Gearbox Software (Borderlands, Brothers in Arms, Duke Nukem, etc.)

[Kiddington]

So... earlier this week, I finally got around to renting Duke Nukem Forever, naturally expecting the worst (pretty much every major source of video game reviews ripped this thing to shreds). After having had a few days to play through it, though, only one question remains...

Why the FUCK did this get such bad reviews? Honestly, am I missing something here? Yes, the weapon selection isn't the greatest, and yes, some of the gamplay mechanisms are a tad slow and, ahem, dated... but still; What. The. Fuck. I don't get it; I was expecting this game to be complete and utter trash from the way everyone was tearing it to bits, and instead, I'm actually enjoying it. Maybe not so much to buy, but still. I find most of it generally fun, and it's pretty funny to boot. What is the problem here? Somebody please explain to me the severe faults of this game (without talking out of their ass) that would constitute giving it a several "F" ratings across the board.

I don't know what people were expecting, really. I get the whole "14 year" bit, but the 1997 version and 2011 versions are nothing alike. Stating the painfully obvious here, the game that we got wasn't in development all those years ago. A troubled development cycle shouldn't be held against it... but then again, what do I know? I'm not a so-called "expert" in the video game industry. 

[Spark Of Spirit]

The only thing I didn't like in the demo (Still planning on getting around to picking it up) was the "modern" touches. The rechargeable health didn't feel right as a result it seemed like dodging fire wasn't really worth the effort, the two weapon limit was asinine (Waiting for the console versions to get this patched) and the aiming felt too floaty.

I actually liked everything else about it, and am really interested to play more of it, but if it was a pure classic FPS, I think it would have gone over way better.

[Kiddington]

The weapon limit was probably what got to me the most; that is a legitimate complaint, and one of the only major flaws, IMO.

I don't care for the regenerating health system, but I can live with it. It does make the game much easier than it should be, but... eh, it doesn't ruin the experience all that much on my end.

I actually liked everything else about it, and am really interested to play more of it, but if it was a pure classic FPS, I think it would have gone over way better.

Yeah, you're probably right. 'Tis would explain why the majority of reviewers are in love with pedestrian shooters like CoD, but anything that dares to think outside the box is mercilessly beaten by those same critics.

I dunno, though. I get the feeling that everyone would have hated this game either way, simply because it was "in development" for 14 years. Hard to say, though.

[Foggle]

Have they patched in the ability to use four guns on the console versions yet? Should be in the game options menu. Makes it a LOT better.

I don't regret buying the Balls of Steel Edition. No, the game isn't amazing, but the limited edition came with a lot of cool stuff any Duke 3D fan would probably want. DNF isn't a great game, but it is a fun one. I really enjoyed it on multiple playthroughs!

[gunswordfist]

I read the Borderlands 2 article from my copy of Gameinformer a few days ago. This is why I love sequels this gen. Those improvements sound great....now I just have to play the original.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Since Blockbuster is having a huge liquidation sale I grabbed DNF for cheap with a bunch of other cool games and... I'm really enjoying it.

Unfortunately, it still has the dumb two weapon limit which is about the only thing I actively don't like so far. The level design is really good, the weapons have good punch (except for the pistol and laser which are both too weak), the humor is classic Duke and it's just fun.

I must be holding back gaming because I don't really see anything in this game as out of date except for the fact you're constantly doing things other than shooting in a very Half-Life way. Which I don't see as a bad thing. Also to mention I'm a pretty healthy chunk into the game and the second part of the demo level hasn't even shown up yet.

What would I change? The upgradable ego bar is cool, but I really wish it was more of a health bar and you could just drink beer to replenish it yourself instead of having it auto refill after a cool down period. I would also raise the weapon limit, but since that isn't even an issue on the PC I'm not going to go into that. I would also have more enemies in the levels and less having to rely on ambush sequences, but that's a preference thing and not anything wrong with the game.

So yeah, it's a fun game. I'm not understanding the hate.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

A friend rented it and we took turns playing it for a few hours a few weeks back. While he admittedly got bored of it I had a good amount of fun with it. To me, its not so much a game with major flaws as much as it is a game with a lot of minor annoyances that can add up to detract from the overall experience, but even then the overall experience is still undeniably fun if you take it for what it is (in that regard it reminds me a lot of NG2 and how that game compares to its more well-received predecessor). I don't like the weapon limit and some enemies are more annoying to fight than fun. In addition to that a lot of the platforming segments feel more tedious in how they slow down the pace of the game than entertaining. That said, those portions of the game didn't appear all that frequently from the few hours of the game that I played. What I did play was still good ridiculous fun. Its certainly far from being a great FPS game, I'll agree with that much, but its still an entertaining one. Its certainly more fun than a lot of the boring as fuck CoD clones that have been coming out over the past few years. I'll take this shit over the Medal of Honor reboot or any other crap like that any day.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I actually enjoy those platforming/exploration pieces in FPS games like Half Life or older FPS games that most people hate and movie shooters never have. I dunno, I guess I just really enjoy scaling crazy environments.

