I'm having a good time myself, but what's clearly obvious is how the game (and Duke himself) lacks soul. It's just not the same Duke I grew up with, like the SA commenter said above. DNF feels vapid, like it's just going through the motions. 14 yrs of development would do that, I guess.
Glad Redbox started renting games here yesterday. Picked this up for rental and Im so glad I rented instead of buying. While the humor was funny 12 years ago now it barely makes me chuckle at times.
The loading times are abysmal and even after you have to restart a checkpoint you have to reload everything! In 12 years they couldnt get this lower??
The multiplayer is a laggy mess with characters moving like they have a stick up their arse.
2nd worse game I have played this gen behind Turning Point.
Sales numbers aside, is it really that hard knowing that some people like something you don't? Honestly why do you care one way or another if another Duke game comes out or not?
Being #1 on a weekly sales chart in the UK in June says nothing about units sold. #1 is a relative number, not an indicator of revenue.
For example, let's check out Infamous 2. #2 on the individual platform chart, #4 on the combined platforms total units chart. L.A. Noire is at #5 & #6 on the individual chart, but jumps to #2 on total units chart. In other words #5 + #6 units > #2 units. Infamous 2 also drops past Zumba Fitness, so #3 + #25 > #2. And this was Infamous 2's first week too. A chart that crowded means low sales all around.
It is June. The economy still blows. 1 week of sales at #1 won't put a dent in the number of units Duke would need to sell to get a sequel. And let's check back in on Monday to see if Duke can even hold up against a remake on a struggling new platform (Zelda). Not to mention on the U.S. Steam charts, it's currently being outsold by the new American McGee game. American Friggin' McGee.
Being #1 on a weekly sales chart in the UK in June says nothing about units sold. #1 is a relative number, not an indicator of revenue.
For example, let's check out Infamous 2. #2 on the individual platform chart, #4 on the combined platforms total units chart. L.A. Noire is at #5 & #6 on the individual chart, but jumps to #2 on total units chart. In other words #5 + #6 units > #2 units. Infamous 2 also drops past Zumba Fitness, so #3 + #25 > #2. And this was Infamous 2's first week too. A chart that crowded means low sales all around.
It is June. The economy still blows. 1 week of sales at #1 won't put a dent in the number of units Duke would need to sell to get a sequel. And let's check back in on Monday to see if Duke can even hold up against a remake on a struggling new platform (Zelda). Not to mention on the U.S. Steam charts, it's currently being outsold by the new American McGee game. American Friggin' McGee.
So I'm at the final boss battle on the PC version and I'm genuinely confused by a number of things in regard to how this game has been received by the critics.
Why did 2K send out the 360 version for review? Watching some YouTube videos of it, it looks like a muddy, teary and slow mess. Nothing like what I have experienced on the PC.
The reviews I have read (Ars Technica springs to mind) are so full of hyperbole it's embarrasing to read. "unplayable", "offensive", "dated". The game played just fine for me, the jokes were the same caliber of lame jokes found in Duke 3D. As far as being dated, well it felt like playing Doom 3 at times due to the restrictive corridors. But no worse than any other modern FPS. Maybe dated means the humor? It has similar gags that wouldn't be out of place in something like Saints Row.
There has also been mention of clunky combat. I didn't find it to bad in the sense that the gunplay seems to work well and you have the option of setting traps with trip mines and pipe bombs. Holoduke is fun to play with but I only found 1 - 2 of these during the course of the game. The two weapon limit was at times frustrating but is a product of modern times.
My chief complaint with the game would be that it never seemed to flow. The levels sometimes felt like you were playing randomly ordered maps with little connection to each other. I haven't tried the multiplayer much, the only game I tried was too laggy to enjoy.
On the whole I don't think I found the single player experience any less forgetful than something like Halo Reach (if you asked the names of the levels and characters I would be at a loss). I'm looking forward to a sequel, and the rumoured DLC for the SP game sounds promising although I would have preferred this being included for free.
I really think there should have been a PC specific thread for this game as any positive game discussion has been lost in a sea of OMG loading times and long winded discussion about what is and isn't offensive.
So I'm at the final boss battle on the PC version and I'm genuinely confused by a number of things in regard to how this game has been received by the critics.
Why did 2K send out the 360 version for review? Watching some YouTube videos of it, it looks like a muddy, teary and slow mess. Nothing like what I have experienced on the PC.
