Returning Duke Nukem after one day

[DrEmo]

I played a bit at the Mana Bar today. It is very generic. But.

It's one of those games that you're not supposed to take seriously and it's meant to be generic. I know that sounds stupid but let me explain...

A lot of shooters do tend to make you do the same sort of things such as "pick this energy core up from this place and stick it in there". See I think the point of Duke Nukem is to take those generic aspects and goof it up. For example in most games you have to fight you way through a few rooms to find that energy core but in DNF, right at the start, you literally have to grab those energy cores from right next to the thing you have to put it in with absolutely no enemies around to stop you. It's like the game was saying "Where the fuck else would these things go, people don't just grab important things and leave them lying around god knows where do they?"

Then you have to find a third one and it's nowhere to be seen. So you go through a door and fight a few enemies (like you would in any other shooter) and then you find it sitting in front of you on a desk... on the opposite side of a bulletproof window. So you check around you for a grate because you've just spent a few minutes crawling around in them, but not. Nothing there. You look for the things you would find in any other shooter such as a door or another entry or even just a button. And then you notice the remote control randomly sitting in front of the window. And the RC vehicle. And then you realise you're meant to drive this vehicle around the shelves and push it through a small gap.

The ideas and goals are VERY derivative of every other shooter, and I also admit I did get very frustrated in the part where you had to shoot the mothership as it was never pointed out where you were actually meant to shoot, i ended up just shooting the whole penis-like extrusion until the health started dropping and bits fell off. The load times are also excruciatingly long, though that will liekly be fixed in an update (which is not an excuse and I could spend many hours typing an essay-long post about why I hate post-release updates, DLC, and online registration etc etc etc, even though I have perfectly good internet in my area.)

Having only played a small segment of it I do agree with your claims for the most part. The graphics are very subpar and take a bit of getting used to. Bit of a rude shock to be honest. But hey, at least they didn't have yet another engine change... >.>

My point is, yes it is average in every way and definitely plays and feels generic. But I also think it can be heaps of fun if played with no expectations. Just enjoy the stupidity of the situations and the humour and the hilarious interactions Duke has with the world around him. Don't expect it to be game-changing; don't expect it to bring anything new to the table; just expect it to be some silly macho fun.

I think though $109 is a bit too much to be asking. I'll be buying it when it's cheaper. It will be forgettable and silly harmless fun.

Ok, so, if someone makes a crappy game but somehow says that it's supposed to be crappy it's ok?

By this logic: Crap=/=Crap if Crap is admitted to be Crap.

This kind of attitude is way too prevalent these days. Everyone is doing things 'ironically' or because it's 'just dumb fun that shouldn't be taken seriously'. That's no excuse for mediocrity. Serious Sam is dumb fun that shouldn't be taken seriously, but guess what, it works because the game itself is good.

You can't say it's good because it's supposed to be a parody. If you parody bad mechanics with bad mechanics you still have bad mechanics but people don't seem to understand this. They think that the fact that it's a parody absconds it from any and all responsibility. As if recognizing the fact that what you made is garbage is supposed to free you of any criticism. If you KNOW it's garbage and you keep doing it, then there's something wrong with your brain.


It's not even a good parody, either. If they wanted to make fun of modern shooters they would've done it better. Making a bland level to make fun of bland level design is not acceptable. You still have a bland level and it's not making any point. Serious Sam made fun of Duke Nukem and other macho FPS heroes in his games. How did he do that? By being ridiculously macho to the point of absurdity. You KNOW the developers were in on this joke and they used it well. Even the name is a joke: SERIOUS Sam, when serious is the last thing this game is. Serious Sam also made fun of randomly spawning enemies. How? By having enemies spawn out of thin air right in front of you and even behind you. This would be bad design in any other game but here this parody was integrated into the gameplay. The enemies' absurd spawning locations keep you on guard, provide a hell of a challenge and a lot of them serve to scare your pants clear off.


TL;DR: Saying that Duke Nukem is garbage because it's supposed to be doesn't mean it's good; it's still garbage. If it were a parody, it would have been done differently. This is just bad game design. Serious Sam did it better years ago.

 

[Freakzooi]

Finished the game today, was actually not that bad. I'd give it a 7.


