Duke Nukem Forever Xbox 360

Released on 09/06/2011

• Duke Nukem hits shelves in May

  We can't believe this is happening. Actually, we're a bit scared. And happy. Delighted even, but it feels weird. What's going on? Duke Nukem Forever has finally been given a release date, and it looks like the game will be hitting stores around the world on 6th May.

  It's been a while, frankly. Duke Nukem Forever has been in development for over a decade, first with 3D Realms, and then, finally, with Gearbox, the developers behind the brilliant Borderlands, who picked the game up once it appeared to have been cancelled.

  It looks like it's been worth the wait, however, with the final game looking like an unashamedly old school blaster, filled with crazy alien enemies, ridiculous over-the-top weaponry, and frantic shoot-outs spread across a range of loopy white trash locations. You'll drive monster trucks across wastelands and take on screen-filling bosses, while the Duke quips his way through a script that refuses to take itself too seriously.

  So while we'd normally take such an announcement with more that a pinch of salt, we've seen enough of the finished game to be convinced it really is on the way. Mark your calendars and hail to the king.

  Duke Nukem Forever will be available for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. Honestly.

• Duke Nukem Forever Preview

  Come get some?

  To a certain calibre of gamer, the idea of not having heard of Duke Nukem would be unthinkable. But due to the unusual circumstances of Duke Nukem Forever's production, it is entirely conceivable that a fair number of people absorbing this introduction have never been exposed to the cigar-chomping, babe-loving, alien-hating one-man war machine. Incredibly, his last serious outing in Duke Nukem 3D occurred in January 1996.
  

  Take a bite of peach

  So why should anyone care about Duke Nukem Forever? That's probably one question that Gearbox Interactive, the studio behind games like Brothers In Arms and more recently Borderlands, had to ask itself when company president Randy Pitchford bought the rights to finish it off. The game had become something of a laughing stock by then a never-ending development that began over 13 years ago.
  

  And the obvious answer, it turns out, is exactly that: it's interesting because it's been in development for well over a decade. People want to see what original developer 3D Realms actually spent all that time doing. I've been around since those days I was more of a Quake man myself, but I always had a soft spot for Duke and even I would throw down some money to own this particular piece of history and satisfy my own curiosity. A more pertinent question, though, is whether the finished Duke Nukem Forever can stand on its own merits.
  

  Pigs might fly

  Duke Nukem Forever is certainly not your archetypal first-person shooter. It is not relentless, slick, full of big-name actors and explosions and more aggressively choreographed than the Royal Wedding. Instead you take control of Duke, a six-foot wall of sunglasses-wearing testosterone, and have to repel invading aliens using increasingly science-fictional weaponry while solving light puzzles and playing around with interactive toys.
  

  Your playground in this case is the city known as America's playground, Las Vegas, but in keeping with the series' origins it is a Las Vegas viewed through the prism of satire. It's not exactly Call of Duty by Armando Iannucci, mind you this is satire by shock and awe, where there's a prominent casino saucily named to rhyme with The Bellagio, and the pig enemies in cop uniforms you encounter are former humans who have been transformed by the alien invaders because, er, men are pigs.
  

  I say kill 'em all

  Visually it will be a little jarring for a child of the Modern Warfare revolution, who probably doesn't realise that not everything runs that smoothly or looks that consistently spectacular. Duke looks like a product of its time, to some extent a bit sharp and angular, with slightly fuzzier textures and less environmental detail.
  

  The developers' argument is that they have put the resources of modern gaming technology to use in another way by making the world really rich with diverse interactive detail. And the world is certainly very interactive. In an early section as you fight your way through the basement of Duke's casino, you can stop off in his gym and play around with weights, a basketball, a pinball machine and other distractions, all of which boost Duke's health.
  

  Later on the pace changes again as you are shrunk down to six inches and get to bounce around on seat cushions and launch a remote-control car from wheelchair ramps over roulette tables. The diversity is also the source of a lot of Duke's milder jokes and cultural references, and satisfyingly these draw you back to films and events from across the span of the game's development, so you're just as likely to encounter a riff on Starship Troopers as you are on Halo.
  