The reviews I have read (Ars Technica springs to mind) are so full of hyperbole it's embarrasing to read. "unplayable", "offensive", "dated". The game played just fine for me, the jokes were the same caliber of lame jokes found in Duke 3D. As far as being dated, well it felt like playing Doom 3 at times due to the restrictive corridors. But no worse than any other modern FPS. Maybe dated means the humor? It has similar gags that wouldn't be out of place in something like Saints Row.
There has also been mention of clunky combat. I didn't find it to bad in the sense that the gunplay seems to work well and you have the option of setting traps with trip mines and pipe bombs. Holoduke is fun to play with but I only found 1 - 2 of these during the course of the game. The two weapon limit was at times frustrating but is a product of modern times.
My chief complaint with the game would be that it never seemed to flow. The levels sometimes felt like you were playing randomly ordered maps with little connection to each other. I haven't tried the multiplayer much, the only game I tried was too laggy to enjoy.
On the whole I don't think I found the single player experience any less forgetful than something like Halo Reach (if you asked the names of the levels and characters I would be at a loss). I'm looking forward to a sequel, and the rumoured DLC for the SP game sounds promising although I would have preferred this being included for free.
I really think there should have been a PC specific thread for this game as any positive game discussion has been lost in a sea of OMG loading times and long winded discussion about what is and isn't offensive.
The funny thing is how every time I hear the 'outdated' complaint they then talk about getting shrunk, platforming, bosses and the adventure bit in a stripclub so it seems like diversity and doing more than one thing per game is a bad thing.
I'm not saying it does all those things well but I wished more games would take the risk and try it.
Also the best job in the world will be writing the next game, I'd sell my left ball (The worse of the two) to get a chance to do that.
I have the 360 version, I haven't seen any tearing. Yes the load times are long and the graphics aren't as good as the PC but isn't that always the case?
these are from somethingawful but they sum it up for me.I'm a fan of this sort of analysis, some of you may appreciate them most of you will hate them. I apologise for the :wordswordswords:, I thought they were the best summation of the problems in the game and better than anything i could of come up with and also from someone who was obviously a fan and a lot more sympathetic towards duke than me.
I would of linked it but the original thread got deleted/moved and the forum it's currently in isn't public so...
So I'm at the final boss battle on the PC version and I'm genuinely confused by a number of things in regard to how this game has been received by the critics.
Why did 2K send out the 360 version for review? Watching some YouTube videos of it, it looks like a muddy, teary and slow mess. Nothing like what I have experienced on the PC.
The reviews I have read (Ars Technica springs to mind) are so full of hyperbole it's embarrasing to read. "unplayable", "offensive", "dated". The game played just fine for me, the jokes were the same caliber of lame jokes found in Duke 3D. As far as being dated, well it felt like playing Doom 3 at times due to the restrictive corridors. But no worse than any other modern FPS. Maybe dated means the humor? It has similar gags that wouldn't be out of place in something like Saints Row.
There has also been mention of clunky combat. I didn't find it to bad in the sense that the gunplay seems to work well and you have the option of setting traps with trip mines and pipe bombs. Holoduke is fun to play with but I only found 1 - 2 of these during the course of the game. The two weapon limit was at times frustrating but is a product of modern times.
My chief complaint with the game would be that it never seemed to flow. The levels sometimes felt like you were playing randomly ordered maps with little connection to each other. I haven't tried the multiplayer much, the only game I tried was too laggy to enjoy.
On the whole I don't think I found the single player experience any less forgetful than something like Halo Reach (if you asked the names of the levels and characters I would be at a loss). I'm looking forward to a sequel, and the rumoured DLC for the SP game sounds promising although I would have preferred this being included for free.
I really think there should have been a PC specific thread for this game as any positive game discussion has been lost in a sea of OMG loading times and long winded discussion about what is and isn't offensive.
Duke 3D homaged/parodied 80s/early 90s action films by making the villains such ridiculous villain caricatures that Duke was an acceptable protagonist by comparison.
Roddy Piper and Snake Plissken are goddamn psychopaths in They Live and Escape from NY, but the point of the films is that society is so broken that these guys can thrive. It's a deliberate part of the films, presenting extreme cynicism (Snake ignores a rape-in-progress because he's that desensitized and amoral) with a smattering of dark humor (Snake's nickname apparently comes from his dick tattoo).
