Preview by: Justin Amirkhani

In the months leading up to its release Duke Nukem Forever has been called a lot of things but very few have used the words innovative or fresh. After playing the demo at PAX East it’s clear that some of the design elements are as ancient as the project itself, and 14 years of stagnation can lead to some rather pedestrian content. However, for all its old school design philosophy there’s something undeniably charming about a game that stands legs akimbo, giving you a full view of everything it’s got.

The first Duke Nukem games fell within the purview of parody, poking fun at testosterone-fueled action heroes and blockbuster explosion films. It stood in an era where merely pointing out the fallacies of Hollywood was enough to be funny, but in an age of reality TV and larger-than-life YouTube celebrities it’s clear that real life has become exceedingly more outrageous than the fictions Duke Nukem 3D mocked. Our collective over-confidence, Charlie Sheen-isms, and general “I’m Awesome!” mentality have made Duke feel outdated and outclassed, and thus the game slips in to satire.

Looking at Duke Nukem Forever it’s hard to tell exactly who’s at the butt of the joke. Hollywood’s replaced its Stallones and Schwarzeneggers with more svelte and articulate Stathams and Craigs; the American hero has turned British. Shock-value misogyny has also become too prevalent to offend in a post-feminist era. It would seem that Nukem is having fun at its own expense but that doesn’t mean we can’t laugh along without feeling bad.

Like a portly comedian making fat jokes we’re invited to laugh along with the game’s foibles. With intense frequency the demo pokes fun at the long development cycle, but with the joke running around the media for years already its weight has been reduced to a crack about airline food. It’s a fine line to walk self-referential and self-deprecating and Duke Nukem Forever danced along either side several times within the 30 minutes spent with it. The intent is always for you to laugh along, but sometimes you just can’t help but feel bad.