Stay calm: 'Duke Nukem Forever' is finally here

NEW YORK - It may have seemed like forever, but "Duke Nukem Forever," the shooter game first announced in 1997, has finally arrived.

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., which publishes the game, launched in Europe and Australia on Friday. The game debuts on Tuesday in the U.S., Canada and Mexico for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PCs.

Despite the long wait, the game launched to tepid reception from critics. The website Metacritic.com, which aggregates reviews, gave the Xbox 360 version a score of 55 out of 100. The game did better on the PC with a "metascore" of 76 out of 100. There is no score currently available for the PS3 version.

After promising for years that the game would be released "when it's done," its developer 3D Realms closed up shop in 2009 citing lack of funding.

The game was resurrected by Randy Pitchford, the founder of Gearbox Software, the developer of "Borderlands," which is also published by Take-Two.