Let’s face it, there’s not a lot of hope left for the Duke Nukem franchise. With the abysmal failure that was 2011’s Forever, it pretty much signalled the death knell for the satirically hypermasculine FPS. Having said that, there are those who certainly feel it’s a game that’s worth dong a reboot of. In the meantime, there’s always the 1996 release, and someone is making a very special Duke Nukem 3D mod.
In a recent video uploaded to YouTube, Dan Douglas has been hard at work on his “Duke Smoochem 3D” project, which is not only a mod for the classic shooter, but encapsulates what it means to be British. While it’s not out yet, footage shows all the ways in which it not only portrays “Blighty,” but how it satirises it as well.
With references that mock the political and cultural landscape, it seems as though this Duke Nukem 3D mod is going to be a pretty amusing take on the English/British way of life. Anyone from the UK will immediately recognise the likes of Sainsburys, Greggs, HMV, and even a section that takes place inside the Great British Back-Off tent.
The video even shows some mockery of famed politician Nigel Farage, in which Duke shoots a Yazoo truck which then leaks the milky substance onto him. This is a reference to a somewhat dated, yet still humorous, incident that occurred to the controversial figure several years ago, so some will be amused by it, no doubt.
What’s interesting about this is how it seems to aim for a particular niche that doesn’t seem to have been explored much in gaming. The idea of satirising British culture is seldom explored in video games, which is a bit of a shame given how much there is to actually lampoon. Culturally, British people tend to mock themselves, so to have such an idea adapted into a game format feels like money left on the table.
The only other example that comes to mind is We Happy Few, which does a fantastic job of poking fun at the classic British “stiff upper lip” cliché. It wasn’t an amazing game, but its Orwellian spin on what it means to be a citizen of Britain is both dark and amusing in equal measures.
There needs to be more like Douglas’ upcoming Duke Nukem 3D mod. The base game alone is fit to burst with all kinds of satire. Unfortunately, like a lot of games both old and new, it tends to go for the American jugular rather than one that would be more at home with the UK population.
