World Tour Reviews
#1 Posted 16 October 2016 - 12:50 AM
Professional reviews, but also user reviews: for example youtubers reviews, but also our own.
I'll edit this OP as more reviews are made and found.
Don't hesitate to submit reviews you find, but also to post your own personal review ITT.
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Professional reviews :
Gamestop
Attack of the Fanboy
Destructoid
Gaming Target
PC World (Not official review yet)
We Got This Covered
Digital Chumps
Game Revolution
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User reviews :
Youtubers :
LGR
Gggmanlives review
From this community :
MSDN
AdrenalinDragon
PsychoGoatee
Hank's two cents
MetHy's review
Neznam's opinion
Merljin's review
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Other :
Metacritic
Opencritic (contributors)
Steam Store Page
This post has been edited by MetHy: 25 October 2016 - 01:01 AM
#2 Posted 16 October 2016 - 12:53 AM
#3 Posted 16 October 2016 - 01:16 AM
Attack of the Fanboy
Destructoid
Gaming Target
PC World
We Got This Covered
YouTube:
Gggmanlives review
Not sure if this counts but here is Metacritic link of Duke Nukem 3D World Tour: http://www.metacriti...sary-world-tour
This post has been edited by FistMarine: 16 October 2016 - 01:20 AM
#4 Posted 16 October 2016 - 03:35 AM
Seriously, that guy who reviewed this game is exactly why First Person Shooters have been dumbed down, sadly.
#5 Posted 16 October 2016 - 04:44 AM
Technical Stuff
+ The new music by Lee Jackson is great
+ The new 3D engine runs better than Polymer for now
+ The developer commentary is a good concept...
- ...but should have been used in every level
- The sounds are terrible, or don't properly play
- The mouse controls are not as good as EDuke32
- There's currently no way of turning off Auto-Aim
- New enemies/bosses are broken, either by glitches or bad design
- Duke's new lines are not as well executed as they were back in 1996
- The new Incinerator weapon feels lazily executed
- The Steam Workshop feature doesn't work as intended
Level Design
+ The Egyptian level "Mirage Barrage" is a first for Duke Nukem 3D
+ The Serious Sam Easter egg gave me a laugh
+ Some new texturing to use in custom user maps
+ Some non-linear levels (Mirage Barrage, Prima Arena, and Golden Carnage)
- The lack of shading is apparant due to the level designers relying on the new lights
- The majority of the levels don't allow you to backtrack
- The lack of levels designed with the Jetpack really hurt
- The Firefly enemy barely appears in the new episode
- Invisible walls are frequent in the new levels
- Levellord dumbed down his level "Prima Arena", despite being designed for Dukematch
- Decorative doors. A solution is to have a "Locked" door sound like what Half-Life 1 did
Why buy this?
+ New 5th official episode titled Alien World Order with 8 levels
+ Multiplayer
+ Play Duke Nukem 3D with better graphics on consoles
- You don't get the Megaton expansions with it (Duke It Out In D.C, Duke Carribean, and Nuclear Winter)
- It's currently $20 and you get less than what you did with the Megaton edition
- Gearbox appears to be making this the only version of Duke Nukem 3D(?)
#6 Posted 16 October 2016 - 11:34 AM
Glorious return of the king! World Tour is a groovy game all around, the new episode Alien World Order is incredibly well done. Blum and Levelord are better than ever, these maps are what gaming is all about. Fun, immersive, like a playground to kill alien ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥s in. Great variety from the famous city maps style to larger more elaborite ones like Egypt or a Greek Arena.
Gunplay is fun as ever, doing the shotgun shimmy, the new Incinerator is fun too (if messy, leaves lava everywhere)! The new music by legend Lee Jackson is very cool by the way, has a John Carpenter vibe to it. Duke Match is great as ever, and the Workshop is starting to get going. Countless great user maps out there.
On the remastering, I really dig the new renderer, the lighting adds a new sheen of quality (lighting done by Blum and Levelord), ambient occlusion is cool too. Framerate is butter smooth, Jon St. John's new Dukeisms are superb, some of the sounds like the pistol are a bit muffled but not distractingly so. In general this port looks great, plays great, could patch in a few more options, no complaints here. All around a great game here.
