Duke Nukem Forever

After 14 long years of waiting, Duke Nukem Forever has finally arrived. It's the sequel to the classic Duke Nukem 3D, first released way back in 1996. At the time I was 14 and Duke Nukem Forever has been on my most anticipated games list since it was first announced in 1997. After developer 3D Realms closed down, DNF was handed over to Gearbox Software, who, instead of building a new game from scratch, took the riskier approach of building on what was already there, even hiring former 3D Realms developers to aid in their task. What this means is that Duke Nukem Forever is the game we've been hearing about and saw in screenshots, trailers and demos, over the years, at least, in some form.

The downfall of that, of course, is that many of the improvements we've seen in game development over the years, such as those in the graphics department, aren't present. Duke Nukem Forever's graphics aren't terrible but are inconsistent, with some of the game's assets looking dated. Gearbox Software did attempt to update the game engine with some more modern graphical features such as dynamic lighting, soft shadows, motion blur and water effects, which gives the engine a much needed boost, but it does look out of place at times. Some of the models are rather blocky and texture resolution is low by modern standards. If this version of the game was released in 2004 it would have looked great in comparison to games such as Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 - not so much now.

The Duke Nukem games were never known for their riveting storylines, and it's the same case with Duke Nukem Forever. The story in DNF is just a minor backdrop to the action, and sees Duke - now a cult icon thanks to his previous endeavours - once again taking on invading alien scum to save the world. There's really not much else to it, and to be honest, there doesn't need to be - not in a Duke Nukem game.

The controls are very straight forward but the aiming does feel awkward at times. The gameplay of Duke Nukem Forever is very old school, for the most part. There is no cover system and the usual "Aim Down Sights" feature of most modern FPS games is also missing, but all weapons have a basic zoom view. Duke Nukem Forever also introduces a regenerating health system much like Halo. Instead of a shield you now have an EGO meter which requires recharging after taking damage. You can permanently boost your maximum EGO by interacting with certain objects in the world, such as playing pinball or admiring Duke's reflection in the mirror. The problem is that the EGO system just doesn't feel right in the world of Duke Nukem. You play this bad-ass hero that now has to hide behind a rock for his "shield" to recharge. A more traditional health system with medpacks and armor would have been more appropriate. There is also a sprint function but old grandpa Duke runs out of stamina far too quickly.

Nearly all of the weapons from the previous games return in DNF, such as the Ripper, Shotgun, RPG, Freeze Ray, and even the Shrinker - a favourite of mine, with a projectile that can miniaturize enemies, allowing Duke to end the unfortunate victim's life with the heel of his boot. It still puts a smile on my face every time. There are some new weapons to create havoc with as well, such as the Railgun which acts like a sniper rifle of sorts. Most of the weapons have great sound effects that give it that added punch, especially in the case of the shotgun. The Mighty Boot is noticeably - and unfortunately - absent though, and has been replaced by a standard gun-smack melee system.

While it's great to have many of the fan favourite weapons back, there has been an odd change in the weapon mechanic, with the introduction of the two-weapon-only-fast-swap system. Instead of being able to carry all those wonderful guns and whipping out the right one for a particular situation, you are now limited to only two at a time. At least you can carry pipe bombs and trip mines along with those two weapons, but it's a design change that seems unnecessary, and something that fans of the original will miss.

There are a lot of things the game does do right though. John St. John still does the voice work for Duke and you get the usual quirky comments referencing pop culture and poking fun at other video games. The game also has a good level of interactivity. You can push wheeled objects around, draw on whiteboards, play pool or even take a leak at a urinal if you care to do so. And this leads us onto the mature content. Along with the violence, bad language and gambling, there are plenty of topless women and sexual references. The original Duke Nukem 3D had plenty of it - kicking up a lot of controversy for its efforts - and so it's expected in the sequel, but at times, it can feel overdone, even to the point of being distasteful. Fans of Duke Nukem may feel it's just part of the tongue-in-cheek nature of the game, and isn't to be taken too seriously, but those new to the game may not be so welcoming.

Playing through the single-player mode opens up a number of interesting environments to wage your war against the invading aliens. One moment you will be driving through a desert in a monster truck and then later you will be battling aliens on the shelves of a burger joint having been shrunk down to miniduke. It doesn't bring anything particularly new to the Duke Nukem franchise in terms of gameplay, but it helps relieve any "visual fatigue" that can be brought on by seeing the same old rehashed locations. Unfortunately, it all comes at a terrible cost: loading times. Waiting around 30 seconds for a new level to load isn't out of the ordinary, but every time you die, the game feels the need to reload the whole level again and only then can you continue from the last checkpoint. Frustration will set in.

The single-player campaign is reasonably lengthy by today's standards. It took me around 8 hours to complete on my first play through. Progression is very linear and the achievements are straight forward though, so there's little incentive to replay the game besides getting all the EGO boosts. From the Extras menu Gearbox has included some nifty things like screenshots, concept art and trailers of the game, some dating back to 1998. There is also a development timeline and a soundboard with some of Duke's voice clips, for those hardened fans.

Nearly no game can ship these days without multiplayer, and Duke Nukem Forever is no different, with four generic multiplayer modes on offer that can be summed up as deathmatch, king of the hill and capture the flag variants. I was unable to find local games but found international games easily enough using the Game Browser. The lag to the international hosts is noticeable but playable. The multiplayer component includes a basic level system where you gain XP for killing opponents and completing challenges which can be used to unlock clothing items like hats and shirts for you to wear, as well as customizing your "Digs". While the little extras help beef up the multiplayer mode, overall it is still very basic and you only get a handful of maps to play on making it something that will only end up being a blip on this year's multiplayer gaming radar.

There certainly is a lot to complain about in this game. The story is virtually non-existent, it's buggy, the graphics are outdated, it has terrible loading times, and more, but I must admit, at the end of the day I enjoyed Duke Nukem Forever. Maybe it is because Duke just sounds so funny in his high pitched voice when he is shrunk down. Maybe it's because smacking a downed pig cop in the head as an execution move is just so awesome. Perhaps it's because this isn't the usual war game with boring cut-scenes and idiotic companion AI. Duke Nukem Forever isn't going to win any awards for artistic achievement - be it in narrative or gameplay - instead it delivers the kind of B-movie shlock that fans of the original will appreciate. If you're a Duke fan and you can get past the poor graphics and long loading times, then Duke Nukem Forever can offer a good few hours of nostalgic fun.

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