Duke Nukem Forever

After a fourteen year hiatus, Duke Nukem Forever has finally been released. Thanks to Gearbox, Duke Nukem will stalk the shelves of GameStops and Best Buys everywhere, ushering in a new generation of Duke Nukem games starring the series' eponymous protagonist, Duke Nukem. 

The premise behind Duke Nukem Forever, much like its predecessor, Duke 3D, is simple: Aliens are invading to kidnap our women, and it's up to Duke to rescue as many kidnapped women as he can, and, to kick some alien ass. While the premise lacks gravitas or plot development, it works surprisingly well as a parody of over-the-top 1980s action films. 

Duke Nukem Forever is a first person shooter, and like most FPSs, has a small armory of weapons for the player to choose from. These include Duke's iconic Desert Eagle pistol, to the equally iconic shotgun, to more exotic weapons like the shrink ray and laser gun. The weapons are fun to shoot (especially the shrink ray), and give off excellent feedback to the player. When you shoot an alien with a shotgun, you know that a shotgun shell just hit them. 

Furthermore, the gunplay combines both the best of both old and new first person shooters. Gone are the health packs of yesteryear. Instead of a health meter, Duke now has an "ego" meter, which regenerates over time. While you can easily run and gun if you so choose, Duke is really more a cover shooter like Halo. There are also no iron sights available for any of the guns, though you can zoom-in with a press of the right mouse button. While the hit-detection can use some work (sometimes it feels as if your gunfire doesn't hit at times), the gunplay is easily above average, especially for a game that has stuck to its old-school roots for the most part. 

Although DNF is a first-person shooter, there are also some ridiculously easy Half-Life 2-inspired physics puzzles to solve. Early in the game, you have to drive a toy monster truck around in order to push an energy cell out of a small vent. They are not comparable to Portal 2 whatsoever, but provide a slight breather after another gun battle with pig cops and aliens. Additionally, there are also a handful of driving sections. 

However, there are some downsides to the game's overall design. Certain scripted events cannot be skipped. The game is so linear that you must perform certain actions (like pulling a horn off of an alien or drinking beer) to proceed. For example, you must watch a television report concerning the alien invasion before you can get past the man blocking your way. The gameplay design is also an antithesis to Duke 3D, which encouraged exploration and backtracking. There is none of that here, and while I can't fault the folks at 3D Realms for attempting to cater to modern tastes, I expected more of a homage to Duke 3D. But nonetheless, the game is well-paced, and some of the setpieces (like the jumbo casino level) are fun to roam around in. 

Additionally, the while the level design is good, it's often confusing figuring out where to go next. 

The campaign is a good ten hours long (which is still better than the four-to-six hour experiences that overrated games like Call of Duty or Medal of Honor can manage), and with that concluded, there is multiplayer available as well. 

Multiplayer consists of various team and free for all-style gameplay modes. There is deathmatch, team deathmatch, a variant of capture the flag (called Capture the Babe) and a few other modes. At the moment, the matches are quite laggy because most of the matches are being hosted on home DSL lines. The dedicated server software is junk, offering few options for customization and no interface for the host. And lastly, some guns (like the Devastator) are overpowered. But, these problems are nothing that a few patches can solve - hopefully, Gearbox will get these issues squared out in due time. 

Given DNF's long development time, it is not surprising that DNF's visuals have a very rough edge to them. The walking animations appear stiff and unnatural. Some of the textures are of such low resolution that they were probably created at least ten years ago. Overall, the visuals aren't entirely bad, but the length of the game's development cycle has demonstrated how quickly art assets can age over time. 

Lastly, the game requires activation via Steam no matter how or where you bought it. I see Steam integration as a positive feature, giving players multiplayer leaderboards, achievements, and the ability to redownload the game whenever. 

The game has suffered from a spate of bad reviews out of the gate (from the likes of Destructoid and others), but as a Duke 3D fan who has played DNF from start to finish, I whole-heartedly disagree with many of them. Duke Nukem Forever was never about pushing the boundaries of gaming or doing something vain or fantastic. Its chief aim is to entertain the player, through Duke's witty one-liners, pop culture references, an exaggerated storyline purposely ripped directly from a Hollywood B-movie, and first person shooting action which combines the best elements of both old and new first person shooters. Was I expecting The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings? No. Was I expecting a first person shooter that plays well enough and can make me laugh? Yes. Bearing a few problems, Duke Nukem Forever is the Duke Nukem sequel I have wanted ever since I played Duke 3D: A competent first person shooter that will push the envelope of humor that few other games dare to do. 

I wrote this review not because I am trying to troll gamers or increase my website's ad revenue. I wrote this because I vehemently disagreed with the negative reviews and feel that it is my duty to inform the gaming public that Duke Nukem Forever is not the piece of gaming turd that sites like Destructoid or IGN have led many to believe. 

While DNF won't win any awards later this year, it is still worth the purchase. I am happy to say that after fourteen years, the King is back, baby! The King is finally back!