This isn't Doom. This isn't Wolfenstien 3D. This is better.
+ All weapons are fun to use.
+ Blow up aliens and watch their guts fly everywhere.
+ Sharp interractivity on each level -- You are in Hollywood after all.
+ Duke is a hilarious character.
+ Great original soundtrack for each level.
+ Innovative built-in level editor is fun to use for maximum replayibility.
+ Get way, way more than what your money's worth.
- Can be, and will be, inhumanly difficult on some levels.
- Heavy ammount of sexual content can either make or break the experience.
- Vista users will have some trouble setting up the multiplayer.
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I. Introduction
"Aliens, LA, and.....what's that? A Red Light District?! WTF."
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"Its time to kick ass or chew bubblegum....and I'm all out of gum". Those are the words of Duke Nukem, the world's greatest alien asskicker (I stole the gum but don't go shouting it out). Now sure, anybody should know that the epic Duke Nukem series has hit its 3rd series generation, and Duke Nukem 3D just attracted a 1,0000 fans since its release. Now that some people had drooling for more, 3D Realms has turned to create a newer verison of the game, Duke Nukem 3D: Atomic Edition. The inclusion of this is new episodes, monsters, and weapons that were not included in the original release.
For those who are debating the truth of exactly what this package is, the Atomic Verison is the actual original Duke Nukem 3D game that also comes with the Duke Nukem 3D Plutonium patch already built inside it, meaning you will want to buy this version of the game if you do not own it already and want to relive the classics. And for those (poor) people who have not experienced the intensity of past Duke Nukem games, that's ok too; you need not have to play the past Duke Nukem games to enjoy this masterpiece. You may freely pick this game up, knowing that High resolution mods are constently released to make the game caulked from feeling like a dated shooter, even today. The game will run on most Vista machines with the help of a free program download called "edduke32", and the included map editor is just as functional. Though don't be surprised to find that you have to go through alot more to get the multiplayer to work.
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II. Gameplay
"Nobody messes with my meat!"
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In the midst of an invasion, Duke Nukem generally takes place in the early 21th generation of Hollywood. Aliens from space have invaded Hollywood, the place they admire from humanity most. They have kill all the men of the world, and have enslaved all the women into sex slaves and test subjects. Its up to Duke Nukem, the last male on the earth, and the world's fearless alien asskicker, to deal with the problem and send the aliens to hell. Among one of duke's hilarious qoutes are "No one steals our chicks.....and lives", though the best one at this time is probably "Its time to kick ass and chew bubblegum....and I'm all out of gum".
To kick ass whilst devoid of any bubblegum, a heavy selection of weapons, raging to a 10, are at the players disposal and give this fps game its charm. Duke will eventually get a shotgun, a machine gun, a rpg rocket launcher, and even the ability to kick his foes with his mighty boot. Alot of humorous weapons include the shrink ray, which lets you shrink an alien to the size of an ant and step on him to a bloody puddle on the ground. The freeze ray lets your freeze you enemy to an ice structure, thus allowing you to kick and shatter him to a thousound peices. Pipebombs let you drop a remote mine on the ground, allowing you to explode it remotely a yard away from an unfourtunete foe, though you can even adjust them to work like ordinary grenades. The devastator, argueble one of the funniest weapons to use, is a two dual-weild rocket launcher set that gib aliens to pieces in a second's time. With the Atomic Editon, you also get the expander gun, which works like the shrink ray but instead fills your foe with air til they explode into bloody pieces. Also in the package is the Duke Plus, a special mod that includes a special Duke Plus mode to customize your shotgun to a cruiser barrel and the machine gun into a state-of-the-art M16. You can also adjust pipebomb distance and freezethrower/shrink ray attributes.
Duke Nukem's level-by-level structure licks right on to the wackolmish action of Doom; the ultimate goal of each level is to smack the big red button at the end of the level (in duke nukem, its a radioactive nuke sign) that ends the level and proceeds to the next; there are very minimal scripting events (though some interresting explosion effects take place on some levels) That's simplier said than experienced when you got gruesome aliens and puzzles aforehand. The game's levels can become exceptionally fusterating and difficult, though when you finish them, you'll feel like you've done alot. Puzzles generally involve finding the red keycard, which will open a door to the blue keycard, which will open a door to a multiple switch challange that will reveal a button that ends the level. The entire game is interractive to an unbelievable extent; Duke can flip on light switches, use toliets, drink from broken water fountians, and even throw money at interractive female strippers throughout the game. While Doom seemed to pay more attention on the core of the gameplay itself, each Duke Nukem level is handled with care and has numerous puzzles and secrets to find. Unlike Doom (which levels were so compact you could barely even look up), A shooter like Duke Nukem, consisting of large, non-linear streets of hollywood and complex alien space bars, makes almost every level built in the game is fun to play. All the time. And with the Duke Plus, you can customize your gameplay options, moving speed, and enemy characteristics.
