Duke Nukem Forever

[Thorgi Duke of Frisbee]

http://www.destructoid.com/review-duke-nukem-forever-203658.phtml

I know Sterling can be a rather contentious figure with users, but I found parts of his opening statement hit the nail on the number one problem I see; people seem to be buying it based on the franchise's past, instead of the poor game in front of them.

 

"Duke Nukem Forever's history is a lengthy and notorious one, and one that we cannot help but remember when talking about the game. The game itself goes to great lengths to remind you of it at every turn with an overdose of self-referential sight gags. However, when looking at the game as it exists today, one must divorce one's self from that history and examine what, exactly, 2K Games is giving us for our sixty dollars.

 

That's when you realize that 2K is trying to pull a fast one."

 

Also, this is perhaps the most fucked up thing you'll find in a video game;

 

"One level in particular takes place in an alien nest where Earth's women are being inseminated by giant penises. The women writhe and moan in a fairly humiliating fashion, and they regularly sob with no small amount of implied misery. In essence, the women look like they're getting raped. In fact, they are. That's the big joke of the level. The aliens are raping the women to create babies. Now, I'm a fan of offensive humor, but the "joke" in this level is so morbidly presented, so dark and downright unsettling, that I simply do not know if Gearbox intends for us to laugh or to throw up. I certainly found I was in danger of doing the latter over the former.

 

By the time Duke Nukem finally makes a "You're fucked," joke, which he makes in front of two girls who are about to die in the process of getting sexually assaulted, Duke does not come across as cool, witty or likable in the least. He comes across as a vile, callous, thoroughly detestable psychopath.

 

It's not impossible to make an alien rape joke amusing if you're clever enough, but the fact that nobody making this game actually bothered to try is what really concerns me. According to Gearbox, seeing women tortured was funny enough. According to common sense, it really, really wasn't."

Edited June 13, 2011 by DukeOfPwn

[Cyber Rat]

Duke Nukem is a really awful game if it makes me agree with Sterling.

[Vargras]

Thanks for posting that, DukeOfPwn. No really, thank you.

 

I was kinda debating on whether or not I was gonna buy Duke Nukem Forever, because it looked funny. But that just sounds... really disturbing. Gonna pass on this one.

[Thorgi Duke of Frisbee]

Hey, you know that fucked-up part I was talking about earlier? Here it is, in all its...glory.

 

NSFW, and SPOILERS.

 

Uggh. I think I need a shower.

 

And fuck everyone involved with this game.

EDIT: Apparently spoiler tags don't work with YouTube vids...

Edited June 14, 2011 by DukeOfPwn

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

Wait, what was so bad about that again?

[deanb]

Wow that's

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

Aliens using another races body to spawn more aliens? How is that anything that WTF? That sort of thing happens in nature and in other media. Hell, it can even be compared to zombies where they have to kill the "host" to spawn another zombie.

[deanb]

See there's john hurt with a penis popping out of his chest, and then there's alien rape with all the awesomely chosen atmosphere n noise effects to go with it.

Though I have a feeling you're purposefully ignoring that bit and just thinking we're talking about the bit right at the end given your zombie comment. Despite the fact DoP mentioning it just a few posts up as the focus of the video.

[MetalCaveman]

A more complete version of it. I don't think they intended the level as a "joke", sure, Duke "tries" to be funny there, and fails miserably, but in the whole vid you can also hear him say stuff like "Sorry babe, it's better this way" after killing one of the captured women. And he also says something about killing dudes and payback after that scene, but I can't hear well what he says.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvpfPNaoR3U

 

 

Just my 2 cents, also, stuff like "And fuck everyone involved with this game." is a bit too extreme IMO.

 

Edit: Youtube doesn't play well with spoiler tags...

Edited June 14, 2011 by MetalCaveman

[SanaEquiesterer]

Alright, before I say what I'm going to say, know that I don't fully understand the context of this alien rape going on and I won't watch the videos because I'm picking up the game tomorrow.

