Aztec Adventure - Sega Master System

This is another one of those games I used to play as a kid... I got it with my Sega Master Sysytem many, many moons ago.
I used to spend hours playing this, partially because I enjoyed it, partially because it was so difficult and I wanted to advance further into the game.
I recently replayed it and I honestly can't believe just how difficult it is compared to modern games... I'm a bloody good gamer, but when I played this last, I could barely get halfway through the second level.
I have only finished this game once I might add... I was 7 or 8 at the time, how I did it, I don't know. But I did!
Anyway, lets have a look at the scoring shall we.

Graphics 7

The graphics are one of this game's stronger suits. The graphics and characters are all interesting and colourful. The enemies look cute, yet unusual. The backgrounds, while repetitive, are filled with enough detail to keep you interested as you play.

The characters are all large and cute. Each character has a unique look to them that you can tell immediately who they are. The characters range from a dog in a sombrero to a cat in Robin Hood-like attire. Those are just a few of the characters. The characters are all nicely designed.

The backgrounds are also colourful and detailed.
You can see waves in the water, and exotic plants and bushes in the rain forest. All the levels have their own unique terrain and style. However, the backgrounds do get repetitive.
The background may be detailed, but it repeats every screen. If you saw this flower there, you'll see it here, and there again. The backgrounds suffer from a lack of variation.

Overall, the graphics are well done. Nothing too simplistic, but not too colourful and distracting. Other than repetition, the graphics were better than most games at the time.



Gameplay 6

One of the game's few stronger points. The mechanics are simple. One button attacks, one button uses an item you choose. Pushing up and the attack button makes you toss money at the enemies. Mechanics are simple and effective if you could pull off anything quick enough to be of any use.

Like mentioned above, you can toss money at select enemies. The enemies you can toss them to are the cats, dogs, and birds dressed in human clothes and holding swords and walking around. You aim, and toss your money at them and they will join you. Each creature that can be converted into an ally has a specific fee that you must ''throw'' at them first. The more expensive they are to bribe, the better and more hits they can take. This is probably the game's most unique feature and the only one worth mentioning.

While the ally aspect is interesting, it also turns out to be useless as the CPU AI is stupid. Your ally will often be walking blindly into enemies and being trapped in walls. What makes it worse is that if you happen to leave the screen, your ally is gone for good. This happens way too often because the CPU's path detection is horrible and couldn't follow where you go to save your life. If there was a option for a second player to take over for CPU, then the ally idea would've helped a lot for this game.

The worst offending area of the game, as well as the area that is the most important, is controls. The controls in this game are extremely slow and unresponsive. This makes the game a slow, torturous chore to endure.

Walking in this game is difficult. You're often walking too slow to dodge or avoid anything most of the time. You end up taking cheap hits from enemies that attack much quicker than you can. This gets very, very infuriating as you see your character die over and over to unavoidable hits. Everything you try to do comes off painfully sluggishly and often too late.

To make matters worse, there's slowdown. Yes, a game that already moves this slow can move even slower. Talk about innovation. When there's around 4-5 moving objects on the screen at once, the game chugs along even more slowly than it already does. This only adds to more frustration, as you see your character helplessly move around and taking hits as he moves along. Absolutely terrible.

On top of this, you'll be navigating the maze-like levels over and over and enemies tend to re-spawn.
There are hardly any energy replenishments, so you have to be really careful. The bosses have their own patterns and get progressively harder than the last. I can guarantee you'll be frustrated by the end of the first level



sound 4

The music and sounds in this game are cute and uninspired. Typical cartoon-like effects and chirpy music round out this package. While they aren't bad, they are far from memorable. Each level comes with their own theme, usually fitting for the terrain. For example, the beach and ocean-front stage gets a light, airy theme while the Aztec Paradise gets a dark, foreboding tune. The music overall is fine, but not outstanding.

The sounds are tolerable. Typical cartoonish "bleeps" and "poofs" are what you can expect here. There aren't many sound effects, but the ones this game does have are effective enough and convey the point clearly.

In general the music and sounds is mediocre at best. The music is nothing to shout about, and certainly won't be stuck in your head for good reasons. The sounds are all typical 8-bit sound effects..nothing much more to say than that.



Story 4

you play as El Nino, an Aztec Adventurer out to reach the Aztec Paradise, where tokens of wealth and happiness await. You embark on 6 huge levels ranging from deserts, to ocean sides, and even the "Aztec Paradise" itself... As you can imagine, the story isn't deep. In fact, it's really boring and cliché. Yet another one of this game's list of problems. But then again, what can you really expect from an 8-Bit game?



