14 Years of Waiting Have Come to an End: Duke Nukem Forever

I, much like burgerbrain and others though the general shenanigans and debauchery (bewbs!) would keep me entertained and while they were certainly highlights, the core shooting mechanics and level design in the game (what makes up the other 90% of your time in there) is SO mediocre and uninspired that the game just feels like a drag at parts.

There are absolutely highlights (relative to the rest of the content), a few fun levels, some solid texture work, 1 or 2 cool bosses... those are all fun, but when you average all together, the whole experience is like a 7-10hr experience that drags on.

Had the core mechanics (something I address in the review) been modified a bit and felt better, the game would have been much more solid.

It is sort of like having a cool movie with a great premise, but the two lead characters are TERRIBLE actors and you can't stand them... no matter how cool the topic is or how awesome the CG is, overall you won't enjoy the movie because you can't stand those actors.

Even if something else had sucked in the game, for example the graphics were worse, but the core mechanics were better, the game would have reviewed better. The problem is just that the glue that holds the whole thing together is weak and unenjoyable.

Rent it, you can grab it from RedBox for $2/day now that they are renting games.

[1] http://www.thebuzzmedia.com/duke-nukem-forever-pc-review/

It's actually funny that the author chose to compare computer game to two movies and a play. There are better (okay, more relevant for gamers) examples that pop into mind, like Daikatana or Doom 3.

P.S. And Waterworld is actually a quite entertaining movie.