Ramping up the difficulty is going to mean a lot of restarting when attempting different strategies, and despite the wait being shorter than the console versions, it’s long enough with repetition. Having to drop a useful weapon due to the lack of ammo, only to find there’s an upcoming boss fight with a crate supplying infinite reloads can be infuriating. A fiddly weapon cycling system and the ability to carry even an improved inventory of four (instead of the original two) makes battles tough, especially in having to make hard choices between pistols and rocket launchers to the more novel freeze and shrink rays. Ramping up the difficulty to "Come Get Some" means their lack of brains is more than compensated with mindless force, meaning more time will be spent dodging overwhelming firepower of many pig-cops as opposed to hitting them.ĭNF presents a healthy and adjustable challenge factor, but there are moments where the game's difficulty is borne from frustration. Many of the enemies in Duke Nukem aren't the most intelligent and can be overcome with a bit of tactical planning. A selection of physics puzzles split up the action, as do parts of levels where Duke has to shrink himself and platform jump through certain areas, as well as driving a monster truck through a desert that frequently runs out of gas. Much of DNF's format is similar to DN3D, in busting mindless aliens on the way, whilst overcoming the frequent boss battles throughout. This outing is far from perfect, but at least it’s entertaining to play and its many flaws do not affect the overall fabric of the mechanics. Retrievable holograms also give Duke a decoy to distract enemies with, as well as some handy backup.ĭuke’s persona may be archaic but he still holds up a decent game. His ego wouldn't be complete without steroids, in which a dosage enables him to become temporarily unstoppable at melee combat. Making the flattop haired hero bench over 600lbs, playing pinball, winning on slots machines, stand in front of a mirror to admire himself and even pick out faeces from a toilet are all ways of boosting the meter. Silencing bosses prolongs the length of his ego meter, as does interacting with various objects in the game. Instead Duke’s health bar is his ego, which depletes as he’s shot at and has to take cover for it to recharge. It's fair to say Duke Nukem is a fearless individual, so he doesn't need a traditional health bar of a more mortal human. He consequently embarks on a mission through his own casino’s, alien hives composed from their own organic matter, a ruined Vegas, the Duke Burger chain and even an old Western desert in a bid to banish the aliens back to their planet. Things turn nasty as Duke is attacked and as the babes are abducted, Duke fights back against the President’s orders, although the Earth Defence Force are more sympathetic with him. Now a casino, fast-food and property mogul, Duke hasn’t laid rest since Duke Nukem 3D, but his inappropriate and one-dimensional lines of speech portray how he’s still as inarticulate as ever.Īfter Duke plays through a recreation of Duke Nukem 3D’s final battle on a gridiron football field, he learns of a ‘friendly’ visit from aliens on his way to a media interview. A parody of contemporary action hero figures, his carnage now and question later approach made him the quintessential American badass. Starting off as a modest soldier in 2D Amiga games, when 3D Realms called themselves Apogee, Duke got a makeover with Ray-Ban’s, huge biceps and a few crude lines of speech when the series was first released in 3D. He didn’t intend to star in a highly anticipated release that was the industry’s longest-running gag. While the comic shooting game would never live up to the decade-plus of pent up hype and shifting expectations, to their credit, they shipped the thing. With DNF increasingly resembling the acronym, Did Not Finish when 3D Realms went under, Gearbox obtained the rights and cleaned up the remnants of the project. Having undergone constant delays and cosmetic changes, there were long stretches in its fourteen year development where nobody saw the game and most believed it would never come to fruition. It would be remembered by all as a cautionary tale of development hell and a holdover of a different era of shooters. If you see this game out for cheap in a Steam sale, it’s an entertaining singe-player game that, while often cringingly crude, is a respite from the more ‘realistic’ online-shooters like Call of Duty."Įven if Duke Nukem Forever was never released it would have continued to exist as a piece of videogame folklore. "No game can justify fourteen years of development and DNF is no different.
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