The loading times were fine for me. Nothing spectacular in the grapics department, but I'm playing on a (high end) pc. Loading times took around 5-10 seconds for me. Understand that is different for PS3 players, which is a shame.

The game is very lineair, and sometimes the levels seems a bit too predictable. Drive car, encounter ravine, cross the gap on foot, hit button, drive across, repeat. I don't know if this can be called bad design, but it isn't great design either, that's for sure. The fights were reasonably fun, specially with Duke's comments in the background. Became a bit of a drag after you played it for a while, since after a certain point the standard enemy fodder stayed the same, with only the bosses to provide you with a fresh challenge.

The 2 weapons limit (you can carry pipeboms and tripmines too) seemed a bit of a letdown at first, but since different weapons are always around the corner it didn't matter too much in the end. I liked the bossfights, very arcade style and not like modern shooters, except with the regenerating health instead of healthpacks. While the environment could be a bit dull sometimes, I liked the 'minigames' very much, when you get to drive a monstertruck or a little RC car, or turn tiny. The game reminded me of Gears of War sometimes, when you man a turret and blast away at aliens flying by. It was quite predictable what to do though, and if you don't like the arcade style fights they designed for many of the bossfights, you will be disappointed here. No advanced tactics or precise aiming, just learn where to stand when and you'll defeat them quite easily.

About three quarters into the game it began to feel a little bit like a drag though, but maybe that was due to me playing all morning You won't get many new weapons after the initial arsenal from duke 3d, like the shotgun and triple-barrel machine gun. The shrink and freeze ray felt as a bit of a letdown, gameplay wise. They seemed more like gimmicks than actually usefull.
Also, the sniper rifle. The game doesn't really offer any huge anvironments to play as a traditional sniper. You'll be at medium range mostly, and since many enemies can close up on you quite fast, the sniper rifle didn't feel 'not-duke' at all to me.

Oh, play it on hard. It's not that hard and only had to replay a few parts a few times, certainly made the fights a lot more entertaining (as in provide a challenge).


TLDR: Can be good fun, specially if you've played Duke Nukem 3D. The many references to it are great. If you don't like arcade style shooters (i.e. less aiming, more spraying) and the Duke humour isn't your thing, you'll most likely quit after the first two levels.

 

[parasyteFMA]

Still getting it day one. It shaping up to be fun, for me at least.

 

[Serving UpSmiles]

Aye.

What, you want more content? Fine.

I think DNF should have been shelved after five years. At that point, you either know you're going to make a great game or you're not. If you keep pouring money into a hole and getting nothing in return for it, then maybe you should turn off the money spigot. The original developers (can't think of their name at the moment) should have admitted defeat and come out and said that it's just not happening. Also, who was supplying the various devs with cash anyways? I would've thought after a decade plus of delays that no one with any amount of investment capital would've even thought of coming close to giving the project money.

iD software, I think made the Duke Nukem games, basicaly they made loads of cash off the game, enough to buy a mansion mind, and poured it all on DNF, what a waste of lazy man power and money....

 

[ffs-dontcare]

All those who saw this coming say aye.

Aye.

Seriously people, we all knew this was going to happen. Once the word got out about the demo everyone should've caught on.

Aye.

I didn't even play the demo and I still saw this coming from a mile away.

I don't even care about the fact that it took well over a decade to make this game. They could've made it better, and I wasn't impressed by the footage I saw in various videos.

iD software, I think made the Duke Nukem games, basicaly they made loads of cash off the game, enough to buy a mansion mind, and poured it all on DNF, what a waste of lazy man power and money....

You mean 3D Realms / Gearbox.

 

[cefm]

Let's all all take a long look in the mirror and ask ourselves "Why should we be surprised?"

The original Duke Nukem 3D offered very little in the way of graphics, play style or level design that others hadn't done earlier and better. Then add a 12 year catastrophic clusterfuck of a development cycle, and what should be expected?

Everyone knew that this game was going to be like asking someone to punch you in the face. So don't complain that it sucks. You're the idiots who asked to be punched by installing the damn thing. I, for one, am content to believe the experts who tell me that fire is hot - so I didn't feel the need to stick my hand into this burning mess.

 

[vrbtny]

Well, for me to buy a game with "no expectations", it's gotta be $5-$10 bucks

I picked up Quake 4 for $5, and have seen less complaints against it than this game.

