As all but the most casual gamers know, Duke Nukem Forever is the highly-anticipated (or at least it was until more than five years had passed) sequel to Duke Nukem 3D, a very highly regarded FPS for the old days of PC gaming. It was in development by 3D Realms for 14 years, the longest known development cycle ever heard of for a video game. Of course, the longer it was in development, the higher expectations went and the hype built to crazy levels at some points. If you take the time span into account, the time when the game should have released, it probably would have been a damn fine shooter for its day. Unfortunately, since it was released this year, things have changed and it feels extremely antiquated.
Any major change you can think of in first person shooters (or practically gaming in general) is probably absent here, barring the inclusion of regenerating health and two weapons at a time. It's an odd game to play in the present day, almost as if the developers of the game didn't have the time to play any games from the last decade and to incorporate the changes in design. It truly feels like what it is - a shooter from another time.
Duke himself is just as antiquated at this point. His misogynistic nature and tendency to quote random movies with his own spin on them was funny in the Duke 3D days but it just seems stupid now. I don't think I laughed at any one comment he ever made, except maybe to laugh at just how ridiculous it was. I also can't ever forget the horrible sense of humor from The Hive level, as I mentioned in yesterday's post.
Most of all, the game is just boring. I've played a lot of shooters and this one just doesn't ever seem fun. The enemies don't do anything interesting, the developer's idea of mixing things up is shrunk levels full of jump puzzles, and boss fights in an FPS were never a good idea. I took several breaks from the game because I just couldn't stand to play it anymore at the time. I'm not saying it needed to be the 'roller-coaster ride' of today's games; it just doesn't have any personality of its own and is highly derivitave.
As I stated in my post yesterday, I knew I had to play Duke Nukem Forever. The history behind this game is the most storied and confusing that gaming has ever seen and the final product is something that anyone who has heard it has to get their hands on. I never expected the game to live up to the hype. I only wish it could have been a halfway-decent FPS.
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