Duke Nukem Forever Restoration Project Brings Back One Of The Worst Games Ever

Duke Nukem Forever Restoration Project Brings Back One Of The Worst Games Ever
Duke Nukem Forever 2001 Restoration Project

Written by 

Mel Ramsay

Published 

1st Sep 2022 09:26

"What are you waiting for, Christmas?". Well, no. Turns out we're waiting for the Duke Nukem Forever 2001 Restoration Project. The group of modders behind the ambitious project have just dropped a load of new teasers and information about the game and how it's going, and it looks incredible. 

What Is The Duke Nukem Forever Restoration Project?

If you're not familiar with the project, a group of modders decided to work on the leaked 2001 version of Duke Nukem Forever, but completing it as it was originally intended. With the group now consisting of over 100 volunteers, it's quite the project. 

On their moddb page, they wrote: "The DNF2001 Restoration Project was created roughly a day or two after the August 21, 2001 and October 26, 2001 versions of Duke Nukem Forever; dated a whole 10 years before the release of the final game, were leaked by x0r_jmp on the /v/ board of 4chan. This resulted in a flurry of renewed interest in Duke and the game itself; and quickly attracted both vets and new blood alike interested in modifying the game's source code."

They continued: "While starting off small, it quickly blossomed into an organized team the size of a small studio; boasting over 100 volunteering members in various positions at peak. All of these members hail from various parts of the world, with remote work taking place any time of the day. Many of these are industry experts, with plenty of well-known community figures and modders thrown into the mix hoping to leave their mark on the final restoration."

Explaining why they were doing it in the first place, they said: "This leak holds a lot of importance to the community, the 2001 and 2002 versions being considered the time when DNF was in its 'prime', and as such has been sought after for nearly a decade. Now, it is here and it is getting restored by the community so that, one day, you can play the full game on modern machines with (hopefully!) no issues."

What Are The New Teasers For The Duke Nukem Forever Restoration Project?

In a new post on their moddb page titled 'August Update', the group explained that there was a 'lot of stuff' to show off. They've managed to get the Duke3D composer, Lee Jackson, to provide them with tracks that they were able to put into their first teaser. According to the modders, the tracks were originally concepts by Jackson, meant for the Duke Nukem Forever E3 2001 trailer, before it was swapped out for David Arkenstone's score instead. 

Another teaser shows Las Vegas Boulevard in an action trailer:

And finally, they shared a comparison trailer of their project and the leak:

It looks like a lot of love has gone into this project, and although Duke Nukem Forever goes down in history as one of the worst we can remember, we're looking forward to seeing how it turns out. Pass a cigar and let's blow the hell out of some stuff. Maybe though, let's leave the misogyny behind. 

Mel Ramsay
About the author
Mel Ramsay
Mel is GGRecon's former Editor-in-Chief. She was previously a senior journalist at LADbible.
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