Gearbox talks Duke Nukem multiplayer
It'll "be exciting for people to discover".
For all the talk of Gearbox's Duke Nukem Forever revival, one feature has slipped under the radar: multiplayer.
Have no fear: according to outspoken Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford Duke's multiplayer is in good hands. It's just that the Dallas, US developer is still trying to work out how to show it off.
"Multiplayer is something where, in order to 'get' it, we need to figure out a way that people can feel it, because multiplayer's something you need to play," he told Eurogamer.
"You can get some things across in screenshots but not really. So we're kinda struggling with how we expose it so people understand what's there. The proof is in the pudding so to speak, so I don't want to talk about it too much."
DNF's multiplayer is being developed by little-known Canadian studio Piranha.
Its list of credits include PSP games Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 and Need for Speed: Undercover, PC title Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza and MechWarrior.
While Pitchford refused to divulge multiplayer details, he did promise fans will enjoy discovering them.
"Don't worry about it, we remember why we played Duke and part of that was wanting to get online and shrink you and break you into ice cubes, and so on, and the correct multiplayer experience for Duke Nukem Forever has to pay those things off," he said.
"Some of the interesting questions are what it does beyond that, and that'll be exciting for people to discover and I'm really looking forward to that.
"There's no aim with a multiplayer game like Duke to try to be the next competitive platform – it's about entertainment, it's about fun, it's about getting together with your buddies to talk shit, and using these unique tools to be the best on the battlefield."
Tom went hands-on with Duke Nukem Forever earlier this month. "You may laugh uncomfortably at the borderline sexism," he wrote, "and you may log onto a forum occasionally to make fun of the graphics, but the ageing ideas and references that date the game also give it a sense of history and belonging."