Duke Nukem Forever: Too little, too late?

Don’t say this too loud, but gaming’s undisputed king of acid one-liners and merciless alien ass-kicking destruction is finally on track for a long, long, long awaited return. At least, that’s what developer 3DRealms would like us all to believe on the strength of the following teaser trailer for Duke Nukem Forever. 10 years in the making, Duke Nukem Forever is finally inbound to target for lucky PC gamers. Credit: 3DRealms.

10 years in the making, Duke Nukem Forever is finally inbound to target for lucky PC gamers. Credit: 3DRealms.Over ten years in the production oven, Forever has seen more than its fair share of twists and turns as the ever-evolving videogame industry has threatened to leave behind one of its favourite cigar-chewing sons. But, with the shock unveiling of a new slice of trailer action, it would appear that those faithless souls who gave up on the Duke were perhaps wrong to do so.The fact remains, however, that a decade of development isn’t necessarily a good thing and certainly doesn’t mean that a team has been labouring away on Forever since 1997 in order to make it the bestist FPS experience to ever grace retail shelves. The obvious problem associated with such a significant stretch of time is that technology moves on too quickly, hardware generations are pushing relentlessly forward, and more than a couple of years in development really is pushing the limits for most games. 10 years is beyond excessive, and the idea that 3DRealms has been playing catch up is revealed when watching some of the older trailer footage that exists for earlier builds of Duke Nukem Forever.More worryingly is the possibility that old-skool Duke fans may have grown and moved on too, less willing to accept cheesy, cornball scenarios and unmitigated levels of gore, outrageous sexism, and groan-inducing puns that would make Governor Schwarzenegger squirm. That being said, there will always be younger gamers, those unfamiliar with Duke’s antics, who are willing to give Forever a try as it prepares to launch into gaming’s most overly populated category against a movement of progressive sophistication headed by the award-winning BioShock. Still, brainless death dealing while stomping on the carcasses of alien scum is always fun, and should provide a welcome counterpoint to some of the more ground breaking FPS offerings. And, given the majority of fevered feedback garnered by this brief glimpse at the Duke in action, there's still a place for Duke Nukem Forever, despite it taking exactly that long to finish. Hurry up already!