It's an action packed month of single player reviews. The game that almost never was is finally reviewed in Duke Nukem Forever. Want more? How about inFamous 2, LA Noire, Witcher 2, Red Johnson's Chronicles, Front Mission Evolved, and Thor. Summer drought my butt.
Welcome to Beyond Co-Op, a weekly piece that talks about industry stories that may or may not be related to co-op gaming.
Duke Nukem Forever will not have a co-op mode. That's right folks - a gameplay element that helped give Duke 3D a special flair will not be available in Duke Nukem Forever. That's the news that came straight from Gearbox Software's Adam Fletcher when I chatted with him today at PAX East after getting some hands on time with the game. While the lack of co-op is heart breaking to me, the fact that I actually played Duke Nukem Forever today is in a way, unbelievable to me.
There are those that have said this day would never come... and to those I say - me too. But its happening; Duke Nukem Forever has gotten an official release date and its probably sooner than you would have thought. That date is May 3rd, 2011 in North America and May 6th everywhere else. The game is slated to be released on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
You may be looking at that headline and thinking to yourself, "Didn't I just read an awesome article titled: Duke Nukem Forever Playable Demo Available Via Borderlands GOTY Edition about a week and a half ago?" You would be right. You may also notice some differences in the title of this awesome article. It seems that Duke Nukem Forever First Access Club passes are showing up on Steam accounts for those of you who bought Borderlands before the GOTY edition was available.
Despite the impending release of Duke Nukem Forever, a die hard fan of the series has gone on to start a stand alone mod that brings the original Duke Nukem 3D into the modern era. Utilizing Unreal Engine 3 and the UDK they've created a few sections and levels of the original with updated textures and visuals.
You may have heard that the Borderlands Game of the Year edition comes out on October 12th. What you might not know is that when you purchase this game, you are getting a membership to the Duke Nukem Forever First Access Club. Now what is the DNFFAC? It's your ticket to be one of the first gamers to play the demo of one of the most anticipated games in the past decade.
Gearbox Software's Randy Pitchford recently made a trip to Amsterdam for the FirstLook convention. No, he wasn't pushing Borderlands thirteenth downloadable add-on. At this live event he had on display what he claimed was a playable demo of Duke Nukem Forever.
Gearbox Studios has worked up an impressive resume. The Texas-based company has developed games for such distinguished franchises such as Half-Life, Halo, Brothers in Arms, and Counterstrike. Last year they saw commercial and critical success with the super co-op friendly Borderlands. Randy Pitchford, Gearbox's CEO and president, recently spoke with Major Nelson about co-op, Borderlands latest DLC, and effing Duke Nukem Forever. Here are some of his more quotastic quotes.
Not only has Gearbox taken up the reigns of development on Duke Nukem Forever, tasked with finishing a twelve year old title, they've actually gone out and purchased rights to the franchise. That's right - all future Duke Nukem titles will be under a Gearbox banner. This is coming from multiple sources at the Penny Arcade Expo who attended the Gearbox panel - an panel in which 165 pizzas were ordered to logo stuffed with pepperoni to look like Duke's radioactive logo.
There are those that said this day would never come.
As the old saying goes - "I'll believe it when pigs fly," we may just indeed have seen an avian swine sighting and the first hint that something big is on the horizon for Duke Nukem Forever. Gaming Nexus points out 3D Realm's George Broussard's interview from 1UP back in 2006.
