
If the game had made it to shelves in 2002, it certainly wouldn't have been out of place next to shooters of the same pre-Half-Life era. It's obvious that work was nearing the final stages of design, simply from the variety of gameplay, environments and technologies being shown to journalists at that year's E3. The 2001 TrailerThings get much more compelling in the 2001 trailer. Interestingly, we get the first images of the mysterious old miner who we see again in 2001's trailer. A few standard weapons are shown and the lighting effects are pretty nifty, but the world lacks personality. A female character is also seen in one instance at the end of a platforming-gameplay section inside a cave or mine. There are moments when duke unleashes grenades onto a rickety wooden shack, sending it tumbling over the edge of a cliff, while a motorway chase and mine-cart journey have a good sense of pace and urgency. It did have some charms however.ĭuke circa 1999, running on the Unreal engine. It's not surprising that Broussard and company wanted to change engines at this point – it just wasn't capable of getting 3D Realms' vision across with accuracy. The design of the levels looks positively ancient by today's standards, and even then, it looked a good step behind Half-Life and even Unreal. In it, you can clearly see the team's first stumbling foray into true 3D.

What game elements can we expect to see in Duke Nukem Forever? The 1998 TrailerThe first trailer was released in 1998. Read on for a look at the new trailer, as compared with the old ones. That in itself raises a lot of questions – does that mean the game no longer takes place in Las Vegas? Was 2006's design work scrapped or retooled completely? Will the tone of the game be more serious? Exactly how close to release is Duke Nukem Forever? Of course, in the twilight days of 2008, we're only mildly closer to seeing Duke, with the first official trailer since 2001 being released. Nice neon signs there, buddy.Īlong the way, 3D Realms also took down their old media page, citing that old screenshots and art no longer reflected the current look and feel of the game.

At this stage, Duke Nukem Forever was due for release in late 2004 or early 2005, but nothing new had been seen outside of 3D Realms' walls since 2001 at this point, and gamers were growing more and more anxious and dismissive. That really was the final nail in Duke's coffin, since in 20 there was almost no news to speak of. They ended up scrapping 95 percent of everything they'd done, preferring to refocus on, we assume, competing directly with the latest shooters on the horizon – specifically Valve's seminal Half-Life 2. Duke DisappearsIn 2002, George Broussard and company decided to completely retool the entire game, from the engine up. We just wish it had made it to market because, darn it, it came close.
#Five facts duke nukem forever series
It looks dated today, but believe us, it was impressive stuff for the time and still holds a degree of sway over our opinions of the series today. In it, we see a huge variety of then hugely impressive effects and ideas that would take other game developers another year or so to catch up with, including impressive facial animations, water effects, interactive in-game menus and vending machines, large cityscapes, several vehicles, pinball and a world-saving, all-conquering storyline.

It stands as the most complete look at a game that would never be. Make sure you check it out here and come back. Then, almost unbelievably, Duke Nukem Forever made a startling and impressive appearance at E3 in 2001, thanks to the release of a brand new trailer that showed a game surely, finally nearing completion.
