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Let's talk about the Duke game everyone hates (No, not DNF)  "y tho"

#1

Duke has had many spin off games in his history; most have been met with generally positive reviews. But there is one that has an overwhelmingly terrible reputation. Back in 2008, a new trilogy of Duke games were announced at E3. They were to be released for the two popular mobile consoles at the time, The sony PSP and the Nintendo DS. Each game would share the same story on both platforms but the gameplay was meant to be drastically different. The PSP versions would be more adult oriented 3rd person shooters comparable to Time to Kill (Playstation, 1998) and Zero Hour (N64, 1999), and the DS versions were more for a younger audience and would be side scrollers. Needless to say the series didn't come to fruition, most likely due to financial troubles and poor sales of PSP games at the time. Only one game on one system saw the light of day: Duke Nukem Critical Mass on the Nintendo DS. Some people say they only released it as a cash grab to make back some of the money they lost on trying to develop the trilogy. It has overwhelmingly horrid scores from multiple outlets. But I've never played this one. I'm a Duke collector and I recently found the game for sale on ebay, sealed. I went ahead and picked it up for a pretty hefty price tag. $20 is a lot for an almost ten year old game on a mobile console, especially with the reviews it has. So I ask you guys, have you ever played this game? What was so bad about it? Why did it fail so miserably?

This post has been edited by xStayMetalx: 02 November 2016 - 06:06 AM

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#2

Duke Critical Mass probably failed due to the high hopes of DNF and how that fiasco was at the time. 3D Realms reputation for Duke was down the tubes. Sibce the last Duke was what DNMP OR DNA? Plus it probably pissed peolpe off that the DS version from footage I've seen looks bad. And I believe CM didn't come out until 2011. By then a lot stuff had happened: 3D Realms on the frits, the dev responsible for the trilogy I've read tried claim their contract was invalid or something but $
3D Realms went ahead and tried to put it together. And at the same time the IP changed hands to Gearbox. I'm to sure how accurate any of this is, but Critical Mass is like the one game I cannot find at any of the game shops in my town. It's almost like it doesn't exist, which could 've played marketing.

This post has been edited by AP Dukefan94: 02 November 2016 - 06:14 AM

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User is online   Dr.Panico 

#3

From what i've seen, Critical Mass was a pretty sloppy game. The visuals weren't very good, the sound design was lacking, and the overall game felt like a ripoff from Manhattan Project with some cheap minigames throw into it and stitching together elements from other Duke games. It's like an AI was fed with the entire franchise and made a brand new game with the information, and the end result misunderstood what makes a Duke game good.

Some critics said that it was a "strictly for the fans" kind of game. Personally, i think it's more of a wannabe Duke game.
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#4

View PostAP Dukefan94, on 02 November 2016 - 06:13 AM, said:

Critical Mass is like the one game I cannot find at any of the game shops in my town. It's almost like it doesn't exist, which could 've played marketing.


Yeah same here, my local GameStop doesn't have it and not even Vintage Stock either.
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#5

Played this on an emulator, and basically

Quote

overall game felt like a ripoff from Manhattan Project with some cheap minigames throw into it and stitching together elements from other Duke games.


I'll add that the visuals are terrible, pre-PSX in definition and glitchy. Look at this crap:

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It looks like someone spent a lazy afternoon making a lazy Quake mod and only used 320x240 resolution before being distracted by something.
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#6

That is hilariously bad
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#7

Ouch!!! To bad they didn't use the Animal Crossing engine or something way better.

This post has been edited by AP Dukefan94: 02 November 2016 - 03:45 PM

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#8

I have played Critical Mass all the way through. Some parts aren't really thought out, and sometimes the controls aren't so great (like sniper mode), but I liked it. It did remind me of the PS1 Time to Kill game, graphically. One reason I liked it is just because it was on a handheld, and I can just close the lid when I have to stop. The PS1 Duke Nukem games save points are sometimes too far apart for me. I am mostly a "casual" gamer, so it fit me well. A few puzzles, a little exploration, plenty of alien jerks to kill and dingbats to save... and some silly lines to complement the overall cheesy nature of the game. ;)
I play it again sometimes... even Duke Nukem Plays it.
Posted Image
Posted Image
Posted Image
Hehehe

CatNapDreams

This post has been edited by CatNapDreams: 02 November 2016 - 04:39 PM

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#9

I played Critial Mass and I absolutely hated it, it was a shoddy knockoff of DNMP and I don't think it had a single redeeming quality.
I don't want to sound like I'm just bashing it but it really was that terrible (in my opinion, but I'm sure that opinion's shared by many others)

