I think it's rather amusing that we really be in here judging a leaked beta build on the merits of it being an actual game and not the fact this is an infinitely interesting look into history that people who actually care about game preservation, documentation and exploration definitely appreciate. I suspect the reasons why Duke Nukem Forever 2011 sold so well are the highly-deceptive marketing, morbid curiosity from players who wanted to see the disaster for themselves and also possibly because 2011 just was not a great year for first-person shooters - even RAGE disappointed! - and thus Duke Nukem Forever did not have much competition to worry about. And yes, if Red Faction could not do exceptionally well despite doing all these things, then chances are, Duke Nukem Forever would have not done as well either, as it would have greatly suffered from the comparison with releases like Red Faction and Halo and upcoming titles like Doom 3, Half-Life 2 and Far Cry - in addition to disappointing Duke Nukem 3D fans, which it was bound to if the leaked build is any indication. I said Red Faction did not do exceptionally well, something that even ReaperAA acknowledged in their counterargument.

I am going to ignore the nasty personal attacks this time and assume you misrepresenting my arguments for a third time in a row is a coincidence. “DNF wouldn’t do well because things like Red Faction didn’t do well.” the fatalities) and less to its gameplay. In a way, it is like Mortal Kombat, which owes its reputation more to its controversial content (i.e. I have played through Doom so many times, but I usually give up on Duke Nukem 3D after the first episode. The Pipe Bomb, the Freezethrower and the Shrinker are indeed cool, but the rest of the arsenal - while not bad per se - is fairly conventional and forgettable and the Laser Tripwire is useless most of the time.Īll in all, I do not think it has aged as gracefully as Doom and also I am not sure it would have made as much of an impression without the Duke Nukem character and the lewd/referential humor. Like SiN, it starts off strong, but then it introduces some really annoying enemies and the level design gets quite irritating - including many cheap deaths, awkward vertical fights and frustrating platforming sequences.

The one-liners were mere icing on the cake. The one-liners were mere icing on the cake.ĭuke Nukem 3D was also primarily successful mainly because of its strong level design, interactivity and good gameplay with cool weapons and stuff. Duke Nukem 3D was also primarily successful mainly because of its strong level design, interactivity and good gameplay with cool weapons and stuff. The final DNF was a failure not because it had crass humour (though of course stuff like that line in the hive level didn't help matters), but mainly because it failed to meet the standards that the fans were expecting from the game after all the cool trailers over the years. Most Duke fans were waiting for DNF since that was the 'big/main game' And the reason why the Duke spin-off games are not remembered as fondly is because. Those few who did get to play SiN mostly liked the game. Everyone and their grandma was all over HL that SiN went under the radar. SiN wasn't as successful because it was released like less than a month before Half-Life. SiN tried to do something similar a couple years later and it bombed horribly while the Duke Nukem third-person shooter spin-offs are not remembered as fondly.

Five facts duke nukem forever