When the 2001 E3 build of Duke Nukem Forever leaked online the other day, rising from its 90s strip membership smelling of beer masked by a half-pack of Hubba Bubba, it pricked our curiosity. Certain, the construct was clearly incomplete and buggy, however maybe no less than it might’ve helped us visualise a timeline the place Duke Nukem Endlessly got here out within the early 2000s and was really alright, relatively than the head-in-hands embarrassment we acquired with the 2011 recreation.
The leaker of the 2001 construct initially stated they deliberate to launch it in June, nevertheless it seems they simply could not wait that lengthy and we have discovered — by way of Kotaku — that it is out there to download right now from the Internet Archive (full with the Unreal Editor used to create the unique maps, supply code and, for some cause, your entire 4Chan thread the place it was initially revealed).
To be clear, that is nowhere close to what you might take into account a recreation: it’s a work-in-progress construct that was by no means meant for the general public. Apparently it is a little bit difficult to get working, however on the Reddit thread for the construct there are a few people chatting about find out how to get it to render on the proper decision, eradicating the d3d8 wrapper, and different tips that could make it playable.
Whereas nearly everybody agrees that the construct is extraordinarily tough and little greater than a vertical slice, gamers are reporting some attention-grabbing concepts lurking round in there. Redditor TM2P mentions issues like interactable in-game touchscreens, parasite-infected civilians and zombies, a Bioshock-style ‘Pipe Dream’ hacking, and a suspenseful sequence the place it’s essential escort a civilian by way of the darkness. Oh, and a devoted ‘piss’ button after all (which I shake my head at now, however I’ve little doubt a 14-year-old me in 2001 would’ve discovered essentially the most hilarious factor on this planet).
So Duke Nukem Endlessly (2001) is again, albeit in creaky fragmented kind. It is price noting that with the supply code additionally out there, there’s nothing stopping modders from constructing it out into one thing resembling a whole recreation. Whereas followers are delighted with this sudden revival, the leak has drudged up some tough recollections for the sport’s builders, resulting in a pretty savage Twitter spat yesterday between Apogee co-founders George Broussard and Scott Miller about what went flawed throughout the infamously ill-fated improvement.
With all these unresolved dangerous emotions, maybe it is for the perfect this one’s now within the custody of the group relatively than its makers…
