Reviewed by Brandy Shaul
I never thought I’d actually type this, but not only has Duke Nukem Forever actually released on the Xbox 360, but I’ve actually had a chance to play the game to completion. Has it been everything we’ve hoped for (and waited for)? Not exactly, but the game isn’t a total train-wreck either.
The story in Duke Nukem Forever is as shallow as you’d expect, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Duke’s back as he takes on another round of the alien scourge, as they’ve taken off with the planet’s chicks, and that’s just not cool with the Duke. Las Vegas has gone to hell (well, worse than before), aliens have opened a wormhole over the Hoover Dam, and the President may or may not have lost his mind. Add in a few genuinely clever one-liners and enough vulgarity to make even a sailor blush and you can easily imagine the rest of the story.
Gameplay wise, there are quite a few technical problems to be aware of. Like most other FPSs, the gameplay is fairly linear, although some of the level design is shockingly bad. Or, perhaps it’s just the general lack of direction and instruction in each environment that leaves you feeling lost. Either way, there are a handful of moments through the story that left me genuinely confused as to which way to go next, due to missing a switch, not placing a barrel on a platform, and so on. In between these segments, it’s your fairly basic gameplay of entering rooms, killing a few waves of aliens and moving on.
There are some underwater levels and driving sections as well, with Duke’s monster truck handling better than those using an RC car, but the underwater levels feel a bit slow due to what seems like an attempt at realism of underwater movement. There are even some light platforming sections, as Duke shrinks to the size of an action figure on multiple occasions.
Most of your munitions are acquired in the field, as you’ll be able to switch on the fly between two weapons, with a host of alien and human options to choose from. Shotguns are disappointing as they require impeccable accuracy (instead of a wide-spread scatter), but guns like the Devastator do a great job of clearing a crowd, and fast.
While ammo isn’t generally an issue (thanks to frequent ammo caches or drops), that doesn’t make the game easy. You need to be fairly accurate with each shot, and when trapped without a readily available supply of ammo, the game’s checkpoint system may lock you into a scenario where you’re down to two rounds and five enemies in front of you. This leaves us with a bit too much trial and error for my liking, but if you make sure you always leave a room with a full capacity of ammo (rather than going balls to the wall in every room), it’s probably avoidable. Furthermore, the easiest difficulty setting creates a far more enjoyable experience, simply because Duke can suffer many more hits before finally going down.
Sure, playing this sort of a game on “easy” may lessen your “gamer cred” in someone’s eyes (not my own), but when you suffer through 90-second loading screens between each environment, or each life, you’ll want to do everything you can to avoid seeing them.
For all of these complaints, it would be unfair to call Duke Nukem Forever a complete disaster. It feels odd to say that the game shows its age, since it has only now been released, but you can tell that Gearbox really tried with what they were given. I genuinely believe that the problems here are not of Gearbox’s design, but rather circumstantial based on what they were given to work with. Either way, there are definite moments of fun and hilarity here (for the 12-year-old pervert living in the back of my brain), and the game’s multiplayer allows for some unique kills that are at least worth a laugh (shrink ray stomping anyone?).
Here’s hoping that 2K and Gearbox are given the opportunity to create a true sequel to Duke Nukem Forever, so they can give Duke a real shot at glory without waiting 14 years to do so.
Special thanks to Jim Redner and 2K Games for providing a copy of this title.