 

In Duke3D there were women scattered throughout the game that had been captured by the aliens and detained. If you pressed the use button in font of them, most (maybe all, can't remember), would say, "Kiiiiiillll meeee." The game has its sense of humour, but here, I believe, is an effort to show what the aliens are really doing, and it is painful, inhumane, and these women are suffering.

 

Is there any context in DNF that would imply that they aren't just trying to do the same thing with alien rape? Sure, Duke is making some quips about their situation and he is a dick for it, but is there anything to imply that the act of the alien rape itself is a joke?

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

See there's john hurt with a penis popping out of his chest, and then there's alien rape with all the awesomely chosen atmosphere n noise effects to go with it.

Though I have a feeling you're purposefully ignoring that bit and just thinking we're talking about the bit right at the end given your zombie comment. Despite the fact DoP mentioning it just a few posts up as the focus of the video.

 

I just don't see what the big deal is or why this is so outlandish. Sure, it's ridiculous in of itself, but its in a title that is full of this sort of shit.

 

Is there any context in DNF that would imply that they aren't just trying to do the same thing with alien rape? Sure, Duke is making some quips about their situation and he is a dick for it, but is there anything to imply that the act of the alien rape itself is a joke?

 

From the sounds of things, like a lot of stuff in DNF, it's intended as a joke but it's not funny.

 

 

 

Anyways, perhaps I just don't take alien rape as seriously as the rest of you. The concept itself is too out-there for me to consider in any sort of serious light, especially in a non-serious game.

[MetalCaveman]

Alright, before I say what I'm going to say, know that I don't fully understand the context of this alien rape going on and I won't watch the videos because I'm picking up the game tomorrow.

 

In Duke3D there were women scattered throughout the game that had been captured by the aliens and detained. If you pressed the use button in font of them, most (maybe all, can't remember), would say, "Kiiiiiillll meeee." The game has its sense of humour, but here, I believe, is an effort to show what the aliens are really doing, and it is painful, inhumane, and these women are suffering.

 

Is there any context in DNF that would imply that they aren't just trying to do the same thing with alien rape? Sure, Duke is making some quips about their situation and he is a dick for it, but is there anything to imply that the act of the alien rape itself is a joke?

 

 

From what I can tell, it's kind of the same thing, except that people seem to think "No, it's in a Duke Nukem game, therefore it's supposed to be a joke." Or something like that, not sure, haven't played the whole game, just watched that bit.

[Mister Jack]

I got a refund on my steam pre-order. It's not because of the alien rape. Fuck it, even that can be funny if someone REALLY good at comedy does it right (not that this game does). I canceled it because I don't want to pay 50 bucks for something that's going to inevitably end up in the bargain bin.

[excel_excel]

I know more delays would have been a joke, but man, Gearbox should have just started fresh and made a Duke borderlands clone or something. At least it would have been entertaining. Anything but this.....thing

[Thorgi Duke of Frisbee]

Alright, before I say what I'm going to say, know that I don't fully understand the context of this alien rape going on and I won't watch the videos because I'm picking up the game tomorrow.

 

In Duke3D there were women scattered throughout the game that had been captured by the aliens and detained. If you pressed the use button in font of them, most (maybe all, can't remember), would say, "Kiiiiiillll meeee." The game has its sense of humour, but here, I believe, is an effort to show what the aliens are really doing, and it is painful, inhumane, and these women are suffering.

 

Is there any context in DNF that would imply that they aren't just trying to do the same thing with alien rape? Sure, Duke is making some quips about their situation and he is a dick for it, but is there anything to imply that the act of the alien rape itself is a joke?

 

It's the way they treat it all that makes it come off as extremely offensive. They mix tickling alien sacks like a pair of breasts with women crying about how they want their mommies as they're forcefully raped with the chestbursters. Basically, the writing itself makes it bad. A proper writer would've known how to properly space each and every moment out to allow for proper humor/horror. But instead, just like every other element in the game, it's shoved full-force into a blender and tossed around haphazardly. It makes other sequences just bad, but this particular timing is so unfortunate that it makes the whole game look like the product of mentally-deranged psychopaths.

[Strangelove]

His quips in that video are fucking stupid.

"Ooh, tight fit."

"I thought it was exit only."

