those people who was 5 years-old when Duke Nukem 3D was a thing. But, I did do my homework before getting into Duke Nukem Forever, and…yeah no, the game is still a disappointment. I figured that it was mostly the hardcore fans who were at the age of reason in 1995 that were let down by the game, but judging by the fact that I have no real past experience with Duke, no… Its mediocre for everyone. Sad day.
    Also, people really criticized the game for crude humor and content? Really?! Hm, I didn’t know people still lived under rocks nowadays…

  10. June 16, 2011 at 10:57pm
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    From what i’ve seen it’s an ok game but its not worth $60.

  11. June 16, 2011 at 07:01pm
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    I was told this was a Duke Nukem Forever review, but a lot of what’s being described doesn’t match the copy of Duke Nukem Forever I’m playing right now. Anyone have Cole Phelps’ number?

  12. June 16, 2011 at 05:47pm
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    I haven’t played this game, but I have seen a lot of gameplay footage. I have played Duke Nukem 3D though. And I kind of understand where this review comes in. I’m not going to argue the score, or the review, I’m going to argue where game falls over in my eyes.

    The Duke is Bad Ass. He always was, and is always… supposed to be. But from what I’ve seen in the combat in this game makes me doubt that. I know everyone in this generation are used to and love their practical and common sense cover based combat, and I agree, yes… It has it’s fundamental place in games these days to remind people they’re not walking lead fridges. But Duke Nukem IS a walking lead fridge. As I said before, he’s Bad Ass. And while letting him be a bullet sponge may be a bit silly, why not let him do Bad Ass things, like take cover with him. That is to say, in some awesome non-Splinter Cell way, take an alien hostage, blow a hole in its chest and use it as cover while shooting through just made hole in chest. THAT is Duke Nukem. Taking cover to then bust out from it guns blazing while running across the room to the next cover, rather than running behind chest high walls, THAT is Duke Nukem. (er, I’ll say it now, I’m not sure if this game actually has a cover system or not. I hope it doesn’t. Cover systems aren’t Bad Ass).

    And in case my point wasn’t made, apart from scripted moments, this game isn’t Bad Ass, apart from some of the one liners. The weapons aren’t all that Bad Ass, Duke doesn’t fight Bad Ass, the levels aren’t Bad Ass, the game doesn’t seem to be Bad Ass. This is where it all came apart for me. They forgot who the Duke was, and just remembered his personality.

    • June 19, 2011 at 12:58am
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      I’m sorry but you invalid your comment with your only opening saying “I haven’t played this game” I’m sick people taking the reviewers side when they haven’t even played the game and not coming up with there own opinion

      • June 22, 2011 at 05:21pm
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        Okay, fair enough. Perhaps I should change it to “I won’t play this game until it’s in the bargain bin.” I’ve seen others play it, both online and at a friends house now, and I wasn’t impressed. You don’t need hands on experience to know if a game will be disappointing or not, you just need to see it be played.

  13. June 16, 2011 at 04:25pm
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    did not mean to reply to you Threeshades clicked on the wrong button sorry.

  14. June 16, 2011 at 04:10pm
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    Also loading times seemed more than civil to me. For most games I played, the loading screens last much longer than for this one. It just takes a few seconds. I don’t know, maybe something’s wrong with the Console versions.

  15. June 16, 2011 at 04:03pm
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    I also don’t get the hate. Yeah the graphics are definitely dated, I guess that comes with such a development time.
    But the combat isn’t half as bad as its being made out to be. I think its fun. Its a mix of dodging and taking cover while shooting back. I don’t see anything wrong with that. Most of the time I just see the two extremes ewach on their own in other game. Either it’s always sticking in cover or it’s always circlestrafing. DNF actually presents a mix.
    Also the guns feel quite alright, there’s nothing wrong with those in my book. I honestly don’t understand what the point is in that critique.

