It is hard to know where to begin with a review of Duke Nukem Forever. It has now been out worldwide for over fourteen days after having been in development for over or about fourteen years, depending on where you start counting. I have been along for the ride since I first saw the news of its announcement and I remember checking the 3D Realms website once or twice a year to see if there was an update for most of the last decade. I was excited by little thumbnail screenshots from magazines in the late 90’s and I was actually a little optimistic after seeing the 2007 Christmas trailer. I loved the early Duke Nukem games, the original being one of the earliest PC games I played and I loved Duke Nukem 3D. The original Duke 3D was actually censored in Australia and I remember one of my earliest attempts at advanced computing involved going into some of the code to turn on the adult content which now seems so tame. I also enjoyed the Nintendo 64 port and the original third-person title, Duke Nukem: Zero Hour. So I can’t deny that these childhood memories will influence my opinion of Duke Nukem Forever. It also makes it hard to choose how I approach it. Do I review it as a modern release? Do I ignore the development time? Do I try to shove all the baggage away when approaching the game? I don’t think I can do any of this. I am just going to try and go with what flows out.

I don’t have any sympathy for 3D Realms and I don’t think even the most hardcore Duke Nukem fan should. They made all the decisions and they are responsible for them. They also have had an amazing level of patience from their publishers. So when Duke Nukem Forever’s future became even more uncertain after their demise (if that was ever possible), I never thought it a tragedy or really a disappointment. The only thing that surprised me was how long it took to happen. I don’t think that knowing the minds of all involved could change my own either. Despite its release the saga of Duke Nukem Forever (DNF from now) should just be looked at as what not to do for a would be game developer and this goes especially for the seemingly infallible companies live Valve, Blizzard and Nintendo. At the end of the day gaming is also business and even if money is not a problem, you still need to set goals, have vision and do your best to meet deadlines.

I have absolutely no idea what went on at 3D Realms but I have a theory that it was Half-Life that may have first spooked them. In many ways it improved on what Duke Nukem 3D had already done. Like Duke 3D, Half-Life wasn’t just another dark FPS game with a standard assortment of weapons. Both games while being shooters at the core had interesting puzzles, interactivity and a generally original aesthetic. The main reason I enjoyed Duke Nukem 3D so much was the easily forgotten fact that it looked a lot different than most other FPS games at the time. Doom-clone was still in common use back then and it seemed nearly every FPS I played fit that description. I would designate Duke 3D as the game that truly changed that despite their probably being earlier examples that I don’t know. Games like GoldenEye and then Half-Life Followed. Then RPG hybrids like System Shock 2 and Deus Ex. Now FPS games aren’t just Doom-clones and Duke Nukem 3D really helped change that. Half-Life did more still and blew everyone (including I believe 3D Realms) away. After that DNF was always about catching up to what it couldn’t and it just been finished and released in its early 2000s form, I believe it would have been well received though not another revolution. Instead 3DR kept chasing an unreachable goal. This is just my interpretation though and I’d like to know the real deal some day.



Duke Nukem Forever (PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 [reviewed])
Developer: 3D Realms, Triptych Games, Gearbox Software, Piranha Games
Publisher: 2K Games
Released: June 14, 2011
MSRP: $59.99

I had to wait more than a week to get DNF in the mail so I got to see a lot of comments, opinions and reviews while doing my best to avoid spoilers. I had also seen a fair bit of gameplay footage and belatedly tried the demo before finally getting to try the game. After playing through the game once, going back again, trying multiplayer and now still playing on the highest difficulty, I can confidently say that I enjoyed and am continuing to enjoy the game. It’s not a revolution, a breath of fresh air or any other cliché, it also isn’t nearly as bad as a scroll through Metacritic might have you believe. I can certainly see why gamers (Duke fans or not) would dislike this game, I just don’t think you should take a bad review as seriously as you might with a similarly rated movie license or budget release (which the general review scores would normally compare with). For one, gaming journalists young and old have been itching to get at this game for a long time and reviewing a bad game is a lot more fun than playing one. To further my point, Jim, Sterling’s review of DNF is honestly the first time I have ever found his opinion in direct conflict with my own (and not just a little). I think it is actually the first time when I’d be tempted to agree (though I don’t really) with the “controversy for hits” complaints that have been going around a lot recently. So I personally think DNF is far from being bad but I can still understand why other gamers would love it, like it, hate it or think it’s OK. It’s that kind of game.

The major criticism I have with DNF is the loading times. I have it installed on my 360 and it still takes far too long to load even small sections of the game. Installing it must make a huge difference as it doesn’t seem to take as long as some estimates I have read but the times are still far too long compared to other FPS games and indeed in almost in any other genre. The long times to wait are especially annoying during some of the more difficult points of the game and there really doesn’t seem to be a good reason why. I’d love this to be patched but I’m not optimistic that it will.

The game is definitely visually dated, I would not try to argue with this and I think the description of “early 360 game” is apt. It actually reminds me of a mixture of Rainbow 6: Vegas and Prey. The former being an early release set in Las Vegas like DNF and the later being an early title in which 3D Realms was heavily involved. This is what you’re getting; the environments sometimes look great and go from colourful and vibrant to dark and grimy and sometimes are just bland. The character models especially look dated and there are a lot of blurry textures, some pop-in and delayed texture loading. I have seen pictures and video comparisons of the PC version and it certainly looks much better. I have thankfully recently played a lot of old FPS games from the late 90’s to present and the games visuals didn’t bother me too much. But DNF is a recently released game in a genre that’s always at the forefront of visual excellence so I would expect the criticism to be harsh. If you still think Doom 3 still looks good (I do) then you will find the visuals in DNF much better.



