Duke Nukem Forever

Go straight to the game's trailer.

Duke Nukem is available on PC, XBOX 360 and PS3. The 3 versions are identical except for the finer graphics on the PC version, which is also 3D Vision compatible.

We tested the game on PC.



15 years! 15 years that Duke Nukem has been resting up from his victory against the aliens. Quite long enough for there to have been a big change in the world of FPS titles. The big blond American has thus had the time to prepare himself to join a new generation, except that, surrounded by women, laid out on his couch, controller in hand, it's not certain that he'll have taken the time to look around and note the developments that have been taking place over all these years.

Content: lacks rhythm, peculiar sense of humour

The tone is set in the first minutes of the game. Duke has kept his rather particular - and unsubtle - sense of humour, while the enemy and colleagues are all as pathetic as ever. Added to this are a few brainless bimbos with just enough about them to give Duke that little pick-me-up that he needs when he moves up the levels of the game.

Thankfully, things get serious after about ten minutes of the game, when you start to really get to grips with the aliens. Duke gets seriously angry when the extraterrestrials decide to kidnap all the town's women. The biggest problem quickly becomes clear however. Duke Nukem Forever lacks rhythm. You feel as if you're making your way round bits of games that have been pieced together (around twenty chapters in all), which no doubt explains why this follow-up seems so chaotic.


There are some decent ideas, however, that have been implemented more or less successfully. What with the miniature Duke who is very amusing and the tours in the monster-truck, the developers obviously enjoyed themselves, perhaps a bit too much to retain their (and our) focus.

It's the old chestnut of wanting to do too much and consequently not managing to do anything properly. The result is rather unequal but improves towards the end. It's not worth getting too excited about however as it only takes about ten hours to finish the game. You'll certainly enjoy yourself though, in spite of everything, with some colourful dialogue and well-worked sequences.


Of course, you'll also have to take on some big bosses - though far from the hordes or monsters in, say, Serious Sam - and the style of it all will bring back the memories of FPS titles of yore. Don't expect a great deal of freedom however. Apart from the numerous devices Duke can interact with (from an ATM to a urinal), the game is the victim of corridor vision, copiously seasoned with scripts that set off explosions and animated sequences.


Duke has to make do with just two weapons at any one time to deal with all his foes. These he often takes from his victims after he has killed them: laser rifle, pump-action gun, revolver or rocket launcher, added to which he can also use the famous grenade that he can attack from a distance with as well as a laser tripwire. You have to make sure he's using the right weapon against the right enemy to cause maximum damage without wasting ammunition. At worst, a well-placed kick or punch will do the trick.

With the aim of bringing a bit of freshness to the game, Duke also takes on extra powers after drinking a good beer or swallowing some steroids. Night vision can also be used to give Duke an edge, as well as the Duke 'halo', which enables you to create a hologram of Duke at the same time as he becomes invisible.


Let's finish with some words on the multiplayer mode, which really adds nothing new to the title. This mode is very much the standard (challenge matches to the death, capturing the flag disguised as capturing a bimbo) but will entertain up to a maximum of eight players for a few hours. There's no guarantee that you'll want a second outing with it though, especially as the game's fluidity could be much improved.

Gameplay: old school!

DNF hasn't only retained the series' particular humour, it has also kept the gameplay. Once again then, you'll find yourself circling around the enemy (press down on the left click) without necessarily needing to aim accurately at the head to do damage. Though not all that clever, the enemies do move fast.


That said, they aren't fleet enough of foot to worry Duke and his outsize ego. This ego, moreover, takes the place of the health bar, working in pretty much the same way. The difference with a classic energy level bar lies in the way you boost the ego levels. Duke can big himself up through various interactions with his environment: he can for example admire himself in the mirror to augment his ego levels. They also get recharged automatically during combat, as long as Duke isn't injured by anyone. Standard as far as modern FPS titles go, but a bit too easy all the same.

Graphics: a recent engine for a 20th century game

In spite of the change in graphics engine (to Unreal Engine 3) and the fact that the release date was pushed back several times, there's nothing all that exciting in the Duke Nukem Forever graphics, though they aren't unattractive either. The textures are poor (especially on console), the shadow and light effects only just okay and the overall result highlights the difference between the technology available today and the levels modelled in the past (during the long development process). Most of the level architecture would have had to be redone to get a better result, something that was no doubt impossible without delaying the game even further (it would no doubt never have come out!). The game's bimbos don't do much for the graphics quality either as the animation used for them is rather rigid, as is that used for the enemies and other characters.

[note(4,,right)Stereoscopic 3D with NVIDIA 3D Vision

Like most games that use Unreal Engine, Duke Nukem Forever offers comfortable, though not spectacular, 3D rendering. It's enough, at least to enjoy the curvaceousness of Duke's admirers. It's best to deactivate the post-processing special effects here however as they do cause a few problems with the 3D and slow the flow. The game remains fluid with our configuration however (tested with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 graphics card, a 120 Hz Acer GD245HQ LCD screen and an NVIDIA 3D Vision kit).

Duke Nuken Forever trailer