If there was a singular star in '90s computer games, it was the buff, brazen, beer-drinking and cigar-smoking action hero Duke Nukem. Like Dirty Harry, John McClain, Rambo and any number of Schwarzenegger characters rolled into one profane Neanderthal, Duke battled mad scientists and alien invasions while always getting the ladies.
2K Games/Gearbox Software
"To hell and back": The action hero and fast-firing man's man returns in Duke Nukem Forever.
2K Games/Gearbox Software
"To hell and back": The action hero and fast-firing man's man returns in Duke Nukem Forever.
Though villains couldn't vanquish him, Duke has been stuck in limbo for nearly 14 years, waiting for designers to craft a sequel to 1996's multimillion-selling Duke Nukem 3D. Tuesday, Duke Nukem Forever finally arrives ($60, for PS3 and Xbox 360; $50 for Windows PCs; rated for adults 17-up).
Not only does Guinness World Records 2011 Gamer's Edition list Duke Nukem among the top 50 all-time video characters (No. 27), but the title is also listed as the longest development time for a first-person shooter game (14 years). "That game has been to hell and back" between programming issues and company problems, says Stephen Cameron of video game website XboxAddict.com.
Players have long anticipated this moment. Duke Nukem 3D broke ground as one of the first fully interactive worlds, down to the working soda machines and restrooms (where Duke would blow up the occasional alien sitting in a stall).
Yes, Duke's a bit over the top. "I think Duke Nukem is the ultimate embodiment of what every guy's 13-year-old self wishes he could be," says Cliff Bleszinski of Epic Games, developers of the Gears of War series. "Not only is he scoring with all the chicks, he has all the guns and the muscles, the sick house, and he saves the world. He's the man, right? Whether or not a 2011 world is ready for that remains to be seen."
His return was never certain. After spending more than a decade and tens of millions of dollars developing a follow-up, 3D Realms gave up and fired the creative team in 2009. "Not only were they shocked and surprised, but they were there under this context of incredible passion and commitment," says Randy Pitchford, president of Dallas-based Gearbox Software, whose first industry job was working on Duke Nukem 3D.
"There were always issues slowing down release," says Duke Nukem co-creator Allen Blum, who compared the struggle to Captain Ahab's quest for Moby Dick. He and a few others formed a team, calling themselves Triptych Games, and continued to work on it out of their homes. "At what point," he says, "do you give up on your baby?"
Meanwhile, Pitchford began working with 3D Realms and attorneys (publisher Take-Two Interactive had sued 3D Realms for not delivering the game) to acquire the brand and publishing rights.
Longtime fans will get a kick out of the game's conceit: It's a dozen years since Duke saved the world in the events of Duke Nukem 3D. "He's lived the life of a hero" and gotten rich off his fame, Pitchford says. "They were supposed to make a video game about how he saved the world, and it hasn't come out yet."
At the outset of the game, Duke is in his penthouse, being attended to by beautiful women, and finally playing his own game. One asks, "What about the game, Duke, is it any good?"
"Yeah," he says, "but after 12 (expletive) years, it should be."
Duke Nukem Forever's arrival is like the opening of a time capsule, says Martin Rae, president of the industry's Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. "It's almost like a rebellious, weird cousin you love to play with and, wow, he's coming into town. This is going to be cool. I wonder if he is still as outrageous as he was."
But the landscape has changed appreciably since Duke's debut in 1991. Back then, Duke Nukem "basically gave conventional games the finger, just because it really pushed the limits of taste and, as a result, got a lot of attention. The core game itself was a lot of fun," says Ted Price, founder of Insomniac Games, makers of Ratchet & Clank and Resistance.
Today, nearly as many women (42%) as men play video games. Will his misogynistic but clearly tongue-in-cheek style play today? "Who knows, man?" Bleszinski says. "I'm just glad it's finished."
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