Is Duke Nukem Forever a throwback to gaming's sexist past?

Normally, when a video game finds itself at the centre of a storm of controversy, you expect complaints levelled at it to revolve around its violent content. In years past, games such as Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Medal Of Honor and any Grand Theft Auto title you care to mention have had spurious claims hurled at them that they corrupt the fragile minds of their audiences in this regard.

But the upcoming first-person-shooter Duke Nukem Forever finds itself coming under fire for a completely different reason, and in this instance, the criticisms aimed at it weren't being voiced by the moral-hand-wringing brigade, but by the gaming community itself.

The furore stirred up by Duke Nukem Forever isn't about how its release date recently shifted from May to June. By now, anyone interested in playing the game will have been waiting 13 years, so really, what's a couple more weeks on top of that? Rather, Duke Nukem Forever has become a topic in the debate concerning sexism and misogyny in video games.

The argument in this case concerns a mode in Duke Nukem Forever's multiplayer mode called Capture The Babe. I haven't had a hands-on with this part of the game, but from the descriptions I've read, it seems it's basically a Duke Nukem-themed version of the Capture The Flag mode that has featured in the multiplayer of numerous shooters.

However, instead of a picking up a flag and heading back to base, players will carry off a squirming female – who, according to reports, will occasionally "freak out" and try to wriggle free. To prevent this, players have to give the character a good slap on her rump to calm her down.

The news has caused something of a split in the gaming community. On the one hand, some gamers have slammed the Capture The Babe mode as, not only offensive, but an indicator of the sexism that is endemic in video games. Others have dismissed it completely, pointing out that Duke Nukem Forever has always had a leering, immature attitude towards the fairer sex, and besides, the entire game is a throwback to the testosterone-soaked, flagrantly un-PC entertainment of earlier times.

Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford defended the mode in an interview published in Xbox Magazine, saying: "Our idea isn't to startle people, though we consider there's little things that'll be only a bit uncomfortable."

As I said, I haven't played it, but I do have to say that the idea of slapping female characters around to calm them down makes me feel queasy. What do you think? Do you find the idea of the 'Capture The Babe' mode offensive?

Have video games moved so far on from Duke Nukem's uber-macho visage that something like 'Capture The Babe' is now, not only immature, but just plain wrong? Or is being politically incorrect part and parcel with the sort of gaming experience we should expect from this franchise? Ultimately, does it put you off the idea of buying a copy of the game?