Duke Nukem Forever - Reception

Reception

While there was considerable anticipation, Duke Nukem Forever was critically disappointing upon release, with most of the criticism directed towards the game's clunky controls (on consoles), very long loading times, and overall aging and dated design. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic calculated the PlayStation 3 version to be 49.21% and 51/100, the Xbox 360 version 49.17% and 49/100, and the PC version 48.52% and 54/100. Elton Jones of Complex chose the game as one of "the most disappointing games of 2011". Jim Sterling, review editor for Destructoid, named it the "shittiest game of 2011". Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, creator of Zero Punctuation, listed it as #2 on his list of the worst games of 2011.

Many critics took issue with the level design and shooting mechanics, particularly when compared to both the original Duke Nukem 3D and those of other modern-day shooters. Kevin VanOrd of GameSpot felt that the "joy of that game's shooting has been flattened" with "little sense of impact", finding the overall design to be "tedious", and ended his video review by calling Duke Nukem Forever a "bad, boring, bargain bin kind of game". Eurogamer commented that "few of the locations the sort of exploration and excitement that made Duke 3D such a memorable experience. Duke Nukem Forever is linear to a fault, and huge chunks of the game are spent simply walking from one fight to another through uninspired corridors." IGN criticized "the frequent first-person platforming segments that make up an unnecessarily large percentage of the story mode", although they stated the "shooting sections are simple fun". GamesRadar concluded that "Duke Nukem Forever's world-record development time has produced an ugly, buggy shooter that veers back and forth between enjoyably average and outright boring, with occasional surges of greatness along the way." GamePro felt that "Unexpected moments ... are really the game's biggest strengths. But they're few and far between." X-Play gave the game a 1 out of 5, criticizing the graphics, load time, number of enemies onscreen, the multiplayer, being called "an afterthought", the game's "creepy, hateful view of women.", and the hive level, with Adam Sessler saying that "this is all played for laughs".

Many reviewers questioned the design choices in comparison to Duke Nukem 3D, with Kotaku stating that "Old-school shooters, and this is definitely trying to be one of those with its basic AI and lack of cover mechanics, always had two great things going for them: speed and a ridiculous arsenal of weapons... Forever eschews this in favour of a plodding pace and two guns." Noting its negative mix with modern shooter conventions, The Escapist agreed: "having been almost cryo-frozen for more than a decade, then awoken and peppered with modern touches, feels so out of place."

Another common criticism was with the game's lack of technical sophistication, including inconsistent graphics and unacceptably long loading times, which GameTrailers called "unholy;" GameSpy found the console versions took up to 40 seconds to load a level. Edge commented that "the myriad technical shortcomings – particularly prevalent on the console ports – only get worse the further you progress into the campaign", a view echoed by Game Revolution: "when they started on the design, that tech was already outdated". The PC version has since been patched to greatly decrease loading times and to add two optional inventory slots.

The use of the series' trademark humor received a mixed response. In one regard, some critics such as Team Xbox praised the voice work of Jon St. John, who did an "excellent job as always with Duke's persona", whilst others like Machinima.com appreciated the comedic gameplay tips and pop culture references; however, the same critic also noted that "parts of the narrative and dialogue show clear evidence of the game's elongated development. Many pop culture references seem so 2002, with one-liners co-opted from 'guy' movies like Old School, Highlander, and Commando, which in itself could cause blank stares from most of the current potential audience." Australian gaming website PALGN felt the game was "saved only by its humor and nostalgic value." Official Xbox Magazine UK thought that the humor "isn't so much offensive or misogynistic as just suffering from an adolescent fixation with boobs and crowbarred-in innuendo." Joystiq noted that the game's multiplayer mode "Capture the babe" capture the flag, involving "spanking a woman into submission", "really is as painful as it sounds". Many critics conversely criticized the characterization of Duke Nukem, declaring his decidedly one-dimensional personality juvenile and outdated in comparison to more recent video game heroes. One critic also criticized the use of women's menstruation period in the game, as one scene at a strip club in the game advertises for "tampon night" on a poster at the club.

One particular section that received considerable criticism is the hive level, in which Duke encounters abducted women who have been forcibly impregnated with aliens. Duke has to kill them before the alien's birth does so. Both the level itself and the inclusion of disembodied, slappable "wall boobs" were listed in GamesRadar's "8 worst moments in Duke Nukem Forever". OXM noted that it "doesn't mesh with the rest of the game's tone at all", and the fact that Duke remains unfazed and continues to crack jokes about the situation was considered "outright revolting," which led to labelling Duke a "thoroughly detestable psychopath" by 1UP and Destructoid respectively. Zero Punctuation noted that the level is "as jarring a shift of tone as you can get without splicing five minutes of The Human Centipede into the middle of Mallrats".

Many critics cited the long and fragmented development time as a major factor in the finished product. In a positive review PC Gamer noted that "years of anticipation will spoil Duke Nukem Forever for some", adding, "There’s no reinvention of the genre here, no real attempt at grandeur... Check unrealistic expectations at the door and forget the ancient, hyperbolic promises of self-deluded developers," and concluded, "Don’t expect a miracle. Duke is still the hero we love, but struggles to keep up with modern times." Game Informer, whilst disappointed in the game concluded "I'm glad Gearbox stepped up and finished this game, but after hearing about it for 12 years, I have no desire to relive any of it again. I’m now satisfied in my knowledge of what Duke Nukem Forever is and ready to never talk about it again. Welcome back, Duke. I hope your next game (which is teased after the credits) goes off without a hitch." GiantBomb however concluded that for those "part of that faction that finds yourself so fascinated by this whole project that you need to know how it ends, I recommend you play Duke Nukem Forever for yourself. But I'd practically insist that you do so on the PC and try to wait for a sale. If you're not willing to play a sloppy, cobbled together first-person shooter just because it has some kind of weird historical meaning, though, just forget this ever happened and move on." Jake Denton of Computer and Video Games wrote that parts of the game were fun to play and listed it as one of the "5 most underrated games of 2011", while admitting the game's overall faulty structure. Also Joseph Milne of FPSguru.com featured the game on his list of "Top 5 underrated games" at number 4 on the list.