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Dame Nukem: 3D Realms and Interceptor announce definitely-not-Duke-game Bombshell

Bombshell protagonist Shelly Harrison. Similar skillset to the Duke.

You’ll remember that in February, Gearbox filed a lawsuit against 3D Realms for okaying a game named Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction. Mass Destruction came as something of a surprise, as Gearbox believed they’d acquired the rights to any and all future Duke games a few years earlier.

The game in question was an Unreal Engine top-down “action role-playing game” for PC and PlayStation, in which the Duke kicked ass “across planets” in an attempt to “save the President from an apocalyptic alien threat”. It was the work of Interceptor, who reworked Rise of the Triad for Steam release last year.

Interceptor have today announced a game that fits its description exactly – bar one protagonist.

Three days after Gearbox’s lawsuit alleging breach of copyright, then-3D Realms owners Scott Miller and George Broussard published an apologetic reply in which they admitted that “neither 3DR nor anyone else possessed the right to develop and publish the ‘Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction’ game”.

But then an odd thing happened: the 3D Realms name was sold to the very studio the publishers had been working with, Interceptor – and the new owners released a statement to the effect that Duke Nukem “remains the sole property of 3DR”.

Bold words. But in the event, it seems that Mass Destruction was delayed far beyond its February 25 release date to be reworked as Bombshell – which features a new, mechanically-augmented and poorly-clothed protagonist named Shelly ‘Bombshell’ Harrison.

She’s introduced in this trailer which, after a flashy beginning reminiscent of The Usual Suspects, shifts into apparent open parody of Deus Ex: Human Revolution’s own reveal.

Shelly also amply demonstrates that you can make a fist with a mechanical hand. Which is just as well: all signs point to this being a punchy one.

Bombshell won’t be released till 2015 – its PlayStation 4 designation points to a graphical upgrade. It promises “out-of-this-world enemies, a never-before-seen arsenal of devastating weaponry and a variety genre-crossing mechanics”. But be honest: are you more interested in the Duke drama?