Duke Nukem is an icon in the video game culture. The latest title from GearBox Software and Tryptic games, "Duke Nukem Forever", is a title that has been on the backburner and switching developers for 12 years. The big question is: "Were those 12 years worth waiting for?" Sadly, the answer is no.
With the game being on the back burner for so long, Forever feels like a game that is 12 years too late on it's release. Everything from it's sense of humor, tone, gameplay, and it's protagonist’s one-liners; all come from the 90's, back when it was cool to be self referential. This game is nothing, but self referential. Instead of saying something entertaining with the meta-humor, it just revels in it to the point where it gets tedious. By this point in time, Duke Nukem feels like that cool older kid you idolized when you were a child, only to grow up 12 years later and just realize how kinda full of crap he was.
On the positive side: Duke Nukem is a funny game at points. The humor is something that works, but only in small doses, problem is: it’s constant! The humor works to an extent. It’s hard to not chuckle at Duke’s remarks to the “Halo” franchise as he tries to stand out on his own. The game is challenging, not just because of it’s gameplay mechanics, but because at points the game becomes a bit glitchy. An interesting aspect to the game is the Ego-boosting. Your health is regained by interacting with your environment. Writing on chalk boards, signing autographs, doing weight curls, literally; even throwing turds at enemies will gain health. It’s an interesting mechanic that definitely gives the humor and tone of the game a bit more of that manly badassness that we expect from Duke.
On the negative side, the game is a bit glitchy. The game chops up quite a bit during boss battles and when a lot of particle effects happen. The graphics are passable at best. There are far too many turret sequences in the game. The worst sequences in the game come from the driving sequences. The driving sequences just don’t work. The controls are painfully unresponsive. The player will find himself crashing more than driving in these horribly executed sequences.
The game does have it’s moments, but that doesn’t mean it’s a lot of fun to play through these moments. For a game that has a variety of weapons, ego boosting, and fighting aliens, it does feel a bit hallow and boring. The game could have used more time to rethink itself conceptually. In a world where “Halo”, “Call of Duty”, and even “Borderlands” have helped to redefine the first person shooter genre, “Duke Nukem Forever” awkwardly tries to place itself in the AAA league of games it used to be in all those years ago. Sure, the game will be fun to a select few and the hardcore Duke Nukem fans, but it’s fun moments are fleeting.
Sorry Duke, but you’re late to the party.
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