Gearbox Wants To Collaborate On Next Duke Nukem Game

[Jake Martinez]

Personally I think a Duke game could work, but rather than an FPS, they should make an open world sandbox game with the same kind of over the top sensibilities as Saints Row.

I mean, really, Duke was always meant to be over the top, so putting him in an environment that actually allows for massive stupidity seems like the natural progression. In a way, it even nicely mimics the evolution of popular gaming - going from side scroller, to FPS, to open world.

That being said, I wouldn't touch anything Gearbox or Pitchford related if my life depended on it. It'd probably be better if Gearbox just sold the IP to someone who wanted to do something cool with it.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

I still like Duke, and would still be interested in the franchise. I just have no interest in supporting Gearbox. After all the crap they pulled with Aliens: Colonial Marines I have zero faith in that lying sack of shit Randy Pitchford.

 

[Blazing Hero]

The only way this would work is if they just reboot the whole thing. Honestly, I think the biggest obstacle to this would be Duke Nukem himself since he's only a cardboard caricature with no depth. That worked in a almost none existent story 90's games had but it just falls flat if you put him into anything with a concrete narrative. So I propose they keep his personality but make him self aware of how much of a douche he is. If they can hint at something much deeper beyond his outer facade it could actually produce an interesting story. Make the man interesting and likable beyond the one liners for a change.

 

[LordLundar]

Personally I think a Duke game could work, but rather than an FPS, they should make an open world sandbox game with the same kind of over the top sensibilities as Saints Row.

Well I get your point, what your suggesting is essentially SR4 without the character customization.

 

[Jake Martinez]

Personally I think a Duke game could work, but rather than an FPS, they should make an open world sandbox game with the same kind of over the top sensibilities as Saints Row.

Well I get your point, what your suggesting is essentially SR4 without the character customization.

Hey, don't you think that's a pretty unimaginative way of looking at it? Why not instead think about how you could capture the spirit of that crazy open-ended game play in Saints Row and combine it with Duke's own brand of over the top cliched "action guy" stuff? I think there's a lot of already existing parallels, but certainly someone could come up with a unique spin on it.

Maybe pitch it to gearbox

 

[Jake Martinez]

The only way this would work is if they just reboot the whole thing. Honestly, I think the biggest obstacle to this would be Duke Nukem himself since he's only a cardboard caricature with no depth. That worked in a almost none existent story 90's games had but it just falls flat if you put him into anything with a concrete narrative. So I propose they keep his personality but make him self aware of how much of a douche he is. If they can hint at something much deeper beyond his outer facade it could actually produce an interesting story. Make the man interesting and likable beyond the one liners for a change.

Duke's utter lack of self-awareness is part of what makes him funny. It's like David Brent from the UK version of the office. David is a complete narcissist and self-promoter who trucks in massive delusions about his own abilities and leadership and it's funny because it's played straight off the other cast members.

If anything, all Duke needs is a supporting cast to riff off of and it's golden.

 

[Blachman201_v1legacy]

First off: I concur with the booing and hissing at Pitchford for his recent behavior and weaseling around the A:CM issues. "But I'm totally the real victim here, guise!" Bah, cry me a river you hack of a failed stage magician.

With that out of the way: If someone wants to make another Duke Nukem, they should to go to Yahtzee for the script again and stick to it this time. I very much agree with his assessment that Duke would work best as an ironic character.

 

[Setch Dreskar]

Haha oh god no... especially not Randy "I am a massive liar" Pitchford, and Gearbox "We take credit for others' work and pawn of responsibility to other developers" Studios.

They don't deserve to have Duke even in a post Duke Nukem Forever world he is still of higher calibre than the entire company.

 

[K12]

... I look forward to seeing it in 2030... and not buying it.

 

[Bat Vader]

Since Gearbox owns the franchise instead of making a Duke Nukem game why not instead just add him as a playable character if they do another Borderlands game? I feel that is a win on both fronts.

Yes! Put Duke in Battleborn as a special unique character, too.

Gearbox can keep Duke alive by just relegating him to "Guest Character" status in their other projects for a while. When the memory of Forever fades, they can bring him back in his own game.

Either that, or they could just sell the IP off to the highest bidder. I'd honestly rather that be done. Maybe give him over to someone that actually cares about the old Duke Nukem games.

Plus with how crazy Borderlands is Duke wouldn't be that out of place.

 

[BloodRed Pixel]

Mr Pitchford, your Gearbox endeavours fucked up Duke Nukem Forver and Aliens Colonial Marines, why don't you just go home, instead.
At least you admit Gearbox cannot handle it, that's a start.

I'd love another Duke game but not from your kind.

 

[FoolKiller]

Three things:

1. People Can Fly should do it as they already did the spiritual sequel to Duke: Bulletstorm
2. I like the idea as a character cameo or playable in something else like Borderlands 3. There were already aliens and shit in Duke. Why not merge him into the Borderlands universe.
3. If they actually took time to develop it and use the old school mentality then it may work

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

I think Randy only wants to collaborate, so he has someone to dump the blame on when the game goes south.

