As I already thought there is no new information in the cover story itself, cause it's based on the DNF Munich event! But there is also an quite long interview with Randy that has some interesting insights!
I will translate the interview in a few hours...stay tuned!
Until then enjoy the visuals of the cover story! :)
UPDATE!!!
Full translation of the German interview:
PC Games:
Last year after 3DR closed its doors there was a lot of DNF material that was leaked on the internet and we have the feeling that we already know everything about the game. Can you tell us anything new?
Pitchford:
Oh there is a lot! Last year there were a few things that were leaked, some of them are important, but these are only very tiny sections and with them we couldn’t even start to tell the story.
What we do right now: we are confronted with fans that are in shock and awe that the project yet even exists. Maybe I can tell more when you ask more concrete questions.
PC Games:
Do you have altered the plot (that already has been leaked) since last year to keep it interesting?
Pitchford:
About 2 years ago George Broussard and Allan Blum took all what they had so far and conceived a new story about Duke. The result was something that I personally think is brilliant, and that’s the plot we follow. The story is: 12 years after the prequel… no let me put it this way: Duke Nukem’ s world is a little bit like our world. It is similar but not the same; it’s a twisted variant of our world, almost like a chamber of mirrors with its distorting mirror’s.
PC Games:
Maybe like our world should be?
Pitchford:
That would be great! In Las Vegas for example there is the famous Hotel ‘The Bellagio’. In Duke’s version of Las Vegas there is the hotel that looks very similar to the Bellagio and located at about the same place but it’s called the Fellatio. And Fellatio means blow-job. And you know what? In his world this makes sense! Instead of ignoring that the game is in the works for 12 years, the game picks this situation up. So in the game 12 years has passed since the happenings in the prequel. Duke Nukem is probably the most important person in the universe. He saved the world, he is the richest guy on the planet and he is super successful and famous. Everything he touches turns to gold. He is just an amazing guy with a great life. I don’t know if you have already seen it: when you start the game there is this scene with this huge cyclops in the football-stadium that you have to fight against. By the way: that is the last level of DN3D, but as a next gen remake. When you have killed the colossus the camera drives back and you see that the fight only has been taking place on your screen and Duke just has been playing his own video game. So he saved the world and it took 12 fucking years until his videogame has been released and he says: after 12 years it better be good! And while he plays the game, he is been entertained by 2 women at once which knee before him: only the Duke can have so much luck!
PC Games:
So…yes or no: does it is the same plot, which has been leaked last year?
Pitchford:
The plot is a little bit different.
PC Games:
How would you describe the game to someone that never heard about Duke Nukem before?
Pitchford:
Duke Nukem is an action game, an ego-shooter. It shows a twisted version of our world but it’s our world, it has a lot to do with humor and the plot is about aliens trying to steal our chicks to breed an extraterrestrial-army. And the Duke can’t let this happen and becomes this one man that has to stop the whole alien race and save our babes. From the standpoint of design it’s an ego-shooter with an interesting pace that changes often between fast action sequences and exploration just like environment puzzles with a slow tempo…a little bit like Half-Life 2. And from this varied game design there are a few properties deflected: one of them is interactivity. There are many objects in the game world you can experiment with, that are interactive and at one time react like you would expect and sometime it makes sense but it’s also surprising and fun. Another element are the secrets. Small hidden things which you can discover, although it hasn’t got anything to do with the game. So much for the design. The style is placed somewhere near reality but everything is over the top and caricatured in Duke’s world. Sure, his world is a caricature of our world.
PC Games:
How big is the pressure to be the studio that will bring DNF after all these years on the market?
Pitchford:
There is a looot of pressure. It’s pretty intimidating. But I tell you this: pressure is something I can handle. Our first GBX game was Half-Life: Opposing Force. We had to continue to develop Half-Life; we also were the first to do that. We already sensed how something like that felt. But we did it and we had fun while doing so and we delivered the best result and the people liked it. Then we helped Microsoft and Bungie to port the part of the code that made Halo connecting with the internet and we also had to bring the game to the platforms for that it was once announced for. There was a lot of pressure too. But also here: we are giving our bests and the people were liking it. Actually there is this sell-overview for North-America the so called NPD-sales, which says that Halo for Windows PC’s was the best sold Ego-Shooter ever. So we had pressure many times but we always got along with it quite well and now we are giving our best again. But this here is something completely new. There probably is no game in the history that is connected with such deep strains like Duke Nukem.
PC Games:
Does it feel like your game? Or are there 3D-Realms areas and GBX-areas? And how do you make it a GBX game?
Pitchford:
It feels like a 3D Realms game to me. Our input thereto: we help the dream and the vision become reality. And that’s what I want as a gamer too. At this point I don’t want to ‘gearbox’ the game; I want the game that was promised to me but that I haven’t got yet. And I feel lucky to be in a position to decide and assure that we get this game.
PC Games:
What’s up with the multiplayer?
Pitchford:
Oh yes, there is a multiplayer part! How could it be that there is none? Just because we haven’t talked about it yet? I wouldn’t have the feeling to do it right if we let out the multiplayer part. We haven’t talked about it but it’s great and huge. Although the game is a new game it has to rely on its roots. There has to be appropriate part of fan service and also it has to be a new game. We also have to take in account that Half-Life and Call of Duty are already belonging to the everyday life of gamers.
PC Games:
What is your favorite Duke one liner from the old and new game?
Pitchford:
From the old one: I’ve got balls of steel! The reason why I like this one so much is: in the new game there is a pin-ball machine. Someone must have spent more than a year only building this pin-ball machine. You can interact with it, everything works as you expect it to be, and it’s a great Duke Nukem pin-ball machine. You as the player even get an ego boost as soon as you play with it. I have played with the machine and totally failed. When I dropped the ball, Duke said: ‘I’ve got balls of fail’! And this one I loved! The old one twisted in a new context. (In another interview Randy says he almost shit/pissed himself when he heard the ‘I’ve got balls of fail’ one liner!)
PCGames:
What will the USK think of DNF?
Pitchford:
I think the ‘muck stuff’ won’t be a problem in Germany, because it quite open minded different to America. It’s the violence that concerns us in your country. Here in North-America it’s the complete opposite: you can shoot of heads all day long but if you show a nipple you’re going to hell. The country was founded by puritans that worry about sex a lot after all. In Germany you worry more about violence. (Randy stands up and looks out for a line on the ground and dances on it) Some games are beyond the border, some are on this side of the border but DNF dances on that line. We don’t want to cross the line…
PC Games:
But we just kicked an eye-ball through a field goal!
Pitchford:
But it was an extraterrestrial eye-ball. We dance on the line and I hope that it will be okay to move this border a bit. From time to time- and that is important I think with media and entertainment – something comes along that shakes at the borders. And often we only know then where the borders actually are. Sometimes the borders move a little bit. If we are lucky the Duke will be this kind of game that moves the borders a little bit.
PC Games:
Would you cut the game to get it released in Germany?
Pitchford:
[Avoiding] I think it would be sad if Germans couldn’t get the game and I also don’t want to break laws or something. I would like to wish that German gamers would rise to protest and telling their government that they want to kick out extraterrestrial eye-balls dammit! But I know it’s hard. I guess that German gamers that don’t want to play cut games always find a way around. But it’s hard to move within this system – when it comes to compability, DLC’s, XBOX-Live and all this stuff. That’s really frustrating. Our options: not change anything and selling the game only in a small market (no Wal-Mart) or to play by the rules. We don’t make the rules, your government does it. Tell you government that this has to change!
