The long, long awaited Duke Nukem Forever finally gets a release date and trailer, which can be viewed within...
So, it’s official - even 13 years in development hell and the death of studio 3D Realms couldn’t hold videogaming’s most crass, unreconstructed hero back, and having been given the finishing touches by Gearbox Software (not to mention a few 3D Realms ex-employees), Duke Nukem Forever has finally been given a release date, and will hit UK shelves on 6 May.
"When I said goodbye to 3D Realms and the original Duke Nukem 3D team in 1997 and soon after founded Gearbox Software, I never in my wildest dreams imagined that a day like today would come,” said an emotional Randy Pitchford. "Today I am proud, humbled and even astounded to announce that the day is coming at last for all gamers to be a part of video game history: Duke Nukem Forever will launch worldwide this May!"
Pitchford and his company, Gearbox, have been at pains to point out that, despite the game’s lengthy and troubled production history, Duke Nukem Forever is still a game that will have relevance to modern, post-Call of Duty gamers. Last October, Pitchford described DNF as “three times the size” of Modern Warfare 2, and full of “crazy set pieces.”
Aside from consumer apathy - and there must surely be an entire generation of gamers who’ve never heard of the name Duke Nukem - the game’s biggest rival comes in the shape of Epic/People Can Fly’s Bulletstorm. Even a cursory glance over the two titles reveals numerous striking similarities, from their irreverent sense of humour to their over-the-top violence.
Nevertheless, Pitchford plays down any talk of rivalry, despite the fact that both games are due out this Spring. “I have played Bulletstorm and it's going to be fine - it gets to have a couple of months to itself before Duke shows up and it's a great game,” Pitchford told Eurogamer, before going on to insist that his game was just as good. "Without question, Duke Nukem Forever is absolutely worth it for every gamer to play it, not just to get that feeling of experiencing videogame history in the making but because the game is simply a lot of fun."
The release trailer, which you can see below these very words (and it’s definitely NSFW, so viewer discretion advised), looks as vulgar, violent and politically incorrect as the Duke we remember, and features more pixelated-out rude bits than we can remember seeing in any game promo ever...
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