Rating: Mature

Content descriptors: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Mature Humor, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol

Rating summary:

This is a first-person shooter in which players assume the role of Duke Nukem, an action hero who must save Earth from invading aliens. Players use pistols, rail guns, shotguns, explosives, and Duke's bare hands to attack and kill the alien enemies. The majority of gameplay involves destroying these enemies in frenetic gun and laser battles in order to move on to the next section. Aliens are often decapitated or dismembered when hit, sending large splashes of blood across the ground, surrounding walls, and players' screen.

Some sequences depict more 'over-the-top' instances of violence: aliens getting stabbed in the head or impaled; a human soldier bursting into bloody gibs after being tossed through propeller blades. In one sequence, players have the ability to shoot human characters that are trapped in pod-like alien webbing; bodies explode into pieces upon impact. During the course of the game, players enter a strip-club level and view several topless dancers and receive lap dances. A couple of missions within this level require players to recover sex toys and pictures of topless women.

A few sequences strongly imply sexual acts: two women appear to perform fellatio on the central character (e.g., raising their heads from his lap)—though there is no actual depiction of the sex act; Duke moans and leans up against the wall of a bathroom stall (furnished with a hole)—it is implied that a sex act (not depicted) occurs. The game also contains several sexual references and innuendo in the dialogue (e.g., 'I have hungry—you have big egg ro' for me, Duke,' 'If you supply the dancing, I'll supply the pole,' and 'I'll need something naughty to play with.').

Duke's comments range from jokes about colon cleansing to several one-liners about sex and female body parts. Bathroom humor includes the ability to urinate in toilets or urinals and/or pick up feces from toilets and throw it against walls. Players can use both steroid pills and beer as power-ups; when beer is consumed, the screen temporarily blurs. The words 'f**k,' 'sh*t,' 'c*ck,' and 'a*shole' appear in dialogue and on-screen text.

Randy Pitchford did what many thought to be impossible by making a Duke Nukem Forever release a reality, but his history with the series goes back much further than 2011. Before Borderlands, before Brothers in Arms, and before Gearbox even existed, he put in time at 3D Realms working on Duke Nukem 3D. He was recently at the Game Informer office, and was kind enough to sit in on a Replay of Duke's most famous title.

Watch below as Randy schools myself and Reiner on the various secrets and assorted trivia of Duke Nukem 3D.

Our April 2011 issue is on its way out to subscribers! Duke Nukem multiplayer news and Darkness II first-looks!

A new portion of Duke Nukem Forever will be playable at PAX East with more details, including your chance to skip the line, coming soon.

March 11th - 13th, 2011. Booth 936. The King of All Shooters will be there. Will you?

"We couldn’t possibly internally identify every person touched by this game from the inception of Duke Nukem Forever," Gearbox community manager Chris Faylor said. "It is our desire to recognize and acknowledge the people who have in some way been a part of the legacy and evolution of the game."

The site includes options for employees of DNF developers, publishers and contracotrs, as well as notable press, community members and fans. Applicants are asked to gauge their personal impact on the game at the time and in the imagined final game on a five-point scale.