Duke Nukem Forever Catch-All

AUs_TBirD wrote:

Not up to today's standards, but can still show you a good time.

Not really DNF related, but that has me thinking when will 'standards' stop changing, when will shooters be as good as they can be?

/strokes beard

As you also kind of say, there's some things that don't really change, and you either like or don't like, such as the Duke humour.

Scratched wrote:
AUs_TBirD wrote:

Not up to today's standards, but can still show you a good time.

Not really DNF related, but that has me thinking when will 'standards' stop changing, when will shooters be as good as they can be?

/strokes beard

Much like popular storytelling the evolution of what is preferable in entertainment will change as society changes...

i.e. Shooters will always be as good as they can be as long as society believes that they are as good as they can be.

Mr.Green wrote:
Quintin_Stone wrote:
Duoae wrote:

Why don't people listen to me?

:)

Because you have that weird accent!

WHAT'S WRONG WITH WEIRD ACCENTS!?

I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're asking.

I dunno, I think they missed their window by a few years...

I wonder how well it's selling? Judging by this thread, not that great... The Portal 2 thread just exploded in a day or two on release day.

I'll probably get DNF eventually, but I figure a lot of Duke fans are too old now to care (just moved on to other things or the dreaded "maturity") and a lot of younger FPS fans don't really care that much about Duke.

If they had released like even a year or two ago when Duke was famous for being vaporware it would've been cooler... Like everyone wanted them to come out one day and release it right then and there.

Mex wrote:

I dunno, I think they missed their window by a few years...

It definitely feels like a game well past it's prime, except they've shoehorned some modern 'updates' on to the top of it and the two don't exactly gel very well. Also, while there's a lot of pop references they are almost embarassingly out of date in many cases (jibes about WMD's , Christian Bale's rant, etc).

certainly something I think is worth a look down the road in a steam sale or on the cheap but it just can't stand up to the competition. Bulletstorm, for example, which was a hell of a lot wittier (and prettier )

gains wrote:

Should we start a pool over how long it will take for Randy Pitchford to announce the entirely Gearbox produced sequel? The one that will be Bigger! Better! Badder! Bosser! Bladder! Badger!

And I hope it's all a joke and never gets released.

I love Randy Pitchford.

So has there been any word on when the demo is going live for the general population? No way am I buying this without a demo first...

Coolbeans wrote:

So has there been any word on when the demo is going live for the general population? No way am I buying this without a demo first...

I'm pretty sure the demo was cracked within hours of going up to rid it of the steam check. I have no qualms about getting a released demo outside official channels, although I suspect the places you'll have to look to find it will be side by side with the highseas privateer full version.

There's always youtube, which you could watch a few gameplay clips on.

stevenmack wrote:

Also, while there's a lot of pop references they are almost embarassingly out of date in many cases (jibes about WMD's , Christian Bale's rant, etc).

It'd be way better if all the pop culture references were of things that were popular in 1998.

I hope someone releases some sort of mod to allow for more than two guns at a time. Two guns is bullsh*t. No FPS that only allows for two guns at a time has ever been good, except for Team Fortress 2 and the Left 4 Dead games.

Also, someone should release a mod that takes out all the objectionable content and turns the game into something that could easily pass for an E10 rating. Call it Duke Nukem Foreveryone. Because I like really terrible puns.

MechaSlinky wrote:
stevenmack wrote:

Also, while there's a lot of pop references they are almost embarassingly out of date in many cases (jibes about WMD's , Christian Bale's rant, etc).

It'd be way better if all the pop culture references were of things that were popular in 1998.

I was thinking the same thing. Lots of good material to reference; Half-Life, Starcraft, Unreal... heck, he could even name drop xenogears (only calling in XenoQueers to stay in character) and it would have been great.

MechaSlinky wrote:

Also, someone should release a mod that takes out all the objectionable content and turns the game into something that could easily pass for an E10 rating. Call it Duke Nukem Foreveryone. Because I like really terrible puns.

Like this?

Or Serious Sam in hippie mode.

Totally.

Also, you know what Final Fantasy 10-2 needed? An alternate vocal track where all the voices were re-recorded by Stephen Fry just doing his best Stephen Fry impression. But I suppose that's a little off-topic.

The first reviews are floating in. They range from an 80 from PC Gamer (PC version) to a 40 from Joystiq (X360 version).

I have a feeling these reviews are going to be all across the board. Someone who picks up the game fresh is doubtlessly going to have a different opinion from someone who has been playing long enough to have tried the originals. You're also going to have a LOT of people looking to punish the game for taking so long (as if it's Duke's fault), or reward it for finally coming out (as if that's Duke's fault either), or make some statement on the state of game creation over the last decade and a half, or otherwise talk about anything that isn't the game.

Right now what I'm reading is that the humor is too juvenile for an M-rated title and too sexist for 2011.

LobsterMobster wrote:

You're also going to have a LOT of people looking to punish the game for taking so long (as if it's Duke's fault), or reward it for finally coming out (as if that's Duke's fault either), or make some statement on the state of game creation over the last decade and a half, or otherwise talk about anything that isn't the game.

I guess it's going to be hard for anyone to separate a game from it's development time, but it shouldn't matter. Whether it takes 14 years or 14 months or 14 hours, you've got to judge what's in front of you. George R. R. Martin's A Dance with Dragons isn't going to get marked down because it didn't hit it's original estimate, gamers didn't care when TF2 took 9 years since it's initial announcement, so I'm going to mark that up as one more thing that's bad journalism or reviewing.

LobsterMobster wrote:

Right now what I'm reading is that the humor is too juvenile for an M-rated title and too sexist for 2011.

I'm having a hard time stomaching this one too. I'll grant that it's not going to be to everyone's taste, but free speech and all. It's not the only place you can go for juvenile sexist humour. I know everyone's meant to be mentally well adjusted in the 21st century, but I can think of several places to go and find non-correct viewpoints and humour, with much more inflammatory content than would ever be fit for a mass published video game.

Well, I suppose some website blog has to write something 'relevant' to get clicks, it's not every day there's a game like DNF to review.

(Which makes me think, it would be nice if there were more games with as unique parts to it as Duke. It would be nice if there were less 'safe' games and more games that made you feel uncomfortable about something, but I guess that's never going to be an AAA game)

I'm about half way through now (maybe over half way) and it's a perfectly servicable - if dated - shooter. It does a pretty good job of keeping things varied so far (although there are a couple of spots that start to lag - in particular a driving section mid way through the game) with some nifty environmental puzzles scattered about, although it over-uses the shrink ray I think.

Incredibly, there's a character who pops up every now and again who's an even bigger arse than Duke is. Which is an achievement in itself

AUs_TBirD wrote:

PC Gamer review is up.

Short version is basically what most of us expected, I think: Not up to today's standards, but can still show you a good time.

Sounds like my first wife.

I will just wait and see what Jeff Green has to say.

Scratched wrote:

I'm having a hard time stomaching this one too. I'll grant that it's not going to be to everyone's taste, but free speech and all.

I haven't heard anyone say they didn't have the right to make it juvenile and sexist, and its detractors have the right to say they don't like that kind of thing. And in the context of this...

Scratched wrote:

(Which makes me think, it would be nice if there were more games with as unique parts to it as Duke. It would be nice if there were less 'safe' games and more games that made you feel uncomfortable about something, but I guess that's never going to be an AAA game)

It sounds like you think Gearbox is standing up for life, liberty and the pursuit of justice, telling it how it really is because everyone else is so afraid they'll be unpopular.

We're talking about dick jokes here, man. Sure they've got the right to make them, but it's not that no one else does because it's too "extreme." Just look at Bulletstorm. It's not like Duke Nukem is making me really understand - finally! - how I really feel about profanity, and no one else has ever been brave enough to try. People don't make games too juvenile because even when the jokes aren't offensive, they're still not really very funny. The criticism is that it's low-brow and it is. Maybe you like low-brow humor. That's fine. But don't act like you're being oppressed.

It sounds like you think Gearbox is standing up for life, liberty and the pursuit of justice,

Well I, for one, credit these heroes for finally having the bravery to make a joke about how, even though they were on that stupid Full House show, the Olsen twins are now all legal and hot...6 years after the rest of the world figured that out.
IMAGE(http://blog.cleveland.com/nationworld_impact/2009/01/large_George-W-Bush-Oct11-01-Legacy.jpg)
Soldier on! We shall overcome!

I've heard that you can yank a turd out of a toilet and throw it at people. Is this true? If so, do the turds respawn, or is it a 'make it count' sort of affair? Also, do they react in a suitable way to being struck with fecal matter, or is it just as if you hit them with a book or some other environmental object?

Puce Moose wrote:

I've heard that you can yank a turd out of a toilet and throw it at people. Is this true? If so, do the turds respawn, or is it a 'make it count' sort of affair? Also, do they react in a suitable way to being struck with fecal matter, or is it just as if you hit them with a book or some other environmental object?

Duke Nukem, ladies & gentlemen

I have this on pre-order and a friend got me a $25 gift card for my birthday. I'm really not sure about whether I should get this or not. I've been known to enjoy some less-than-liked games, though (such as Prey).

ccesarano wrote:

I have this on pre-order and a friend got me a $25 gift card for my birthday. I'm really not sure about whether I should get this or not. I've been known to enjoy some less-than-liked games, though (such as Prey).

