Duke Nukem Forever the victim of high expectations, says Gearbox

Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford talks about how years of anticipation set expectations too high for Duke Nukem Forever, but he's still proud of putting out the product.

52

Duke Nukem Forever received a pretty icy critical reception, including in our own review, but that doesn't bring down Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford. The passionate developer says he's still very proud of putting out the game, and that its poor response was the product of high expectations.

"There are a lot of people who were perfectly gratified by the game," Pitchford told The Verge, "and there were other people, because of the development effort or because of the way it’s been upsold throughout the years, there is just no possible way to meet or exceed such expectations."

Despite the critical reception, he says the studio is extremely proud of the project -- though it sounds like his pride is mostly in finally bringing it to fruition. "It's like, it is a miracle. The game exists and we get to see that content with what those guys have been working on for so long. And I love the game, I think it is hilarious frankly."

Looking to the future, Pitchford also talked about how working on Aliens: Colonial Marines feels when so many developers have borrowed from the franchise. "You can feel the influence, you can feel the inspiration, it is not just subtle, it is in your face to the point where the sergeant from Halo is the sergeant from Aliens. It is like the same exact character trope and all the designs of the dropships and stuff, it is all there."

Aliens: Colonial Marines will be shown at PAX East, starting on April 6 in Boston.

Editor-In-Chief
From The Chatty
  • reply
    March 29, 2012 11:15 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Duke Nukem Forever the victim of high expectations, says Gearbox.

    Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford talks about how years of anticipation set expectations too high for Duke Nukem Forever, but he's still proud of putting out the product.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 11:25 AM

      He should be proud of at least shipping the title.

      Now expectations have been reset, and we can see whether or not a Duke-from-scratch by Gearbox will be good or not.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 11:27 AM

      "The Doctor Who Cloned Me" DLC felt more fun than the stock game, though not by much. And even that used recycled bits snipped out of the main game. That said, I'm greatly looking forward to what Gearbox does with a sequel. Duke, as a character and a universe can still be fun. Just needs a fair shake. :)

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 11:28 AM

      The game was what I expected it to be. Duke kicking ass, blowing shit up and cracking jokes.

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 2:37 PM

        And yet unlike Duke3D, I never see you pumping out the praise for it around these parts

        • reply
          March 29, 2012 3:01 PM

          Because of the inevitable shit-fests from the trolls, haters and 'tards who MUST let us know their opinion.

          • reply
            March 29, 2012 11:06 PM

            Wow it's almost as if a forum was place designed to share opinions. FYI someone with a different one than you isn't automatically a troll....

            • reply
              March 30, 2012 12:18 AM

              Yeah i mean its perfectly ok over the years for people to remind us constantly why those games are so fucking awesome, if we disagree then we're fucking trolls.

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 5:05 PM

        [deleted]

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 11:28 AM

      If you had fun playing DNF, is the DLC worth buying?

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 11:35 AM

        I bought it in a Steam sale but haven't tried it yet. I've heard it was fun.

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 12:09 PM

        Shackers gifted my DLC, cos we've the best community going for games here, but I would say yeah for sure. :-)

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 12:10 PM

        As far as the single-player experience goes, it is better paced, but still has weird moment, and a looong phase where you're wondering what the heck you are doing.

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 12:37 PM

        Yeah, it's slightly better

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 1:29 PM

        The DLC is actually better than the main campaign, it still has too many puzzles, though.

        • reply
          March 29, 2012 5:02 PM

          What's wrong with puzzles? Or are they just shitty puzzles? I like puzzles...

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 1:31 PM

        Yeah, it was fun and had some good funny moments.

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 3:55 PM

        Oh, I totally forgot I bought it. :/

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 6:43 PM

        [deleted]

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 11:36 AM

      DNF was just a shit game. Expectations were high, but honestly, what did anyone expect after 13 years in development. DNF would have a been shit budget game, nevermind something at $50.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 11:36 AM

      i didnt have high expectations for it at all, all i wanted is a fun game, i couldn't play it for more than 30 minutes

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 11:37 AM

      No shit sherlock.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 11:37 AM

      DNF was exactly as I expected it to be. The people who were disappointed or criticized it were noobs to the Duke Nukem series. Duke is supposed to be stupid fun.

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 11:39 AM

        Yeah, but it was missing the "fun" part.

        • reply
          March 29, 2012 11:55 AM

          I think it tried too hard and that made it fall flat; especially on the humor.

