A bunch on ModDB is making an attempt to complete the in-progress construct of Duke Nukem (opens in new tab) Perpetually that leaked on-line again in Might. The DNF2001 Restoration Challenge (opens in new tab) staff is taking the bones of that legendary 2001 construct and filling within the gaps, extrapolating its story and route whereas additionally seeking to make it playable from begin to end with minimal trouble. The staff lately launched a “first slice (opens in new tab)” teaser trailer of their work to this point, that includes beforehand unused DNF trailer music by Lee Jackson (opens in new tab), a retired 3D Realms composer who wrote Duke’s iconic theme, Grabbag (opens in new tab).
Duke Nukem Perpetually has lengthy been the shorthand for a troubled growth cycle, with a number of reboots and years of silence culminating in an underwhelming Xbox 360 shooter. It did not must be this fashion although—Duke Nukem Perpetually’s E3 2001 (opens in new tab) trailer lengthy remained a glimpse at what may have been.
Perhaps it is simply the nostalgia speaking, you say, or the attractive draw of the highway not travelled, however once I noticed the gameplay of that leaked ’01 construct, I could not assist however suppose “Wait, this appears rad as hell.” I used to be actually tickled by the protracted “Duke on a Late Evening Speak Present (opens in new tab)” bit whose dialogue stays within the sport in textual content kind, an concept that was solely briefly touched on within the 2011 sport. The FPS motion appears nice too, with extra sprawling ranges and Boomer Shootery gunplay than the ultimate launch. As Gloomwood creator Dillon Rogers (opens in new tab) identified, Duke Nukem Perpetually ’01 is perhaps proper at residence within the thriving retro shooter scene of 2022.
Whereas intensive, the leaked DNF construct is just not but a cohesive sport, and nonetheless wants fairly a little bit of TLC to be playable from begin to end. In accordance with the staff, a lot of the work to this point has been on reconstructing the sport’s first chapter, with a visible comparability video (opens in new tab) exhibiting off the modifications they’ve made to the Las Vegas chapter. The staff can be engaged on streamlining the engine and renderer within the hopes of getting one thing that performs nicely with fashionable {hardware}.
The DNF2001 RP staff can be engaged on an “all-new story” for the sport, one that may “bridge the gaps between what we all know concerning the sport and what we do not.” That mentioned, they’re endeavoring to maintain all the things period-accurate to this pre-2003 imaginative and prescient of Duke. I am reminded of the important Sith Lords Restored Content material Modification (opens in new tab) for Knights of the Outdated Republic 2, or the Plus Patch (opens in new tab) for Vampire: the Masquerade—Bloodlines: a little bit of interpretive work is required when making an attempt to reconstruct unused content material like this.
I am actually excited for this challenge, and whereas it undoubtedly will not be the retro shooter of 2022, maybe the Duke curse is lifted and it’ll handle to be the retro shooter of 202X. The staff has been sharing updates to YouTube (opens in new tab) and ModDB (opens in new tab), and likewise has a group Discord (opens in new tab).
