The Story
Twelve years after the events of Duke Nukem 3D, Duke is living the high life as a national hero/treasure in Las Vegas. All seems well. That is until the aliens that he took care of so long ago decide to attack instead of finish the peace talks they are currently working on. Knowing better than to listen to the president of the U.S., Duke goes into all out assault to kill the Cycloid Emperor for destroying his good time and kidnapping his women.
That should be the gist enough without any crazy spoilers.
Hated
First and foremost, the load times of this game are absolutely ridiculous. If I had to choose the one thing I hated the most it would have been the load times. No modern game should take as much time to make a decent sandwich just to load the next level. You should see that there is something wrong with your game if your tester can walk away from their desk, drop deuce and still make it back before the load screen asks if you are ready to go throw said deuce around in game. This is only a slight exaggeration mind you.
Another item that really pissed me off was the inconsistent difficulty level of the game. I decided to play through the game on the hard setting of the game. I was expecting a decent challenge throughout the whole game, but for some reason, most bosses were either insanely easy or just downright ridiculously hard. This was also the case for some of the basic firefights as well. It all just seemed a little unbalanced and properly tested, unless the point was to show that Duke Nukem isn't as bad-ass all the time, but that doesn't seem likely.
Also interestingly enough, the music of the game was very underplayed or just not as well used as it could have been. I found the trailers and commercials for the game to have better music than the actual game. In a game like Duke Nukem Forever you would expect something badass to be playing in the background while punching Pig Cops in the face but these was nothing. Where you'd expect some hard rock or metal to kick on for a fight, I was generally greeted with something generic and unfitting for the scene to me. There were many times that I cranked up my own tunes to take place and given the load times, I had plenty of time to play DJ.
Liked
While it may not be up everyone's line of humor, I rather enjoyed even the basic vulgar humor that was used in the game. Before you say anything, think back to the last "parody" movie you saw where you laughed your ass off. Now if you take DNF as a parody game of FPS titles, you will enjoy the game worlds more. To take even an ounce of what is going on here as serious is to lose the overall feeling of the game. It takes as many jabs at other games in the genre as Duke does at the alien invaders.
It was also offensive to be offensive and no other hidden agenda. Unlike other titles, Bulletstorm for example, DNF makes everything out to be a joke and not just throwing in vulgar langue and suggestive phrases to show how "badass" the characters are. It is meant to shock and then make laugh and that is something that is not hidden or subtle. The sexual content is in there for humor and not to gain more Red XP Orbs. Before you get up in arms about it, dissect it down to the basics and you will see why this is enjoyable. At least it was to an extremely open minded being as me.
Lastly, it is not just a grinding FPS title. There are other genres mixed into the bulk of the game as well as a slew of mini-games to also pass the time. Granted I only really enjoyed the Mini-Duke Platforming, Pinball and Off-road Driving out of all of them, but it was something to break up the run-and-gun here and there. I like variety in my games and while it wasn't the best, DNF broke the monotony and included a few extra options to the FPS.
Overall
To be honest, if you loved the original Duke Nukem titles, you will enjoy this one. Even with the 12 years of development, it is nowhere near the perfect game or sequel, but it will give fans something while another is being worked on. Hopefully by the same development team for the entire project. This is what I attribute some of the issues to.
As for everyone else, you will need to ask yourself a few questions before even considering picking up DNF. First, are you one of those "Open Minded" people who are easily offended? If yes, then don't even bother as your panties will bunch to the point of sand getting in your genitals. Second, are you a fan of the "Parody Film" genre? If no, then stick clear, even though there is less potty humor in the game than the last few I saw in theaters.
If you answered No and/or Yes to those question and you can look at DNF as one big parody of the FPS genre, you will at least enjoy the game for one play through just to say you have played it and got most of the jokes. A purchase may be a little much, but if you do have the disposable income, I wouldn't recommend against.
Duke Nukem Forever was developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K Games on June 14th 2011 for the PS3, XBox 360, PC and Mac. A PS3 copy was supplied by the publisher for review purposes.
