Duke Nukem Forever, Breathing New Life Into a Franchise?

   I had a friend over to my house the other day, among the talk of iPhone coming to Verizon, the computers that we were working on, and other awesome things, we eventually got into the fact that Duke Nukem Forever is actually going to be released. We busted out the laptop and pulled  up this trailer of the game that will potentially be into hundreds of thousands of homes later this year.

   Now at first I was excited, after all, I liked Duke Nukem as a kid, so I figured that it would be a new age take on a great game, and would therefore rock my socks. But the more I think about it, the more I doubt that's actually going to happen. Here's the thing, this game has been delayed more times than Lindsay Lohan's been in the spotlight for doing something criminal; there's bound to be some kind of issue with the game play or adaptation into today's gaming culture which has certainly progressed from the day the first game in this series came out (1991).

   This franchise lacks continuity and experience. Gearbox Software is the company that's been developing the game and 2K is publishing it. For those of you keeping track, Gearbox Software is mostly known for creating Brothers In Arms and the expansions for Half  Life respectable to a degree, however, there's no solid project title that makes me feel comfortable with just saying "of course this game will be bad-ass!".

In the age of social networking, online interaction is key to any successful video game. My major concern is that there will not be enough stimulating online game play, just a funny campaign mode. The best thing about this game right now is that it's named Duke Nukem, a feature that won't carry this game if Gearbox Software and 2K fail to deliver.