Duke Nukem: Critical Mass will be released for the DS on May 11, 2011 with a PSP version to follow at a later date. There is some confusion as to whether this is the American or European date however. According to the trailer the European version is “Out Now”.
“The King of Action is back and ready to kick some ass! Duke’s original nemesis, Proton, is back and has unified all those who have opposed Duke in the past. The Earth Defense Force attempts to ensure the Earth’s continued security by transporting Duke into the future. Ironically, just moments after Duke’s departure, Proton launches a devastating attack on Earth!
Get the full Duke experience as you guide him through a world invaded by aliens. Save earth and of course all babes with blazing guns….or sometimes just a well placed kick of your mighty boot.”
The game is similar to older Duke titles with an interesting mix of side-scrolling action, over-the-shoulder shooting and other mixes.
In other confusion, this game was originally supposed to be part of a “Duke Nukem Trilogy” pack for DS and PSP that would have also included “Duke Nukem: Chain Reaction” and “Duke Nukem: Proving Grounds”, whether these other two games have been split into seperate entities or scrapped altogether remains to be seen. There are also reports that the PSP version of Critical Mass has either been delayed or cancelled.
None of this bears well for Duke Nukem: Critical Mass, but we’ll have to wait until release to see how the game stacks up. Early play reports didn’t bode well, with apparently very shoddy and cheap animations and not-so-great graphics.
Here is the first gameplay trailer for Duke Nukem: Critical Mass for DS.