Duke Nukem Forever

[gremcint]

While usually I say you should try something before forming an opinion on it, in this case I am going to quote a comment from someone's blog:

Our review doesn't post til Monday, but I've already edited it; the reviewer calls it ugly, dumb, and mean, and specifically cites a sequence where Duke encounters a bunch of women who've been impregnated by aliens (which is apparently where the crying is coming from in this video, according to comments above) and have essentially morphed into giant bloated penises from the waist down. And they cry and wail and you have to shoot them all to death or they will give birth to monsters who will attack you. And Duke says "It's better this way, baby" before killing them

The alien isn't crying in pain. That's the humans who are trapped in the room and being repeatedly raped by the alien. But Duke is able to go over to them, watch THEM being raped, and make snarky comments about their pain, too. Can't rescue them or anything, but you can laugh at them being raped.

http://theferrett.livejournal.com/1630365.html

I honestly don't know what to say. I official want this game to sell horribly now.

[BlaqueKatt]

I honestly don't know what to say. I official want this game to sell horribly now.

um sorry that is Duke Nukem-that's what his character has always been like, don't like it don't buy or play the games-censorship is a very slippery slope.

Should the scene with the "glory hole" in the bathroom also be censored?

Remember this is a game that the original promo for it featured the lead character getting blowjobs from two girls dressed in schoolgirl outfits, while he sat on a sofa drinking a beer and playing video games.....people make fun of the rape scenes in "silent hill", I don't like it, but I just don't buy/play it.

[gremcint]

no it hasn't I've played the original duke nukem games, 1 and 2 the sidescrolling shooters where they were nothing like this at all and they were funny.

And honestly I don't think any of the other duke nukems were anywhere near this.

[Nyoibo]

The original side scrollers were just plain fun, as was 3d, it was over the top anti-hero/macho male and if you took it as a parody of the times it worked, what I've heard of Forever sounds like they trying too hard to do it and failing while at the same time trying to go for the shock factor.

[Gravekeeper]

I haven't seen any review mention this particular scene you're talking about so I'll err a bit on the side of "It can't be THAT bad" for now. Though the reviews generally agree its just a meh game and generally being carried by the nostaligia value of Duke's particular brand of humour and the voice actor playing Duke. However, it does sound like its been ramped up a notch or two. But, let's face it, this is what Duke is and was. He's a relic from an older era of video gaming where frankly he was a parody of gaming heroes to begin.

no it hasn't I've played the original duke nukem games, 1 and 2 the sidescrolling shooters where they were nothing like this at all and they were funny.

Actually, he began the slide towards the current character in Duke Nukem 2. In the original, he didn't have a personality at all, he was just some dude blowing up bad guys. Then he started to have a personality in Duke 2. Duke Nukem Forever even references Duke 2 in one screen shot I saw where he's autographing the autobiography he was writing ( about how awesome he was ) at the beginning of Duke 2.

Also its not like it was a different set of people that came along and just changed Duke into what he is now from his original incarnation. The same guys that created him to begin with turned him into what he is now. He's also been the current Duke for far longer then he was low rez silent pixel Duke.

So love him or hate him, this Duke is Duke.

[Sarah Valentine]

From what Sean told me you don't see any rape you just see the women after they've already been impregnated, and have to mercy kill them before they die from the "birth" of the chestbutster type aliens. He also said he thought Duke would be able to save his girlfriends and gets really pissed off when he can't and says he's gonna make the alien queen pay for what she did, I admit that I haven't actually played the game myself I've just repeated what a friend told me. I fully intend to play the game myself to see first hand how bad it really is and put my own opinion on here when I'm done.

[Andara Bledin]

I think this review over at Ars Technica sums it up pretty well:

Duke Nukem Forever: barely playable, not funny, rampantly offensive

^-.-^

[gremcint]

to make sure I had the facts straight I tracked down a lets play.
apparently I had it a little wrong. You show up after the fact not during.

3:00 you enter a room where you see a bunch of women kind of attached to the walls and ceilings and floors, they've been mutated and impregnated already.

4:15 duke mercy killing them while saying things like "not even I can save you now" "sorry babe it's better this way."

5:30 more mercy kills, "dammit" "she wasn't human anymore"

6:08 conversation with your girlfriends from the start of the game who have been impregnated and are kind of cocooned to the floor, "duke what's happening to us" "looks like you're ... fucked" "duke it was our first time with an alien" "duke we'll get the weight off in like a week we swear"

6:30 they scream, explode and 2 aliens pop out of each.

The biggest issue is you're not making jokes about the rape so much but that Duke keeps making all of his oneliners about the environment in between all these scenes creating a feeling of either rapid mood swings or approaching sociopathic behaviour.

Duke mercy kills these women and then makes a joke about the door being a sphincter "I thought that was exit only"
still horribly uncomfortable but not as bad as what I thought.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvpfPNaoR3U

[Gravekeeper]

Definately sounds like they tried to get too "edgy" with it and go for shock value. Duke Nukem 3D wasn't about shock value per say, it was essentially parody and Duke was the focal poin of the sheer ridiculousness. It sounds like they tried to make Duke a "real" character instead of a parody. If he's real, as opposed to parody, then he's basically just a cruel sexist asshole you have to put up with for an entire game. Instead of a parody of a sexist asshole totally oblivious to what he is that you laugh at for an entire game.

There was no need to turn Duke into anything else. Anyone who was actually still waiting for another Duke game really just wanted more Duke from Duke Nukem 3D.


Edit: Watched the vid and wow, is that ever the wrong tone for the game. What the hell happened there? You can't make something that dark then try and pull Duke one liners over it. Let alone try and give Duke emotional depth ( Dear lord ). It's not shocking or anything, but if you're going to do a darker themed level like that, for fark sakes read the mood of your own game and don't try to joke your way through it. That was just painful, awkward and uncomfortable to watch.

[Bright Star]

It wasn't that long ago when certain people got all bent out of shape when "Night Trap" was released. I bought that game just to see what all the fuss was about. I liked the game & still do. It's NOTHING like they say it is.

[Hyena Dandy]

I don't have a problem with jokes like that in a game. I mean, they're offensive, but I understand why they were put in. Looking at least at the famed alien section... The problem is that you can either play the whole situation for laughs (The laughs in this case would be "Wow, Duke is wildly out of his league here. Its amusing that Duke Nukem, a silly character, is in this incredibly serious setting.") or you can have it played seriously, but in that case the whole GAME has to be serious.

Watching that section, I think to myself that in a full-on serious game, the alien level could be the foundation of a truly disturbing, memorable sequence. It wouldn't be FUN, but it would be intense. Like the nuke thing in Call of Duty. But in this, it just feels too obviously trying to be shocking. It doesn't grow organically out of the situation of the rest of the game.