Duke Nukem Forever is a sequel to Duke Nukem 3D which was released in 1996. Soon after, 3D Realms and Triptych Games started development on Forever, and was later finished by Gearbox Software and Piranha Games; a whole 15 years later.
The game is set 12 years after Duke previously thwarted the alien invasion. Duke is enjoying his world-wide fame, when the aliens invade Earth once more. The President tells Duke not to get involved as he is in diplomatic discussions with the Cycloid Emperor. However, the aliens launch an attack on Duke's home with the aim of revenge, abducting women in the process.
The character of Duke Nukem is basically a parody of an action hero and is additionally very sleazy; so expect crude humour and cheesy one-liners. It's still slightly shocking, but action games have progressed dramatically since this game's inception. In some ways, it's become a parody of itself. There's a few modern culture references which actually made me laugh. Early on, when you are back-stage, there's an actor moaning about a crew member being in his eye-line; Christian Bale-style. Later on, a soldier carelessly goes charging into battle; "dammit Leroy" quips Duke.
The game seems to have taken influence from the original Halo game. You have a rechargeable shield known as Ego. Once depleted, Duke can take a few hits before dying, and if he stays out of danger for a few seconds; then it will regenerate. He can only hold two weapons, in addition to the two explosives; Pipe Bombs and Laser Tripwires.
There are also a few power-ups that you can find; Beer, Steroids and Holoduke. Beer increases defence and has a blurred visual effect. Steroids drastically increase the strength of mêlée attacks for a limited time. The Holoduke creates a hologram of Duke whilst the real Duke becomes invisible.
Ego is increased after defeating Bosses or interacting with certain objects through the game. Early on, you find a room where you can play pinball, add weights to a bench press or hit a punching bag. The interactive elements are basic, and the other interactions are mostly sleazy such as looking at porn magazines, or using a glory hole.
Personally, I didn't really like the enemy design. The teleporting flying Assault Troopers often felt cheap and annoying. The flying Octobrains that fire projectiles and launch barrels at you often posed a tough challenge. The mêlée versions of the Pigcops seemed a bit too fast and seemed a bit too jerky in their movement.
I think the pacing to the game is pretty good. Early on, there's not much to shoot, but as you progress, there's a higher quantity of enemies thrown at you. There's plenty of breaks to the action too, so expect to be doing a bit of platforming, driving, or looking for items to collect.
Graphically, it is really inconsistent. Sometimes they look okay but most objects look very dated. It makes you wonder why the loading times are so long since it can take around 40 seconds to load which adds to frustration when you die.
Completing the game unlocks information on the game's development nightmare. There's concept art, photos, gameplay videos and trailers. It's interesting to see the level's initial designs and how they were improved, reworked or scrapped.
Overall, I think Duke Nukem isn't a bad game. The problem is that since its conception, gaming has moved on so much, which has left Duke Nukem far behind. To put it into perspective, there were 5 main Halo games released over 10 years between 2001-2011, and you could say Forever seems dated even compared to the early Halo games.