Forever Young: A Subjective Preview (?) Duke Nukem Forever
This post is perhaps what has been most lacking in the blog: a piercingly authorial explanation of what Duke Nukem Forever actually is, why it’s worth the wait, and for those who know the answers to these questions – what it will become for today’s industry. For the sake of clarity, let’s call it a "preview," even though it’s not entirely accurate, as our case is unique. It’s hard to believe, but the epic story of development is nearing its conclusion, and the fact is already inevitable – Duke Nukem Forever will be released in early May 2011.
For those who are completely oblivious, let me clarify why DNF has become a legend: the starting point for the development is commonly considered to be the end of 1996, when Duke Nukem 3D Atomic Edition was released, and the studio 3D Realms shifted its focus to a new project. Fourteen and a half years until the scheduled May release. Moreover, if we recall most other long-term projects, whether it’s S.T.A.L.K.E.R. or Half-Life 2, a significant portion of that time went to developing the engine. However, DNF has never been based on its own engine; the technology was sourced externally – first from id Software, then from Epic Games. Fourteen years of pure game development is an astronomical figure even for today’s industry, let alone the late nineties. We will discuss the reasons for such a timeframe some other time, but in this post, we will consider the consequences: what should we expect from Duke Nukem Forever after so many years?
When the thunder crashed and DNF emerged from the shadows at the PAX exhibit last September, many in the press titled their articles in the style of “the return of the king.” And, in my opinion, they were wrong. In reality, Duke hasn’t gone anywhere – consistently, every six months, new news, rumors, and scandals emerged. They frightened those who were waiting for Half-Life 2, and a couple of years later – those waiting for Half-Life 3. For fourteen years, he stubbornly kept himself in the public consciousness, and gamers waited all this time. To gauge the level of anticipation, it’s enough to note that after the showcase at PAX, “Duke Nukem Forever” became the most discussed topic on Twitter worldwide for two days. However, it must be noted that many new players had not seen any part of the nuclear Duke’s adventures and awaited the fourth coming solely as a mythic ideal of a shooter, not as a specific game. And, of course, based on the first trailers, they condemned Duke Nukem Forever to oblivion: claiming that the graphics were outdated, the gameplay had nothing new, and so on. Hence a logical question arises: is it even worth releasing it, or should DNF remain a legend and a symbol of unattainable ideals?
First and foremost, we should consider the developers who have spent many years of their lives creating DNF. At least out of respect for their work, the creation process should reach the finish line. And it’s better to release it now than when veterans of Duke Nukem 3D are no longer able to play dynamic shooters due to age. But then another question arises: what will Duke Nukem Forever mean for today’s gaming audience?
If instead of DNF, they had spent fourteen years developing, say, Half-Life 2 (if Valve had just gotten carried away polishing it), the result would have been exactly the same as if it had been released in half the time, with adjustments for technology. G-Man would have greeted us in the train car, the same perfectly calibrated and polished campaign, the same ending… But without a doubt, it would have been a shooter of today and a new trendsetter in the genre. Duke is not like that. For fourteen years, George Broussard and the company have been making the game of their dreams, simultaneously injecting into it all the passing history of video games to have a good laugh at it. In one of the trailers, they already showed a parody scene over Halo, and somehow I’m sure: there will be plenty of such episodes to consider Duke Nukem Forever a chronicle of the genre over the last fifteen years. Perhaps even play a guessing game about which specific shooter was parodied in that scene. Duke Nukem mocks not only his competitors but also the player, asking in the trailer: “Did you think I was gone forever?” But this is all the parody aspect, which without gameplay is nothing. And what about the gameplay?
Here I will have to consider not only in terms of discussion but also regarding those who are considered his competitors. And here the release of Bulletstorm in February was particularly illustrative, which... I’m probably going to say something dreadful now, but Bulletstorm is likely to turn out to be better than Duke Nukem Forever by all measures (except perhaps multiplayer). It has an engine a generation older, innovative gameplay, modern “cinematic” mechanics with tons of cutscenes, and a plot that doesn't lag and doesn't bore over six hours of play… The list can go on, but the point is: as a “non-serious shooter,” Bulletstorm is better than Duke Nukem Forever. With one small caveat: from today’s standpoint.
As shown by a report from one rating organization, there are exactly 7 (seven) minutes of cutscenes in DNF for twenty hours of gameplay. It’s clear that most of the story will be delivered right within the gameplay, but the story itself will presumably create the best conditions for maximum concentration of action and jokes in the spirit of the old school shooters. And twenty hours of gameplay will likely be an overwhelming task for a spoiled Call of Duty and various Homefront players. And don’t nod at Mass Effect – there the action was merely a lyrical digression from a virtuoso-written space saga with deeply developed characters and magnificent dialogues.
