More than a decade ago, Gearbox Software was working on a prequel to the Duke Nukem franchise, but it never got off the ground. The game would have been titled Duke Nukem Begins, and very little concrete information has been revealed about it over the years. In 2008, Gearbox Software commissioned Texas-based studio Janimation to create a “vertical slice” for the game, which is basically an animated trailer meant to give an idea what the final game will look like. This project was headed up by Gregor Punchatz, who has now released this trailer online! It can be found at the top of this page.
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“We poured everything we had into making the most awesome cinematic Janimation had ever created. But unfortunately, we got word the game was canceled due to the legal issues with Duke Nukem at the time,” Punchatz writes in the video’s description.
Janimation was hopeful that the trailer’s success would help it “compete with bigger players in the game trailer market.” Set to Rage Against the Machine’s “Guerilla Radio,” the trailer does a nice job of building hype for the game! It’s impossible to say how Duke Nukem Begins would have turned out, but it’s easy to see why Punchtaz and his team are so proud of the animated trailer. While 13 years is an eternity in the video game industry, Punchatz makes it very clear why he’s releasing this trailer: he hopes that the game might still see the light of day.
“I hope this somehow resurrects this version of the game by showing the world how awesome it would have been,” writes Punchatz.
Unfortunately, video game developers tend to be secretive about cancelled projects, as well as the status of development when the plug was pulled. The video game industry is filled with promising projects that ended up cancelled for one reason or another. Sometimes, it’s a matter of funding, other times these projects end up cancelled because of legal reasons. It’s always disappointing for fans that were looking forward to these games, but as Punchatz proves, sometimes it might be even more disappointing for the people that worked on them!
What do you think of this Duke Nukem trailer? Are you disappointed the project was never completed? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!
[H/T: Game Informer]