Duke 3D's pig cops were in a context where the Rodney King beating and the LA riots were still fresh in people's minds. Not only that, but the villains behind the pigs were basically rapists - the cheesy "mars needs women" premise getting a gruesome subversion with the Aliens-referencing outcome. Duke 3D didn't joke about the rape. It treated rape as a serious problem equivalent to racism and class warfare, to which Duke was a source of catharsis if not any actual social change. (Duke is was a parodic figure specifically because, despite being a working-class shmoe, he's so unenlightened that he's exclusively driven by basic urges to fuck and kill.)
The women and civilians in Duke 3D were just "normal" people doing their jobs, even if they are strippers or whatever. In other words, they're us. They're the folks feeling oppressed by the government corruption and other social ills, who are crying out for a populist hero to save them. That Duke is ultimately an idiot gave the game a measure of honest-to-god complexity.
DNF treats these "normal" characters with relentless and utter contempt.
So I'm at the final boss battle on the PC version and I'm genuinely confused by a number of things in regard to how this game has been received by the critics.
Why did 2K send out the 360 version for review? Watching some YouTube videos of it, it looks like a muddy, teary and slow mess. Nothing like what I have experienced on the PC.
The reviews I have read (Ars Technica springs to mind) are so full of hyperbole it's embarrasing to read. "unplayable", "offensive", "dated". The game played just fine for me, the jokes were the same caliber of lame jokes found in Duke 3D. As far as being dated, well it felt like playing Doom 3 at times due to the restrictive corridors. But no worse than any other modern FPS. Maybe dated means the humor? It has similar gags that wouldn't be out of place in something like Saints Row.
There has also been mention of clunky combat. I didn't find it to bad in the sense that the gunplay seems to work well and you have the option of setting traps with trip mines and pipe bombs. Holoduke is fun to play with but I only found 1 - 2 of these during the course of the game. The two weapon limit was at times frustrating but is a product of modern times.
My chief complaint with the game would be that it never seemed to flow. The levels sometimes felt like you were playing randomly ordered maps with little connection to each other. I haven't tried the multiplayer much, the only game I tried was too laggy to enjoy.
On the whole I don't think I found the single player experience any less forgetful than something like Halo Reach (if you asked the names of the levels and characters I would be at a loss). I'm looking forward to a sequel, and the rumoured DLC for the SP game sounds promising although I would have preferred this being included for free.
I really think there should have been a PC specific thread for this game as any positive game discussion has been lost in a sea of OMG loading times and long winded discussion about what is and isn't offensive.
I wouldn't be surprised that if the game had been released with the development being completely unknown, all reviews would be a lot more positive. That is, more reviews would be closer to 7 than something like 4 or 5. Many of the complaints in reviews doesn't really make sense... complaining about the game being dated when some of the major problems being that it's too modern (regenerating health and limited weapons) is really weird.
What's even more baffling are the complaints about Duke. Yeah, he's an old character, and so what? He's the most funny character we have in shooters today. I'd MUCH rather have more Dukes than more bold space marines. We've only had a few shooters try to be funny (Bulletstorm and Matt Hazard), the first one never goes beyond trying to invent new curse words, and the latter tries way too hard to be funny and only succeeds a few times throughout the entire game.
Can't believe someone has hit level 42 on the multiplayer rankings already!
I think 41 will be my limit, and even then it'll take a good while to get there from 38. They must have completed every challenge for the bonus 100,000 XP - which is mind boggling!
Still, it was nice being ranked third in the world for a week...
What a weak game. I don't know why some of you compare it to the awesome 90's shooters. This game is nothing like them. It's a straight forward corridor shooter, with auto-regenerating health, 2 weapon limit, simplistic, narrow level design and so on.
The idea of interactive environment is awesome but only when it's unrequired of you to participate in it. If you have to do all those things (play pinball, work out in the gym etc) to increase your health bar, then it becomes tedious.
IMO Prey, a FPS from a few years ago, is a much better game. You've got interesting level design, normal health bar, you can pack up as many weapons as you want to, you've got nice hover-craft levels etc. The story is quite interesting, the enemys are fun to fight, and it's got the novelty of portals and gravity shifts. Even the graphics are better...
I finally got around to firing the main game and to my delight, the game is enjoyable. Considering the reviews lately, you'd think it was utter dog shit. But it is just another FPS game with decent shooting, some enjoyable physics puzzles, and lots of juvenille humor.
