14 DAY TRIAL // Despite a new delay, the development team at Gearbox that is working on the long-awaited Duke Nukem Forever is still confident that the project will be a successful one, and its leader believes that the gaming world will be poorer if the main character does not make an appearance in 2011.
Randy Pitchford, who is the leader of the development studio Gearbox, has told CVG that, “When Duke was dead I thought ‘oh my gosh, we are the only people in the world who can save this, we have to commit to it. I had to decide if it was worth it. It’s a huge risk… But Duke is absolutely one of a kind, and there’s nothing else like him in the world, and I need him.”
He added, “Like, I don’t want to live in a world where Duke doesn’t exist.”
Pitchford was also quick to offer an answer to accusations of sexism in Duke Nukem Forever, saying that the way the character treats women is not very different from the treatment that men would get, mainly because Duke is very self centered.
The lead designer also says that Duke's love for the fairer sex is clearly seen in the actions he has taken in the game to protect them from the alien menace.
He also believes that if the series goes on exploring a female version of Duke might be an interesting proposition.
Duke Nukem Forever will take about 15 to 18 hours to complete for the average player and Pitchford could not resist launching a little attack on the more mainstream shooters of the moment, saying that this is the equivalent of about 4 to 5 Call of Duty campaigns.
Duke Nukem Forever will be released on the PlayStation 3 from Sony, the Xbox 360 from Microsoft and the PC, with the launch date now set for June 14 in North America.