Duke Nukem Forever demo...

[JDR13]

In short, no. The levels are incredibly linear and there is very little room for exploration or secrets.

*Sigh*……

Well at least we get to throw poo at things…

 

[Couchpotato]

Well what do people except most fps are a linear. You move down a map shooting and taking cover.

 

[Fnord]

These days, yes. But back in the mid 90's, FPSs had more open levels, with plenty of secrets for those who enjoyed exploring them.

 

[JDR13]

Pretty much, yeah. There are some exceptions (i.e. Painkiller, Serious Sam), but most shooters nowadays are fairly linear, and secrets/hidden levels are a thing of the past.

 

[bkrueger]

I am playing DNF now and it is fun for what it is (casual arcade game). I like it for the nostalgia factor.

In parallel I am playing DN3D with eduke32 and texture pack (this includes showing monsters as real 3D). I agree to JDR that that is incredibly fun and better than most of today's shooters..

 

[zakhal]

I played the start of forever and then switched to eduke32 because Ive never tried it with high resolution textures and 3d models. Also I never played the fourth episode. I dont like the 2 weapon limit in new duke but othervice I like it. Seems like there are both haters and those who really like it.

In short, no. The levels are incredibly linear and there is very little room for exploration or secrets.

There are extra rooms that are not part of the main path atleast in the beginning. Lots of small stuff you can see and do in them. Because of them the game didnt feel all linear.

Good

-Jokes (whether you like the style)
-Duke's attitude
-Lots of minigames
-Lots of puzzles
-Driving
-Good level design (i.e Duke Burger)
-Interactive enviroment (i.e microwave oven + popcorns)
-Extra places you can visit that are not on the main path

Bad

-Jokes (whether you like the style)
-2 weapon limit
-main path is linear
-console versions
-no secret places

Please note that we reviewed the game on Xbox 360, but Digital Foundry's Richard Leadbetter informs us that the PC version plays much better. "It's a complete mess on 360 - sub-HD resolutions, hugely obtrusive screen-tear, terrible aliasing, low frame rate," he says. "All of these things can be remedied by playing the game on PC. It doesn't transform it into a good game, but it makes it much easier on the eye and certainly smoother, far more responsive and thus more enjoyable to play."

Comes with the Balls of steel edition:

Overall I had more fun with new duke than I had i.e with Bioshock.

User review from somone who played the game through (Recommended by 15 of 17 users):

I got Duke Nukem Forever a couple of days ago and I just beat it this morning. I'll try to give you my insight on what exactly this ancient relic of the past brings to the 2011 era.

Duke Nukem comes back to our PC's and consoles with a dated engine, dated gameplay and especially dated humor. On a gameplay standpoint, it's anything but refined. Most of the guns lack of oomph and are visually unimpressive. Especially the shotgun's almost compressed blast that sounds always the same. Still, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't enjoy it. Why? Because you fight hordes of space aliens that blows up just right under your assault, and it's good fun to realize that any gun is good, not only rifles or RPG's. This means that you can actually carry your golden pistol the whole game because it's that useful.

I enjoyed the fact that the levels were very original and well designed. There is, maybe one or two parts in the game that falls in the corridor shooter genre, but most of it is similar to what you've seen in Half-Life 2, without the elegance. That is actually Duke Nukem's strongest point. You won't get bored of the levels presented to you, because there's always some kind of new twist to them. Actually, I'd say that Duke brough something very refreshing in a crowded genre of military shooters that are the prime example of corridor shooters. They should really take a page or two from Duke Nukem Forever's book in term of designing levels and interactivity.

As for the graphics, well, they're not very good. Are they BAD? No, I don't think so. Most indoors levels are okay, with low-but-still-present lightning effects. The only bad looking level is the bigfoot section, which lacks a lot of detail and has really horrible backgrounds. Still, that gameplay part is fun, and that's mostly what matters most.