Dude, but Quake 4 was awesome! It was like playing Unreal Tournament but with a campaign.... a really good campaign! Got that game a couple of months ago in the bargain basement for a fiver.

Definitely best value-for-money game ever bought.

 

[SonOfStayPuft]

So, it's finally here, never thought I'd see the day.

And it's goooood, although, it has some of the worst graphical/performance issues I've experienced on any game running on a console, but damn if I'm not having fun.

The gunplay is a lot of fun, (just wish you carry more than two weapons - really dumb decision there), and Duke's humour never gets old. I'm really liking the music, some throwbacks to the old, just generally a cool rock beat going on all the time. Some very funny references, I only just realised the one near the beginning was a parody of Christian Bale's rant a few years ago.

So yeah, it was never going to live up to 14 years of development, but this is still a lot better than most games that go through development hell and much more fun than most FPSs these days.

Having played it for a while, I can honestly say i'm impressed. Even with the short amount of time Gearbox had to revive it.

There's so many easter eggs and references, and I love the amount of interactivity you can have to get your Ego bar up.

The one liners are classic Duke too.

As a Duke fan of 20 years, when I got this in my hands today, it was a great moment, and Gearbox haven't let me down.

I'm not looking through Rose Tinted Spectacles, and admit, yes, it isn't perfect and could have been a lot better, but you want a serious shooter, then go and get The Orange Box or BFBC 2 or whatever.

As mentioned previously, Gearbox can now work on a Duke title we will be proud of.

Always bet on Duke.

 

[Herbsk]

iD software, I think made the Duke Nukem games, basicaly they made loads of cash off the game, enough to buy a mansion mind, and poured it all on DNF, what a waste of lazy man power and money....

You mean 3D Realms / Gearbox.

No - I'd point equal blame at ID Software as Gearbox - this is what you get for taking a game over from another studio - I'm looking at you Obsidian.....

 

[Jeffrey Rodriguez]

I found it entertaining as hell. I'd say it's a fun FPS with little depth but allot of vicarious fun which is what Duke Nukem has always been. People are just throwing a tantrum because it's a more modern FPS style.

 

[Aerograt]

Did you get to try out the multiplayer?

 

[Katana314]

TL;DR: Stop judging it based on what you thought it was going to be like, 12 years of hype helps no one, not even Duke.

You're absolutely correct that we should enter with no notions of what it should be like. However, I didn't buy into any hype, only watched one or two videos, and was only mildly interested. I didn't expect much from the demo, and I didn't get much.

Once again, I refer to Yahtzee's chart.

I don't know what I'm supposed to be getting from this little chart other than I was... Right?

Are people glossing over the part where I said that I haven't played it and that they're free to not like it if they want?

You might have been mistaken in thinking I was arguing against you. I was just continuing the discussion; like I said, I agree with you, and then just stated my own opinion of the game (based on playing it myself, and no prior notions)

 

[vrbtny]

Well, for me to buy a game with "no expectations", it's gotta be $5-$10 bucks

I picked up Quake 4 for $5, and have seen less complaints against it than this game.

Dude, but Quake 4 was awesome! It was like playing Unreal Tournament but with a campaign.... a really good campaign! Got that game a couple of months ago in the bargain basement for a fiver.

Definitely best value-for-money game ever bought.

'Twas indeed awesome, and a fine pick up for anyone looking for a classic-style shooter with more modern graphics.

The fully upgraded shotgun from that game is still my favorite weapon of all time. It was by far the most badass way of going CQC on some Alien ass. The fully upgraded Machine Gun was awesome too.....

 

[EzraPound]

iD software, I think made the Duke Nukem games, basicaly they made loads of cash off the game, enough to buy a mansion mind, and poured it all on DNF, what a waste of lazy man power and money....

You mean 3D Realms / Gearbox.

No - I'd point equal blame at ID Software as Gearbox - this is what you get for taking a game over from another studio - I'm looking at you Obsidian.....

Dude, id didn't have anything to do with DNF. 3D Realms developed it until a few years ago when Gearbox took over.

. . .Well, I should correct myself: id did have something to do with DNF. But only because it was influenced by DOOM, and 3D Realms published id's games under the moniker of Apogee.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

I can't return it...i got it on steam ;____;
I got a hell of a lot more fun out of Bullet Storm. Even though it was easy, it was enjoyable AND pretty.

