Duke Nukem Forever – 3D and Gameplay PC Review

3D Review, Testing, and Game PlayDuke Nukem Forever was meant to played in 3D, all the criticism its received about its graphics and game are obviously done by those who have not experienced the game with Nvidia’s Sterescopic 3D technology. Nvidia got it right and must have had this game in mind when they made the slogan “Nvidia:The way it’s meant to be played”.

Playing this game in anything other then true stereoscopic 3D vision is like going back to the 90’s in terms of 3D where mazes where drawn in perspective 3D and all enemies were just 2D sprites. The effects from rain, smoke, blood splattering and entrails flying was a true experience to behold when playing in 3D, The games engine and environments are so expansive that when viewed through 3D the multitude of objects and depth gives such a perception of immersion that is beyond the typical caverns in predecessor games like Batman, rather the whole world is in so many depths including bosses, objects, landscapes and even flying missiles.

The screen shot below really doesn’t do the game justice when compared to the 3D experience, the missiles are flat and the only thing that helps you deduce their distance is their size, while in 3D mode you can actually see the missiles flying right for you, its easier to judge their distance and gives you a tremendous advantage in the ability to dodge out of the way or run in between the trajectory paths.

Test system:

• Asus GTX560Ti DirectCUII w/1GB GDDR5
  
• Intel I7 875k Processor (O.C. to 3.5 Ghz)
  
• ASUS P7p55DE Pro MotherBoard
  
• 4gb of Kingston HyperX 1600Mhz DDR3 Ram
  
• Intel 40gb SSD drive for OS
  
• 1TB Hitachi Hard Drive for game installs
  
• Windows 7 HP 64Bit OS
  
• Cooler Master Silent Pro M 1000 Watt Power Supply
  
• ASUS VG236H 23-Inch 120 Hz 3D Ready Panel Monitor with nVidia 3D Vision Kit
  

I tested frames per second using Fraps in battles with Cycloid Emperor in both 3D and non 3D formats, and also tested 3D and Non-3D multi-player battles while on the Hollywood level, as with all tests, although I did my best to reproduce results and make each test fair, its difficult to maintain the same viewing and movement paths without having an ingame benchmark tool so use the data with that interpretation in mind. As you can see from the data the single player FPS showed the most dramatic change in 3D usage, but kept a good average above the 30 FPS mark, which is usually the threshold that the human eye can discern. In no instances did the game feel laggy or did I have any difficulty moving. In multi-player mode there was very little difference between the two numbers, difficult to say whether the host or game might have been limiting the non 3D FPS numbers, but regardless as you can see by the 53 FPS average it wouldn’t be a concern as it was very fluid enough to even play quite competitively.

Tests were done in 1920×1080 resolution with all video graphics settings to their highest.

I really wish there was a way other then words that I could explain to you the full magnitude of awesomeness that this game has to give when viewed in 3D. I’m hoping you don’t just take my word for it, find a 3D demo at your local store and ask them to load up Duke Nukem Forever, or better yet go to a friends house to experience it, I guarantee you’ll be racing the store to buy your own setup when you realize the difference of night and day that you can experience in games like this in 3D.

The NVIDIA logo and the “The way it’s meant to be played” logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation.