Duke Nukem 3D

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Duke Nukem 3D "Nobody steals our chicks...and lives!" — Duke Nukem Protagonist(s): Duke Nukem Genre(s): First-person shooter Platform(s): MS-DOS MacOS X Linux PlayStation Sega Saturn Sega Genesis Android Xbox 360 Xbox One Xbox Series: X iOS Nintendo 64 Nintendo Switch PlayStation 3 Playstation 4 PlayStation Vita PlayStation 5 Microsoft Windows Sega Genesis Tiger Game.com Release: Duke Nukem 3D MS-DOS NA: January 26, 1996 (Shareware Version) NA: April 19, 1996 (Full Version) EU: May 1996 Tiger Game.com NA: 1997 Mac OS X WW: June 6, 1997 Sega Saturn NA: October 29, 1997 EU: October 30, 1997 Nintendo 64 NA: November 14, 1997 EU: November 14, 1997 PlayStation NA: December 2, 1997 EU: December 1997 Xbox 360 WW: September 24, 2008 Microsoft Windows WW: February 26, 2009 (GOG.com) iOS WW: August 11, 2009 Android WW: November 1, 2011 Linux WW: August 19, 2014 Plutonium Pak WW: 1996 Atomic Edition MS-DOS WW: November 27, 1996 Mac OS X WW: June 6, 1997 Microsoft Windows WW: February 26, 2009 (GOG.com) Linux WW: August 19, 2014 Duke!ZONE WW: September 5, 1996 Duke!ZONE 150 WW: September 11, 1996 Duke Assault WW: November 27, 1996 Duke!ZONE II WW: February 14, 1997 Duke Xtreme WW: February 20, 1997 Duke It Out In D.C. WW: March 17, 1997 Duke Nukem's Penthouse Paradise WW: May 1, 1997 Duke: Nuclear Winter WW: December 30, 1997 Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach WW: December 31, 1997 Kill-A-Ton Collection WW: 1997 Megaton Edition Microsoft Windows Mac OS X WW: March 20, 2013 Linux WW: September 4, 2013 PlayStation 3 PlayStation Vita NA: January 6, 2015 EU: January 7, 2015 Kill-A-Ton 2015 Collection WW: May 15, 2015 (Steam) 20th Anniversary World Tour Edition Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One WW: October 11, 2016 Nintendo Switch WW: June 23, 2020 Engine: Build Developer(s): 3D Realms (Original Game, Kill-A-Ton 2015 Collection) General Arcade (Megaton Edition) Gearbox Software, Nerve Software (20th Anniversary World Tour) Eurocom Entertainment Software (Nintendo 64) Lobotomy Software (Sega Saturn) WizardWorks (Duke!ZONE Trilogy, Kill-A-Ton Collection) Sunstorm Interactive (Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach, Duke It Out In D.C., Duke Xtreme, Kill-A-Ton Collection, Kill-A-Ton 2015 Collection) Simply Silly Software (Duke: Nuclear Winter, Duke!ZONE Trilogy, Kill-A-Ton 2015 Collection) International Software Values Inc. (Duke Assault) Intersphere Communications (Duke Nukem's Penthouse Paradise) Lion Entertainment Inc. (Mac OS) GT Interactive, Apogee (Kill-A-Ton Collection) Wildfire Studios (Kill-A-Ton 2015 Collection) Publisher(s): FormGen GT Interactive (Retail, PS1/N64, Duke Assault, Duke Nukem's Penthouse Paradise, Kill-A-Ton Collection) U.S. Gold (MS-DOS, Europe) WizardWorks (Expansions) Eidos Interactive (Atomic Edition, Kill-A-Ton Collection, Europe) King Records (PlayStation, Japan) Sega (Sega Saturn) Microsoft Game Studios (Xbox 360/XBLA) MachineWorks Northwest (iOS, Android) Devolver Digital (Megaton Edition) ZOOM-Platform.com/Jordan Freeman Group (Atomic Edition) Gearbox Publishing (Digital current, 20th Anniversary World Tour) Apogee (Duke Xtreme, Kill-A-Ton Collection) Penthouse Magazine (Duke Nukem's Penthouse Paradise) Creative Carnage (Duke!ZONE Trilogy, Kill-A-Ton Collection) 3D Realms (Digital former, Kill-A-Ton 2015 Collection) MacSoft (Mac OS) Series: Duke Nukem Predecessor: Duke Nukem II Successor: Duke Nukem Forever (2011)

Duke Nukem 3D is the third installment of the Duke Nukem series, released in 1996 for various platforms, such as MS-DOS, Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64, and PlayStation.

The game would receive an updated version, the Atomic Edition in 1997, as well as some source ports based on its engine and numerous re-releases, such as the Megaton Edition and 20th Anniversary World Tour, in the following years.