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 12:08 PM

        There were some fun parts of the game, but there was A LOT that should have been left on the cutting room floor. TONS of FPS platforming puzzles that made the game feel dated and were not fun. The driving sequences just seemed to go on FOREVER.

        • reply
          March 29, 2012 1:32 PM

          The key is that those sequences are so easy to mess up. Portal 2 is essentially nothing but a FPS platformer and it managed to do it quite well. HL2 had an even longer driving sequence, but again, it was crazy fun. DNF did neither well and that's why those segments stand-out as being particularly bad.

          • reply
            March 29, 2012 1:35 PM

            I agree. Knowing some of the history of the game, I kinda understand why those elements were added because of the various "fads" going on during the years the game was in development. But surely someone at Gearbox could have done something to help those segments or rework them completely.

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 12:32 PM

        The most accurate statement thus far. Yes, the Noobs don't understand the nostalgic value of Duke and Gearbox did a great job IMO putting together the broken pieces left by 3DRealms.

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 7:29 PM

        I don't know, Duke3d hit a note that was just right in terms of absurd, juvenile humor. Like it was almost ironic. DNF tried to ratchet it up to 11, and it felt like it faceplanted with a resounding thud because it just came off as trying too hard.

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 8:31 PM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        March 30, 2012 12:19 AM

        haha what. If anything the new game was aimed towards noobs.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 11:43 AM

      DNF was the pinnacle point of gaming that showed that gaming in general is now forever lost to the console generation and the mentally challenged people who work in the game journalism industry.

      It is the end of the era moment for PC Gaming from 1996-2011

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 11:45 AM

      If the whole thing was up to the quality of the Hoover Dam levels, it would've been a pretty decent game.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 11:46 AM

      I expected crap, I got pestillence.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 11:56 AM

      Quite honestly it wasn't "high expectations" - we know from history that the odds of an often-delayed game getting universally positive reviews, especially one with the troubled development history this one had, are pretty slim. It was the fact that every single impression you had of the game had to be seen through the lens of "it took them [13/14/15] years to do this?"

      Same way Chinese Democracy would have been a fine album in a series of fine albums from Guns N' Roses had it been released in 1997 or something. Instead you're left with "well that was good but... 17 years of good?"

      I still want to play the Quake 2 engine version.

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 4:00 PM

        Hmm, I've listened to Chinese Democracy quite a lot and I really like it. While it was a bit of a joke when in production, once it came out I didn't care how long it took to make and judged it for what it was. It is a good album, even if other people managed to make more albums in the same amount of time.

        OTOH, I played the demo of DNF with extremely low expectations and it didn't even meet those. It seemed like a complete pile of shit, whether it was made in 2 years or 17. Unless the full game was really different to the demo (but it wasn't from what I read).

    • spl legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
      reply
      March 29, 2012 12:00 PM

      No matter what goes wrong, this guy is there to point the fingers at something or someone else.

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 12:02 PM

        He's very good at it, while reiterating his excitement in incredible ways.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 12:01 PM

      I think people were WAY too hard on this game. Yes, it had it's flaws, parts of the game were horribly dated by today's standards... but it was still a fun shooter. There were plenty of cool things to see and do in the game and honestly... it didn't look half as bad as some people made it out. There were some levels which actually looked pretty damn good. And there were also parts which were pretty funny. I had fun with the game and I'm VERY glad, personally, that I was able to play game. If the game had just never come out I would have this somewhat sad nagging feeling for the rest of my life... just a little bit of sadness never having gotten to play the game I followed for so many years.

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 12:36 PM

        I think one of the reasons the game wasn't "fun" for many people is that a lot of the jokes are based on pop culture from the era. Some of the cutscenes that should've been in place in some of the levels weren't added because the noobs would've never gotten the reference. I still love the idea that the game finally came out and that perhaps Gearbox will start a new one from scratch.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 12:06 PM

      "Shipping is really important," Pitchford told Vox Games. "It is not about making the perfect thing. It is about sharing something that we’ve created with the world and getting feedback from that [...] We want that information as immediately as possible so it can affect us and help us do a better job next time. So shipping a lot gives us a constant stream of feedback and helps us improve our decision-making process and our craftsmanship.

      "Basically, we like shipping things."


      Or - "We like charging you $60 for crap so we can give you more crap for $60"

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 12:07 PM

      Worst single player FPS campaign since SoF 2. To each his own though.

