Did People Expect Duke Nukem to Change the World?

Critical reviews of this game have been mixed, but it seems the most mainstream gaming sites have agreed on low overall scores. Why does Gaming Irresponsibly stand by the much higher score that we gave it? Well, Gaming Irresponsibly went into the title with an open mind and put aside the hype and history.

[blitz0x]

Some of the reviews I've seen for this game have dinged it for crude humor. Really? Its like dinging GTA for violence.

[dedicatedtogamers]

If anything, I'm glad to see the bad reviews for Duke Nukem. It truly is a mediocre shooter with horrible design.

Hopefully game journalists are finally waking up and taking their job seriously instead of lazily slapping an 8 or 9 on everything while they're being whisked away to yet another posh hotel to review the next Modern Warfare game.

[SilentNegotiator]

That's like blaming reviewers for saying "It smells bad" in a review of a turd. You can't justify that turd's smell by saying that's because turds smell. So what? The reality is unchanged; it has an unpleasant odor.

If Duke's jokes are crude and unfunny (they are), then reviewers may judge it as such.

"Who the hell are you to decide what is and isn't funny?"
A consumer with a humble opinion. Who are you?

[wallis]

Who the hell are you to decide what is and isn't funny? I never realized that humour was an objective concept ruled entirely by a specific set of people who pass judgement on certain sets of media.

I don't need Destructoid, Kotaku or you for that matter telling me what is and isn't funny. Whatever gripes you might have with the gameplay, graphics art style or whatever, well that's fine, but humour is subjective and clearly some people like Duke Nukem's humour because it's been pretty much unchanged since 1996.

I'm tired of a bunch of self-righteous judgemental pricks telling me what the fuck I am and am not meant to find funny. There's enough to bitch about in DNF, don't get me wrong, but clearly the humour has an audience and the audience enjoy it. If you don't like it then say you don't like it, don't assign your sense of humour some unseen higher priority and instantly declare DNF to be unfunny.

[Jacobite]

Some of the reviews have been away to harsh, the game is average at worse, but all I can say is I'm enjoying it and its the Duke and its fun.

[agentxk]

That is what is ultimately important. A reviewers job is to give you their opinion.

[Pozzle]

I agree, tbh. I do think a lot reviewers have been unusually harsh on the game. It's average at best, but certainly doesn't deserve scores like 2s and 3s. Buggy and downright unplayable games deserve those types of scores.

Hell, one of the reviews I read spent paragraphs bitching about the intro level because there wasn't enough shooting and Duke one-liners. FFS it was the intro level. Let the game set its story up first. >_>

[blitz0x]

Growing up, 3D was epic for me. Just because some may have outgrown the humor doesn't mean we should risk taking the experience away from the next generation of gamers.
The Duke was written as an over-the-top, ego driven badass in the most unlikely situation. Reviewers are taking the game more seriously than it takes itself.

[fourthpersonview]

...Nope. I only expected this to be as fun as Duke 3D.

[SilentNegotiator]

No, but we expect a GOOD game...

Nothing wrong with expecting polish or something not outdated by a decade.

[felidae]

at least i expected it to be a mediocre game but sadly it's utterly crap!

[aPerson]

I hate articles like this.

Just because the IP is old doesn't mean the game has to suck.

[gcolley]

you guys just don't get it. it is better than nothing, which was where it was at last year. it just should not have been full price. i got exactly what i expected and don't regret it