Gearbox Software has taken on the enormous burden of responsibility, picking up the game in the final stretch and placing their logo on the DNF boxes. They will have to sift through records spanning decades, credit everyone involved in the game's credits, but the hardest part is being responsible for the quality of the final game with their reputation. The Gearboxes are known as a studio that follows trendy trends and senses the desires of the audience. And many players today are waiting for the “battle of the non-serious actions”:
Bulletstorm vs. Duke Nukem Forever vs. Serious Sam 3: BFE.
But what kind of battle can there be when one fighter is putting on a circus show with his whip and sneaker for the popcorn audience, the other ignores the past ten years and is enthusiastically swiping through pinball machines while the Earth is dying, and the third is preoccupied with finding his place in the world and is radically changing his style again? About Bulletstorm has already been mentioned above, while it’s currently difficult to think of anything definitive about Serious Sam 3, as no real gameplay has been shown to the world yet. But overall, the Croatians with their crazy publisher are, in my opinion, taking a big risk. After Serious Sam 2, hardcore meat fans turned away from the series, but some fans accepted its new look due to a decent story and the general shortage of non-serious shooters. Now Sam returns with a storyline that’s absolutely uninteresting (since it’s a prequel) and in a year of the genre's golden age. And whether he can win back the hardcore audience considering the console release is an open question. At best, Serious Sam 3 has a chance to claim its original place in the genre – as the little brother of Duke Nukem Forever with a focus on endless carnage. But Sam will not fight Duke. If you remember, in Serious Sam: the Second Encounter, the dialogue from the very first phone booth leaves no illusions about whom Sam refers to as “the blond one,” and in Serious Sam 2 you can even find Duke’s skeleton with a rocket in his backside. It sounds like a cry from the developers: “3D Realms, please mention us in Duke Nukem Forever, we no longer know how to show off!” By the way, I’m curious to know how Duke will respond to these attacks.
In the end, it turns out that there’s no one to fight. Well, Duke will put Sam in his place, well, Grayson Hunt will earn the audience's sympathy prize. But the problem remains – in the minds of gamers, all three games stand on the same genre level. Although this may sound like an excuse, I’m not trying to convince anyone otherwise. Duke has little chance of appealing to those who expect Bulletstorm. Duke Nukem Forever is entirely and wholly the dream game of the studio 3D Realms, and in terms of gameplay, it ignores almost the entire evolution of the genre over the last ten years. You need to accept this fact in advance, as it is a completely necessary condition for enjoying DNF. After all, Duke still has what almost nowhere else exists. No, I'm not talking about the Steel Eggs, but about the interactivity of the environment.
What comes to your mind when you think of interactivity in shooters? Pressing buttons and levers – of course. Destroying houses in Battlefield and other destruction of scenery from bullets – yes, that’s trendy. Physical puzzles? Yes, the legacy of Half-Life 2 and Portal lives on. But in how many shooters, for instance, is a billiard table not just a decoration, but a fully-fledged mini-game? The most recent one that comes to mind is perhaps GTA IV. But if Western previews from eyewitnesses are accurate, and the interactivity of DNF is still exceedingly high, we risk spending a lot of time drawing on walls and experimenting with household appliances; and the entertainment opportunities the Vegas casinos will offer are hard to imagine. Another trait of the old school – a multitude of secret places on levels, and sometimes even whole secret episodes – is also in place. Duke Nukem 3D distracted from the “meat” precisely with this simple formula, not counting the overall irreverence of what was happening. Would you say that this is not enough to be the best? Around the same time in 1996, they said similar things when comparing Duke Nukem 3D and the “first true 3D shooter” Quake. Both games made history in the genre, but the best shooter of 1996, according to most players, was still Duke, despite its technical backwardness. Will he be able to repeat this trick after 15 years? It will undoubtedly be more difficult for him.
If you started playing recently, or if the evolution toward Bulletstorm is more to your liking – wait for the next Duke Nukem, entirely from Gearbox. They will surely be able to create a shooter of today. And if there are those who played Duke Nukem 3D many years ago and have not lost interest in games since then (like the author of this text, for example), congratulations: we have a unique opportunity to drop a decade and return to a true gaming masterpiece from the late nineties.
Even if with health regeneration.