Disappointed With Duke Nukem? Don't Forget About Bulletstorm!

Grayson Hunt will never change his ways.....

I'm seeing a lot of bloggers and journalists shed tears over the latest release of Duke Nukem Forever, I haven't played the full thing but from my brief encounter with the demo I can see where the agony comes from. The final verdict with this game is that it's bad, I wouldn't go as far to say its very bad, but its bad. Lets face it too much hype was inserted into this game and I think we were totally off guard when the reviews finally came. The trailers were pretty awesome, very masculine and a tongue and cheek attitude to go along with it not to mention in nearly every trailer we got the "The king is back, baby" so of course our expectation were pretty big. Duke wasn't just the "King" of over the top shooters he was the king of the FPS genre itself, notice the use of was.  Yes, a lot has changed over the course of gaming in the last twelve years that it took for this game to finally come out. FPS genre is at it's highest point and is at a huge demand for quality shooters, so when did this occurrence come you ask? About the time Halo: Combat Evolved was introduced to the gaming population, the critically acclaimed game went on to become one of the biggest franchises that's on going today. Not to mention in 2007 when Call Of Duty 4 delivered a linear yet cinematic blockbuster feel that most people expect from games nowadays. Duke Nukem Forever is bad just at its core shooting mechanics, and in today's gaming world is completely unacceptable. But don't worry folks, Duke is not the only over the top FPS that came out this year. Introducing Bulletstorm:

What other game as outrageous as Bulletstorm allows you to control a giant robot Dinosaur that kills your enemies? I'll tell you NONE! Yes, in every aspect where Duke fails Bulletstorm thrives. Duke is your typical shoot em up FPS, while Bulletstorm introduces a completely new and innovated way to kill enemies by allowing the player to innovatively and creatively kill enemies to be awarded points in an old-school arcadey way. "Kill with Skill" is the motto along with "Do cool stuff to get cool stuff", a pretty simple game mechanic that stay's true to this foundation. Bulletstorm's humour is slightly different from Duke's in the sense of going for a much more unique style then the average cheesiness you would find in an 80's movie. Bulletstorm will either make you cringe or have you on the floor laughing depending on how you like your comedy, some truly bizarre stuff come out of the characters mouth and are far from the usual repertoire you will find in Duke. For example the first time you are introduced to the character Trishka Novak, the female lead in Bulletstorm, you will find probably the most quoted line in the entire game;

Trishka: "Yeah?..Well go fuck yourself! You shitpiles give chase I will kill your dicks!"

Grayson: "What?!? What does that even mean? You're gonna kill my dick? Well...I'll kill your dick how 'bout that huh?" 

Ishi: "Speaking of dick killing parties..."

Yes the three characters makes for a pretty odd couple, but the comedy like I said is not for everyone's taste but I cant find a legitimate reason why one person can like Duke's comedy and not Bulletstorm's. It's all kind of the same sloppy burger as Randy Pitchford likes to put it, except Duke has so much cheese you probably wouldn't taste the meat off the burger itself even though both are in good tastes if you ask me. The downside to Bulletstorm is that it attempts to incorporate a story into the game even though its the biggest drawback in design. For some reason or other they (the developers) felt it was necessary to include a revenge story which requires quite a level of seriousness into the game and at some points take's the player out of the all the carnage, comedy and fun of it all. It's a very mediocre story that could be easily passable in a comic book but sadly faces realism that no player want's to endure in a game like this. All I'm saying is that don't mix comedy with some serious shit, because its an awful mix that doesn't belong in a video game. Bulletstorm needs to learn a little from Duke when it comes to comedy, make the entire game a comedy or become one of the meaningless shooters out there. Duke doesn't fail in its comedy, its all about taste and if it is not for you don't moan about it. 

Sadly Duke Nukem Forever doesn't live up to expectations because bad development choices were made. Instead of starting fresh Gearbox Software tried to finish a product that has been dragged through many other development studio's over the past 12 years, that's why the graphics are pretty rubbish. Gearbox Software are an amazing studio and I give them tops for getting that annoying bitch out there for the public, sure it was bad, but now they can focus on another Duke and knowing these guys they'll ace this game with flying colours. But you know, after Borderlands 2 of course. 

As for Bulletstorm, I (personally) name this the king of over the top FPS's. You may not have history, but considering the release you have held your own against other top shooters and you did it in style. Bulletstorm is on the throne for now, but it deserves it in my opinion. I remember around the release of Bullestorm that someone said that it is "just a warm up for Duke Nukem". Well the tides have certainly turned. 

Hope you agree with my judgement, feel free to troll in the comments. 

Cheers for reading

Tim Tim