    And holy crap don’t start me on comparing this to serious sam. I played only the first serious sam game (“HD” version) and THAT game sucked beyond my belief. It was ugly (for any time, for its own and now; and looking at the classic version, that’s also ugly), the level design was NON-EXISTENT; only one corridor after another and then a big open field, sometimes with an obstacle or two. Combat was nothing but holding down the fire button and one of the strafe buttons. And that for several minutes until the flood of idiotically bad designed enemies finally died off, so you could proceed to the next area wehre you could A+LMB your next wave of ugly enemies away. It gets old extremely fast, and tedious even faster.
    In DNF you at least have something else to do than just strafe and shoot all the time and their enemy waves aren’t so huge that it becomes nothing but tedious. They know when to stop and let you move the hell on.
    Yeah you got me started. I spent 5 euros on Serious Sam 1 and 2 in both HD and classic when they were on sale on steam, and after playing not even completely through the first one I wanted my money back.

    But DNF? Yeah I can see myself playing all the way trhough it. I don’t think it’s a bad game. At the very worst I think its an average game, in which case i can understand people being disappointed after waiting 12 years. But on it’s own merit it’s no less than average. And it’s DEFINITELY A HELL OF A LOT BETTER THAN SERIOUS SAM <_<

    • June 16, 2011 at 04:16pm
      In response to Threeshades
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      this is a good game in my opinion 7/10 for me but thats my opinion

    • June 16, 2011 at 05:51pm
      In response to Threeshades
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      I think he was referring to the Serious Sam that’s still in development, NOT the Serious Sams that are already out and available on the market.

    • June 20, 2011 at 01:26pm
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      While I am not going to point out the irony of hating Serious Sam for being a shooter where you shoot things, nor that the ever classic Doom could be summed up in the same description you gave SS, I am indeed talking about the new Serious Sam.

      http://www.blisteredthumbs.net/2011/06/serious-sam-3-bfe-trailer/

      If you don’t like the look of this, you have forgotten what ‘entertainment’ means.

      I do find it upsetting that you disliked the Serious Sam HD Re-makes so much. These games hold a special place in my heart and it’s sad to see someone have the opposite reaction. Thanks for your comments. Glad you found some enjoyment out of DNF.

  16. June 16, 2011 at 10:50am
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    Whether you love or hate the game, one thing we can all agree upon is that this should have never been a full price game. It’s a budget title at best no matter how long it’s been in development.

  17. June 16, 2011 at 10:46am
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    The graphical quality didnt concern me (too much)..i play many retro games and even Duke3D on XBLive still to this day.The tradmark Duke brand of humour is fine with me aswell..i knew full well what i was getting into.For all it’s faults the one thing DNF does well is silly purile humour.

    To me its the level design; Boring, linear, disjointed layouts.There is no exploration or hardly any secret areas that Duke3D had.You will rarely confront more than 2 or 3 aliens at once.Jetpack where art thou??
    These and loads more niggling factors.

  18. June 16, 2011 at 05:37am
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    I legitimately do not know why this game is getting so much hate. Anyone who played Duke Nukem 3D whould have known what to expect, and I feel at least, that it was delivered. The accusations of it being a Halo clone are just ridiculous. A rechargable health bar + only carrying 2 weapons do not by themselves a Halo clone make. It plays more like Duke Nuken 3D than any Halo game I have ever played, and yes I am actually about to say this next part, I had more fun with the gunfights in DNF than I did in any of the Halo games. (haven’t played the multiplayer yet so can’t comment on that) but so far I would actually give the game a 7 or an 8 out of 10.

  19. June 16, 2011 at 04:23am
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    10
    -13

    I have to disagree about the humor. In my opinion lines like ‘stick him in your hot pocket’ are not cheesy or funny, they are at best juvenile and at worst the kind of humor where no one is laughing.

    • June 16, 2011 at 06:33am
      In response to Granten
      VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
      9
      -2

      So you didn’t like the humor in DN3D, too? Because it’s actually almost the same. It’s ok if you didn’t like it but it’s naive to expect anything else.

      On another note : I don’t think this game is material for a 7 or 8 out of ten in ANY way. More a 4 or 5.

      • June 16, 2011 at 02:50pm
        In response to Phoenix210
        VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
        2
        -3

        I actually didn’t play the original Duke Nukem games until recently in preparation for this one. I didn’t really like the humor but my main complaint isn’t about the maturity, it’s about the lack of anything clever in the humor. Most of it really feels like a few teenagers on a bus wrote it. Thirteen years, so much money and so many ways they could have gone and this was really the best they could write? I won’t say I could do much better, I’m not good at humor but I will say that there are many writers who could have done a much better job.

