Friday, June 17, 2011

Duke Nukem: We're All Sexists Now

I already expressed my initial opinions of Duke Nukem Forever earlier.  Obviously the game has a problem with professional reviewers.  But it goes even further than that now.  It's now a sexist, embarrassing game that society should do away with.  Strip clubs and jokes about tampons.  This was alluded to by reviews on GameSpot and Giant Bomb who called DNF's humor unfunny and distasteful.  More reviewers & columnists are opening up about this nowNot all girls find The Duke attractive.

Anyway, after writing my initial article, I learned more information about the game and still find things offensive about it.  I'm not going to give some stupid "games are art" lecture here.  As a white, Christian male, I don't approve of the salacious lifestyle of players, pimps, hookers, and whatnot.  But Duke doesn't bother me.  Why?  Cause he's an EXAGGERATED figure living in a fictional world of ugly aliens and hot babes.  Going around in that macho voice--"Let's go get some babes..." it's comical and shouldn't be taken as an attack on the female role in society.

And Duke fights to save these babes.  As for the girls in the hive level, well, they're fubar as it is so I don't know why everyone's portraying that as the "rape" scene in the game.  EDIT: The same "pod-girls" were also in Duke Nukem 3D so this isn't new.  The alien boobs on the wall?  Stupid, but those don't belong to actual human people (I presume).

EDIT AGAIN: Okay, I forgot to mention this.  Some people are mad that the game's lighthearted tone ends once you reach the Hive level where Duke shows no emotion to the countless women whom suffer or are killed (especially the Twins).  The fact that Duke didn't show more emotion I blame the lousy writing more than anything.  Don't hate on Duke, hate on the guys who made him say "I hate valve puzzles"...

And there's games of similar nature that people have defended.  God of War with the gruesome violence, torture, the rough sex minigame?  Perfectly fine, everyone loves this game.  Mass Effect 2 with the side nudity and the Fox News reports?  Oh how dare you insult that game!  Grand Theft Auto with the innuendo, strip clubs, hot coffee and the ability to kill, run over, and torture innocent people?  Hey, you Jack Thompsons out there, it's just a game, don't insult it!  But with Duke Nukem, no...it's a terrible game and all copies should be buried out in the Nevada desert along with E.T.

Hey, don't get me wrong--the most detestable part of the game is the near-nudity of the strippers at the club.  I'm not saying this game should get off the hook because if producers want to make games then they should take all the blame for the content.  But let's not pretend that DNF is the most offensive game ever made because there's more that I've found to be more offensive.  That's my two cents.  If you are a female, well...you may not like it.  But everything's so PC nowadays, it's ridiculous so screw it.  If you want a good "target" to go after, just blame MTV and all those rap videos, those are worse because they actually deal with REAL LIFE...

Or an entirely another way to deal with the problem, say "Shut up b****, get back to the kitchen and make me a sandwich." *sarcasm*

"Not my babes! Not in my town! You alien motherf***ers are gonna pay for this!"

"Hell, I'd still hit it."

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Oh and one more fun fact about Duke Nukem...there's a lithograph in the game that's similar to Kramer's painting from Seinfeld.  Being a Seinfeld buff, I was quick to point that out...and laugh.

He is a loathsome brute...yet I cannot look away.

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