I did, for $25 during the Steam sale. I played through the shrink & drive segment, and haven’t had the time or inclination to start back up. Impressions so far:
– It’s not FPS gold, but it’s not complete crap, either. That said, I have a high tolerance for less-than-AAA shooters like Turning Point, Blacksite, or TimeShift.
– The regenerating health and two-gun limit were not welcome changes, should have stayed old-school with it.
– The action ramps up surprisingly slowly, and the game takes away your freedom of movement too often. Set it up quick and turn me loose in the world.
– Every time Duke says “fuck” or some variation of it, it’s jarring to me. Should have stayed PG-13.
– Definitely some clever moments with the RC car driving. Gunplay isn’t too bad, either, although I’m starting to feel like ammo is a bit too constrained.
I tried the demo on my 360 today and thought it was a steaming pile of crap with zero redeeming qualities. I can’t imagine why anyone would pay to play this rather than replay something they already own (and like), or go take a walk, or just stare at the wall for a few hours. I feel sorry for the Gearbox guys, who are SO much better than this.
I know, DNF calls for being stepped upon, if was just SO long in the making, and if you consider that it’s utterly disappointing without a doubt.
However, it doesn’t crash all the time, nor is it full of bugs, it isn’t monotonous or all-the-samey, it’s occasionally a bit boring, but also has some (few) thrilling moments, it isn’t classic enough and takes hints from FPS evolution where it shouldn’t (health regen, 2 weapons), it’s story is a bad joke (but then, the Duke character is a bad joke as well, and always has been), forgettable and occasionally downright disturbing (the exploding twins and tit-plant-thingies), it’s technically obsolete and so on.
However, it works, it’s got diverse gameplay (up to the point where some people call it a collection of minigames), it’s occasionally tense and even enjoyable (although too rarely) and at least doesn’t have any roadbumps like immense difficulty spikes, nor is it criminally short like some FPS these days.
Homefront, which was an extemely short, uninspired and pointless game I mostly remember for having to rely on NPCs to open all the doors for you and having a completely silly story (at least as silly as DNFs, though by completely different means) where North Korea invades the US is given a Metacritic rating of 70. If that game deserves a 70, DNF should at least deserve the same. Instead, it’s metascore is 54.
In my book, I’d reverse the two.
54 is very generous for Homefront, whilst 70 is probably on the upper ceiling of what DNF deserves. But it definately doesn’t deserve anything below 50, unless you think the graphics (its obsolete tech) should play that big a role.
I posted my view further up and it seems the consumers agreed.
Unlike Bulletstorm who failed creating a profit for Epic it made Gearbox some money so we can expect more of the Duke in the future which makes me happy. :)
I took a long break once reaching the middle of the game but I returned and finished Duke Nukem Forever. I actually liked it. Don’t get me wrong, the middle section of the game was terrible. The Duke Dome, The Hive, and Titty City were really terrible. However the rest of the game was fun and towards the end. I enjoyed it way more than Homefront.
I can’t help but wonder how much of that was people wanting to have a look at what took 12 years to develop. I’m curious to see how well a sequel does…
Homefront, which was an extemely short, uninspired and pointless game I mostly remember for having to rely on NPCs to open all the doors for you and having a completely silly story (at least as silly as DNFs, though by completely different means) where North Korea invades the US is given a Metacritic rating of 70. If that game deserves a 70, DNF should at least deserve the same. Instead, it’s metascore is 54.
In my book, I’d reverse the two.
Videogame “journalism” loves nothing more than an easy target. Actually, there is one thing they love more: a safe target. Unload that vitriol to get the skeezix hits from the 4chan crowd, and do it without being targeted by the game’s publisher for a nasty blacklisting.
It’s a win-win situation. Homefront was a pile of warmed over shit, but it’s not going to get a 29 because Kotick might dirty sanchez any mainstream site publishing that review.
New maps:
• “Call of Duke – Duke engages in modern combat in a war-torn city. Foes don’t stand a chance against the Duke when he spams the map with the N00b T00b.
• Sandpit – Players take the role of mini-Duke in a giant sandbox with two bases at either end made out of children’s toys. This map features Sticky Grenades.
• Inferno – Time machine engage! Duke does combat in a hellish landscape of lava and teleporters. Who turned on the 16-bit graphics, and more importantly, where did this DFG come from?
• 2Forts1Bridge – Hats? Duke doesn’t need no stinking hats. Give him a minigun and he’ll beat off all comers.”
Yeah, and then we have readers who deride some people for being lazy when they don’t provide that vitriol…
I have no idea what sort of number Duke Nukem Forever deserves, and honestly, I couldn’t care less. But that was one sad piece of work that doesn’t deserve nearly as much attention as it got. There are far worse and far better games worth talking about.
Well, you gave it a 2/10 and Homefront a 3/6 Tom.
A somewhat fairer than average rating for Homefront in my book, but you also took part in the Duke bashing.
I think I wrote all that needs writing about my opinion on the matter in my earlier post, so no need to repeat myself, other than that I feel a lower than Homefront rating IS undeserved for DNF.
I’ll never begrudge anyone their tastes. There are people who liked to be tied up and peed on, and if that’s what you’re into, so be it. Everyone’s tastes are different.
But at some point, people need to grow some common sense and understand the concept that just because they like something doesn’t mean it’s good. It doesn’t mean that other people are wrong when they complain about it. If you enjoyed DNF, god bless you, but there isn’t one single aspect of that game that’s done well.
I mean … the weapons are bad. The combat is bad. The AI is bad. The puzzles are bad. The driving is bad. The set pieces are bad. The bosses are bad. The graphics are bad. The lighting is bad. The physics are bad. The multiplayer is bad. The dialogue is bad. The “comedy” is beyond bad. It is a complete, embarassing mess from start to finish.
Do reviewers love an easy target? I think sometimes they do. But please, for the love of god, take DNF out of that equation, as it deserves every last complaint it’s gotten. Every time someone accuses reviewers of bashing the game unfairly, all I take away from that is one more person in a tinfoil hat incapable of looking at a game objectively.
Hey, don’t come at me with your fancy facts, mister!
I get what you’re saying, rezaf. But, really, phrasing it as a conversation about numbers is the quickest way to ensure a bunch of people talk past each other. I think there’s a worthwhile discussion about the relative merits of Homefront and Duke Nukem Forever. In what ways did the games variously succeed and fail? Which do you personally prefer and why? What kinds of different experiences do they offer, and how well do they do that? Which game has more personality?
But mostly, I just wanted to call out scharmers for being a hypocrite. He bagged on me for not writing some sort of epic Yatzee-esque takedown of Duke Nukem, but then he shows up in this thread to criticize the same sentiment when other people express it. I just wish I had a suitable cat gif to post for him.
I’m very surprised the demo was not enough to satisfy that desire. However, if Gearbox does a sequel, I hope they will have the time to fix some of the horror in DNF and actually produce a decent game.
I’m sorry if my analogy was too rough for your delicate ears, but it’s true: anything you can name, no matter how bad or weird, there’s always someone out there who’ll say they like it.
Which is fine. Some people like vanilla ice cream, some like strawberry, and some people like fried Kool-Aid. Just have enough common sense to understand that there might be completely valid reasons someone’s tastes don’t match up with your own, instead of dismissing them as bashing.
