Within the first 30 minutes of the ROQ cast entering the building on the first day of the PAX 2010 conference, it was obvious the news was coming straight down from 2K Games, and GearBox Studios. Duke Nukem is back, and he's back with a vengeance!
As you enter the GearBox Studios Closed display area, you are immediately given notice that the press were not invited for this event, as it was for the fans, so listen up, fans, this was for you! Without a pause, we move right into details from a very laid back Randy Pitchford ready to blow the top off on the group. He explains briefly about how he's been very excited about the ultra hush-hush Duke, and he's glad to show us the new video clip, which to this point is not out on any other media, but their showroom.
As the preview video begins, you find yourself in a fairly destroyed, post-modern earth, invaded by a sparse alien population. Audio overhead explains that we were invaded, and Duke has disappeared. The world was in ruin, and all was lost, until they fucked with the hot chicks! "You Want It!" Flashes on the screen. Explosions, Fist fights, and strippers abound for 30 seconds. "You Need It!" Gunfights, alien aircraft, "And Now..." The guns get bigger, alien planes fly above, and an eight foot alien in a low-lit room, "We're Bringing It!"
The first live video footage of The Duke's render hits the screen, smoking a cigar - Typical. A few flashy screens, a few more aliens, and you quickly move to a large, three-breasted alien, standing over 100 feet tall, 50 feet above ground. "I'd still hit it," says Duke. "He's ready" hits the screen, "He's Rested," "He's Really, Really...All Out Of Gum."
The hype and excitement screamed through the air, as we were notified that we would be getting a 5 minute hands on with Duke Nukem: Forever immediately. Game play was clean, fast, funny, and Classically perfect. Your demo begins with a 3D flashback. Your tutorial finds you in front of a urinal, watching your own urine fall into the drain, you pull the trigger, as if you were shooting a gun. Fast forward to the only fight in this half of the demo - A 40 foot beast stands in front of you, muscular and grey on a football field. Roaring, you immediately rush into the fight with which you will use a grenade launcher. As you begin, you spray your enemy with shells, and quickly find yourself out of ammunition. A vehicle flys overhead occasionally, dropping in 69 more rounds of ammunition for your launcher in a marked location. You spam the monster with shells continuously until it changes phases to charge at you, so you can hit it in the back. Fairly standard. What is not standard however, is your victory celebration. A short cinematic loads in which the monster's single cycloptic eye falls from his skull. The Duke takes three steps backward, runs toward the eye, and gives it a swift boot across the field, through the uprights. It's good.
The demo skips quickly to "level 15." You find yourself strapped into an off-roading vehicle which says, "Hail to the King, baby!" on the back. Speeding along a chasm, you must choose to either avoid the alien scum shooting at you as they are left across the landscape by the dropship ahead, otherwise run them down with your bad ass truck! When the initial event comes to a close, you leave your vehicle without a weapon, and are forced to aquire one by any means you choose. Meleeing an enemy, I quickly found myself with a small machine gun wasting away at enemies, but not very effectively, as it was somewhat of a small caliber. After a few good kills, I walk across a sniper rifle, resting on the ground strategically placed. I decided it was at this point that I would test the limits of my own health, known in Duke as "EGO." I quick scoped a few baddies down, and sprinted ahead, taking fire from all sides in a wide open area of this destroyed desert town. My 5 minutes of given demo time ended just as I approached a turret, a rocket launcher, and a small horde of oncoming jerkwads.
I found that the game was quite intuitive, with great Duke Nukem humor, and a fair amount of life, that didn't regen too fast, nor too slow - about 5 seconds of hiding will get you 20% "EGO." The guns weren't too overpowered, but scale something to that of the original Halo, which is fine by me. This game is worth looking into when and if Gearbox decides to release a demo on consoles, and for fans, certainly worth buying, at the no doubt Mature rating level, if not to be scaled down a bit to just miss that AO. Oh, and he's all out of gum.
No comments:
Post a Comment