NEWS
by Mark Barley
Gearbox: Duke Nukem Forever Reviews Weren't Fair
Gearbox co-founder Brian Martel doesn't think the reviews for Duke Nukem Forever were entirely fair or particularly accurate.
Speaking with Eurogamer in an unpublished interview from August, Martel states;
“Name another game that’s in a similar situation. This is a game that was around for 15 years and it went through a number of engine cycles. It could never be everything for everybody, right?”
“[The game] was what it was meant to be, which is a more old-school style game in what is today’s technology."
“Would Half-Life today be reviewed as highly as it is, you know, even today? As a new IP coming out with the same sort of mechanics Half-Life had,” he said.
“I think we all have a nostalgia and love for that particular brand. But the current gamer, would they have the same love for that? It’d be interesting. I think the same kind of thing happened with Duke.”
Martel stated that Gearbox wanted to keep things as original to 3D Realms original vision as possible. “[The game] was what it was meant to be, which is a more old-school style game in what is today’s technology."
“Would Half-Life today be reviewed as highly as it is, you know, even today? As a new IP coming out with the same sort of mechanics Half-Life had,” he said.
“I think we all have a nostalgia and love for that particular brand. But the current gamer, would they have the same love for that? It’d be interesting. I think the same kind of thing happened with Duke.”
“We let that be what it was supposed to be. Gearbox made sure the world got to see what they made and I think everybody should really be thankful that it existed to some degree at all,” he said.
“Because it really would’ve just gone away. Is it a Gearbox game? No. When and if another Duke comes out it’s going to be more consistent with what I think people would expect out of a Gearbox product. But this is the vision that 3D Realms had and that’s awesome. It’s just great that the world gets to see it.”
Duke Nukem Forever was released back in June for all major platforms with an average Metacritic review score of a 50. “Because it really would’ve just gone away. Is it a Gearbox game? No. When and if another Duke comes out it’s going to be more consistent with what I think people would expect out of a Gearbox product. But this is the vision that 3D Realms had and that’s awesome. It’s just great that the world gets to see it.”
Via GameInformer