Speaking of enemies, you got alot of them to kill. You easist challange is a standard alien trooper that is common and fun to kill. But then, the game throws harder baddies at you, like mutated pig cops called "L.A.P.D."s with shotguns and even lizzard creatures with chainguns. Then there's the octobrain, a vicious octopus with 3 eyes and a sharp set of teeth, and along with him are his buddies; egg-spawned mutants that jump onto your head and suck your brain out your nose. The Atomic Addition includes two new enemies; a pig cop that rides in a damage-resistant mini tank armed with guns, and a tall green mutant that sharpens his claws via your flesh. Luckily, with a steady aim, Duke can often put a demise to his foes, watching hi-res blood droplets and gibs fly around the screen with the dynamics of an explosive pipebomb, the game's pleasurable weapon. Duke applauds the grisly show with a hilarious qoute: "Your face, your ass; what's the difference!?"
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III. Atomic Edition Bonus
"Where do my rockets go?"
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To make things better (as if that were possible in a game like Duke Nukem 3D), the Atomic Edition includes a new selectable episode in the start menu called "The Birth". This shiny addition tells the story of aliens inpregnating one of their female slaves and boasting the result of a mutant offspring named "Queen" as their new leader. And Duke's got to kill it. The first scene starts out in favor of a Mission Impossible theme with an Agent 00Duke in a level called "Its Impossible". Finnally, he finds himself back at hollywood, shooting the living crap out of aliens in his own resturant called "The Duke Burger" and afterwards deals with some more chaos in the Babeland amusment park and XXX Stacy Studio. Several explosions later, he hacks into the depths of Area 51, and finnally delivers the last blow to the alien queen boss at the end. Remember, the Duke Nukem Atomic Edition is the actual game with these features, so you'll want to buy that if you don't own a copy of Duke Nukem 3D already. It even ships with the Duke Plus mod levels that also feature similar, rememberable user maps that push the map editor to its limits. It soon becomes a chore to stop playing the game.
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IV. Multiplayer
"What?! There's only one of you?!"
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Competitive multiplayer is a side reflection to the shine of the game, though diehard fans will often find the co-op modes much more enjoyable. You can take it with as many players as your computer can handle, and almost all of the multiplayer maps boast user maps created with the innovative, built-in level editor (which works on Vista also with eduke). You can choose to have monsters in or out of the arcadic slaughter, though several parts of the Dukematches seem slapped on at the last minute. Shooting sprites is harder done than postulated, and in co-op matches, its not uncommon to come across a player who simply races to the finish to hit the red button, ending the level for everybody. As long as you know who your playing with, and as long as your mapmaking imagine lubircates the ideas of alien disco areas or mutant-infested districts, the game has an endless ammoutn of replay value and appeal.
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V. Controvorsey
"My eyes. It burns!!!!"
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Now, mentioning appeal, tingles with a fact that is almost way too funny to mention; Duke Nukem isn't for the faint of heart, and I mean sexually. You won't believe your eyes until you rip them out and shuve them back in; after witnessing eye-popping, occasionally funny, but jaw-dropping heavy sexual content tackled into a crynical joke in Duke Nukem. Down in every street and in every corridor, at least as it would seem, there is almost always something in the game that wakens the virgin side of you. Sexy women posters, XXX bookstores throughout the game, interractive postituted women, and even hardcore criminal referrances are loaded into Duke Nukem. The premise of aliens attacking earth soley for its females is disturbing to say the least. As funny as it is to see pig cops watching pervert flicks in adult peep stalls lest you end their fun with a well placed rocket, the heavy ammount of sexual and general adult content is certainly tasteless at times to the extent of being over the edge. Luckily for parents and minors, a helpful button in the options menu lets you adjust parental/gaurdian rights, so your 8 year old son won't have to witness a women mutate into a horrifying hyrorrspagol in realtime.
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IV. Conclusion
"Those aliens are gonna pay for shooting up my disc!"
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As horny as the idea is, it shouldn't keep you from playing an absolutely well-done game. Duke Nukem 3D has a tremedous ammount of value, and when the specialest verison of the game costs only $10 on ebay, its hard to scream. Duke Nukem 3D knocks down games like Half-Life 2 and even Prey with some of the best gameplay ever to glorify the PC with its presence. Lastly, if that isn't enough for you, any desperate nerd can soothe their sick sexual fanasties with the ultimate pimp-simulator, more correctly, probably the best shooter ever.