        • June 16, 2011 at 03:17pm
          In response to Granten
          VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
          6
          -1

          Nah, you just don’t get what’s funny about this sort of humor. And I don’t blame you. If it wasn’t Duke spitting those one-liners it wouldn’t get a chuckle out of me.
          Voice + character + stupid one-liners = win. It’s like Arnold’s best days when everything was simpler.
          If you start writing clever puns into a Duke game it just isn’t Duke.

          I mean “Rest in pieces!!!” That’s not funny. Not at all.
          *Duke blows an alien to bits and grumbles : Rest in pieces!* Now here we gow… :D

  20. June 16, 2011 at 02:15am
    In response to Article
    VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
    2
    -5

    Simply heartbreaking… i used to LOVE DN:3D back in the day.. but wow… i think this should be the last game in the series.. EVERY other DN game has sucked.. this is the nail in the coffin..

  21. June 15, 2011 at 10:28pm
    In response to Article
    VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
    9
    -11

    I think a 2 is honestly fair. This game was in development for 13 years and what did we get? A bad Halo clone with boobs. It shows that basically the first 12 years of dev. time got thrown out and around 2010 someone said “People still foam at the mouth for Halo right? Lets slap Duke into a crappy clone, those feebs will buy it up cause it’s Duke Nukem Forever; it has titties AND it plays like Halo. It’s a lowest common denominator masterpiece!”

    Yes The Duke has some good lines and there’s some laughs to be had, but a little bit of humor does not a good game make. When I can sit here and say I’d rather play Halo (and I HATE Halo), the developers have failed in a big way.

    • June 15, 2011 at 10:55pm
      In response to Sylveria
      VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
      9
      -2

      Dude, let go of the Halo fixation, it’s giving the PR department at Bungie bad vibes.

    • June 16, 2011 at 12:10pm
      In response to Sylveria
      VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
      3
      -0

      In fact in your over eager over simplification you got if all wrong. My knowledge in DNF production history might not be encyclpoedic, but still I can see the claer line of thought that brought us this.
      After series of production setbacks (i remember 2 or 3 instances of them anouncing they have changed graphics engine), the game fell unde the radar between 2001 and 2004.
      Actual game development is suspected to have stopped before 2004 when the last new screenshots were published.
      3D Realms were conning Take Two Interactive for money for DNF production till 3D Realms fell apart.
      In 2009 Take Two interactive sued then allready defunked 3D Realms for money and rights to everything DNF related (and probably the whole franchise). They won the lawsut in early 2010.
      The wanted to salvage something of the millions of dollars allready sunk into this doomed project by assigning it to Gearbox and giving them 1 year and a half to finish (witch is incredibly short time to develop a good game).
      That said, I don’t defend the state the game apparently is ( i have spent my recent gaming money on a game that is actually good, and set this one on my waiting list). If I was defending anyone in this case it’d be Gearbox, that was cought in this and did probably their best to transform this 2002 game in to something a bit more 2011 ish – and finish it – in such short time.

  22. June 15, 2011 at 09:33pm
    In response to Article
    VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
    13
    -4

    I don’t get why most people are SO harsh on this game. I respect everyone’s own opinion. But this game is mediocre. Nothing more (oh no) but nothing less. It has some real stupid mindless fun moments. Most of the one liners are funny. Some are really stupid but that’s the minority.
    The graphics are mediocre, the gameplay is mediocre, everything is just average. A 2 / 10 is not average, it’s abysmal. And that is way too harsh.
    I don’t even get why everyone had high expectations. A game that – and I quote – “is a title that has been talked about for over a decade, been in the media spot light more times than I can count, and seen the end of the studio that set out to create it” can’t be good. And it went through god knows how many builds and developer teams. How can THAT become a good game?

    • June 16, 2011 at 12:26pm
      In response to Phoenix210
      VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
      4
      -6

      People are being so harsh on it because it was released at full price in 2011. The humour isn’t very funny because there’s little wit, it’s just reference. Epic Movie/Disaster Movie/Meet the Spartans, they did the same thing, confused reference with jokes…they are not the same.
      The Christian Bale reference was pretty funny because it was satirical and took place at an appropriate location, the one liners that Duke spouts often make little sense in any context that could make them funny, and are delivered poorly.
      Most importantly, the game is a chore to play. It feels clunky and unsatisfying, everything is weightless and the graphics are late PS2 era with a slight upgrade. This should have been a $15 or £10 downloadable title, to release this mess at full price is almost criminal.