 

[Metalrocks]

im not touching any games with the gearbox logo strapped on it. the last duke was a kick in the balls and i highly doubt that even with a better team at his hand, that the next title will be any better. never played alien CM but since i have lost interest with titles with gearbox written on them, im glad i saved me self a lot of money and time.

 

[Thurston]

Since Gearbox owns the franchise instead of making a Duke Nukem game why not instead just add him as a playable character if they do another Borderlands game? I feel that is a win on both fronts.

Yes! Put Duke in Battleborn as a special unique character, too.

Gearbox can keep Duke alive by just relegating him to "Guest Character" status in their other projects for a while. When the memory of Forever fades, they can bring him back in his own game.

Either that, or they could just sell the IP off to the highest bidder. I'd honestly rather that be done. Maybe give him over to someone that actually cares about the old Duke Nukem games.

Plus with how crazy Borderlands is Duke wouldn't be that out of place.

Agreed. When I heard Gearbox had scooped Duke, I figured the sociopathic action of Borderlands would be perfect. How wrong I was. Limited weapon inventory? Too many puzzle sections? Urgh...

My friend also suggested that Duke be DLC character for Borderlands, which would be great.

I also agree that a sandbox style would be fun.

"Duke gets pulled out of suspended animation as fat, old, saggy, and out-of-shape action-movie cliche, in a post-alien-conquered hell that used to be Earth. You get your ass kicked by the low-level alien grunts. So, gather your allies, resources, guns, and work that gut off, to grind through xxx territories to gain turf, and win back Earth, neighbourhood by bloody neighbourhood, making it safe for strippers, beer, and manly cigars!" (I had a lot of fun in Saint's Row 2, working through the story, and taking back the city neighbourhood by neighbourhood.)

You start off pretty lowly, so you've got to conserve your resources, and fight smart, and use allies, who can provide some fun banter and humour, as Duke realizes he ain't all that anymore! A bit of a character shock, and personal crisis, somewhat mimicking the history of the franchise. Duke regains his mojo, now tempered with some humility and wisdom of having been less-than-awesome, and realizing he can't do it alone.

For additional iconoclastic fun, model the aliens mindset on religious fundamentalist wackjobs, as if the Westboro Baptist Church formed an invasion fleet. They are so disgusted by the human form they force the humans to go around wearing full body cylinders, which only allow you to shuffle around with an eyeslit. Liberating a neighbourhood allows the population to wear normal clothes, or... LESS... Hubba hubba!

EDIT: Hmmm, about the sexual objectification in the franchise.... I had an interesting thought. On initial setup for a save slot, allow the player to decide Duke's sexual preferences, male, female or both, or neither. It would affect his dialogue at various points. Or, allow the player to decide on the spot through dialogue choices to whom and how Duke demonstrates his appreciation of the human form.

 

[WouldYouKindly]

Because it can never be said enough, fuck you Randy and I hope this tanks too.

Let Duke die the undignified death he deserves. Making a new Duke game is like beating a dead steroid overdosed horse, but not even recently dead and every kick results in another foul spurt of pus and noxious odor.

Nothing good will come of this...

 

[Ticklefist]

Unfortunately it's the "collaborative" efforts that have ran GBX's name through the gutter. I've enjoyed the stuff they develop themselves, but they slap their brand on some pretty horrible shit.

 

[Metalix Knightmare]

EDIT: Hmmm, about the sexual objectification in the franchise.... I had an interesting thought. On initial setup for a save slot, allow the player to decide Duke's sexual preferences, male, female or both, or neither. It would affect his dialogue at various points. Or, allow the player to decide on the spot through dialogue choices to whom and how Duke demonstrates his appreciation of the human form.

I was with you RIGHT up until this part. While Duke DOES have an appreciation for the human form, it's always been for the female form or that of his own. He's never really given ANY indication of being into dudes to any real degree, so this idea comes off as kinda forced.

It worked in Saint's Row for The Boss simply because outside of certain scenes the guy/gal never really displayed ANY interest in sex, (With the exception of Russian Boss in SR3 who wanted Pierce BAD) so the omnisexuality didn't feel too out of place. It also helps that the sex scenes in SR4 were taken with pretty much NO seriousness outside of Johnny Gat's.

 

[elvor0]

Mr Pitchford, your Gearbox endeavours fucked up Duke Nukem Forver

Look, as bad as DNF was, laying the blame entirely at Gearboxes feet is entirely obtuse. It was a game 13 years in development that Gearbox stitched together. Lets not pretend it was going to the second coming until gearbox went near it, because that's just daft.

 

[Zhukov]

Glad to see that the rest of the internet has caught up with my opinions of Randy Pitchford.

I thought the guy was full of shit before it was cool!

Don't get me wrong, he's probably an alright chap, probably fun at parties, probably good to his family, but God damn he is full of shit.

Besides, is the world really crying out for another Duke Nukem game? Best case scenario you get a run-of-the-mill shooter only notable for its mindless following of old-school sensibilities filled with a ton of pop-culture references masquerading as humour.