Duke is back! New episode is the best thing going, every FPS dev should study these masters showing how it's done. Let's rock!
Pretty much, I love it. The new episode is a beautiful thing. (editor's note: it's funny that steam censors bastards)
This post has been edited by PsychoGoatee: 16 October 2016 - 11:36 AM
#7 Posted 16 October 2016 - 11:40 AM
PsychoGoatee, on 16 October 2016 - 11:34 AM, said:
Glorious return of the king! World Tour is a groovy game all around, the new episode Alien World Order is incredibly well done. Blum and Levelord are better than ever, these maps are what gaming is all about. Fun, immersive, like a playground to kill alien ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥s in. Great variety from the famous city maps style to larger more elaborite ones like Egypt or a Greek Arena.
Gunplay is fun as ever, doing the shotgun shimmy, the new Incinerator is fun too (if messy, leaves lava everywhere)! The new music by legend Lee Jackson is very cool by the way, has a John Carpenter vibe to it. Duke Match is great as ever, and the Workshop is starting to get going. Countless great user maps out there.
On the remastering, I really dig the new renderer, the lighting adds a new sheen of quality (lighting done by Blum and Levelord), ambient occlusion is cool too. Framerate is butter smooth, Jon St. John's new Dukeisms are superb, some of the sounds like the pistol are a bit muffled but not distractingly so. In general this port looks great, plays great, could patch in a few more options, no complaints here. All around a great game here.
Duke is back! New episode is the best thing going, every FPS dev should study these masters showing how it's done. Let's rock!
Pretty much, I love it. The new episode is a beautiful thing. (editor's note: it's funny that steam censors bastards)
How much did Gearbox pay you to write that review?
#8 Posted 16 October 2016 - 11:50 AM
#9 Posted 17 October 2016 - 12:35 PM
Anyway, if I had to rate this, then it's maybe a 7/10. Music on its own would get a 10/10. Lee Jackson for president! \o/
This post has been edited by NightFright: 17 October 2016 - 12:37 PM
#10 Posted 17 October 2016 - 02:26 PM
NightFright, on 17 October 2016 - 12:35 PM, said:
Anyway, if I had to rate this, then it's maybe a 7/10. Music on its own would get a 10/10. Lee Jackson for president! \o/
I'd personally rate the entire product a 7/10 right now. The new episode and music is good and you can play through all the levels with it, but there are so many technical problems that need fixing that it can't really be recommended over EDuke32 in the long run.
#11 Posted 17 October 2016 - 02:42 PM
Quote
How so? It's not like it's the first egypt-themed Duke 3D map ever.
#12 Posted 17 October 2016 - 03:21 PM
I'm still pissed off with the lack of ANY effort in the other half of the project. It's really more perplexing than anything else.
1. They thought this was good for release? Wuuuut?
2. Were they given this part of the project a week before release? I do not understand how so much went into half the project and absolutely sod-all happened elsewhere.
#13 Posted 17 October 2016 - 06:35 PM
I don't have the heart to do it on Steam, it will just get blown towards the haters.
The good. My old favorite maps work, including sounds and art, so I'm a happy camper.
Some people may know, that the first time I ever played Duke was on a comp without sounds. This what I did for the World Tour. The Firefly took my a while to figure out. Good new enemy. The map layouts and game play where as expected, top notch, They, Mr. Gray and Mr. Blum, are the still the masters. I listened to the sound track on YouTube, that too has some awesome songs.
The bad - sound, lighting and final boss fight get a big F from me.
#14 Posted 17 October 2016 - 08:22 PM
Thank you, everyone!
#15 Posted 17 October 2016 - 08:37 PM
also I forgot to say on eps 2 I have a favorite song that you made Aliens Say Your Prayers when that level hits I have to put the controller and dance to the music It is a classic I love it!.
This post has been edited by Demon Duke: 17 October 2016 - 08:50 PM
#16 Posted 18 October 2016 - 01:32 AM
Demon Duke, on 17 October 2016 - 08:37 PM, said:
ALIENZ.MID said:
#17 Posted 18 October 2016 - 04:40 AM
Lee Jackson, on 17 October 2016 - 08:22 PM, said:
Thank you, everyone!
