Duke Nukem Forever Build from 2001 Leaks Online!

Duke Nukem Forever undoubtedly represents one of the most challenging, convoluted, notorious, and infamous development cycles the gaming industry has ever seen. – While I’m not going to do a deep dive into everything that went wrong with this title, the short version is that following its original announcement back in 1997 (hot off the success of Duke Nukem 3D), it didn’t actually make a final release until 2011. And even then, this was after at least three to four complete redesigns as the developers kept getting their heads turned by the latest and greatest gaming engines.

So, in very basic terms, what eventually shat out onto the market in 2011 was definitely not representative of the sum of 14 years of work. – What about those earlier builds though? Well, following a publication by ‘duke4.net‘ it would appear that someone has not only got hold of the source code of a Duke Nukem Forever build from 2001, but they’re planning to fully compile and release it this Summer!

Duke Nukem Forever 2001 Edition!

Now, exactly how this has leaked online remains more than a little clear. In fact, George Broussard, the original director of Duke Nukem Forever has spoken about this and has confirmed that while the video and screenshots appear highly legitimate, he has no idea who eventually got hold of this data to actually start releasing it to the public.

What can we expect from this when it is finally put together and released though? Well, based on his intimate knowledge of how far the game was coming along at the time of this 2001 build, George Broussard has categorically said that in its current form, people should “heavily temper [their] expectations” because “there is no real game to play. [It’s going to be] just a smattering of barely populated test levels”

What Do We Think?

Overall, the footage from the videos and screenshots looks excellent and certainly up to par for the standards of the time. Admittedly though, based on what I know of the development of this title (which is probably a lot more than is really necessary and/or healthy) this is perhaps indicative of why the development of Duke Nukem Forever was so problematic.

My first thought looking at this was that, on the whole, it was very similar to Deus Ex. A title that had already been released the year prior to this 2001 build. This does, however, perhaps sum up the biggest issue with Duke Nukem Forever’s development.

They’d start work, get it a fair way along, and then see something better released from another developer. Then, feeling inadequate about their own work (and fears of it being dated on arrival), they would start all over again with the latest fanciest gaming engine. This process repeated itself at least 3 to 4 times over the game’s history which eventually led, after over 10 years, of Duke Nukem Forever being nowhere close to a finished product. It was, more accurately 4 to 5 unfinished games!

All going well though, while it will merely only be a window into what could’ve been, this 2001 build is definitely worth checking out. – If you do, therefore, want to keep up with the latest news and announcements, you can check out the Duke4.Net website via the link here!

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!