Granted, I'm playing the PC version which is better than the console versions from what I understand. But I think there was a bit of an over-backlash against Duke.
If you are expecting something that brings something new to gaming, you'll be disappointed. But if you are just looking for a dumb fun FPS . . . it does the job well.
Quite frankly, the game is better than I thought it would be. I thought it would just be standard FPS stuff . . . but the physics puzzles, RC driving, etc. gave me some extra fun.
What a weak game. I don't know why some of you compare it to the awesome 90's shooters. This game is nothing like them. It's a straight forward corridor shooter, with auto-regenerating health, 2 weapon limit, simplistic, narrow level design and so on.
I think people are only comparing it to 90s shooters because it's...not Call of Duty. This game is pure horseshit compared to the Bloods and the Dooms and the Dark Forces of the world.
Has anyone made any entertaining (or at least, comprehensive) play-through videos? I'm curious to see for myself how the game turned out, but I really have no interest in actually playing it (not convinced my PC can even run it either).
Has anyone made any entertaining (or at least, comprehensive) play-through videos? I'm curious to see for myself how the game turned out, but I really have no interest in actually playing it (not convinced my PC can even run it either).
I think people are only comparing it to 90s shooters because it's...not Call of Duty. This game is pure horseshit compared to the Bloods and the Dooms and the Dark Forces of the world.
To "part three" of Duke Burger now. Got past that wonderfully annoying
electrified floor jumping puzzle
and just as revenge for her constantly repeating dialog I shoot the employee that lets me in the door to wrap up that part of the level. The model just flatout disappears.
I will say the game hasn't fully crashed on me once, but between chunks of the level suddenly loading five feet in front of my face, it's the level of glitchyness I've come to expect so far...
Probably one of my most highly anticipated games this year. Yeah, I know, I'm an optimist. Played the demo and went "uh-oh", totally didn't feel like Duke Nukem 3d. I rented the game and can say it isn't as horrible as people are making it out to be (the 1up review is a JOKE, no way this is an "F" game, that implies that its fundamentally broken) but its overall a pretty poor game. WHAT happened to the level design?! Since when has DN ever been a linear corridor shooter? Dreadful beyond words, especially the Hive levels. I will say that I really liked the Burger levels, that had some interesting stuff going on inside of it. But the rest? I think we've seen the end of interesting level designs in FPS's.
What a weak game. I don't know why some of you compare it to the awesome 90's shooters. This game is nothing like them. It's a straight forward corridor shooter, with auto-regenerating health, 2 weapon limit, simplistic, narrow level design and so on.
The idea of interactive environment is awesome but only when it's unrequired of you to participate in it. If you have to do all those things (play pinball, work out in the gym etc) to increase your health bar, then it becomes tedious.
IMO Prey, a FPS from a few years ago, is a much better game. You've got interesting level design, normal health bar, you can pack up as many weapons as you want to, you've got nice hover-craft levels etc. The story is quite interesting, the enemys are fun to fight, and it's got the novelty of portals and gravity shifts. Even the graphics are better...
I haven't got Prey installed right now, but I think DNF's textures are crisper in places, and the models more detailed. The hive section which is most similar to Prey, looks extremely good IMO.
In general, the game has as much if not more variety than Prey. It just lacks any kind of cohesive story or level structure, and suffers from being very linear, as you say.
I find it amusing that for all his "Duke used to.." he doesn't actually relate the passage of time, anticipation and farce of DNF's many years 'in development' to his own analysis.
Being a farce, a phony, a fake, is actually rather fitting if you take the remaining rebellious aspect of the '90 and contrast them with the conservative turn of the last decade. What else could Duke have been for this game?
I haven't got Prey installed right now, but I think DNF's textures are crisper in places, and the models more detailed. The hive section which is most similar to Prey, looks extremely good IMO.
Maybe you're right about the graphics but thanks to better performance and art directtion, Prey seems much nicer to me.
FireFly said:
In general, the game has as much if not more variety than Prey. It just lacks any kind of cohesive story or level structure, and suffers from being very linear, as you say.
Yes, but you can have good variety and bad variety of gameplay. In DNF most gameplay elements seem janky and unfinished. In Prey you have fewer options, but they are much better made. I didn't play Prey until a few months earlier and I was blown away by the gameplay, level design and innovations of this game. Truly an underestimated game.
The alien world felt so... alien. There are very few things that feel logical to humans, and I thinks that's a huge achievement by the developers.