Plot

After defeating the Rigelatin aliens, Duke returns to Earth in hopes of taking a vacation, only to find that it is being invaded by another alien army and decides to stop them.

Why It Kicks Ass and Chews Bubblegum

1. Unlike the first two games, which are action-platformers, this one is a first-person shooter.
2. Amazing visuals for its time that pioneered realistic location designs with vivid colors and lighting. This was enhanced more in the 20th Anniversary World Tour.
3. Incredible iconic box art that perfectly resembles the Army of Darkness iconic poster.
4. The 20th Anniversary World Tour has a few new additions:
   • A new episode with 7 new levels designed by the original 3D Realms team each with new musical scores.
   • New easter eggs such as a new Serious Sam reference in the "Giza" level.
   • A new Weapon: Incinerator.
   • A new Enemy: Firefly.
   • And a returning feature from the XBLA version: Replay/Rewind Function.
5. Duke is now a rugged, badass, tough, pop-culturing referencing guy with a ton of quotable one-liners.
   • These one-liners are as such: "Somebody's gonna friggin' pay for screwing up MY vacation!", "I'm getting too old for this shit!", "Damn! Those alien bastards are gonna pay for shooting up my ride!", "Nobody steals our chicks... and lives!"
6. Great voice acting from Jon St. John (who later voiced the Postal Dude as a primary voice option from Postal 4: No Regerts) whose deep, grimy, and charismatic voice helps bring Duke to life.
7. The game has a depth of interactivity, which sets a new standard for first-person shooters. Interactive objects include light switches, drinking fountains, strippers, surveillance screens, bins, toilets, pool tables, telephones, explosive barrels, fire hydrants, and a photocopier. Some of these objects perform multiple functions.
8. As of 2023, ZOOM Platform frequently updates the Atomic Edition with some new additions.
9. The game is filled to the prime with references to movie and video game franchises. These include: Evil Dead, Star Wars, They Live!, Terminator, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alien, Easy Rider, Pulp Fiction, Doom, Quake, Indiana Jones, Full Metal Jacket, Die Hard, Predator, Fantastic Four... you get the picture. Most of them are quotes said word-for-word by Duke himself.
10. Consists of a wide variety of enemies, including extraterrestrial aliens, mutant police officers, and mechanical robots.
11. Tons of weapons that are all fun to use, including the Mighty Foot, which is a basic melee attack, a pistol, a chaingun cannon, pipe bombs, and guns that shrink and freeze enemies.
12. Several expansion packs that are pretty much all freeware now.
13. There are five boss enemies, one at the end of each episode. These are:
    • The Battlelord, equipped with a massive chaingun and mortar launcher
    • The Overlord, who is found on the Moon and has two rocket launchers mounted on its back
    • The Cycloid Emperor, found in a football stadium has mechanical rocket launcher claws for hands
    • The Alien Queen, an underwater creature that spawns offspring and fires a powerful electrical blast
14. A built-in, easy-to-use map editor/maker.
15. The game has an inventory system just like Heretic, which features a series of items that can be acquired and deployed throughout the game. These items include:
    • Portable Medkit, which can be used to recover Duke's health at any time
    • Steroids, which cause Duke to move more quickly and to deal greater melee damage
    • Night Vision Goggles, which allow Duke to see in poorly lit areas
    • Holoduke, which projects a hologram of Duke that distracts enemies
    • Protective Boots, which allow Duke to traverse dangerous terrain, such as toxic waste or lava
    • Scuba Gear, which allows Duke to swim underwater for longer periods without drowning
    • Jetpack, which allows Duke to fly freely around the environment, sometimes to reach otherwise inaccessible areas
16. The map that gives both an outline of the level and a fully rendered version of the level, which makes it a lot easier to get an idea as to where you are.
17. Featured online multiplayer through TEN, now you can get it through the GOG/Steam/ZOOM Platform editions or Duke Matcher.
18. While the Nintendo 64 port may be heavily censored, it features some new weapons such as the Akimbo MP5 SMGs, the Grenade Launcher, the SPAS-12 with the option of explosive rounds, the Missile Launcher, and the Plasma Cannon which functions similarly to the Plasma Rifle and the BFG 9000 from Doom. Duke is also able to rescue women trapped in alien pods in exchange for being immune to damage.