Judging by your avatar and the kind of game I'm guessing you enjoy, I'd guess you were (like me) rather let down by DNF and the way they did it.

And yeah, Bulletstorm was great. Played through twice and loved every moment. It was what DNF should have been.

 

[smeghead25]

snip

Ok, so, if someone makes a crappy game but somehow says that it's supposed to be crappy it's ok?

By this logic: Crap=/=Crap if Crap is admitted to be Crap.

This kind of attitude is way too prevalent these days. Everyone is doing things 'ironically' or because it's 'just dumb fun that shouldn't be taken seriously'. That's no excuse for mediocrity. Serious Sam is dumb fun that shouldn't be taken seriously, but guess what, it works because the game itself is good.

You can't say it's good because it's supposed to be a parody. If you parody bad mechanics with bad mechanics you still have bad mechanics but people don't seem to understand this. They think that the fact that it's a parody absconds it from any and all responsibility. As if recognizing the fact that what you made is garbage is supposed to free you of any criticism. If you KNOW it's garbage and you keep doing it, then there's something wrong with your brain.


It's not even a good parody, either. If they wanted to make fun of modern shooters they would've done it better. Making a bland level to make fun of bland level design is not acceptable. You still have a bland level and it's not making any point. Serious Sam made fun of Duke Nukem and other macho FPS heroes in his games. How did he do that? By being ridiculously macho to the point of absurdity. You KNOW the developers were in on this joke and they used it well. Even the name is a joke: SERIOUS Sam, when serious is the last thing this game is. Serious Sam also made fun of randomly spawning enemies. How? By having enemies spawn out of thin air right in front of you and even behind you. This would be bad design in any other game but here this parody was integrated into the gameplay. The enemies' absurd spawning locations keep you on guard, provide a hell of a challenge and a lot of them serve to scare your pants clear off.


TL;DR: Saying that Duke Nukem is garbage because it's supposed to be doesn't mean it's good; it's still garbage. If it were a parody, it would have been done differently. This is just bad game design. Serious Sam did it better years ago.

Oh I wasn't meaning it's a crap game. It's just not as good as it could have been or as good as 14 years of hype would make some expect it to be.

It's still some good fun. to me anyway, but some of the gameplay mechanic jokes probably looked good on paper but are far too subtle in the game for most people to get unless they're looking for them. From what I played I thought it was quite fun and entertaining. The one-liners are still great and there's a whole heap of silly distractions strewn around the place. The remote control level is not as bad as it's described in the original post either, it's only like five minutes long and it's not hard to know where you're going. Though the turning of the vehicle could have been tightened a little.

It has it's issues and it's not as good as it could have been. I'd call it an average game, what we would give about a 7 or 8 out of 10 these days (but in a perfect world would be a 5/10). It's one that many people will buy and enjoy while other people won't find it fun.

Splatterhouse, Singularity, Turok, Army of Two. It sort of fits in with those. They're certainly not worth buying at full price but they aren't bad games. They have some design flaws and perhaps some occasional frustrating sections, graphical issues, repetitive gameplay... But in the end they're still fun and you won't feel burned if you buy them at a discount.

 

[GinraiPrime]

Picked up DNF today and I'm loving it! Its true that its definetly not gonna be for everyone, its more for those who're used to the shooters of old, with platforming segments and the odd little puzzle here and there. They're not exactly difficult but again, not for everyone. I love all the easter eggs that've been put in and the voice work and dukeism's are spot on as always. Its got the feel of a Duke Nukem game and all in all I'm having a blast with it.

There is some slight lag issues when I was in a certain level but that was only after a load screen and then it was perfectly fine from then on. The load times will put some off but I've seen much worse than this. Think the average load speed of a PS1 game, 30-40 seconds at times. Might be tough for some but would put up with that than Commodore 64 anyday!

My expectations weren't overly high, all I wanted was the game to be entertaining, the humor good and I got exactly that. Its not gonna change gaming as we know it but if you can just look past any issues with it you'll find a fun game here! Now that Gearbox own the Duke Nukem IP they could develop one from scratch instead of polishing the survivor of development hell. What they have done though is still awesome and I hope we'll see more of Duke in the future