Shacknews got a half hour with everyone's favourite vaporware title on Monday, and they came away — believe it or not — very impressed with what they saw.

Writer Steve Gibson said the 30 minutes of in-game footage they saw from Duke Nukem Forever was completely interactive, and was "looking great". Gibson said the experience included confirmations of many of curator George Broussard's previous claims about the game.

"We actually got to see the truth of Duke curator George Broussard's many past claims, including environmental puzzles and interactivity, a host of finished weapons, the existence of an in-game forklift, and plenty of heads and arms being blown off," Gibson said. "We both confidently agree that after seeing this demonstration, Duke Nukem Forever is looking great, and will easily stand apart from the crowd in both visual and gameplay styles."

Duke Nukem's history has been rocky, to see the least. Once upon a time, the title was trumpeted to have a 2003 release date, but that year has come and gone with promise after promise broken by 3D Realms regarding this game. Whereas a publisher like Nintendo, or Rockstar with GTA IV, have been known to delay a game a few months to make sure it's just right, 3D Realms has taken that to the extreme with Duke Nukem Forever.

The latest debacle happened in February, when 3D Realms confirmed and then unconfirmed a 2008 release date (yes, the entire year) for Duke Nukem Forever.

A teaser trailer for Duke Nukem Forever was revealed in December 2007. The shooter was first announced for PC in 1997 before a constant string of design changes turned the game into vaporware.