Overall 5.5

Aztec Adventure is a good example of a bad game. It tries hard to be a fun and challenging adventure game but fails miserably in the end due to poor execution. Numerous problems plague this game, ranging from level design and most of all, walking speed. Those 2 factors made what would've been a decent if not good game, into a bad and painfully slow and repetitive one.

The shining point of this game for all the wrong reasons is the difficulty. While this game looks cute and chirpy, it's really bloody fucking hard! You have to be really careful whilst playing as it's real easy to fuck up .To add to the difficulty, the levels are big and each takes a good while to beat.

On the other hand, the game is hard due to the lack of controls. Had the controls been more responsive, the game wouldn't be so hard with it's cheap hits all the time. Either way, the game is challenging for beginner and seasoned players alike, and with no save feature and limited continues, you'll be playing for a while.

Overall this game isn't all that terrible but slow walking, lots of slowdown, and unresponsive controls all team up to give you one of the most jarringly difficult experiences you can imagine with this system. If you see this game, I'd recommend you stay away, it's a nice little ride, but ultimately not worth it in the end.

Alice & Alice: Madness Returns - PC, PS3, Xbox 360

Yay! Today I'm going to treat you, not one review but two!
Lucky you

Alice



The original Alice was released in 2000 for the PC, I remember getting it for Christmas, a present from my sister as she knew of my love of the Alice in Wonderland stories and this serves as a rather dark sequel to the two books.
This game for me is one that is often played and seldom finished, I've started this game over more times than I can count, but I've normally only ever reached the Duchess boss level and then I give up, I've finished the game about three times. One of them being my first play through... I just can't stand using a keyboard and mouse in order to play, I'm a console gamer so I'm used to using a controller... But this sadly does not let you map the commands to one.
With advent of the long awaited sequel Alice has been granted a new lease of life, for the first time ever it is available on consoles through digital download and in stunning HD... And I'm enjoying this title all over again and more now that I'm able to play with a controller.



Graphics 8

Even ten years on this game looks fantastic, I compared the new HD version and the original PC version and while the HD re-release looks fantastic, the original still looks brilliant if the graphics are turned up full.
Wonderland definitely looks brilliant and twisted as it should, the whole game (rather ironically) screams "Tim Burton" with it's art style.
I especially love Wonderland Woods, the giant overgrown vegetation, ants, ladybirds and the man-eating mushrooms really bring the place to life.
The Pale kingdom, which is inhabited by chess pieces is chequered in black & white and looks... Odd... But it fits, all other places have their own style and no two zone sections look alike, but all look disjointed and broken, which perfectly reflects Alice's broken mind.



Gameplay 8.5

Alice is a very fun game, even though it does show its age.
It's an action platformer, you'll be running, jumping, swinging, climbing and swimming your way through Wonderland.
Along the way you'll be dealing death to the various malicious inhabitants of Wonderland with a variety of 'toys'
Yes, toys, aside from the Vorpal blade, you'll be attacking with a croquet mallet, a deck of cards, a jack in the box, jacks, dice and a couple of other little gadgets, all with their own abilities.
The control however is definitely where the game shows its age, the controls seem a bit clunky, Alice is a girl who definitely does not play well with others and she makes it quite evident she'll be showing you her map of Wonderland loading screen quite often.
Jumping is the biggest issue as you have to really be in control of her, attacking is the second issue as the primary attack seems sluggish and enemies tend to be rather aggressive, so it's best to just stand back and use the secondary attack... Which basically means Alice will lob something at her foe from a distance.
Playing this on a console, whilst fun, I'll admit it's harder because the aiming system was definitely designed for a PC. If you're playing on a console, you'll really have to make Alice your bitch otherwise piss-annoying enemies such as the Boojums will be kicking your arse, never mind the later enemies like chess pieces etc.
There is a slight bug with the PS3/Xbox version though in that the control jams... But it resolves itself after a few seconds.
Once you get over the learning curve though, it's definitely a fun title.