The pace is very nice, when there is too much shooting, the game will throw at you some kind of portal or gravity puzzle, then it'll shrink you to a toe size, after that you'll fight a boss, go to the spirit level, fly a hovercraft etc. New gameplay elements are unfolding before you until the end.
I really like the story of this game too.
If someone wants to play something different from the COD Dudebro crowd i think Prey is the best option. It doesn't have a ego meter, combo meter, penis metter, iron sights, friggin unplayable CUTSCENES everywhere etc. but it's got a heart . Even the voice acting is quite good.
Probably one of my most highly anticipated games this year. Yeah, I know, I'm an optimist. Played the demo and went "uh-oh", totally didn't feel like Duke Nukem 3d. I rented the game and can say it isn't as horrible as people are making it out to be (the 1up review is a JOKE, no way this is an "F" game, that implies that its fundamentally broken) but its overall a pretty poor game. WHAT happened to the level design?! Since when has DN ever been a linear corridor shooter? Dreadful beyond words, especially the Hive levels. I will say that I really liked the Burger levels, that had some interesting stuff going on inside of it. But the rest? I think we've seen the end of interesting level designs in FPS's.
Just finished DNF today, It had some decent levels here and there but overall not to overly impressed and could the final boss be any easier? Beat him on 1st try lol. (PC ver)
It's playable, not fundamentally broken and even has some fun moments here and there. It's no F, but at best it's a passing C after a little after-school time with the teacher.
So, I beat the game yesterday. I give it a 6.5/10. I don't see where all of the (super) hate comes from.
Graphics: I found the visuals of the second half to be twice as good as the first half. This surprised me.
Once I entered the damn to when I left I was fairly impressed at times. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't come close to many AAA games, but it isn't a 3/10.
The exterior visuals (especially when in the chopper flying over Las Vegas) were just awful yet the interior were just fine. However, this game has to have some of the wort textures of any game I have ever seen. Check out the circuit breaker boxes on the walls, it makes your eyes bleed.
Audio: Standard. Nothing unique that stands-out.
Comedy: I read reviews where they said the game was overly offensive, rude, unfunny, and etc. Were they playing the same game as me? I laughed at the references. I laughed at the dialog. And I laughed at the events. Did they seriously expect this to be politically correct? It was filled with adult content and matching dialog... and I loved every second of it.
Animation: Holy Stiff! Worst animation of any game released in 2011 winner? My favorite thing to do: Go into a bathroom, stand in front of the mirror, and jump repeatedly. Seeing Duke jump up and tuck his legs behind him made me laugh so much.
Gameplay: Exactly what you would probably suspect from a 12 year in development game. The levels are linear and narrow with old design choices, the guns are familiar yet different, and the objectives are simple. Is that a problem? Not for me. If you went in knowing you weren't going to get a storyline with the depth of Mass Effect or the gunplay of any modern FPS then everything is just fine.
Favorite part(s): Being tiny and walking around.
I loved the kitchen part in the Duke Burger.
Favorite Insignificant Part(s): The ability to turn the lights on and off in so many rooms. I did it whenever I could.
Lease Favorite Part(s): The engine seemed to have trouble keeping the game together. Screen tearing, frame rate drops, odd lighting, and flat textures were all present, fairly frequently.
Summary: If you don't want to buy it? That is fine, but make sure to at least play it. The Duke is back and just as wild as ever. Don't go in expecting a AAA game. The best advice I have read about playing this game. If you want the best possible playing experience follow these steps. 1. Empty brain of intelligent thought. 2. Drink alcoholic beverage(s). 3. Turn up volume. 4. Go kick some ass.
We all know exactly why this game is selling (or is gonna sell) well, it has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of it, so why exactly is the sequel, that doesn't have the "OMG DNF IS FINALLY OUT I MUST PURCHASE THIS PIECE OF HISTORY!!1!1" factor going for it, gonna sell well? It sure as hell won't be because it's prequel was an amazing piece of work.
For the first half of his life bar stay on the far right and use pipe bombs to talk out the smaller enemies. When he reaches 50% health go all the way to the far left, back up, and step about a meter to the right. He can't hit you anymore. Fire away.
For the first half of his life bar stay on the far right and use pipe bombs to talk out the smaller enemies. When he reaches 50% health go all the way to the far left, back up, and step about a meter to the right. He can't hit you anymore. Fire away.
. Even the voice acting is quite good.
