Can you really 'ALWAYS' bet on Duke?
After 14 years of development, the game has finally shipped and...has not been receiving a lot of positive reviews. In fact, none at all. I'm still trying to figure out what's behind these mainstream companies giving this game a low rating. Maybe because 2K isn't paying them enough money for ads and all, because, remember, it's all about money for these guys rather than honesty. From a professional standpoint, yes, there are flaws to this game. This game is not flawless, by any means. But it is less flawed than these companies make you believe. You mostly hear all of these negative opinions from the COD/Halo fanboys who only want to shoot and kill, because they're all braindead robots. Eh, let's just dive into the review, shall we? PROS: The game is extremely fun. I can tell you that much. No matter the flaws from a professional standpoint, the game is pretty dang fun. There is a lot of variety, and no, COD fanboys, not only simple FPS shooting. The game includes segments of driving sequences, platforming, and puzzles, giving you some fresh air from the tedious shooting that exists in so many shooters nowadays. Yes, Duke Nukem still throws out a lot of great one-liners and jokes, parodying movies and games and other media elements. There are a lot of great jokes in the first third of the game (BTW, I don't get when people say 'first third.' How many thirds are there??) Oh well, let's say the first half of the game. There are a lot of witty references to videogames especially. The platforming sequences are just memorable, especially considering the already-famous Duke Burger level. The driving sequences are extremely fun, giving you fast-paced and intense action as you drive through highways, ramps and them damn cycloids. I had a lot of fun with some of the weapons such as the Shrink Ray and Freeze Ray. There is a lot of mature content which symbolize the Duke Nukem franchise. A lot of nudity/boobage, drugs, strong language, and gritty violence. So, it's not for the typical kid gamers, even though they play mature games already. It's a lot more crazy than M-rated games such as Call of Duty or Halo. That's a no-brainer. The boss battles are pretty frequent and can provide a challenge, while at the same time, keeping it fun. Also, when you beat the game, wait for the credits to end. A little surprise thereafter. When you beat the game, you unlock a bull-doze of extra content such as past trailers of the game in the 14 years that it took to make it. A lot of concept art and also, information behind the development timeline. Now, on to the cons. CONS:
While the game gives a nice challenge, I mean it is appropriate for a Duke Nukem game, some boss battles and instances can be quite frustrating, especially when you have to wait a whole minute to restart from the last checkpoint. Seriously, the load times in this game are ridiculous, and that is one of the things that the critics actually got right if they complained about that at all. I think that was just the people, because critics are too braindead these days at times. I got really frustrated, waiting for those load times to lead me to a restart to a frustrating boss battle. Also, the game got pretty laggy towards the end where it starts to get intense. The frame rate really does drop at times. Let's just get it over with right now. The multiplayer is absolutely horrible. People giving the campaign crap and loving the multiplayer are just idiots who always have it backwards and just love playing multiplayer like the bunch of casual gamers they are. It's extremely unbalanced and unfair. I walk through a room and get blasted to bits due to a guy with a rocket launcher or another explosive turret. It's unbalanced, because everyone can walk around with rocket launchers causing cheap deaths. This takes no skill and obviously is not any fun. Melee attacks guarantee an instant kill. It's the worst time I had with multiplayer in a videogame; I'm telling you. It can be fun, but that fun is instantly ruined once your two-kill streak vanishes just because some cheap dude walks behind you with a rocket launcher and blasts you into the air before you say the words "Balls of Steel." Sometimes, the controls got a little clunky when you were in the (spoiler alert) underwater sequences. THE VERDICT:
Anyways, the game was a lot better than fanboys and critics said it is, not saying that they said it was good at all. This damn site gave it a 3.0. Duke Nukem: Forever does not deserve a 3. If they didn't add the multiplayer or actually balanced it and didn't insert cheap rocket launchers and cheap...things, then the game would be a lot better. But since they inserted it, I'll have to include it into my final score. The only reason the game kinda sucked was because of the multiplayer and frustratingly long load times. I had a lot of fun with the driving sequences and platforming. In fact, the shooting segments were the parts where it got boring and dull. Same old simple shooting. It's nice to have variety in your games, even if it's Duke Nukem. The game wasn't fun, because of the shooting and all, but because of the moments that differentiated itself from typical shooters and that's the fun platforming moments and driving sequences. Anyways, I'm not telling you guys to buy it, because I rented it. Just rent it, but don't listen to the critics when they say "don't try this game at all," because you should try the game and see what you think for yourself. If you have a sense of humor and don't act like a smarta** cocky SOB, then you'll love this game.