Bad Qualities

1. Many of the ports to consoles have been disastrous.
   • The Tiger Game.com version. In fairness, it was one of the most advanced handheld games of The '90s; there was just no way to replicate the Duke Nukem 3D experience on hardware barely equivalent to a Game Boy.
   • Less so the Mega Drive port. It does have a pretty decent framerate, considering how big the "first-person view" screen is, compared to other FPS games on that console, not to mention the save system which allows you to backup everywhere. Nothing else makes up for it properly, though: the whole port consists of 9 new levels, very loosely based on the Lunar Apocalypse episode, all done in a Wolf3D-like perspective, all peppered-up with barely audible music and slightly messy controls. Oh, and it didn't help that shortly after the game was released in Brazil (the only country that received a Mega Drive port), the whole thing got banned. Despite this, it isn't the fault of the Brazilian devs; the game is pretty good for what it is and had plenty of effort put into it. The console simply couldn't handle the game.
   • Downplayed in regards to the Nintendo 64 version known as Duke Nukem 64; It is still a good port because its great gameplay and controls are intact, it has a fun 4-player multiplayer mode, the blood hasn't been censored due to Nintendo being more lenient with blood than they were in their NES/Early SNES days, and being able to rescue women trapped in alien pods instead of killing them (not that it's possible to kill them in this port) is a welcome change. That being said, it has no in-game music (due to limited storage capacity on the cartridge), there is a minor audio glitch where, sometimes, when a player uses a Jetpack or Plasma Cannon, the item sounds get locked into a permanent loop that cannot be fixed unless you reset the game, and there's also some weird Expander sprite glitches strewn throughout the levels, which could have easily been corrected if anyone were paying attention during the porting process.
   • Duke Nukem Total Meltdown on PlayStation has frame rate issues encountered during the game, grainy graphics, and limited control customization options. While there's in-game music, a hyped combination of bespoke and rearranged from the PC original it drones over you after several minutes becoming repetitive to listen to. Also, unless everyone has their own PlayStation console with a copy of the game, playing multiplayer is greatly limited because of the lack of split-screen support like in the Nintendo 64 version. Due to these factors, some fans consider the PlayStation port to be the worst of all the ports together.
     • The PlayStation version did have a few upsides. It received praise for the much-upgraded music and sounds in general. It also updated the cinematics and added unique ones on each stage's completion which were not in the original game (although some cutscenes were shorter). The console-exclusive Plug N' Pray episode was also highly praised and eventually received a complete conversion to PC (something that takes a lot of effort to do perfectly and was done by dedicated fans). It also had a quicksave feature which was unique for consoles at the time since you could do it at any time. There was a Sega Saturn and Sega Genesis port which weren't able to handle the effects of Duke 3D well at all, understandably so for the Sega Genesis version. The Saturn port did have unique lighting effects with its engine though.
2. The 20th Anniversary World Tour version, despite its new additions also has some flaws:
   • It replaced the Megaton Edition on Steam after Gearbox Software acquired the rights to the franchise and they forced all other Duke Nukem games to be pulled from sale everywhere, to sell this version of the game, lucky it can still be bought in the ZOOM Platform store, not only that but it also gets frequently updated.
   • It has none of the original expansion packs that were on the Megaton Edition (Duke It Out In DC, Life's a Beach, Nuclear Winter, etc.)
   • Forced mouse acceleration.
   • Running is slower.
   • New bobbing effect when falling from even the shortest heights.
   • Broken cloud saving.
3. You can't save the babes in the PC version of the game, all you can do with them is kill them or leave them alone, unlike the N64 version where you could save them. But if you can't save them in the uncensored versions, why were they even there?
   • However, mods such as Alien Armageddon can allow you to save babes.
4. Most of the bosses are pretty lackluster.
   • The Overlord (episode 2 boss). Pretty much all you have to do is circle-strafe and shoot him with the devastator till he stops moving. He has his devastator, however, unless you're dumb enough to just stand still and let him shoot you you should be able to avoid every rocket fired.
   • The Cycloid Emperor is in a similar category to the Overlord. So long as you keep moving and stay at a distance, he basically can't touch you.
   • The Battlelord in the first episode, mainly due to you lacking half your arsenal, most of all the devastator. While you do have the RPG he takes about 25 hits to kill, and is shooting mortars and his Hitscan chaingun at you the whole time.
   • The Queen in Episode 4. Not only does she have more health than the other three bosses (6000 vs. 4500) she can give birth to drones to aid her and has a Hitscan lightning attack. Also, the entire fight takes place underwater.
5. The FMV cutscenes haven't aged well.
6. The Duke!Zone Trilogy is considered to be the worst expansion because of the bad-level designs.
   • The Nuclear Winter expansion, while not entirely bad, is considered the weakest as it's very short and doesn't include new weapons and voice lines like other expansions, aside from a few changed sprites and new levels
     • Speaking of which, the first two levels are the base levels played in reverse.
7. The Protozoid Slimers, despite being the weakest enemies out of all as they take one hit, are also nightmare-fuel enemies as it has that extremely creepy sprite where it bites Duke's face off, that happens when it gets close to the player, it's even worse in the High-Resolution Pack mod, luckily these can be removed using a mod.

Reception

TBA

Trivia

TBA

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