Duke Nukem Forever: Is it worth buying?

[SachielOne]

No, I'm not asking. I've bitten the bullet and bought it, and I figure I may as well advise you guys on it.

The short answer is no... at least not at the current price point. The game plays like something from around 2006 or so, and doesn't warrant paying full price for something so outdated. Wait for the bargain bin, the eventual steam sale, or pick it up used in a year or so after the price falls.

Now for a longer explanation. Aside from the somewhat dated graphics that every review out there mentions, the game has other issues. The thing that stood out the most to me is that they spent way, way, WAAAAAAY too much time working on the interactive environment stuff. If I want to play a pinball game, air hockey, or pool, I will go somewhere with those actual items. If these things were fun diversions I might forgive them, but they don't even control all that well. I can't help but wonder if the game would have been better had they concentrated on the main game play instead of wasting their time with this stuff.

Next complaint: You can only carry two weapons at a time. I think this one was either the result of George Broussard copying every new idea from every FPS since 1998, or caused by a need to simplify the weapon system for console controls (It's kind of hard to switch to a specific weapon in a firefight without number keys). Duke has always been more than a little ridiculous, and having an armory of weapons available would certainly have fit the character. Hell, the shrinker/expander technology from Duke3D could have been used as an explanation as to how he can carry so much.

More to come as I get deeper into the game. In the meantime, there is an excellent article from a few years back on what went wrong with 3D Realms over at Wired. http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/12/f ... e_nukem/3/

[Pinmissile]

Next complaint: You can only carry two weapons at a time.

+1

That's just silly. For a Duke Nukem game that is. Didn't Gearbox say that they were making DNF as a homage to "Old school 90's shooters"?


Edit:

Grats on your 400th post yay party time.

[Cho]

Yea. I had some (low) hopes for it... but from everything I've read so far, it's even worse than I feared. And The Escapist's review just absolutely trashed it: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/article ... ver-Review

[RexDark]

I found DNF to be pretty good.
I had fun with it for the 10 hours it took to finish it.
It could have been a bit longer in my opinion...

I'm sure modders will fix the 2 weapon limit soon enough.
I would have liked floating powerups though...

[Cho]

I found DNF to be pretty good.
I had fun with it for the 10 hours it took to finish it.
It could have been a bit longer in my opinion...

I'm sure modders will fix the 2 weapon limit soon enough.
I would have liked floating powerups though...

10 hours? That's truly pathetic for the price tag. Even if the gameplay was good, I wouldn't pay $50 for only a 10 hour campaign.

[RexDark]

I found DNF to be pretty good.
I had fun with it for the 10 hours it took to finish it.
It could have been a bit longer in my opinion...

I'm sure modders will fix the 2 weapon limit soon enough.
I would have liked floating powerups though...

10 hours? That's truly pathetic for the price tag. Even if the gameplay was good, I wouldn't pay $50 for only a 10 hour campaign.

I'm sure it would take longer on the harder difficulties...

And...
Guess what...
The main menu has already been set up for DLC...

[SachielOne]

10 hours? That's truly pathetic for the price tag. Even if the gameplay was good, I wouldn't pay $50 for only a 10 hour campaign.

Unfortunately, that's a standard to long single player game length these days.

[RexDark]

Has anyone tried the multiplayer yet?
I still haven't...

[SachielOne]

So, the biggest irritation by far that I have found is that there is absolutely no non-visual indication of when bosses are charging up any kind of super attack. There is one boss in particular that can wipe out half your health in one shot. If you happen to be dealing with his minions, which usually requires you to be looking elsewhere, you're taking that hit.

EDIT: On another check, the sound effect is there, but it can't be distinguished easily from the attacks of the minions.

[Iron_Fang]

Put the rat in the microwave ! At the beginning. Watched the livestream abit, was ok but would rent it for only a few days

[TLuke222]

10 hours? That's truly pathetic for the price tag. Even if the gameplay was good, I wouldn't pay $50 for only a 10 hour campaign.

10 hours? I beat halo 3: legendary on my first try in less than 10 hours (i beat halo in 8 hours and 43 min). I think 10 hours sounds pretty good depending on what kinda gamer u are.

[SneakyPie]

I wouldn't say the Halo series has a remarkable campaign.

Not including multiplayer, the games were pretty mediocre.

OT: I'm not surprised. For some reason everyone assumed that just because DNF was actually going to be released it automatically meant it would be an incredible game. Glad I didn't preorder.

[SachielOne]

So, I just finished it. Here are some final thoughts.

First of all, the end boss was WAY too easy to kill. I should not have been able to do that on the first attempt.

Second, the levels seemed pretty bland. I remember a lot of levels in Duke 3D being satirical in nature (Especially once you hit the fourth episode. Going Postal, It's Impossible, Area 51, Babe Land and Warp Factor were just a few examples of satirical levels.). Aside from a brief trip through a Duke Burger, there was nothing like that. Even this Duke Burger felt more like just another level than it did a parody of the fast food industry.

So, in summary, wait for the steam sale on this one. It certainly isn't worth the full price.

[Pinmissile]

Comedy equals tragedy plus time. And I think DNF has seen a lot of those two during its development cycle.