Gearbox is up to something new-ish with Duke Nukem. The official website for the one-liner spewing alien slayer has been adorned with a countdown clock that ends on September 2, which just so happens to be the first day of PAX West. And no, it probably won't be a Duke Nukem Forever HD remaster.
The Duke Nukem series is 25 years old this year, so the countdown clock's "Happy 20th Anniversary" banner must be referring to the game that secured Mr. Nukem's place in the gaming canon: Duke Nukem 3D, which came out in 1996. In fact, Gearbox Software reportedly told TechRaptor back in February that it had "plans to bring the game back this year" after Duke Nukem 3D: Megaton Edition was pulled from digital stores.
So it looks like another Duke Nukem 3D re-release - it may not be the most ported game ever, but it's darn close - or possibly a more in-depth remake will be on its way soon. Though I doubt that's all Gearbox will have to say about Duke Nukem in the near future; you don't typically buy the license to a well-established game series just so you can re-release the old stuff (or in the infamous case of Duke Nukem Forever, finish it after a decade and a half of development hell and then try to forget it ever happened).
I'm not especially interested in seeing Duke Nukem return to modern gaming, if I'm being honest. The walking portmanteau of dated action tropes seems better off living a quiet retirement in the nostalgia centers of our brains. But Gearbox has done well with humorous, over-the-top shooters in the past, so I'm ready to be pleasantly surprised by whatever the studio has to share.
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