Most of the levels in the game take place in Las Vegas with the early areas of the game all being set around Duke’s base/mansion/skyscraper/casino building. The early part starts out slow with little shooting as the game introduces the story without cut scenes and tries to take you through Duke’s history up until now with plenty of references to Duke 3D and even pictures in his museum of his earliest games. Some may certainly find the lack of shooting in these early sections annoying but it doesn’t take too long before your holding a gun and the chapter select means you never have to see these sections again if you don’t want to. The important thing is that the vast majority of the game involves either shooting aliens with guns or blowing them up. The opening parts of the game are also no longer or more frustrating than the often mandatory tutorials in other games or even the very long (though better done) openings of both Half-Life games. It isn’t something unique to DNF.

After Duke leaves these areas he moves on the destroyed streets of Las Vegas and on through various other levels. There are a few throwbacks to Duke 3D, particularly the Hive stage and Duke Burger. The Hive stage in particular has provoked a lot of discussion and I personally found it neither offensive nor especially different to the humour in Duke 3D. I think some players have forgotten about the similar levels (and similar state of the women) in the last game. That’s not to say I thought the humour was amusing or even appropriate, just not especially different from what I’ve come to expect from the character. I don’t view him as a parody or a necessarily likeable character, so I suppose that moments like this were never going to bother me.

DNF has a surprisingly decent length compared to other games in the genre. I got the game on a Thursday and got in a couple of hours after work on Thursday and Friday before playing through the rest on Saturday. It is rare that I want to play one game so long but I did for DNF. I’d estimate it took about 12 hours to get through but I am sure many gamers could get it well under that depending on your style of play. Apart from the awful loading times, I can think of no time in the game where the game felt drawn out and I was never bored or frustrated outside a couple of cheap moments and the genuinely bad water level towards the end of the game.



The guns and items aren’t really new and neither are the enemies much different from Duke Nukem 3D. The pig cops are much more like wild boars, especially the unarmed variety who like their real life counterparts are best killed before they get anywhere near you. The pistol, shotgun, freeze ray, shredder, shrink ray, RPG, trip mines, pipe bombs and devastator all make a return. The rail gun seems to be new and is basically the sniper rifle of the game. You are also able to pick up some alien guns. It is odd that the game limits you to two weapons slots but I got used to this as the game progressed and found I was never too far from finding the weapon I wanted. The holoduke and steroids return but the jetpack is disappointingly absent from the single player game. I really liked this in the original especially since jetpacks generally make games better. There certainly isn’t much new but the guns are fun to use and many are still unique compared to other FPS games.

It would have been nice to see some more variety in the enemies. Some bosses are recycled which is particularly disappointing especially since these bosses go down exactly the same way the second time. If you played Duke 3D you will recognise all the enemies, though as mentioned the Pig Cops are both different and more difficult. The enemies actually make many combat sections of the game enjoyable when mixed together. There is a particular part early on where you have to fight both rampaging pig cops and teleporting aliens which really tests your reflexes and there are many other great fights throughout. The enemies generally aren’t to intelligent though, merely attacking you when they see you.

There are some puzzle sections in the game which involve both platforming and physics puzzles. I have seen these areas criticised and I don’t think they merit it. None are particularly frustrating or difficult and I found the platforming in particular very smooth. The physics puzzles are very easy especially if you’re a fan of Half-Life 2 and Portal. These sections are infrequent though and serve as a good way to break up the combat without padding the length. There are also driving and turret sections, both of which seem to have become a staple of FPS games in recent years. I found the turret sections to be some of the weaker parts of the game but I found myself quite enjoying the driving sections.



As a whole, there is abundant evidence through out of cobbled together ideas. The jokes in particular are quite bad. This is mainly because of how dated many are. There are at least two Portal references which now provoke groans in any game now and even some from (I thought) long forgotten internet memes. I don’t think I’ve seen all the references but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was something in there about Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton. The game also seems to use most of its best ideas early on as the amount of interactive areas and variety lessens a lot in the later parts of the game. The latter half of the game is mostly shooting which is good but it would have been nice to have more things to discover and interact with.

I haven’t played a lot of multiplayer but what’s there is fairly standard. A levelling system is present but the rewards are merely for an interactive area for Duke to walk around which doesn’t seem worth the effort. The multiplayer is enjoyable enough if your standards for shooters aren’t high and if you’re after good simple fun and not perks and achievements. I will try it some more but I don’t think I will change my opinion a lot from what it is now. Though the DLC that is planned might make it a bit better and the first pack is free at least if you are in the First Access Club.

I’m pretty sure this is the longest review I have ever written about a game. As I said earlier, I have been following this game from the start. This doesn’t mean it has dominated my life or that I have spent nights longing for it. In truth, like most gamers it has been merely in the back of my mind, popping out only when mentioned. Over its long development time there have been many far more important things that concerned me day to day, year to year. Finishing middle school, high school, University, travelling overseas for the first time, parties, friends, adventures, getting married and now having a kid on the way. It hasn’t made any difference to my life or had any significant impact on it. However as a gamer, it has been very interesting being an observer and commenter here and there over the years. So Duke Nukem Forever is not the game that its developers probably wanted but they were clearly never going to achieve what they wanted. It’s a good and fun game though and I think it is worth renting at the very least. This is one game where you should ignore the review scores and just try it for yourself.

I originally had a seven written down but I think I will just leave this with no score.