      • June 16, 2011 at 03:20pm
        In response to dennett316
        VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
        4
        -0

        Yeah, I get the full price thingy. Since you could buy it here in germany for just ~ 35 bucks (not at steam -.- ) it wasn’t that bad. I wouldn’t have bought it for 50 – 60 bucks. Absolutely valid point.

  23. June 15, 2011 at 09:16pm
    In response to Article
    VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
    9
    -11

    I hate this game more than I’ve ever hated any other game I’ve played. I legitmately feel full on seething hatred for this game. This is without a doubt the worst FPS I’ve ever played, and damn near the worst game I’ve ever played. A 2 is too fucking nice.

  24. June 15, 2011 at 09:04pm
    In response to Article
    VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
    7
    -1

    Yousif’s being bad! Somebody tell the Redner PR group!

  25. June 15, 2011 at 08:33pm
    In response to Article
    VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
    8
    -2

    I wouldn’t exactly be that harsh. Odd that some games I love are viewed by critics as mediocre or just good (Fragile Dreams, for instance, is a 6 most places, where I place it as an 8 or 9). Odds are, I will find myself having fun with this game, regardless of all of this. I can always let a game’s style carry me through the substance if it’s the right frame of mind.

    But even for some of the more infuriating design choices, I do hope that Gearbox comes out with an enhanced edition and improves on a lot of things a la Hydrophobia Pure and Prophecy. It might not be as easy or cheap to do so, but I think that, given just a bit more polish (and yes, despite it’s long development time, if it had a bit more, it might improve things), then I think that Duke Nukem Forever may not be nearly as bad as people make it out to be. Maybe I am in denial, but for all intents and purposes, I just don’t dislike this game as much as most of you guys say.

    • June 15, 2011 at 08:51pm
      In response to OniYouji
      VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
      11
      -2

      I’m in the same camp as you on this one. Although I fully support Yousif’s right to have his own opinion, my time with Duke has led me to assign it a 5 on the BT Scale, as I feel it is thoroughly average. It’s good, stupid fun, that doesn’t move the genre or gaming forward one iota. If it wasn’t called Duke Nukem I doubt it would have been so venomously received, but maybe it’s just me.

      • June 15, 2011 at 10:53pm
        In response to Austin Y.
        VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
        7
        -1

        I’m with you guys on this one. I’m playing through it, and I’m having a schlocky good time, just like I did with Splatterhouse despite the fact critics panned it. I really think that the whole “12 years in development” expectation should be left behind at the door because honestly, no game will ever survive that amount of hype, and it will leave critics suuuuuuuper bitter about it not being the holy grail of gaming. The 12-year-hype should have gone out the window when the project traded hands and was given to Gearbox, honestly, as they are the ones who had to finish the game. I’m honestly enjoying the game, and I would give it a 7. I’m not nearly close to being done, and I have a lot more notes to write for my own review on CheshireCatStudios.com. Plus come on dude, not to call you out, but why did you review the game without reviewing the multiplayer?

        • June 16, 2011 at 12:00am
          In response to Kenny F.
          VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
          3
          -1

          I’ll hop in the same boat as you guys. I love this game (and for this reason people look at me like I’m diseased or something). I also love Splatterhouse and don’t really get why it was blasted in the reviews, sure it has it’s flaws, but so does every single other game out there. No such thing as a perfect game.

          Anyway, back to DNF. I threw all the hype out the window and bought this expecting nothing more than a fun Duke Nukem game, and that’s what I got. The single player feels like an old school FPS with all the platforming and puzzles, and that’s how I like it, and non of the over scripted crap like CoD. Multiplayer is super fun and reminds me of Quake 3 and Unreal Tournament. The load times on PS3 are a bit long, but other than that I have nothing bad to say about this game. To sum it up a quote from the Master of Kick assery himself,

          “Hail to the King, Baby!”

      • June 16, 2011 at 03:50am
        In response to Austin Y.
        VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
        13
        -1

        What really nailed home the score for me (outside of the obvious) is the comparisons I can make to recent games. Take Brink for example, I would rate the game around a 5. It was average, with some good ideas badly implemented and every now and again you would find some fun within the mess that the game turned out to be.

