Let’s all pretend for a second that Duke Nukem Forever never happened. Let’s pretend Duke Nukem 3D was the King’s last ride, and that the Nukem family name remained perfect and unsullied in our minds for the last twenty years. Got it?
Good. Now maybe you can be suitably excited for the news that Gearbox is releasing Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary Edition World Tour on October 11.
Announced during Gearbox’s PAX panel Friday afternoon, the remaster will include the usual graphical bells and whistles—better resolution, better textures, and the ability to toggle back and forth between the original graphics and the new. But World Tour will also include a pack of eight brand-new levels, appropriately dubbed “Hail to the King, Baby!”
That’s Gearbox’s exclamation point, not mine.
Created by Duke 3D veterans Allen Blum III and Richard Gray, the levels feature “new one-liners” voiced by the Duke himself, Jon St. John. How they convinced him to return post-Duke Nukem Forever I have no idea, but he’s back. Hopefully these eight levels constitute a better “sequel,” per se.
We have plans to go hands-on with the Duke this weekend at PAX in Seattle, and will return soon enough with our impressions. In the meantime, happy birthday Duke—and please don’t break our hearts this time. Please.