These modders are reconstructing the Duke Nukem Forever of the Good Timeline

A group on ModDB is attempting to finish the in-progress build of Duke Nukem (opens in new tab) Forever that leaked online back in May. The DNF2001 Restoration Project (opens in new tab) team is taking the bones of that mythical 2001 build and filling in the gaps, extrapolating its story and direction while also looking to make it playable from start to finish with minimal hassle. The team recently released a “first slice (opens in new tab)” teaser trailer of their work so far, featuring previously unused DNF trailer music by Lee Jackson (opens in new tab), a retired 3D Realms composer who wrote Duke’s iconic theme, Grabbag (opens in new tab).

Duke Nukem Forever has long been the shorthand for a troubled development cycle, with multiple reboots and years of silence culminating in an underwhelming Xbox 360 shooter. It didn’t have to be this way though⁠—Duke Nukem Forever’s E3 2001 (opens in new tab) trailer long remained a glimpse at what could have been.