Mr Nukem only signed to this game for a case of steroids.
The game actually gets of to a pretty cracking start and see's you taking on an epic monster in a football stadium. Not a bad start you may think but something doesn't feel right. As the hilarity of the one liners and quips begins to die down the poor graphics begin to show.
Thinking to myself that I can live with the uninspired graphics I decide to crack on, unfortunately it's all downhill from there. Weak graphics are not necessarily an excuse for uninspired level design and most of the levels in Duke are uninspired, don't get me wrong there are some great boss battles and cool moments, for example a miniature Duke racing an RC car around a level. However most levels feel plain and distinctly lacking.
The enemy AI is lack luster especially when you burst into a room and shoot some alien scum as their mates stand by seemingly oblivious. They also attack in the most basic and old skool manner, no hiding, taking cover or team work purely if you are in front of them they will shoot you.
Despite some great and proudly chauvinistic dialogue the sound is pretty poor. Basic and standard sounds that belong in a game from the past.
Some pro's would be the cool opening sequence some of the rock tunes and obviously Duke and his grotesque one liners. Also a personal fave are the comments it makes about other games in the industry, for example the fact that Duke is too hardcore for power armor. This is true, but a game that to be brutally honest is a little sucky can hardly make quips about it's industry buddies.
What seems to have happened here is that developers have done what happens with many franchises, taken the so called 'best bits' and focuses solely on them for the sequels. For Duke Nukem the 'best bits' may appear to be the sexist misogynistic behavior of hero Duke and the one liners and BFG's that come with. However this was only ever a facet of the groundbreaking Duke Nukem 3D, a game that introduced a protagonist with character but also introduced amazing puzzles, trippy but brilliant level design and a game that changed the way we played first person shooters.
Now 12 years later and the groundbreaking aspects of Duke Nukem 3D are pretty common place and even expected, so how could Duke compete? well in my opinion once the game exchanged developers instead of simply finishing the game ready for launch they could have fixed a few simply infuriating problems. One of which being the horrible load times. You will die...a lot so expect to be seated in front of minute long loading screens often and during chapter changes. This simple fix would have bumped the game up a couple notches in my book.
Now if the game receives enough success to warrant a sequel I wouldn't necessarily like to see something industry changing but I would like to see something truly epic. Amazing set pieces rewarded with great cut scenes, a more open world with character interaction and though I am not a huge fan of puzzles (as I am not good at them) some brilliant cognitive sections along the way. Not to mention a fantastic and varied online experience.
Conclusion
Despite my many gripes about this game it is still worth a play through, it will make you laugh and the core mechanics are adequate. However give it a couple a weeks and pick it up on sale or the bargain bin.