The Duke Returns After A Decade

Duke Nukem was the kings of all games during the 90’s. Even for the younger generation this game should ring a bell. Unfortunately, a sequel was never released. Until now! Or well, June 2011. In a couple of weeks ‘Duke Nukem Forever’ will be unleashed upon the world to kick ass and chew bubblegum. And this time, he has plenty of that to go around. Oh, and a lot of epic one-liners too.

 A lot has changed in the world of video games over the years. Though, when we look at the boxart for Duke Nukem Forever we all get warped back to those good old days. It looks like Duke Nukem has never been gone. But, the developers had to carry A LOT of coals to Newcastle for the game to be released. Even the release of the current version has been postponed, but it looks like we’ll finally get to play this long-awaited sequel on 10 June.

 

Duke owes his sequel to Gearbox Software, the company that bought the rights to the title and developed the game in cooperation with 2K games. Owner Randy Pitchford has this to say about Duke Nukem Forever: ‘For the younger generation, this is the first chance to meet the Duke. Although I’m sure they already knew him from before the release’. Pitchford is convinced that Duke Nukem Forever will be on the top of everyone’s wish list (Which might be hard considering the game is rated 18+, and received a lot of criticism).

 

For everyone who played a previous installment of Duke Nukem this game will bring back memories and drowns you in nostalgia. The game takes place a couple of years after Duke saved the world. After this feat of strength he became world-famous and did everything that a mere mortal can only dream of. He built a casino, climbed the Mount Everest, became an actor and a boxing champion ánd he walked on the moon. Duke is currently living in Las Vegas in the company of 2 girls (read: busty women). One thing was missing though … a video game. Just like in the real world, the game was delayed for years but he can finally play it now … until the aliens return to out planet.

 

This time, they managed to convince the president that they come in peace. A short time later though they’re on the brink of destroying the world. Duke has to give up his retirement in order to kick ass one more time. According to Pitchford, the basis of the game is still the same: Everything that seems normal and serious in Duke’s world is extremely funny from out point of view (You will shit bricks sometimes). Apparently, the single player will also be around 15 hours long, which is more than we get from most shooters these days *cough* Homefront *cough*.

This is a major trial for the whole Duke Nukem franchise. The question remains if the game can re-conquer its spot after a decade of absence? Graphics-wise it looks decent, but not impressive. I read reports of people who played the demo version who said that the graphics get a bit blurry during the action but that remains to be seen really. A comparison with Bulletstorm is only just around the corner for most gamers. Bulletstorm is a decent game that got its fair share of criticism and praising. Question is if Duke Nukem Forever will arrive at a bad time after a title like Bulletstorm.

Pitchford had something to say about this as well: ‘Bulletstorm is a fun game, but games are like movies … there’s always room for multiple blockbusters. I remember that Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter released in the same week and that I watched both in that week.” On top of that, Pitchford is proud that the developers of Bulletstorm compare their game with Duke Nukem. He said it was a smart marketing strategy.

“Bulletstorm had its own kind of humour, Duke Nukem continues on the same path as before. Every detail is worth looking at.” I know I’ll stop to read signs and tin cans with funny labels on them!

Everything in the game seems to revolve around Duke’s ego that can be increased by performing all kinds of acting like looking in the mirror, reading an adult magazine or even by peeing. Duke Nukem Forever looks like its going to score better points on the level of detail than Bulletstorm did.

We only really have info about the demo, which is only a small outtake of the real deal. We’ll all have to wait until 10 June to get our greedy hands on a copy. Maybe this time we won’t have to wait a decade for another Duke Nukem game. If it’s up to Pitchford we won’t be waiting all too long …

/Niels