There are two hands in this image, as simply as there should be. But upon further inspection, one of Duke’s arms rests rather uncomfortably behind his back. “Wait a minute!” the sharp observer exclaims. “This hand should not be here!” And indeed, the hand around Duke’s thigh is a foreign entity. The brilliant minds behind Gearbox Software made absolutely sure that these digits would be unmistakably female upon the first view: Its fingernails painted a bright pink, its form slender. This in mind, we are to ask: Is this truly sexist? I would dare say it is not, and then I’d be lying through my teeth. Yes, it is completely sexist and appalling. But there is a far more sinister action taking place here, something that betrays the first glace.
Our visibility of Duke suggests that this is a low-angle shot, but the backdrop of the city behind him betrays this perception. If Duke is standing, he is doing so at an impossible angle. Thus, there is only one possible explanation: Duke Nukem is laying down. He is crushing this hapless, nameless woman beneath his back. The suggestion of the hand is not one of seduction or embrace, but a cry for mercy. It is trying to “tap out”, if you will.
The punchline to this bright, gaudy display, which begs for our attention, is the shy, undersized box in the lower-left meekly reminding us that this game is rated M, for Mature. I couldn’t agree more. This artwork was carefully engineered to represent the game it follows. Only a mature mind could see the brilliance in this display of a man on a poorly-conceived mission.
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~ Team Tilde, director