• Duke Nukem is finished!

  Duke Nukem is finished!

  Eurogamer reporting that Duke Nukem Forever has finally gone gold. That means development has finished, and the disks are ready to be printed. Who would have thought it? It a momentous occasion, ending a development cycle that has lasted15 years.

  "Duke Nukem Forever and its journey to store shelves is legendary," said George Broussard, the man who kicked off work on the title so long ago. "It's an epic tale of four game development studios that banded together and did the unthinkable and shipped the unshippable. In the timeless words of Duke Nukem it's finally time to 'Come Get Some'. Come be a part of gaming history."
  
  Randy Pitchford, of Gearbox Software, who stepped in to complete the game, was feeling jubilant too. "Always bet on Duke, I did. I bet on all of the developers who have ever been a part of this legendary project and I bet that none of us want to live in a world without the Duke. I've played the final game and it is an incredible experience - a once-in-a-lifetime opus of interactive entertainment that reminds me once again why Duke Nukem is our King."

  Duke Nukem Forever promises plenty of old school shooting action and a lot of rough-and-ready laughs along the way. It hits the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 10th June.

• Duke Nukem grabs the top spot

  Long live the king, baby! After fourteen years’ wait, Duke Nukem Forever arrived in UK stores on Friday and landed itself the first place in the UK sales charts.

  If that wasn’t enough, the old skool shooter managed to knock the magnificent crime open-worlder L.A. Noire from its three-week reign on the top spot.

  Duke’s handlers may be celebrating, but the team at Sucker Punch has reason to be pleased, too, with inFAMOUS 2, the PlayStation 3 exclusive superhero game, coming in at a strong fourth position. Red Faction Armageddon, meanwhile, came in at eighth, with its gritty take on subterranean alien blasting.

  With Zumba Fitness at the third spot, and Lego Pirates of the Caribbean at fifth, there’s something for everyone in the chart this week. Given such variety, it’s not hard to see why video games are increasingly catering to such a wide audience.

  Still, it’s hard not to feel extra satisfied for Duke, though. The development team poured their hearts and souls into this one, so he deserves his spot at the top. It will be interesting to see how long he can hold onto it.

  Duke Nukem Forever is available now for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.
  

• Suda51 revs up his Lollipop Chainsaw

  Lollipop Chainsaw, the next game from ahem eccentric Japanese developer Suda51, will come to western shores courtesy of Warner Bros Interactive in 2012.

  Suda51's cult studio, Grasshopper Manufacture, was most recently responsible for the barking mad Shadows of the Damned, a survival horror shooting-fighting mash-up so filthy and politically incorrect it makes Duke Nukem look like Michael McIntyre.

  Don't expect the same levels of guts and gore from Lollipop Chainsaw, despite the game revolving around a cheerleader ridding her school of the undead using the power tool of the title. nstead of sprays of blood, we have the zombies emitting bursts of pink light Suda has explained. If by xplainedyou mean eft us more confused than ever

  Warner Bros has tapped Hollywood horror man James Gunn (Slither, Dawn of the Dead) to help craft a script that at least makes a little bit of sense.

• Gearbox confirms Duke Nukem will return

  Loveable sexist brute Duke Nukem is getting another crack at the comeback crown, following disappointing reviews (but healthy sales) for the long overdue Duke Nukem Forever.

  Speaking at US games convention PAX, Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford confirmed that his studio had stepped in to rescue the game on the understanding that they'd be able to create their own Nukem titles afterwards.

  "We didn't do it just to make sure we could all play Duke Nukem Forever, but because we wanted to make our own Duke game", he told the crowd at the show, sponsored by gaming web comic Penny Arcade.

  When will we find out what that game will be? "Soon", quoth Pitchford, "But not today."

  Gearbox is a busy place at the moment. Not only is it working on Aliens: Colonial Marines and pulpy war game Brothers in Arms: Furious 4, but it also revealed that a follow-up to the hit RPG shooter Borderlands is in production. Quite where they'll find room for Duke's bulging biceps in amongst those blockbusters remains to be seen.

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