Ok, this is a personal opinion, so when you read the below spoilers, please keep that in mind; also note that I'm only through the first few levels so it's not like I have completed the game or anything.

[spoiler]
I think the game sucks. Seriously - it has the same really shoddy feel as Unreal 2 (I'm not sure if this can be attributed to it being built on top of U2 Engine 2.5 or that they actually copied some of the feeling from one of the worst FPS games in the history of gaming on purpose.

Regenerating health gets a minus from me (and by a minus, I mean a huge negative kick in the groin - seriously, what the hell is up with regenerating health these days!). So do the pretty mediocre visual effects - the dramatic revolving fans and narrow ducts aim to create a claustrophobic atmosphere that feels artificial and isn't backed up by anything else in the game. Character models and animation get an infinite amount of minus points - I could understand them being that bad if the game itself followed suit and made up for it by being fun, but it doesn't. The character models and animation are actually worse than in HL1. In all honesty, I wouldn't even care about it if they at least supported some form of global essence that the game is about (I'm an old school kind of guy who actually appreciates games like HL1, System Shock 2, Unreal 1, Quake 1 and 2 and Doom 2 more than most newer FPS games as they're often aesthetically more complete and unique, not to mention grittier and scarier due to their comparative rawness. However, taking elements that are literally past century and placing them in a game that aspires to be a hardcore seller 20 years later, seems just wrong.

HL2 style level linearity gets another huge minus from me, as does the pretty non-descript level design. HL2 had predictability, but at least it was dipped in a good amount of atmosphere and original level design. It doesn't make any sense to even try and compare DNF to HL1 level design or gameplay wise.

Having arcade-style gameplay, but limiting the player to carrying two weapons at a time is just blatantly stupid and makes no sense. To me.

The jokes aren't even close to being funny and the one-liners just aren't cool. Additionally, the only good one is blatantly stolen from John Carpenter's They Live.

The enemies are simply boring. I could understand the arcade style approach if it was actually arcade style. You know, like a real arcade FPS. But it's an unfortunate mix of unoriginal design, boring gameplay and a bad non-threatening (or rather non-anything) atmosphere.

I have everything turned up to ultra - I wonder if there'd be more to DNF if I turned all settings down to low and played the game for what it is.

Personally, I honestly regret purchasing the game and paying €50 for it - I'm already having real trouble playing it after just a couple of levels and knowing that it was in the making for 12 years makes it just sad. Then I look at SC2, which cost the exact same amount of money and is a polished product that you'll have to use an electron microscope to find cracks in.

That said, I'll give a plus point to DNF's music. I mean, it's not strictly horrible, even though comparing it to that of a game like Bioshock would be simply immoral.
[/spoiler]

So yeah, this is my personal opinion. I'm looking forward to yours, although please try not to pass judgement on it unless you've actually played the game!

I think the main problem with the game is that it has changed hands so many times between so many people touching the game there is no flow honestly. When there is a tight nit of game creators they learn eachothers flow and there is always a unique style that the team contibutes. You can tell that the game was made, then created again, then sent to someone else cause the art style varies and the flow of gameplay just doesnt flow like it would had the original developers made it from start to finish.

I personally enjoyed it though, mainly because I had a pre-order from 1998. Haha its good to finally turn that reciept in.

But, but, but... you can write with your piss. Everyone likes fecal humor, right?


Original DN3D had some mindblowing effects. Shoot at wall, it crumbles and a large wheel rolls off and kills the mobs. Swimming. Looking up and down. Proximity mines with laser beam visible. Mirrors. Lighting effects. You walk into a room, lights go off. And there are switches to turn them off. Ability to stomp stuff with your foot. Flying with Jetpack. It's hard to imagine what a shock mirrors in which you saw yourself were. And switches that turned lights on and off.

This may not seem like much. But when DN3D came out, this was a revolution. Such interactivity simply wasn't possible before. It. Wasn't. Possible. Period. They had to use black magic and call upon Ctulhu.

Half-life had much of the same and its success is best attributed to that. The other competitors went other way, mostly with multiplayer emphasis.

Today, all of this is regular part of every FPS. There is no wow! effect.

DN3D succeeded for same reason as Avatar3D did. A combination of timing, novelty and sheer surprise.

[color=#1C2837][size=2]I think the main problem with the game is that it has changed hands so many times between so many people touching the game there is no flow honestly[/quote]We were just talking a bit about this at work. I guess Gearbox didn't really add much, they just basically got it out the door. They probably just fixed bugs.

DN3D succeeded for same reason as Avatar3D did. A combination of timing, novelty and sheer surprise.

... and boobs.

I think DN3D has some of the best level design ever. The number of routes you can take to reach the end is numerous on most levels. You can beat it in 5 minutes or 2 hours. The engine didn't even allow rooms on top of rooms.

why do games today insist that you kill every creature before continuing? Or opposite to that re-spawning enemies. I'd rather enemies just existed forever until you choose to kill them (or not).

If DN4eva stuck to the level design rules of DN3D I would thoroughly enjoy it regardless of any other short comings. I still enjoy DN3D today. Its more like a crazy racing game with guns than your typical FPS.

My impressions so far:
RIP jokes about Duke Nukem Forever being forever in development

Just got done playing it. I enjoyed it a lot. It has its moments and surprised me a few times. I've never played the first one so I just went in thinking it was a simple FPS game. I'd say it was just as fun as Crysis 2. It was only 45 dollars on steam also so I picked it up.

[spoiler]Not sure why you had a problem with regenerating health. Duke is supposed to be a bad ass. If the health didn't regenerate it would have slowed the game down. The enemies were fun. Same little critters on the ground as Crysis 2 basically with almost the same units except Duke's aliens flew and teleported. I loved the psychic units that picked up objects and deflected rockets. That added some strategy to the game. Also it had better underwater combat than Bioshock....

The size changing impressed me. I haven't seen that since Prey. The little race car and later the truck was sweet.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]
The size changing impressed me. I haven't seen that since Prey. The little race car and later the truck was sweet.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]That was part of Duke Nukem 3D too. Not super surprising it's in this as well. I will say the game with the best mode for that is probably the chicken mode in heretic. Such fun pecking people to death.[/spoiler]