It really is a shame though, it could've had a lot of potential, but the end result feels very rushed and unpolished.
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User is offline   HulkNukem 

#10

I think the Duke mobile phone games are worse, and that Genesis version too.
As far as real Duke games, I thought Land of the Babes was the most hated
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User is offline   Malgon 

#11

You can't talk about this game without posting the incredible trailer that got everyone pumped up:


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#12

View PostHulkNukem, on 02 November 2016 - 10:17 PM, said:

I think the Duke mobile phone games are worse, and that Genesis version too.
As far as real Duke games, I thought Land of the Babes was the most hated



Land of the Babes was fantastic, what do you mean its the most hated? I've never heard that before. The only thing I wished they did different with it is wait to put it on PS2 because it was one of the last big PS1 games to come out right before PS2. We have literally no Duke games on that generation of console.
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#13

View PostMalgon, on 03 November 2016 - 02:46 AM, said:

You can't talk about this game without posting the incredible trailer that got everyone pumped up:

https://www.youtube....h?v=9nsUwH8wWKo


Fantastic trailer, the unrelated pictures and the amazing special effects really give you a feel for how the game will be like. Gameplay trailers are over rated, who wants to see actual footage of a game before you buy it? :^)
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#14

View PostMalgon, on 03 November 2016 - 02:46 AM, said:

You can't talk about this game without posting the incredible trailer that got everyone pumped up:



To be fair, I recall it being stated somewhere that it was just background footage for E3 or something, not an actual trailer.
All these websites and YouTube channels just falsely advertised it as such.

EDIT: Yeah, in the description of NUKEMDAVE's video:


NUKEMDAVE said:

This was just a background video for the E3 Convention, so there's really nothing special here. And no, this is not my work. It was made by Apogee Software. No copyright infringement intended.


This post has been edited by TheZombieKiller: 03 November 2016 - 05:47 AM

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User is offline   MusicallyInspired 

  • The Sarien Encounter

#15

I thought that trailer was a joke.
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User is offline   Jimmy 

  • Let's go Brandon!

#16

Posted Image
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User is offline   Richard Shead 

  • "Dick Nasty"

#17

View PostMusicallyInspired, on 03 November 2016 - 07:16 AM, said:

I thought that trailer was a joke.



...it wasn't? ;)


I'm still hoping that the PSP version somehow makes it way into cyberspace, after having been found in The Library of Congress two years ago.

THAT game looked eons better than the DS port, there's really no comparison. I believe CM was built around the PSP hardware and the DS was simply an afterthought/cash-in...and unfortunately the one that ended up getting released. :D
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User is offline   oldgamerz 

#18

View PostJimmy Gnosis, on 03 November 2016 - 06:59 PM, said:

Posted Image


Did we go back in time? that reminds me of what Duke Nukem would have looked on the Sega Saturn or a windows 95 PC without a video card.

does duke throw his boomarang around in this game because that sure don't look like a gun it sorta reminds me of the PC game Interstate 76.

What is it with Nintendo not being able to launch something a visual as the PSP or VIta?

This post has been edited by oldgamerz: 08 November 2016 - 10:38 PM

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User is offline   Lunick 

#19

View Postoldgamerz, on 08 November 2016 - 10:35 PM, said:

Did we go back in time? that reminds me of what Duke Nukem would have looked on the Sega Saturn or a windows 95 PC without a video card.

There are plenty of good looking DS games, Apogee and... Frontline Studios? Who the fuck is that, let's see their credits...
Posted Image

View Postoldgamerz, on 08 November 2016 - 10:35 PM, said:

What is it with Nintendo not being able to launch something a visual as the PSP or VIta?

Have you not seen what Nintendo has made since the DS? lol?
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User is offline   oldgamerz 

#20

yup I am retro gamer mostly., my worst duke nukem game so far is "Time To KIll" I just wish it were in 3D. I keep running into walls and it's annoying duke's shoulder always hits the wall

This post has been edited by oldgamerz: 08 November 2016 - 10:46 PM

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#21

View PostLunick, on 08 November 2016 - 10:41 PM, said:

There are plenty of good looking DS games, Apogee and... Frontline Studios? Who the fuck is that, let's see their credits...


Frontline Studios is (was?) basically a sweatshop-turned-game studio. They are located in Poland, and one day I've found on the Internet an old job listing for them. Below the listing was a torrent of comments from people who used to work, sharing some horror stories about the working environment, missing payments and employing students as a slave workforce. If you ever wondered what kind of studios work on those wretched licensed and ultra low budget games like "Chicken Shoot", well now you know.

Anyway, here's an old screenshot:

Posted Image

This post has been edited by CryptKiller: 07 January 2017 - 12:38 PM

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