Duke Nukem Forever mini review; DNF isn't that bad!

I’m not sure I get where all the hate for Duke Nukem Forever comes from.  I’ve seen some absolutely horrendous reviews for the game.  I’m not exactly sure what people were expecting.  A game that has been in development hell for 12 years with multiple restarts for various reasons.  We aren’t looking at a game that had 12 years of solid development time which was used to evolve the game to a masterpiece.  Hell…the game was even cancelled at one point and was lucky to have Gearbox Software revive the project and bring it to completion so it could see the light of day.  Finally, Duke Nukem Forever wouldn’t be the longest running vaporware joke.

Is Duke Nukem Forever perfect?  Of course not.   We’ve had 12 years worth of other FPS games showing the evolution of the genre.  If this game actually came out in a reasonable timeframe following Duke Nukem 3D, I think the game would have had much favorable reviews.

What do I think of the game?  I enjoyed it.   It felt like Duke Nukem 3D with better graphics (not great by today’s standards…but again…12 years in development hell).  Now, I was a huge fan of Duke Nukem 3D.  My friend Nick and I played that game constantly over the course of the year.  I still have the original box for the Atomic Edition of the game that I bought at Babbages.  We even got the Duke Assault pack which came with 1500 extra levels.   Sure, I played Quake, Doom and all the other shooters along the way, but Duke Nukem has always been a favorite for me.

To me, Duke Nukem Forever has everything that made the original a blast to play.  The Duke one-liners, fun things to interact with in the levels, strippers (sorry, I’m a guy), fun enemies to kill and interesting levels.  Plus, add in some decent multiplayer and I’m happy.  Again, I’m not giving it Game of the Year awards, but come on…this game isn’t dogshit like many of reviews are painting it out to be.

I would have my doubts we’ll ever see another Duke Nukem game (or any game for that matter) out of 3D Realms.  I’d love to see a return of Shadow Warrior, so maybe Lo Wang will come out of retirement next.

Again, this isn’t a full review of the game, but if you are a fan of Duke Nukem, give the game a try and I think you’ll enjoy it.  The game at least deserves a rental.  If nothing else, for good or bad, Duke Nukem Forever is a big part of gaming history and I’m glad Gearbox Software went out on a limb to bring it to us gamers.

PS – Nick, if you are reading this review.  Last time we talked we said we’d talk again when Duke Nukem Forever came out...didn’t think it would be this long.   Hit me up!