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 12:57 PM

        that's a fuckin insult to sof2

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 12:09 PM

      Sorry to say, the game was rubbish.

      I can't quite figure out why though.

      I can't see how the original was so much better... perhaps it was to do with level design.

      perhaps its a similar contrast to Doom 1&2 vs Doom 3. Something just didnt feel right.

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 12:27 PM

        Level design and pacing was my biggest gripe with that game. And some of the combat just felt weird.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 12:09 PM

      I really liked it after the Duke Dome.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 12:30 PM

      I commend Gearbox for trying, they did something great for us fans of Duke. While meeting the expectations would have been astronomically difficult for any developer, I encourage them to move forward and revive the Duke IP with another game that includes that classic Gearbox flavor.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 12:30 PM

      It's not about expectations. An "okay" game could have been released and the fans would have been pleased so long as it did a good job following in the footsteps.

      Duke 3D was a fast paced strafe'n'shoot with emphasis on destruction. Duke Forever was not this. It was a frankenstein monster that tried to mix some of the interactive elements of Duke3d with modern cover shooter mechanics. Its jokes were subpar. Honestly the game did not need a strong narrative. Part of the charm behind the one-liners of Duke3D was that they were properly integrated into the game. They were short and sweet and delivered with timing. This existed in Duke Forever, but most of them were long and unfunny.

      Duke's Interactivity was also done wrong. When interactive elements were used in Duke 3d, they were also fast to the point where they enhanced the primary mechanics of shooting and blowing shit up were complimented. Think of bathrooms in Duke 3d. You walk in kill aliens, and as collateral damage, a toilet stall blows up, bursting the plumbing into a fountain. Walk into a bar, shoot some aliens, one of your bullets hits a pool ball and the whole rack of balls ricochets. Quick use key allows you to give a dollar to a stripper still doing her job through it all. All interactive elements were short and sweet.

      Compare that to duke forever where you are drawing on a board or lifting weights or playing pinball. These are all afterthoughts and something to do aside from the game. They don't compliment with other elements of the game. They are just there and they are boring. Sometimes they make it necessary to do these things in order to gain ego. That's plain stupid and wrong. People play Duke to shorten their attention span, not go on a meticulous scavenger hunt.


      I just think that the developers didn't understand what made Duke 3D fun. They only knew that it was fun and saw just the surface of the game and nothing else.

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 1:30 PM

        A number of the items in this game like that would have been neat or revolutionary even in 1998 when this game was supposed to be out. Instead, DNF was the Microsoft Word of the game world in that most of the people who worked on the game at the end of 3DR's life were in no way connected to the beginning of the development and so a number of things like you describe were brought forward without a real clear understanding of what the point was.

        I think the problem is, and I mean no disrespect to George Broussard, but he was the main problem. Every single mistake you can think of, 3DR made. From switching engines and thinking it would add ~6 months to the development time to using a no-name physics middleware engine from a company that died to having no clear vision for what the game was even supposed to be for a long time.

        Gearbox saw an opportunity - purchase an established IP that worked well at one point in time, as well as a mostly-finished game they could polish off, port to consoles, and release within a year. And that's why they still made money with it - the $22M or so was already a sunk cost on someone else's dime. It was a really smart move - they get to release a new product, they get some more old school cred for being able to finish the last great game of the late 90's Dallas Gaming Mafia scene and deliver it to market, we get to see what the game was like, everyone wins.

        I mostly find it amusing that the game's quality makes people angry. If you're legitimately pissed at DNF for being a bad video game, it may be time to find a new and less stressful hobby.

        • reply
          March 29, 2012 7:20 PM

          Duke 3d is likely one of those flukes where the developer (3d Realms) made something really awesome and possibly didn't understand why it was awesome.

          They couldn't establish a solid gameplay philosophy throughout development and that's likely the main problem at hand.

          To be fair though, 1997-2005 saw a very rapid rate of tech and gameplay evolutions that it was really hard to keep up. Prey fell victim of this but ultimately, released a solid game. In fact, I've said this a thousand times playing through Prey: "reskin the art assets and personality of this game to Duke, and you've got a very very cool Duke Nukem game."

        • reply
          March 29, 2012 7:21 PM

          Prey:

          Music ? Check
          Aliens? Check
          Boss fights? Check
          Creative weapons? Check
          Awesome Level Design? FUCK YEA!