Sound 9

Another stand-out mark for an astoundingly brilliant game.
The voice acting is tremendously brilliant, especially for Alice and the Cheshire cat, although dialogue can sometimes seem disjointed, though I put that down to loading.
At other times, the voice work can seem OTT and out of place (The Duchess for instance)
Sound effects are good and whacky as they need to be in such a twisted world... My only gripe being the Boojums that I mentioned earlier... Big arsed flying banshee things that scream at you. Little fuckers.
The laughing/crying "children" are quite annoying too, but it's extremely rare you'll encounter them so it's not that big an issue.
Lastly, the music. Chris Vrenna's soundtrack to this game is fucking mental, I actually tracked down a copy of the CD instead of just downloading it as it is that good, the music is chaotic yet strange and a little bit "What the fuck?".
It fit's this new, broken Wonderland perfectly



Story 7.5

Ah, the meat of the game...
The game starts out with an FMV cutscene of young Alice Liddell waking up to her house on fire, you can hear her parents telling her to get out, so she does.
Wracked with guilt about being the only survivor, Alice slips back into the recesses of her mind that she once played in, leaving her outer body an empty shell, she is taken to an asylum.
Once back in Wonderland, she has realised that it has been broken and twisted by the Red Queen, like her mind has, and in order to fix her mind, she must fix Wonderland... The Red Queen must die.
With the original PC version there came a booklet that was a medical journal by Alice's psychiatric doctor, in it he talks about Alice's condition and her struggle to regain her sanity, it details various outbursts and mutterings from Alice which coincide with certain events that happen within Wonderland.
What I find most interesting however are the dates, the journal starts in 1863 and states Alice had been there for nearly a year, it ends in 1874 and Alice has yet to battle the Red Queen... It's interesting to think that while in Alice's mind the events take mere days, yet in reality it is a fight that has lasted nearly twelve, maybe thirteen years.
The story isn't brilliant, but it's original and it does its job, the booklet that adds just a little more depth to it brings this score up to what it is now.



Overall 8.5

Alice is one of those games you must at least play once in your life, at the time of release it was one of the most talked about PC games out there, it was a new Alice... Twisted and warped... It was no longer a kids thing... Alice was brutal and she wasn't afraid of hiding it.
Even though this game does show its age and has its problems, I must admit its still looks and plays better than most of the crap I play from the current gen.
So do yourself a favour, follow the white rabbit and enjoy this classic gem of a game



Alice: Madness Returns



After the conclusion of the first game I never thought this game to be possible, Alice had beaten the Red Queen, she was deemed insane no longer and went back into society to live out her life, but once again, here she is... Dragged back into the insane recesses of her warped mind
From the moment I heard about this I had my doubts... But then I thought "Hey, it's Alice 2... I get to play an Alice game on a console" which made me quite happy and once I found out they were packaging the original game with it as a digital download, I almost pissed myself with excitement and Alice: Madness returns became a must buy right that instant... But does the sequel live up to its predecessor? Well, let's find out shall we...



Graphics 9

To compare the graphics of this game to it's predecessor would be unfair as technology has evolved since... It would be like comparing two Nissan cars, one from the 60's and one from today... It's almost impossible to do.
Alice was a brilliant looking game for the time and Madness Returns is no different.
Once I'd booted the game up, I refused to play because I too busy wandering the streets of Victorian London, admiring the scenery... And Alice herself who looks great (Though I'm not fond of her new haircut, shoulder length with a short fringe doesn't suit her)
But once I got to Wonderland... Holy shit was I blown away, I wandered for minutes around the opening world, Vale of tears and just admired the beauty... It's astonishing and you really have to see it for yourself... Like the original Alice game, everything has it's own look and feel, Vale of tears is a very bright and vibrant forest type level, scattered with giant toys and oversized insects whilst the one that came after, the Mad Hatters own little world, like in the original game was very dark, gloomy industrial type of place, filled with working gears and whatnot.
Plus, once Alice goes to Wonderland, her hair grows back and I have to give the developers much props... Her hair looks fantastic... It looks almost real and it reacts to the world like nothing I've seen before in game.
It moves fluidly and naturally, it blows in the wind in strands, when Alice jumps, her hair arcs up like it would in real life until she lands... It's fantastic.



Gameplay 8

Gameplay is very similar to that of the first game, though naturally it has been modernised. The controls are very fluid and easy to grasp, Alice handles like a dream and performs her actions very well.
Combat has been overhauled and for the better, it no longer feels clunky and slow, it's fast and it's furious and Alice is almost predatory, yet graceful in the way she moves now with the addition of a lock-on targeting system and an evade button.
She's one vicious bitch! I love Alice!! =^.^=
Platforming is simpler to get a hang of, the physics engine works great and any fuck-ups you make this time round are most likely to be your fault, not the game being cocky.
It's a big improvement over the previous game... And no Boojums!! ^_^
What's also interesting to note is Alice's choice of weapons have matured along with her state of mind, gone are the toys such as the jackbomb and the deck of cards to make way for more... "practical" weapons, like a pepper grinder machine gun for instance, an umbrella deflection weapon even the hobby horse, whilst looking like a childs toy is a metaphor for sex (riding the hobby horse together)
Still, the Vorpal blade is around and it's easier to wield than ever!