        If I stack DNF up against Brink (same genre), I have to say that DNF falls far short of the mark. I thought long and hard about the score, starting at around a 4. However, during my writing I realised that I had nothing positive to say when I put my thoughts down on paper. This meant rapid degeneration into the 2 that was given.

        I do however, totally except that everyone has their own opinion and they are free to give whatever score they so wish, should they be able to justify and defend their position. Which is why I found the score that PC Gamer gave of 80% a bit difficult to swallow considering that when the writer broke down his pros and cons in the comments page, it didn’t add up.

        I love conflicting views on a game and like discussing them with people. I would like to feel that I explained in my writing why the score was what it was and I hope anyone with a different point of view could do the same. That or it’s just one of those games, you know the ones I mean, the terrible ones that for some reason you just love. Jedi Power Battles would be a great example for me.

        Peace out.

        • June 16, 2011 at 06:32am
          In response to Yousif A.
          VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
          3
          -1

          Comparing it to newer games probably is a little redundant. The game was in development for almost 15 years of course it’s not gonna hold up. Think of it this way, what would you have thought if the game came out in time?

          • June 16, 2011 at 07:05am
            In response to Futago
            VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
            6
            -0

            If this came out in 1998 I would have shat myself with awe at the graphics, however, I probably would have still pointed out that Half-Life was a better game!

            While the production time was unfortunate, I have to review the game compared against its peers. Score determination shifts with every new game that comes out. For example: Cover mechanics were seen as the pinnacle of the 3rd person shooter when they were first used (technically in Killswitch), but now they are generally seen as a tediously over used or just something that should come with a game of the genre.

            Duke Nukem got left behind. It’s why I end the review hoping for a future title that comes out quickly.

          • June 16, 2011 at 11:08am
            In response to Futago
            VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
            2
            -0

            I’m sorry, but if you charge full price for a game, said game deserves to be compared to similarly priced games. If they didn’t want it to be judged versus better/newer games, they should have priced it accordingly.

            That said, Yousif was WAY harsh. I’d've given it a 3 :p

            Also I have to give props to the use of the Legendary recommendation. Few IPs will ever go down in history like this one did.

          • June 16, 2011 at 12:36pm
            In response to Futago
            VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
            3
            -3

            Even bog standard shooters like Timeshift, Call of Juarez and even such dreck as Haze released nowadays are better than Duke Nukem – they feel better, play better, look better. The only thing they don’t have is the so-called humour of Duke, and that simply wasn’t funny to me. It could have been, but mindless reference with no context or wit behind it is nails on a chalk board for me.
            Duke has to be labelled as below average because average games nowadays completely blow it out the water. Play Painkiller for an old school FPS experience…five or six years old but better than this full priced 2011 release by leaps and bounds.
            You simply can’t pretend that 14 years of progress and refinement have happened to excuse Duke Nukem Forever’s complete failure, there are better and cheaper alternatives available.

        • June 16, 2011 at 12:41pm
          In response to Yousif A.
          VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
          0
          -0

          Since I played neither Brink nor DNF I have to go by the things rewievers said. And both Angry Joe and Guru Larry shot the game to pieces (one more than the others) – while it did have some good ideas the game had AR (artificial retardedness), nothing works, textures load long time, bad texures, nothing works as intntended, incredibly bad net coding (huge lag).
          Greatest pro on the part of Joe (Larry didn’t fing any pros) was it’s stryle.
          Is DNF really that much worse?

  26. June 15, 2011 at 07:01pm
    In response to Article
    VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
    4
    -1

    I played through the first 3:30 hours before I returned it, and here’s my mini review.

    The goodz: Shooting aliens is fun, I found the jokes to be quit funny. (When Duke was the one saying them.)

    The Oh’noz: Load times are to long for comfort, too much getting in the way of shooting aliens, The driving and platforming segments are tedious and boring, 12 years does not make good graphics.

  27. June 15, 2011 at 05:31pm
    In response to Article
    VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
    3
    -1

    Wow, I did not want to believe it but… oh my god,this is not good. I don’t even know what to say to this.

    • June 15, 2011 at 10:54pm
      In response to CaptainPeliKen
      VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
      4
      -1

      Read the PC Gamer review of this game if you’re unsure, it’s about three pages long and it’s pretty detailed. Compare and contrast reviews from different sites!

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