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 12:37 PM

      let's not dwell on it. borderlands 2 focus, please. randy is awful at PR so let's just focus internally for a while, thanks.

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 1:32 PM

        Yeah, I agree. Let's just move on.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 12:41 PM

      It wasn't a half bad shooter. There were games that came out last year that were a lot worse IMO but got
      better reviews.

    • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
      reply
      March 29, 2012 12:43 PM

      No one with any sense had high expectations of DNF. It managed to disappoint people's low expectations, and that's saying something.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 12:58 PM

      im totally ok if we just leave duke to die cos hoo boy was DNF a stinker

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 1:00 PM

      Way to drum up this bullshit again Randy

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 1:13 PM

      Duke Nukem Forever victim of being shit.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 1:38 PM

      Duke3d.exe > DNF. 'Nuff said.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 1:44 PM

      I didn't get it because of the dumb half-life crowbar joke in the demo.

      DNF is the epitome of trying too hard.

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 1:51 PM

        High expectations or not this game was total garbage, set all the hype/dev time aside and this game still amounts to explosive shit. Hopefully Duke can be redeemed with the next title.

        • reply
          March 29, 2012 1:52 PM

          Oops, that wasn't meant for you

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 7:31 PM

        I said this exact same thing before reading this, and therefore we're forced to conclude that it's true!

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 1:49 PM

      Duke Nukem Forever was a victim of time. That is all.

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 3:13 PM

        The execution of game speaks for the game regardless of when released.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 2:12 PM

      Nice. That's a great strategy...pump up a sequel for years (well a decade) and then if/when it sucks blame it on "to much hype" the game was shit, no excuses. I game it 30 mins and that's all I could do. Randy is full of shit.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 2:48 PM

      Garbage. Fits nicely with the rest of the Gearbox portfolio.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 3:00 PM

      Or it was just a bad game. I couldn't even finish the demo.

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 3:52 PM

        Same. The demo should've been something that would make me want the game. I ended up uninstalling it before I even finished it. It just wasn't very fun.

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 4:57 PM

        [deleted]

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 3:06 PM

      haha, yeah, that was why people disliked it

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 3:14 PM

      http://www.shacknews.com/article/68139/duke-nukem-forever-footage-laces

      Here is randy lying through his teeth, but even he struggles to talk about what's good about the game.

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 3:17 PM

        thats not interesting. what would be interesting is footage of him NOT lying

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 5:16 PM

        randy being full of shit is pretty standard and expected at this point. I'd be more surprised to see a video of him talking about features or things that were actually delivered.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 3:14 PM

      george and ken silverman should do a kickstarter for duke nukem 3d 2.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 3:39 PM

      What expectations should we have for a game that took 10 damn years?

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 3:50 PM

      I had pretty lowered expectations and it sincerely didn't match them. Just a terrible to mediocre game all round. "Humour", level design, just poor upon poor.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 3:55 PM

      LMAO I called out Duke back when nothing was shown for seven years and remember I took a lot of shit on these very forums and had my username nuked....all for being right. Here's another one I'm gonna call right now, if nothing is shown at E3 VALVE, YOU'RE NEXT (you know what fucking game I speak of)

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 4:03 PM

      I wanted to like Duke Nukem Forever, but it is really a game for a different era. If this would have came out a couple years after Duke Nukem 3D this would have work lot better. There are too many things in the game that don't work. I would have liked nothing more than have a humorous fps.

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 5:17 PM

        If it wasn't named "Duke Nukem Forever" and instead was named "Butch Deadlift Kicks Ass", it would have been heralded as a throwback triumph.

        DNF was a fun game that was crushed under the weight of it's history.

        • reply
          March 29, 2012 5:20 PM

          I highly doubt that.

          • reply
            March 29, 2012 5:36 PM

            Ok, fine, maybe not a triumph, but it certainly would have stood on its own two feet and been seen as a successful attempt to bring back retro-action-FPS games.

            • reply
              March 29, 2012 5:50 PM

              Maybe if it would have stuck to being retro and not combining the worst elements from back then with the worst elements from today.

        • reply
          March 29, 2012 7:59 PM

          Care to explain what exactly made it a 'throwback' other than the Duke character himself?

      • reply
        March 29, 2012 11:36 PM

        You're supposed to rate this game as if it came out in the year 1911. It would have been awesome.