Sound 7

The sound design in Madness Returns is fantastic, the original voice actors of Alice and the Cheshire cat have reprised their roles to give the game some continuity, though Alice does sound like Keeley Hawes who has Voiced Lara Croft for the past three games so it can get a bit boggling to me.
But they do a fantastic job, every line is delivered beautifully.
Sounds and ambient noises are fantastic and quirky, yet also gritty and real as you'd expect, top quality work... I can't fault it.
My gripe however, comes from the music itself... It's ass... Compared to the original Alice game, it's ass! It's dull and lifeless, it doesn't have that haunting "What the fuck?" fantasy feel to it, but it's a teeny issue to me, most times I don't even realise. But when I do... I just wish it was a bit better, considering how brilliant Alice's soundtrack was.



Story 7

Alice has been released from Rutledge Asylum and into the care of a London psychiatrist, where the traumatic memories of her parents' deaths continue to haunt her. As a result of her relocation, her hallucinations and internal struggle have increased in severity, and she returns to Wonderland in hopes of security and comfort. However, it has once again become warped by her insanity, and she must save its residents and herself from the evil that is taking over Wonderland.
Alice must journey journey between a dark London and a provocative Wonderland to find out the true cause of her family's mysterious death.
It's a different story compared to that of most games so it deserves some credit right there, but to be fair... The plot, whilst a good idea is not going to be the main point of interest for most people who play this... Which is a real shame.



Overall 8

This is the game I've wanted for a long time! It's beautiful yet chaotic and Alice is... Well, she's better than ever.
All the issues of the first game have been addressed and the game plays like a dream... In more ways than one.
For the first time ever, Wonderland feels real, it feels organic and it's just breathtaking!
It may not be the most perfect game out there... But it's definitely worth playing! Especially because the original is packaged free along with it!
My doubts may have been there at the start, but they are there no longer... Alice: Madness returns is a game that I loved the moment I selected the New Game option and began playing. If they ever make a third game, it'll be absurd that Alice can still crazy enough to warrant a third outing... But I'd buy it! Here's hoping the long planned Oz game comes to light.

Tomb Raider: Underworld (PS3, Xbox 360)

Yes, before you say it, I know there are PS2 and PSP versions of the game so I should have really included them in the title... But they suck and play quite differently to their 7th gen counterparts.
The quicker we can forget about those abysmal ports the better.

Now then.
The Tomb Raider series is always something I've enjoyed playing and I'm a proud owner of all games (Even the mobile phone and Gameboy advance games, as well as the PC Gold editions)

Things haven't been too good for the first lady of gaming throught the 2000's, after the failure of the now cult classic "Angel of Darkness", she was evicted from her England home with Core Design and moved to the US to go live with Crystal Dynamics.
I'll admit that Crystals first attempt at a Tomb Raider in 2006 game was ok, but it (Legend) lacked what it's predecessors had, atmosphere.
The classic Core games made you feel as if you were in the places you were meant to be visiting.
I could feel the cold of the Peruvian mountains, the stifling heat of the Indian jungle and the desolate abandonment of the Egyptian tombs.
You couldn't really do that with Legend, most of this I think was because you (Lara) was always chatting away on a headset, meaning you couldn't soak in your surroundings and focus.
2007's Tomb Raider: Anniversary, a remake of the first Tomb Raider from 1996 was a step in the right direction, the linearity that plagued Legend was gone and the atmosphere was back... Now the only real problem was Lara's attitude.
I'd grown up with Lara since I was 10 and I always saw her as this strong, sarcastic badass who wouldn't take shit from anyone.
The sarcasm was still there, but she was a priss with parental issues. Puh-Lease.

Then Tomb Raider: Underworld was delivered to us in 2008. And again, it's a step in the right direction.



