A project that will see the unfinished 2001 build ofDuke Nukem Foreverfinally be completed by a third-party developer has just released its first gameplay trailer, with an announcement that its “first slice” will be coming very soon. Along withQuake,Doom,Goldeneye 007, and the originalHalf-Life, 1996’sDuke Nukem3Dis consideredone of the greatest FPS games of the 90s, building off what came before it to make a celebrated entry in the early days of the genre.
As a result, many were eager for the follow-up. Sadly, after spending nearly a decade and a half in development, not to mention switching studios and the fact that the industry had long since moved on since Duke’s heyday,Duke Nukem Foreverreceived near-universal criticismwhen it finally released in 2011. Noted for its lackluster action and dated attempts at humor, many felt the wait simply wasn’t worth it in the end. However, there is a new and unofficial version of the game in the works which will see it go back to an early design.
RELATED:First Trailers For Duke Nukem Forever 2001 Restoration Project Drop
A development team known as Mighty Foot Productions is currently rebuilding the 2001 iteration ofDuke Nukem Forever,simply calling it the “DNF2001 Restoration Project,” and has just launched a new trailer which features some gameplay from the upcoming high-octane FPS. The clip represents the “first slice” of the build, which will be releasing on December 21 and will also come with a deathmatch mode and level editor. The trailer gives a brief look into what fans can expect from the game, with a ton of classic action from a bygone era, as well as some lines of dialogue from Duke himself.
For those who don’t know, this version ofDuke Nukem Foreveris being built from source code that was leakedearlier this year. It intends to reconstruct what the game was originally going to look and feel like in 2001. The official follow-up toDuke Nukem 3Dwas announced by developer 3D Realms in 1997, with a proposed release date of Christmas 1998. Of course, that never came to fruition and the game was in development for years before Gearbox Software, the studio behind theHalf-Lifeexpansions andAliens: Colonial Marines, bought theDukelicense in 2010.
It will be interesting to see what theDNF2001 Projectwill bring to the table, especially given the poor reception ofForeverand the fact that nostalgic FPS games are all the rage at the moment. Withfans still making mods forDuke Nukem 3D, there is evidently a lot of love left for the sunglasses-wearing alien killer, so maybe this unofficial release will help bring him back into the limelight in a more positive way.
Duke Nukem Foreveris available on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
