The last time Duke Nukem appeared on modern consoles and PCs, the product - Duke Nukem Forever - was something of a disaster: the controls were clunky, it had excessively long loading times and the overall design was lacking compared to the older games. Now, as part of the franchise's 20th anniversary, Gearbox Software is taking another swing at Duke's return to the throne with Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary Edition World Tour.
Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary Edition World Tour was announced at PAX West, and as the name suggests, it takes the classic Duke Nukem 3D from 1996 and puts a modern spin on it, adding a completely new eight-part episode.
Similarly, a plethora of the original crew that helped propel the Duke Nukem series to its greatness are confirmed to be taking part in this undertaking. For example, original designers Allen Blum III and Richard "Levelord" Gray are working together to design the new episode; original theme song composer and Duke Nukem 3D sound designer Lee Jackson is in charge of music and the voice of Duke himself, Jon St. John, returns to add some new one-liners.
In addition, the game can be played in two distinct modes. The first is classic, which allows players to enjoy the game exactly as it was on the MS-DOS back in 1996. Meanwhile, there is also a "True3D Rendering" mode, which improves the graphics and brings them in line with something that one might expect on a modern console (it still retains the classic feel though). As a bonus, players have the option of switching between these two graphical modes on the fly.
Lastly, the game will also come with new behind-the-scenes original development team commentary that is accessible in-game.
As mentioned before, Duke Nukem 3D came out in 1996 for the MS-DOS, featuring three episodes. This was bolstered several months later with the release of the Plutonium PAK/Atomic Edition, which added a new 11-level fourth episode, bringing the total amount of levels to 40. The game also features a plethora of DLC such as Duke It Out In D.C., Duke Caribbean: Life's a Beach and Duke: Nuclear Winter, all of which were added for free as part of the Megaton Edition in 2013. There is even a level editor and multiplayer mode where players can duke it out.
It's unclear just how much of the original content this new iteration will be getting, but it stands to reason that it will at least get the 40 levels and three DLC.
In the meantime, what is known is that Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary Edition World Tour will release on Oct. 11 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One at the price of $19.99.
