The Duke Nukem Forever Demo Reel Video

Made available: May 2009
DL Size: 18MB
Available in: MOV, streaming
Length: 3:05 mins

The movie starts off by showing the new found agility of the pig cop, something which 3D Realms claimed they would improve-instead of the oafish, cartoon-like ones found in Duke Nukem 3D. They can jump, climb, and some are weaponless, while others carry RPGs, shotguns and other weapons, and as promised, they are scarier.

It shows off a few weapons of Duke’s too, like the pistol seen in the E3 1998 movie, with the scope on, the golden 45.cal pistol, similar to the one used in Manhattan Project, the shotgun, and the devastators- one of the best weapons in Duke 3D.

We get a look at a nice stripper and some boss battles too, like Duke facing off against the much bigger Battlelord, the Assault Overlord, and the Cycloid Emperor.

One thing that, like the E3 1998 and 2001 videos, caught my eye is the presence of NPCs like soldiers and civilians that Duke can interact with.

We also sit and smile while listening to Jon St. John belting out some of his trademark Duke one-liners, mainly taken from Duke Nukem 3D and Duke Nukem Manhattan Project, and maybe some ones I haven’t heard before, dubbed in just for amusement.

The graphics of the game are very decent, but not absolutely fantastic. At least Duke seems to have full body awareness, like F.E.A.R. 2 and the animations of both Duke and his enemies seem quite fluid. The detail of the ground didn’t wow me, although things did look very shiny, shiny. That should please a lot of the magpies out there.

The HUD has been changed since the Duke 3D days, and includes a damage indicator, telling you where shots are coming from, an EGO bar which accumulates the more enemies you dispose of, much like Duke Nukem Manhattan Project, and the weapons, ammo, and items meuns have been simplified somewhat and look quite modern.

It’s funny, because even though this is a Duke Nukem game, viewing the gameplay reminds me somewhat of Quake 4 or Doom 3, and at points, it even looks this way, especially towards the end when Duke blasts his way through a corridor full of what I assume are pig cops, due to his utterance of the phrase, “Makin’ bacon!” It was a bit dark to see what the cretinous creatures actually were, just like Doom 3.

Now comes the bit that you might not like- fanboys, you have been warned. Don’t read this.

The video is impressive, not that much we haven’t seen elsewhere once you get off that initial high of watching The Dukester (after about ten times), but to think that after 12 years, and we’re left with THIS? Granted, the game was redone a number of times, started from scratch on at least a few occasions, mainly due to switching to different engines. Overall, I can’t help but think, is that it? After all these years, and all these delays, and after 3D Realms closure, we’re left with a game that some say is only half-finished?

For those interested, the song playing while in the background is a cover version of Lee Jackson’s "Grabbag" by Megadeth- probably one of the best next to the other one by Gigadeth from the E3 1998 video.