Duke Nukem Forever's Iconic 2D Prototype Leaked By A Leaker

Among PC gamers of a specific vintage, Duke Nukem Forever is notorious for its protracted and difficult development process. Between the initial release of Duke Nukem 3D in 1996 and the final release of Forever in 2011, a period of fifteen years, the game underwent numerous iterations and development teams. A 3D build of the game from around 2001 was leaked earlier this year by a 4chan leaker by the name of x0r jmp (we played it). The same leaker last week released a playable version of a Duke Nukem Forever 2D version from 1996, which is an even earlier piece of the puzzle. Screenshots and gameplay videos reveal a game that resembles the previous two 2D Duke Nukem games in appearance but features a modernized visual aesthetic that forgoes pixel graphics in favor of fashionable 3D rendering. The 2D version of DNF has been seen before, but this is the first time a playable version of the game has been made available. The 2D version of Duke Nukem Forever's history was discussed in an interview with developer Darrin Hurd that was conducted back in August by Scott Miller, the founder of the original Duke Nukem developer Apogee Software. (This interview and the screenshots in the article seem to support the legitimacy of this leak.) [caption id="attachment_76525" align="alignright" width="1200"] Image: screenshot[/caption] Hurd claims that Duke Nukem 3D was rendered as 2D sprites, which would account for why the game looks more like Donkey Kong Country from 1994 than it does the pixel art of the early Duke Nukem titles. Additionally, he revealed the origin of the name of the Duke Nukem Forever project, which, perhaps not shockingly to anyone who is familiar with Duke Nukem's humorous tendencies, contains a breast joke. Hurd remarked, "It was kind of a pun at first. "Our [first] game [for Apogee] included a female Russian soldier named Eva as the primary character. Since this was the fourth Duke installment, we decided that it would be humorous if Duke fell for Eva and her enormous assets when coming up with a name. Hence, "Duke Nukem 4 Eva" was born. The 4Eva finally became into Forever throughout time." [caption id="attachment_76545" align="alignright" width="1200"] Picture Credit: GBAtemp[/caption] Hurd claimed that Duke Nukem Forever's 2D iteration's cancellation was primarily brought on by the popularity of 3D titles like Duke Nukem 3D. Given the popularity of 2D games like Shovel Knight, Super Meat Boy, Cuphead, and Hollow Knight, it may be difficult to believe, but in the mid- to late-1990s, 3D home consoles like the first PlayStation and Nintendo 64 and PC games like Quake clearly distinguished between 2D and 3D as the technology of the future. Both DNF leaks had very little in common with the version that Gearbox Software eventually made available in 2011 to negative reviews. But when viewed as a whole, the three game versions do reveal one thing: Duke Nukem Forever is considerably more entertaining to watch as a movie than it is to play as a video game.