Duke Nukem Forever - Gameplay

Gameplay

Duke Nukem Forever is an action-oriented first-person shooter. Players take control of Nukem as they navigate through a series of levels which take place on Earth and beyond. The game allows players to interact with various in-game objects, including urinals, water coolers and whiteboards which allow players to draw their own images. The gameplay is similar in some respects to the first-person shooter games of the late 1990s and early 2000s, with each level culminating in a boss battle in which Nukem has to fight and kill a large, significant alien.

Unlike in the previous games, Duke can only hold two weapons at any one time in a manner similar to the Halo series, although pipe bombs and laser tripwires are considered inventory items and as such are not limited by this restriction. However, the PC version has been updated to allow Duke to hold four weapons in the single-player campaign. Items that have an effect on Duke can be picked up by the player; these items are steroids, beer, and the holoduke. Steroids increase the strength of Duke's melee attacks by a great deal for a limited time. Beer makes Duke much more resistant to damage, but blurs the screen. A holoduke creates a hologram of Duke Nukem that looks and acts in a very similar way to Duke, but often says slightly twisted versions of his one-liners. Whilst the holoduke is in effect, Duke becomes invisible and the AI characters do not recognize his presence. The jetpack also returns, but only in multiplayer.

Instead of the health system featured in the previous Duke Nukem game, in which health would be depleted when Nukem was injured and would only increase upon finding a health pack, drinking water from fountains/broken fire hydrants, urinating or using the portable medkit special item, Duke Nukem Forever employs a system involving an "ego bar". The ego bar depletes when Duke is attacked; once it is fully depleted, Duke becomes susceptible to damage, dying and causing the game to reload the last checkpoint. If the player avoids further damage, then the ego bar is restored as is Duke's health. The player can increase the size of the ego bar (thus increasing the amount of damage Duke can take) by interacting with certain items throughout the game (for example, a mirror), and by defeating bosses. The game employs a save system that is solely based on checkpoints.