I bought the game a week or so ago. Why?? Well, I had to know. Here are my random thoughts after only playing through a couple levels of the game (I've been on vacation for a while, and my of my computer time has been quick surfing).
A lot of the reviews were overly negative. Unfairly? Well, there was obviously a lot of hype here. I have made many great game purchases based on good reviews alone, but I also sensed a lot of the negative buzz here was just following the herd, and a lot of the reviewers don't seem to be the type to appreciate a Duke game let alone be a member of the audience a game like this targets, to be honest.
I had to update the game through Steam which took an annoying amount of time even over cable connection. Had to update over 6GB of files to play the game- not necessarily download 6GB as it's hard to tell what exactly Steam is doing under the hood, but it felt like 6GB anyway.
There was a LOT of negativity in reviews about the un-PC humor. For Christ's sake, what did they expect with a Duke game? If you don't know what you're getting into when you buy a Duke game especially with all the comments made before release much less what looked to be one of the most detailed warning labels on the box, you're an idiot.
As far as performance issues, I did not experience any horrible frame rate drops (and that FWIW is not unheard of in games; sometimes it's even by design), but did notice some texture draw-in- there was an elevator door in front of me that popped in that I just thought was odd.
Only played the multiplayer briefly, it was not all that great. It seemed far more unfinished than the single-player game... UT '99 was more fun.
Anyone interested in the game should view it for what it is- a patchwork of ideas stitched together, some of them are great and some seem half-finished or just don't work. If you've followed all the press reports, screenshots, hype and such, you're better off to view this as the game that almost never happened, but you've got the chance to play a work in progress snapshot that was somehow tidied up for release by the new owner.
If you're a new generation gamer that's more only familiar with Call of Duty or Gears of War, this game is not for you, you're going to think it sucks.
I last played a Duke Nukem game in 1998, and yes gaming has changed for the better or worse since then. DNF IS the best Duke game I've ever played, warts and all, though certainly not the best FPS. But it would have had a lot more impact had it been released in 1999, or even 2003 or so.
Previous Topic
Index