I agree about some enemies being annoying to fight, but IMO, that's mostly because most guns just don't pack enough punch on normal difficulty. It's why I'm playing on the easiest difficulty because shotguns should always kill grunts in one shot otherwise it just gets silly. Call me a pussy if you like, but it doesn't really make the game any easier except enemies not being bullet sponges.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I actually enjoy those platforming/exploration pieces in FPS games like Half Life or older FPS games that most people hate and movie shooters never have. I dunno, I guess I just really enjoy scaling crazy environments.

Its not that I dislike platforming segments in FPS games. I like them when they are well-designed, like in Half-Life and various other games. In DNF I feel that they aren't really well-designed, though. They feel more tedious and hinder the pacing of the game, IMO.

I agree about some enemies being annoying to fight, but IMO, that's mostly because most guns just don't pack enough punch on normal difficulty. It's why I'm playing on the easiest difficulty because shotguns should always kill grunts in one shot otherwise it just gets silly. Call me a pussy if you like, but it doesn't really make the game any easier except enemies not being bullet sponges.

I think it should be FPS law that shotguns should kill most normal enemies in one shot as long as your within a reasonable range (like when your within 5-8 feet of the enemy, or at least the in-game equivalent of that). That's honestly one thing that ticked me off about Halo: Reach, in terms of how they nerfed the power of the shotgun so that it doesn't kill even normal Elites in one hit unless you're literally close enough to melee them. To me that kind of killed its usefulness in the campaign mode. I also dislike how weak it feels in DNF, which it should feel a lot more powerful in a game like this.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I actually enjoy those platforming/exploration pieces in FPS games like Half Life or older FPS games that most people hate and movie shooters never have. I dunno, I guess I just really enjoy scaling crazy environments.

Its not that I dislike platforming segments in FPS games. I like them when they are well-designed, like in Half-Life and various other games. In DNF I feel that they aren't really well-designed, though. They feel more tedious and hinder the pacing of the game, IMO.

The only one that got on my nerves is the one where you have to jump vertically up the statue. So tedious. The part where you're climbing the giant tower and scaling alien vines while guys on jet-packs shoot you is pretty fun, I thought.

I agree about some enemies being annoying to fight, but IMO, that's mostly because most guns just don't pack enough punch on normal difficulty. It's why I'm playing on the easiest difficulty because shotguns should always kill grunts in one shot otherwise it just gets silly. Call me a pussy if you like, but it doesn't really make the game any easier except enemies not being bullet sponges.

I think it should be FPS law that shotguns should kill most normal enemies in one shot as long as your within a reasonable range (like when your within 5-8 feet of the enemy, or at least the in-game equivalent of that). That's honestly one thing that ticked me off about Halo: Reach, in terms of how they nerfed the power of the shotgun so that it doesn't kill even normal Elites in one hit unless you're literally close enough to melee them. To me that kind of killed its usefulness in the campaign mode. I also dislike how weak it feels in DNF, which it should feel a lot more powerful in a game like this.

Because of the two weapon limit I've mostly stuck with the Shotgun and RPG. The Ripper needs more ammo and the Devastator only seems to come around when there's no ammo around, but I'd be perfectly fine just playing through the game with those four, the trip mines, and the pipe bombs. Those all have a great feel to them. The pistol and laser are too weak to be of much use most of the time (I'd rather just use my fists at that point) and the rail gun is useless most of the time since it only has 12 shots.

I think if they spent a bit more time balancing the weapons (and letting you hold more than two) and smoothing out the enemies, the game would be something special.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Well, I didn't get far enough into the game to experience that part that you just mentioned, so I can't comment on that, but I was mainly talking about segments like jumping up that statue. Stuff like that just frustrated me and made me wish I could go straight back to shooting up more enemies.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I beat it. The demo level was like right before the last quarter of the game. No idea why they used it, as it was the least fun level by far, even if I liked it.

The game's campaign was pretty fun. It had a good length, and it always managed to mix up what you were doing in the game. Also the freeze ray and shrink guns remained awesome. Will definitely play through again! 

[Foggle]

Best company ever.

[Foggle]

Very pleasantly surprised by the DNF DLC. It was much better than the main game, partly because it was obviously designed around the new expanded inventory option (where you hold 4 weapons at once instead of 2). The humor and level design are far superior to those of the original campaign, the driving controls have been improved, and there are a few nice surprises for older Duke fans. I recommend it!

[Spark Of Spirit]

I'm still waiting for a patch for the console version.