Yeah, hes referencing what you think he is while hes in the alien hive. Oh, and this doozy.....

"Hmm, strange silicone-based lifeform."(after he punches 3 giant titties that are growing out of the alien wall.)[before he kills 2 naked women pretty much after being alien raped.]

 

I LOVE dark crude humor. I love discussing taboo things. Im fucked up in the head myself and I can appreciate well written wit AND just straight up dumb nasty humor. This game just isnt funny. Simple as that. The jokes fall flat even in an ironic, sarcastic, or so-unfunny-that-its-funny sort of way.

Not only that, but I think this sort of game is tackling things it really shouldnt. I think thats why its offensive to people. As Duke Nukem, youre pretty much accepting and agreeing that rape is worse than death because thats what he says after he kills all the women in that level. These women are moaning and screaming and crying in a very serious way. Theres nothing subtle that makes it seem like its a joke in any way. Then whenever you come up to a woman, Duke will either make fun of them or tell them they have to die because theyre supposedly not human anymore.

I mean...shit. Is that really something THIS videogame should handle? Or ANY videogame? He doesnt even question himself whether theres a way to save them or help them in any way. Hes just an unfunny asshole.

 

I didnt even finish the video. It was just boring. I never thought someone could make alien rape unfunny, but here we are....

Edited June 14, 2011 by Strangelove

[Thursday Next]

I agree with the majority here, I think this part of the game is deeply inappropriate. Rape is often categorised as a de-humanising crime, to class women as no longer human because they have been raped serves only to reinforce this.

 

Going out on more of a limb, (possibly because by this point I was looking for things to be offended by) the implication that the two women who subsequently explode consented ("It was out first time with an alien.") also conjures up some potential inter-racial relationship comparisons.

 

Also, after having an entire level dedicated to tentacle raping women, where the hell do they get off having Duke say "Take your tentacles back to Japan freak."?

 

I find the whole thing somewhat disturbing, I don't watch tentacle rape anime for the same reason. I find it in no way titillating or amusing to see women be raped in any fashion.

 

I get the impression the devs were maybe aiming for H.R. Geiger's modelling of Aliens on the female reproductive system, but they have shot well wide of that mark. This just smacks of a misogynist relishing in "sluts getting what they deserve."

[Strangelove]

See, thats the thing. For all I know maybe hes right. Maybe in Dukes universe they are as good as dead after being raped by an alien. But the fact that we dont really know that is whats fucked up about it. Even if its fictional and even if its alien, it hits too close to regular ol' rape. And thats whats fucked up about it.

[Johnny]

In Duke 3D they actually begged you to kill them. This is, like most of what I've seen of DNF, a poorly thought-out tribute to Duke 3D.

[VicariousShaner]

In Duke 3D they actually begged you to kill them. This is, like most of what I've seen of DNF, a poorly thought-out tribute to Duke 3D.

 

I have not played either game, but from what I watched of DNF's level, and from what you have told me about 3d, it seems the latter was trying to make that more of a joke, and not treating it seriously. The former seems a bit more serious. Correct me if I am wrong though.

[jayc4life]

Oh wow. Now their PR company in America apparently called out reviewers for giving it a bad score.

 

*grabs popcorn*

Edited June 15, 2011 by jayc4life

[excel_excel]

"You see Duke is a parody of good FPS's! Its supposed to be bad, unfunny and should be reviewed how its SUPPOSED to be reviewed!"

[jayc4life]

Unfortunately for them, parody, unless mentioned in the same sentence as Al Yankovic or Leslie Nielsen, usually isn't good.

 

See: almost every "Genre" Movie movie ever created.

[Thursday Next]

In all honesty, and with an appreciable level of bias, they would have been better off releasing a Duke Nukem skins and audio DLC pack for Bulletstorm.

 

Epic's marketing campaign "Duty Calls" was a better example of a parody of shooters, DNF seems to have no self awareness and is just plain bad.

[deanb]

Dammit just came to post about that:

 

 

From what I hear they now lost 2K as a client. When a PR firm fucks up PR that's a bad sign. Also it's a real bad sign of where the balance of power is that this thought would even cross anyones mind.