And his now famous one-liners instantly became video game comedy gold. He could do silly things with his environment that had no point or purpose other than to amuse the audience. He had his womanizing action-hero parody shtick down pat. Sadly, this would be Nukem’s apex of stardom. The Duke we wanted to believe would someday return. Then came Duke Nukem 3D the Duke everyone remembers. In fact, his second adventure actually begins with Duke giving an interview about his autobiography Why I’m so Great. Yet, from such small beginnings, the foundation of a franchise was laid and the taste of stardom went to Duke’s head. Yep, he was all set to be another, generic throw-away share ware hero whose passing would be as mourned or noted as a fart in a hurricane. He might have been the ‘hero’ sent to defeat Doctor Proton, but he was a far cry from the iconic champion that was to follow. He sported no grenade bandoliers, his eyes were unshieled from the sun’s harsh rays, his tank-top was a faded pink and they didn’t even spell his name right on the game’s title (instead, called ‘Duke Nukum’). Like most fallen idols, the beginnings of Duke’s career were humble ones. “Bull crap”, you say? “Clearly it’s a title meant to cash-in on a once-relevant name in gaming that suffered from poor leadership and even poorer investors”, you say? Well that’s a strangely cogent argument to fire off spur of the moment like that, but let’s examine the evidence, shall we? Sure the graphics were eyesores, the gameplay was boring, the tone was all over the place, and the story was….um… …perhaps best summed up with this image.īut ladies and gentlemen, I’m afraid if you let that stuff bother you then you have plain missed the point of Duke Nukem: Forever entirely! It was never supposed to be a ‘good’ game, rather, it was supposed to more resemble an episode of ‘Behind the Music’ a final culmination of a long-dimmed star attempting a come-back… and failing. You would think that a 14 year development period would be able to produce something…better than what Duke Nukem: Forever was. Or at least that’s what every person who ever played it will tell you. But you know what was a bad game for it’s time? Duke Nukem: Forever. Now, while its mechanics had been borrowed from superior titles, Duke Nukum the original wasn’t a bad game for its time. …I suppose a man’s entitled to a guilty pleasure or two. But that’s the way it goes sometimes, isn’t it? You listen to the music of a rock sensation, and assume he was always a rock sensation then you listen to his early work and you’re like “oh… that’s… interesting”. See, I had been thinking of the definitive Duke game, Duke Nukem 3D, but I had not even been aware that the Duke had a history. In fact it was ‘ Duke Nukum’ (with a ‘u’). But what she showed me…wasn’t Duke Nukem. This struck me as odd, as she didn’t exactly seem the type who’d be into that sort of thing.Įven more surprising, she told me she had a copy saved on her laptop, and I couldn’t wait to see her play. Back when I was in college, the girl I was dating happened to mention to me off-handedly that she had played Duke Nukem in her younger years.
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