Prey is actually a pretty good comparison actually - feels very similar, just switch the portal puzzles for shrink ray / platforming puzzles instead. It would probably be worth waiting a bit for a steam sale or price drop to be honest unless you're REALLY stuck for something to play. There's a whole bunch of better games on the horizon that are probably more deserving of that gift card.

Puce Moose wrote:

I've heard that you can yank a turd out of a toilet and throw it at people. Is this true? If so, do the turds respawn, or is it a 'make it count' sort of affair? Also, do they react in a suitable way to being struck with fecal matter, or is it just as if you hit them with a book or some other environmental object?

Yeah, I grabbed one once for the achievement - but there wasn't anyone around to throw it at, at the time. not really something I want to go back and experiment with myself

SpacePPoliceman wrote:
It sounds like you think Gearbox is standing up for life, liberty and the pursuit of justice,

Well I, for one, credit these heroes for finally having the bravery to make a joke about how, even though they were on that stupid Full House show, the Olsen twins are now all legal and hot...6 years after the rest of the world figured that out.

Soldier on! We shall overcome!

To be fair, blame for that is probably best laid at 3D Realms's door - a lot of this stuff must surely have already been in place by the time Gearbox got their hands on it?

Puce Moose wrote:
I've heard that you can yank a turd out of a toilet and throw it at people. Is this true? If so, do the turds respawn, or is it a 'make it count' sort of affair? Also, do they react in a suitable way to being struck with fecal matter, or is it just as if you hit them with a book or some other environmental object?
stevenmack wrote:

Yeah, I grabbed one once for the achievement - but there wasn't anyone around to throw it at, at the time. not really something I want to go back and experiment with myself

FANTASTIC! I was afraid that was some sort of marketing trick. I may finally have the opportunity to use the catch-phrase 'I'm waiting for a turd to respawn.' These are good times.

How are the boss battles so far? I've read extremely mixed reviews so far; everything from 'exciting, the best part of the game' to 'boring wars of attrition'.
Also: enemy respawn. If you clear out an area, can you wander around in it unmolested? Or do enemies constantly respawn around you?

Boss battles are definitely of the attrition variety (mostly just dodge their attacks then fire rockets at them till stunned then quick time them to death). pretty dull, but they look good at least.

Most of the combat seems to follow the pattern of - go into a new area, kill waves of bad guys, wait for the guitar riff in the soundtrack to signify the attack is over and you can move on. I don't think I've seen any CoD style respawning baddies. It's got the linearity of a modern shooter though, so a lot of the time you're pushed forwards without being able to backtrack very far - although sometimes you get to take a breather.

Scratched wrote:

I'm having a hard time stomaching this one too. I'll grant that it's not going to be to everyone's taste, but free speech and all. It's not the only place you can go for juvenile sexist humour. I know everyone's meant to be mentally well adjusted in the 21st century, but I can think of several places to go and find non-correct viewpoints and humour, with much more inflammatory content than would ever be fit for a mass published video game.

It goes from sexist to misogynistic

NSFW

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSA9W...

So...finished.

You know how DN3D had all kinds of wacky locations you visited - not neccessarily connected to each other, but just added for funsies.

Well say goodbye to all of that as the last half (more or less) of DNF is essentially set entirely within the Hoover dam - which is to say a dull collection of warehouses, work rooms and metal corridors. All of which are so dark that you need to be constantly running around with 'duke vision' on which means most of the rest of the game is played like this...

IMAGE(http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i183/stevenmack/boooooring.jpg)

(as an aside - is there a petition somewhere that I can sign which will help stop developers putting F*****G bat/duke/night vision into their games).

Other than a couple of physics puzzles there's bugger all interactivity or humour there either. Everything is pretty much front front loaded into the parts before you reach the dam.

Oh, and there's no ending. There's a sh*tty non-ending which Duke makes a crap joke about how bad the ending is and that "he'll be returning soon"

*sigh*

Definitely don't pay full price for this one. Your only really getting half a Duke Nukem game and half a generic "metal-corridor" shooter.

OH, and a minor point but they totally screwed up the Octobrains. Those things were freakin' terrifying in DN3D..now they are just annoying and don't make that horrible shrieking screechy sound anymore. Which is sad.

Awww...you just made me sad

I wonder if the split of level types is related to developers - such as first half was 3dRealms and the generic Hoover Dam - Gearbox...or the other way around.

I read the game was pretty much done by the time Gearbox got hold of it, but they needed to do the console ports.