Graphics 8

This is without a doubt, one of the best looking Tomb Raider games of the series, and that's not just because of the power of the console.
Tomb Raider: The last revelation and Angel of Darkness will always be my favourites graphically (given the time periods they were made in) but Underworld looks gorgeous.
Everything is so vibrant and feels so alive... Or dead, depending on where you are.
The temples and tombs look and feel like they haven't seen life in centuries, and the jungles of Thailand and Mexico that actually feel alive.
The water effects are brilliant, Walking up the temple steps whilst rain water ran down them was amazing.
Character models look fantastic, especially Lara, look closely and you can see the pores in her skin.
Dirt actually clings to her this time round as well, as you make your way through the tombs and jungles, rolling around in the muck you actually see it make a difference.
This game definitely looks amazing, that I can't deny



Gameplay 7

It's your typical Tomb Raider, you explore the world, jump about like a bitch possessed and shoot anything that gets in your way.
The level design is brilliant in Underworld, you'll never be on your feet for too long, you'll be climbing about the level, looking for little nooks and crannies and which way to go next.
Combat again has been improved, but the enemy AI still sucks, they just don't try... The animals I can understand, but the humans... I'd expect some kind of intelligence from them.
But this is more classic Tomb Raider than it's predecessor: Legend (Anniversary is part of the canon, but it's a re-make of the original Tomb Raider, so I gotta give props to Core Design on that as Crystal Dynamics are basing there game on a different one, without the original, Anniversary wouldn't exist)
The last level is fun also, I was expecting a big epic boss battle, but in the end it was a platform piece, I would have like a boss, but the platforming end-game was fun and kept me on my feet.
Each level is designed differently and like I said before, they feel real, in the jungle I feel the humidity, in the tombs I feel quite chilly. It helps with the immersion. There are certain ways of traversing through the levels and whilst being fun and easy, it's also quite challenging
As for the puzzles, I wouldn't call them as such, but they're ok and don't hinder you.



Sound 7

The sound design in this game is pretty damn good, Lara's footsteps alter depending on what surface she's on, the birds atop the trees in the jungle can be heard nice and loud, the water as it flows sounds as it should.
Lara's voice acting, as well as Natla's and Amanda's.
Zip is as annoying as ever and Winston is meh... But yeah, it works.
Gunfire sounds spot on and the underwater sounds are superb.
My only gripe is that you spend a lot of time in caverns and desolate places, yet there is no echo... Something which I'd expect.
The music though is spot on, I love the TRU soundtrack! It's brilliant.



Story 6

It's a bit hard to score this because the game really requires you to have played through Legend and Anniversary to really understand it all.
But as a stand-alone, it's not bad. Lara is basically tasked with finding a weapon that can kill a god so that she can save her mother (and the world)
It's not bad, but it's not brilliant either. It does its job though.



Overall 7

Tomb Raider Underworld is a game worth playing at least once, it's got fun gameplay, the story is all right and Lara is as great to be with as ever.
There are some problems with the game, like Lara being a bitch when it comes to deciding on how far she'll jump, but she's always been that way.
There are frustrating moments, but as a whole, it's worth a whirl.

Duke Nukem Forever - PS3, PC, Xbox 360

It's finally here, after close to 15 years, they mythical Duke Nukem Forever has arrived... But was it worth the wait? Does it live up to the hype?
It's actually a matter of personal opinion, either you hate Duke or you love him and the fact this game will market to different ages for different reasons is a factor of why I think the "pros" have dumped all over this game.
Younger fans will see the boobs and want it, they also possibly expected a Call of Duty style game (Ha, go home fucko) and the older fans will want it because it's Duke.
The game itself has been in development hell most of it's life, it's changed hands more times than Pamela Anderson, It's been scrapped and re-started from scratch a fair few times and the development team in charge of it doesn't actually exist.
3D realms died a rather painful death which effectively killed off the Duke Nukem series, until Gearbox and 2K said "Nuh-uh, Dukes a legend, he deserves at least one more go", so they acquired the rights and finished released 3D realms rather disfigured child.