Your music is easily one of the best, if not the best thing to come out of this re-release.
'PluckYouPartOne' is definitely one of the most "duke-y" ones of the new episode, could have come straight out of Lunar Apocalypse.
My personal favourites are BigBenBang and BulletDam though.
This post has been edited by Doom64hunter: 18 October 2016 - 04:41 AM
#18 Posted 18 October 2016 - 09:39 AM
Following is a BIG LOAD of bullshit I don't expect many people to read through, I'm mostly doing this for myself, since studying pro maps will help me be a better usermapper. This new episode has had a huge impact on me and I feel the need to lay all my thoughts down on paper (err, screen, I guess).
But if anyone feel like discussing any of it, then go ahead, I'll be reading your reviews.
I'm not making a "World Tour" review, I won't mention technical shenanigans related to the port itself and instead this is more of a "Alien World Order" review as I'll concentrate on my opinion on the new episode and the new maps, general thoughts and more technical stuff mostly about level design, while trying to avoid nitpicking unless it serves the bigger picture.
This review expects that the reader has already played the new EP, if he hasn't it may give him a general idea of it.
First of all: despite all the negative points I'm going to bring up, always keep in mind that I am enjoying the episode a lot. The more I play it, the more the maps grow on me.
I'd also like to bring up that the mere fact that we are getting a new official DN3D episode after 20 years is mindblowing, and on top of that, a lot of the key design elements were done by the very same people who worked on the original game.
On paper, this is how you do things right. Remember when everyone complained when Blood got released on Steam and it was a DOSbox release? Yeah....
I mean how many fans of games get stuff like this, especially for old games?! That's like getting a new official Resident Evil scenario made with the engine of RE2/RE3.... It's UP THERE as far as "fan dreams come true" go.
Let's dive into it now, my reviews of the first maps are the longest because I mention things which are true for several maps as early as I can.
From my first play onwards, I have mostly played the maps in CGS difficulty and Pistol Start for each map, and that's what I use to judge their gameplay balance. I think it makes the most sense because every single map of the original was designed with pistol start in mind, and it's even more the case now with the level selection menu. Also, the levels in AWO are more of a “maps collection” than an “episode” considering that they aren't connected in logical way progression/story wise, like some were in the original three episodes.
High Times
Red Ruckus
Bloody Hell
Mirrage Barrage
Tour De Nukem
Golden Carnage
Hollywood Inferno
Prima Arena
Episode conclusion
Incinerator thoughts
Firefly thoughts
EPISODEBOSS5 thoughts
This post has been edited by MetHy: 23 October 2016 - 02:45 AM
#19 Posted 18 October 2016 - 09:46 AM
MetHy was actually right about user maps feeling. Perhaps, my biggest problem is enemy placement (played on Come Get Some difficulty), during my playthrough almost every mini Cycloid committed suicide while mini Overlords were actually smarter, you can also easily exploit bosses if you want to kill other enemies, however, actual boss battles weren't that bad except the last one of course, for example, I died plenty of times in Bloody Hell during boss battle (although it was possible to exploit this area, you could easily leave the map by pushing exit button, would be nice if they designed that room better), it was a right choice to add other enemies to bosses. Shame the maps are still lacking, I wonder how much did they cut the rest of the maps. And seriously, why not to design maps for jetpack too? That was one of the greatest feature in Duke 3D.
My favorite map is Egypt of course and perhaps Prima Arena too (uncut version). Kind of liked Red Ruckus and Golden Carnage as well.
But still, this episode has the best level design compared to the rest relevant FPS games nowadays, if new Duke game had at least something on this level, I wouldn't mind. Now I wonder what Bombshell prequel will offer.
Wouldn't recommend it buying for $20 though, if it was on the level of Hail to the King Collection on the other hand, they could charge even more.
Micky C, on 17 October 2016 - 02:42 PM, said:
Remember, we're talking about "professionals" here, the people who don't like to play games and the people who play everything on consoles, especially FPS games.