      • reply
        March 30, 2012 3:31 AM

        [deleted]

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 4:57 PM

      I worked on it briefly and I thought it was fun when I played it a few years back, looked decent and should do well. But then again, I forgot how pissed off people get over shit like this

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 5:01 PM

      Why do they even defend the game?
      It's not helping.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 5:32 PM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 5:46 PM

      Well, it's kind of disappointing to find out that Vox Games will carry on the game journalism tradition of neverending puff pieces.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 5:54 PM

      Randy Pitchford has **** for brains for half the crap he says.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 6:30 PM

      Being able to run around with an arsenal of guns is setting the bar too high now? wtf?

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 7:14 PM

      I expected the game to be fun. It wasn't fun. End of story.

      If you can't make a game fun, then you've kind of missed the point.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 7:24 PM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 8:04 PM

      wait so its our fault they charged $60 for the game as if it was a AAA title?

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 8:12 PM

      The gunplay was about the only thing that was even marginally fun about this game, and you got to do so little of it in the game (At least compared to walking around solving terrible puzzles or watching lengthy and terrible scripted sequences) that it ended up at a net negative.

      The expectations are completely separate from the criticisms this game deserves. The pacing was shot to hell (With 5 seconds of intense firefight followed by 30 minutes of walking around aimlessly), the game obviously wasn't designed for 2 weapons (With secrets to find weapons in that have no point because you can't keep them), the art direction was bland and uninspired and the jokes were lazy and predictable.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 8:15 PM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 8:22 PM

      Really? You think?

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 8:30 PM

      It was more the victim of being a garbage game.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 9:01 PM

      I some times want to buy this game on sale but then I realize time would be better spent playing a game like arkham city when it goes on sale.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 10:03 PM

      why charge 60 dollars then??? Idiots.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 10:11 PM

      Long expectations, they were not necesarily high.

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 11:04 PM

      It was a victim of having a bad engine, a terrible main character, a dumb story, an offensive script, massively outdated mechanics and a partridge in a pear tree

      But yeah other than that it was fine............ wake up Randy!

    • reply
      March 29, 2012 11:34 PM

      This was one of the few if only 'Preorder Canceled' games of mine.

    • reply
      March 30, 2012 12:05 AM

      Oh Randy, will you ever learn? LOL

      It wasn't a critical flop due to "high expectations" - it was a critical flop due to being a crappy, fairly offensive game.

    • reply
      March 30, 2012 12:28 AM

      I agree with Randy. There are a lot of people who were perfectly gratified by the game and there were other people for who, there is just no possible way to meet or exceed such expectations.

      I don't deny that theres people belonging to both those groups. But let's face it, main reason people thought it was a bad game is because it was a bad game.

    • reply
      March 30, 2012 8:04 AM

      You guys made us wait 10 fucking years and you think the expectations were low ??? If thats the mindset you went into when making this game then that explains why it was such garbage...

    • reply
      March 30, 2012 11:04 AM

      I wish we could do a Fark "Obvious" Tag on this...

      I'm not sure which game should get title of worst delayed, overhyped release. Anachronox or DN:forever

      I saw Duke in the PS3 bargain bin for $20... I didn't buy it . lol

      "Hey guys, we're not sure why, but our decade and a half year old game didn't sell that well!?"



      Good project management skills there George rofl.. make sure you put Dukeforever on your resume.

      • reply
        March 30, 2012 11:06 AM

        I really meant to say Daikatana when I said Anachronox /whoops :p

    • reply
      March 30, 2012 4:09 PM

      DNF was a horrible game and expectations had nothing to do with it. Pitchford blatantly mislead consumers during the hype campaign leading up to its release. For that, DNF ranks right up there with Brink as two games that left me feeling like an idiot for buying them. Perhaps, I am indeed an idiot for spending my money and believing the lies. That does not mean Pitchford gets a pass. I think he is a fake ass mother fucker.

    • reply
      March 30, 2012 5:21 PM

      NO SHIT, SHERLOCK

    • reply
      April 1, 2012 7:02 AM

      ER.... The DNF guys are working on Aliens: Colonial Marines??? Gosh. I wanted to buy that game :( I would really need a demo now...

    • reply
      April 3, 2012 10:25 AM

      I wanted to correct all the bullshit the bottom half of this thread is spewing...but I got tired just thinking about it...whatever. I'm sure they didn't even buy the game.

Hello, Meet Lola