Graphics 6.5

I'm not going to lie to you, this game definitely shows it's age, in some places it looks fantastic and others it looks like ass. Plain and simple.
The graphics are something you'd see in a game from 2007, like Clive Barkers Jericho, they look well polished, but they have that shine to them which gives the world a PVC feel, although I'll admit, it does look quite well in the alien hive.
At other times, it doesn't like you can tell where the development process has been altered, and the city-scape looks less than impressive, it's almost PS2-like, but you hardly see it all that often.
The game does look good and the low end graphics actually compliment the game quite well, the game is a blast from the past, a classic FPS shooter and the graphics seem to fall in line with that setting.
But saying that, character detail is fantastic, so are some of the level set-pieces, it's all a bit hit and miss.
All in all, the graphics hold up, but they aren't nothing to go ape-shit about



Gameplay 8

This is where the game shines, it's a classic FPS.
Most FPS games now have you manning some nameless grunt for some balls-to-the-wall non-stop action, you move from one set piece to the next blasting the shit out of everything in your way... Duke says "Fuck that"
This is Dukes game and you're just along for the ride, the very first level in Dukes penthouse apartment is designed specifically to put you in Nukems shoes, and performing "Duke like actions" (Taking a piss, checking yourself out in a mirror, punching an alien in the bollocks) further cements this type of roleplay, for better or worse, when it comes to this game, you are Duke Nukem, either deal with it or fuck off.
Like I said, it's classic in design, the levels are linear, but they don't feel it. It combines shooting, puzzle solving, driving and platforming, just like the FPS games of yesteryear.
One of my favourite levels so far has duke shrunk down to the size of an action figure and you have to platform your way around an over-sized kitchen to rescue a burger-making "babe" who's surrounded by electrified water.
I also surprisingly enjoyed "Titty City" No shooting at all, your mission: To search a strip club so you can find popcorn, a vibrator and a condom. I kid you not.
Fans of old-skool FPS games should enjoy this title, the new fuckers of the "online generation" who are expecting another CoD clone can go fuck off! You won't find any of that crap here.
The game can be a little unforgiving though with tough boss fights and the enemy AI, while not exactly smart is aggressive as hell.
Still, you can't beat scaling a skyscraper in the middle of an alien invasion.
The game is definitely fun, and hilarious, it doesn't take itself seriously, which is a good thing, if it did... Then it wouldn't have that Duke Nukem charm to it.
And there are many, many pop culture references throughout the game, I dare you to try and find them all.
The only thing that really annoys me is the 30-40 second loading screen whenever you die... You'll be seeing it a lot (special mention to the Octaking who will kill you more times than you'd care to count!)



Sound 9

This score gets extra points simply because of Dukes one-liners and Dukes theme in the opening movie (which doubles up as a "previously on Duke Nukem" type of video, re-capping the events of Duke Nukem 3D)
There are so many little sounds here and so much attention to detail within the sound design that it's a crime people won't ever really notice.
Everything from flicking a lightswitch to xeroxing your ass has it's own sound, when a window breaks, you hear it break with a typical breaking sound, but when it cracks and shatters instead, you get a different sound instead of the same window breaking sound effect.
The voice acting is superb because it's so over-the top, which it's meant to be, a bit like a bad sci-fi movie. All except Duke who keeps cool all the way through
Each weapon has it's own distinct sound as does pretty much everything else, beer cans being crushed sound spot on, the steroid pills shaking about the bottle sound convincing.
The sound design for this title is superb.



Story 5

Yeah, not much here I'm afraid, aliens come, steal Dukes babes and piss him off causing him to go on a killing spree (because nobody steals Dukes babes and lives!).
It's all that's really needed.
There is a bit more of it than that and there is actually a narrative, but that's the gist of the story.
Typical Duke.



Overall 7.5

Dukes back, whether you like it or not, the game is a fun, over the top title with some decent length, good humour and big guns... And if you're into that kind of things, plenty of babes, boobs, brews and alien wall titties to slap about.
It's more for fans of the older FPS games, those who played them during the 90's. The new breed of gamer probably won't appreciate this gaming time-capsule for what it is, which is a shame. It's been nice to play something that doesn't feel like another Call of Duty clone, games of which over-saturate the FPS market.
The game may not be anything original but it is a nice change (and in my opinion, most welcomed)
What irks me though is the sales will justify a sequel, but will they modernise Duke? Will developers listen to the criticisms that he's a clichéd meathead throwback to the action stars of the 80's? That the humour is childish and the gameplay too outdated?
It wouldn't be a Duke Nukem game if they changed anything, if anything they should keep it all as is and just make it look good... Damn good, it seems that most people seem to care too much about graphics so if it looks more than just a polished turd, people will probably enjoy it.
I say Duke Nukem Forever is at least worth playing through once. Personally, I find it to be a fun game and well worth my money, others do not share my views... But you should still give it a try.
Even if you're a new gamer, this is worth playing, for a look back at what games used to be like before Modern Warfare muscled it's way into the FPS mindset, if anything.