Lee Jackson, on 17 October 2016 - 08:22 PM, said:
Thank you, everyone!
The music is perhaps one of the main reasons why this re-release is worthwhile. Though I think it's too early to relax, we still need OST release in lossless format (it won't be just new episode but the whole soundtrack, right?). Can't wait for you to release the music.
Also, really love Roman Thunder, listening to it for two days and still can't get enough of it.
This post has been edited by Sledgehammer: 18 October 2016 - 10:17 AM
#20 Posted 18 October 2016 - 10:16 AM
#21 Posted 18 October 2016 - 12:27 PM
#22 Posted 18 October 2016 - 12:32 PM
AdrenalinDragon, on 18 October 2016 - 12:27 PM, said:
Likewise, I'm fairly certain Mirage Barrage was Levelord and not AHB.
#23 Posted 18 October 2016 - 02:59 PM
Red Ruckus (E5L2), Bloody Hell (E5L3, Randy started this map), Tour de Nukem (E5L5) and Prima Arena (E5L8) were done by Levelord
#24 Posted 18 October 2016 - 03:16 PM
Sledgehammer, I don't know what is in the future for the Atomic Edition's tracks, and I'm not 100% sure of what'll happen to the Alien World Order tracks. Check back around April or so.
Quick Easter egg reveal: take a look at the first seven notes of the guitar line in BulletDam. Compare them to the first seven notes of the opening guitar line in Grabbag. Notice a similarity in the note pattern ? (The intervals, not the rhythm or the key.) That same pattern shows up in the bass line of the song.
#26 Posted 18 October 2016 - 03:34 PM
Lunick, on 18 October 2016 - 03:25 PM, said:
Might be earlier, might be later. April is the median. Again, I don't know what's going to happen. Watch this space.
#27 Posted 19 October 2016 - 12:59 AM
Sledgehammer, on 18 October 2016 - 09:46 AM, said:
My thoughts exactly. Now - Bombshell isn't DN3D so some of the things I expected from AWO I'm not expecting in Bombshell.
For Bombshell I think the key is "What do all the main Build games have in common and what makes them so good?"
TerminX, on 18 October 2016 - 10:16 AM, said:
You may have a point. I actually didn't think about that. I wonder if you mean because there was someone back then not afraid to tell them "the map's not done", or if someone else was doing the polishing and fine-tuning. Maybe both...
AdrenalinDragon, on 18 October 2016 - 12:27 PM, said:
Oops, you're right, I'll try to fix my review accordingly.
For some reasons I kept thinking it was made by Levelord, probably because it's the only map in the episode by Blum making use of mini-Overlords and mini-Cycloids while they're in every Levelord map (a couple of other things too made me think of Levelord).
TerminX, on 18 October 2016 - 12:32 PM, said:
Lunick's got it right, at least according to the signatures in the map files, although it depends on what he means by Pitchford "starting" Bloody Hell.
I don't think there is any reason for the sigs to be wrong, unlike in The Birth maps.
Lee Jackson, on 18 October 2016 - 03:16 PM, said:
I think it really shows and adds a lot to the maps' atmospheres. I didn't mention music for every map, but I really like it overall.
This post has been edited by MetHy: 23 October 2016 - 02:29 AM
#28 Posted 19 October 2016 - 01:31 AM
MetHy, on 19 October 2016 - 12:59 AM, said:
I don't think there is any reason for the sigs to be wrong, unlike in The Birth maps.
http://www.gearboxso...-levelord-gray/
Quote
I think in one of the commentaries he mentions it as well.
#29 Posted 19 October 2016 - 01:36 AM
The only signature in the map file is Levelord's.
This post has been edited by MetHy: 19 October 2016 - 01:41 AM
#30 Posted 19 October 2016 - 03:41 AM
Sledgehammer, on 18 October 2016 - 09:46 AM, said:
Exactly! That's why I fell in love with Duke Nukem 3D in the first place. After replaying through all the original episodes again there's only 2 levels in the entire 40 level campaign where you don't get to use the Jetpack without cheating (Death Row and Toxic Dump), and each first level of the episode gives you one except Alien World Order. I still like the new levels, but that was one annoyance that stood out for me.