Duke Nukem Forever comes from an era of stereotypes, one-liners and movie quotes. He has a very immature, crude humor that would appeal to any 12 year old boy and to tell the truth, I was around that age when I experienced my first Duke Nukem rides ( a bit late thought, considering it released a couple of years earlier ). It was with pure delight that I found Duke to be unchanged, ready to party like it's 99 once again.

You'd have to be dead inside or a real grinch to not have a good time with the humor, jokes and one-liners from this game.

So, is Duke Nukem Forever a good game? Yes, it is. When you see it for what it really is ; a flashback to early 90's shooters. I enjoyed my time with the game because I set my mind to the fact that I was experiencing a '' concept '' from 3d Realms Studions. I was experiencing a ride through their ideas from ten years ago, and I'm glad that I did. Every now and then I would stop and say '' man, they thought of that back then? Wow. Great stuff. ''

On the other hand, if you dive in Duke Nukem Forever expecting to find a modern shooter with high-end graphics and heartpumping firefights with headshots, scopes, Micheal-Bay scenes and explosions, well you're going to hate it to death. And if you saw it that way, you'd be wrong. Because we're getting a chance to play something that was buried.

For a current-gen game, Duke falls short. But for an experience coming straight from the past, it's a blast to play. I wouldn't say it's a must-buy, but definitly a rent. And bring friends along, you'll laugh until the credit rolls. Thank you, Gearbox Studios.

8/10.

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/d....html?id=767219&tag=player-reviews;continue;2

 

[skavenhorde]

I was interested in this even though I never played the original, but now….meh. I'll save my money for Dead Island.

 

[JDR13]

I never played the original

You call yourself a gamer?

You should do yourself a favor and try it with EDuke32.

 

[skavenhorde]

Thanks for that link. I just might pick the old one up. Jaz got me hooked on Serious Sam so why not Duke Nukem throw Duke into the mix

 

[Thrasher]

I never played/bought the original. It sounds like I should!

 

[Jaz]

Jaz got me hooked on Serious Sam so why not Duke Nukem throw Duke into the mix

Sure, why not? I even have a Duke Nukem Atomic Edition nighty* . If that's not reason enough for you to fall for the Duke, then I don't know what to do anymore.
I also liked Shadow Warrior, by the way. "Who wants some Wang?"

@Thrasher: Yes, you should. It's evil. And try to get the first two games as well, just keep in mind they were Keen-style platformers.

*The only other video game clothes I own are a Half-Life tee, two Mario mushroom sweatshirts and a Mario mushroom cap. I got a Morrowind tee as part of my preorder package, but it was as astonishingly ugly as most of the ingame clothing, so I donated it. If you're still looking for a birthday present for me: buy me a Mass Effect tee, will you? The one with Garrus calibrating, please.

 

[Thrasher]

Does the download from GoG work with the community mods like EDuke32?

 

[skavenhorde]

Sure, why not? I even have a Duke Nukem Atomic Edition nighty* .

As they say at the Codex, "Picture or it doesn't exist!"

 

[Jaz]

*sigh*
Used to be a regular t-shirt, but after all those years it looks rather … antique, so I just don't wear it by day. - Yeah, I know it's not quite what you expected.

 

[Thrasher]

That's no night*ie.

 

[JDR13]

Does the download from GoG work with the community mods like EDuke32?

Yes.

http://forums.duke4.net/topic/3784-gogcom-version/

 

[Jaz]

That's no night*ie.

Technically speaking, it's not a nightgown. But it's what I wear at night, so there .
And before you get more funny ideas, this is my mushroom cap:

 

[Thrasher]

Seems like a project. Not sure if I want to play it that badly, yet...

 

[JDR13]

It's actually very simple. You can get everything you need here in one self-extracting archive. Then all you need to do is add the file 'DUKE3D.GRP' from any copy of DN3D (preferably the Atomic Edition).

 

[Thrasher]

That's straightforward compared to the chaos in the thread.

Thanks!