Duke Nukem Forever is a good game. Doesn't anybody else notice this I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!
First of all, Duke Nukem Forever's levels have a ton of variety. Sure, some ideas have been done before, but you get tons of stuff. You get a casino, a hive, a duke burger, a strip club, a driving/wild west level, a dam, and an underwater level. All of this also mixed with clever platforming sections such as shrinking in the Duke Burger kitchen and having to jump around shooting pigcops and avoiding the electrified floor to find the switch. How can anyone call that boring? There's nothing wrong with platforming in a shooter if done correctly like Half-Life for example. The puzzles were simple but worked in my opinion.
I also don't get how everyone is complaining about Duke Nukem not being funny. He is still exactly the same character as he was from Duke Nukem 3D. He's egotistical, badass, loves chicks, makes witty jokes, and has personality. He can't be changed because he's a parody of action heroes. People were upset with the babes getting killed in the hive, as Duke couldn't save them but nobody got the dark humour. Didn't people remember that Duke could kill babes in Duke Nukem 3D as well?
Nevertheless, the gameplay of Duke Nukem Forever is still good and the best way to describe it is "a late 90s game with modern touches". The two weapon system for example, got me and other fans a little worried at first. To be honest, I got used to it pretty quickly and realised the game makes up for it by scattering enough weapons and ammo for it to balance out. I realised the game would be too easy if you had all the weapons straight away. As for the ego health system, the game uses regenerating health and to be honest I did find this a little disappointing due to how fast Duke goes into the danger zone, but I think they should have just made it that everytime Duke kills an enemy, his health would restore too.
The weapons in Duke Nukem Forever are almost exactly the same as they were from Duke Nukem 3D. In fact, pretty much the whole game is a full 3D reboot of Duke Nukem 3D. The enemies are all recognisable, and the bosses are also the same. Am I complaining? Nope. It's awesome to see this as a nostalgic return for us fans waiting to see them in full 3D. My only complaint is that two bosses are repeated through the game, but I still found it enjoyable killing them.
Duke Nukem Forever's graphics are quite possibly the worst aspect for the whole game, considering the engine is very outdated by today's standards. However, I felt they did the job for the game and didn't affect my enjoyment too much. The PC version has the advantage of having the fastest loading times and the best frame rates too. Sound wise the game is very good too, Duke's voice actor is still awesome and if I had any gripe with it it's the girl twins being a little annoying in it. Music is good and didn't affect me one bit.
The multiplayer in Duke Nukem Forever is very standard fare, with Dukematch, Team Dukematch, Capture The Babe, and Hail To The King modes. There is nothing groundbreaking in this section, but there is a Call Of Duty multiplayer unlocking system used in the game where you can unlock things and place them in the mansion called My Digs, which is cool. The achievements in the game are very good too and there will most likely be Downloadable Content too.
So for me, Duke Nukem Forever didn't flop and delivered what I expected from the game, a old-school, nostalgic experience filled with modernised game mechanics and crude humour. Could Duke Nukem Forever have been any better? No doubt yes, but it's no way close to being as bad as a 3/10. Let's just be glad the game actually finally came out shall we?