Interview with the developers of Brutal John 2, the spiritual successor to Duke Nukem 3D

On July 22, the old-school shooter Brutal John 2 will be released in early access, which is inspired by the games about Duke Nukem. Moreover, the developers managed to work at 3D Realms, and now they have organized their own team. We talked to one of the authors of "Brutal John" about all the details of the future project.

The game we will talk about today belongs to the boomer shooter genre. These are modern games that are stylized as projects of the 90s in the spirit of the first parts of the Doom series. At the first glance at the trailer or screenshots of Brutal John 2, the classic Duke Nukem 3D comes to mind. The characteristic design of the monsters, the signature weapon in the form of a three-barreled machine gun and a double rocket launcher, familiar sounds, a pumped-up blond guy as the main character — almost every element of the new game evokes a feeling of nostalgia in those who played Duke in 1996. At the same time, the influence of modern trends is felt, for example, the appearance of mining farms and the meme dog Doge as one of the characters.

To get to the bottom of all the details, we interviewed Vitaly Bondarenko, level designer of Brutal John 2.

VGTimes: Let's start with the title. Why Brutal John 2? As far as we know, the first part did not exist.

Vitaly Bondarenko: That's right, there was not. Development began in 2021. Initially, we had a different idea, much simpler than what we ended up with. However, the feedback from players helped us develop our creation. As a result, we began to treat Brutal John as a serious commercial project. The creation that resulted can be called the second part. And the number 2 is also a marketing ploy, an additional reason for discussion.

VGTimes: Brutal John 2 is perceived as a spiritual successor to Duke Nukem 3D. Do you feel nostalgic for this game? Or did you decide to listen to Duke fans?

Vitaly Bondarenko: There are three people in our team, and we are all big fans of the Duke Nukem series. We came together at the end of 2011. I gathered like-minded people to work on another project that would be similar to the Duke Nukem Forever of 2001 from the trailer. That version was noticeably different from the release version. Our creation was called Max the Revenger. After three years of development, it became clear that it would not be released, but we gained invaluable experience. It allowed us to get a job at Interceptor Entertainment, which later absorbed 3D Realms (the creators of the Duke Nukem series — VGTimes), essentially becoming one team. We worked on a remake of Rise of the Triad, Rad Rodgers and Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction. The rights to the latter were held by Gearbox, and Randy Pitchford's company did not allow the release of a game with that name. The project was renamed to Bombshell, it was released in 2016 and turned out to be unsuccessful.

Later, we independently left this company and worked on other games in different studios. And four years ago, our team came together again to release Brutal John.

VGTimes: In Brutal John 2, you can see Duke's iconic weapon. But we didn't see other guns, like the shrinker or the freezer. Will they appear in the game?

Vitaly Bondarenko: I'm not sure, but anything is possible. In fact, we took a lot from Duke. And over time, more and more new elements are transferred. For example, Brutal John originally didn't have "pig cops" (the pig-faced police officers from Duke Nukem 3D — VGTimes note). Now they are in our game.

VGTimes: Brutal John 2 is different from the Duke games — instead of aliens, the main enemies are miners. Why was this particular theme chosen?

Vitaly Bondarenko: Mining is all the rage now, and it's original. I don't know of any other games that explore this theme.

VGTimes: What other classic shooters were you inspired by during development?

Vitaliy Bondarenko: We turned to the classics of the genre — Serious Sam, Half-Life, Soldier of Fortune, Blood, Doom and Shadow Warrior (they were released from 1993 to 2001 — VGTimes note). Fans of these shooters will probably recognize references to their favorite games in Brutal John 2.

VGTimes: The bipedal dog Doge from the meme was chosen as the second hero. According towhy did you decide to take him?

Vitaly Bondarenko: This is our director's decision. The dog is associated with mining — he is depicted on the Dogecoin crypto coin.

VGTimes: How is the game structured? Will we have separate levels for John and Doge? Or will we be able to switch between them at any time?

Vitaly Bondarenko: Will there be an option to switch between the heroes.

VGTimes: Will Doge and John have different abilities and arsenal?

Vitaly Bondarenko: In terms of gameplay, the heroes are completely identical. At least for now.

VGTimes: Is co-op planned?

Vitaliy Bondarenko: We simply don't have enough time for this mode. We are working on the game in our free time from our main job. Making a multiplayer mode is too difficult for our team right now.

VGTimes: You can see controllable transport in the trailer. What role will it play in Brutal John 2?

Vitaliy Bondarenko: As you progress, you will encounter a number of obstacles that can only be overcome by car. Periodically, you will have to fire directly from the car and crush enemies.

VGTimes: Is the game linear or will it have open world elements?

Vitaly Bondarenko: Brutal John 2 is completely linear. There are no plans for an open world. However, you can explore levels and find secret places.

VGTimes: The game will be released in early access on July 22. What awaits players in this version of Brutal John 2?

Vitaly Bondarenko: Story mode for about 7 hours of gameplay.

VGTimes: What are the further plans for the development of the project?

Vitaly Bondarenko: Every quarter we will add new levels and improve those that have already been released. The full release is planned for the end of 2025.

VGTimes: Thanks for the interview!

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Have you played Duke Nukem 3D? Are you waiting for its spiritual successor? Share your opinions in the comments!