Duke Nukem Forever (PC): A Fair and Balanced Review

Gameplay dynamics

Instead of regular “health”, Duke has”Ego”, which can be permanently buffed by performing various macho things throughout the levels. Urinating in the toilet, loading up weights, playing with a punching bag, admiring his reflection, and various other things increase Duke’s overall health meter.

There are a few other classic gameplay elements present, but they are just named different things. In addition to Health being renamed “Ego”, temporary invincibility is achieved through drinking Beer.

Varied level gimmicks

You don’t get used to any one style of gameplay for very long. Duke Nukem Forever has lots and LOTS of minigames in between all of the action. Some may find this annoying, and some may find this a great change of pace.

Within a five minute span in the first level, Duke finds himself solving a simple platform puzzle, crawling through corridors, kicking his way through enemies, retrieving a key with an RC car, blowing up a mothership, and slowing down a runaway elevator with a hand brake.

It’s great that there is such a varied change of scenery, as many of the brief shoot-out sequences can feel a little labored, and just aren’t fun. The enemy AI just isn’t very good, and aliens don’t seem to care about (or be aware of) cover. This may be a throw-back to the games of yesteryear, or just a complete oversight, but the enemies pretty much just stand there until you shoot them.

A great break in the action is when Duke is shrunk down (complete with squeaky Duke-voice), and must climb into a Turbo-enabled RC car, which starts a stunt-driving sequence.

Weaponry

In Duke Nukem 3d, Duke could hold a multitude of weapons and switch between them. In this new iteration it seems that Duke is showing his age, as he can only carry two different weapons at the same time.