Initial Reviews Put Duke Nukem Forever as a ‘Mediocre’ Game

With Duke Nukem Forever having launched this past Friday internationally and launching tomorrow in North America, it’s of little surprise that the launch reviews are already beginning to pour out. The game has sure taken “forever” to get here, so was it worth the wait? Judging by the aggregate scores of the reviews published so far… no, not at all. What’s the deal? Did Duke forget to pick up a fresh pack of gum?

Up to this point, most of the reviews published have been based around the console versions, with both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 sharing roughly the same sort of score spread. The lowest score seen so far comes from Eurogamer, which awarded the X360 version a 3/10, with the average score between both consoles hovering around 50%. On the PC side, PC Gamer awarded the game an 80%, while VideoGamer gave it a 40%.

Based on the demo that came out a couple of weeks ago, less-than-stellar review scores are to me of no surprise, but it is a little depressing just how low they are. As a Duke fan, review scores don’t matter, since I know I’ll enjoy it regardless, barring some show-stopping issue. But as a realist, I can understand why the game might not grab the typical gamer who couldn’t care less about the lead star of the game, or his history.

With the game launching late tonight, I plan to load it up and game until I fall asleep, and will get right back to “duty” tomorrow. If the game leaves a bit to be desired, even for a Duke fan, I’ll be sure to post about it more tomorrow, and may even relay some oddball comments on our Twitter.

Despite the initial reviews, are any of you guys planning on Duking it up tomorrow?