Second Look - Duke Nukem Forever + The Doctor Who Cloned Me

If there’s one game that’s managed to remain a running joke for its constant delays throughout half the industry’s life cycle at the time, that would be Duke Nukem Forever. Originally announced in 1997, Duke Nukem Forever was meant to act as the sequel to the ever-popular Duke Nukem 3D, with the intent that it would be out the door shortly. However, the release date kept getting pushed back until it eventually became the infamous and oft-mocked “When It’s Done,” making one lose hope in the game ever being made a reality. The extensive development history of this particular title has been well-documented, especially in regards to the various changes in content and even graphics engine; the game took so long to develop that there’s an entire website dedicated to documenting major things that happened while Duke Nukem Forever was still in development, and several outlets such as the Penny Arcade webcomic have made a number of jokes about it on par with the “When Hell freezes over” or “When pigs fly” metaphors.

The famous pre-order receipt from a "patient, patient man."

In 2010, things seemed to have finally come to a halt when 3D Realms finally had to abandon development of Duke Nukem Forever, having been forced into bankruptcy by their own game. However, all was not lost as Borderlands developer Gearbox picked up the Duke Nukem IP in order to finish off development of Duke Nukem Forever, resulting in its long-awaited release in 2011, 14 years after the original announcement. Owners of Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition also got a code granting membership to the Duke Nukem Forever First Access Club, which included special content exclusive to Club members, as well as a free copy of the Hail to the Icons Parody Pack DLC.

And if, like me, you bought the Balls of Steel Edition of the game,
you also got a bunch of extra cool stuff.

Five years later, I finally decided to get around to actually playing the game, which I had been meaning to do for the sake of its historical significance (although I wasn't actually among those waiting for the game during its entire 15-year development cycle). While it initially released to no shortage of controversy for a number of reasons (chief among them being some long-time Duke Nukem fans over-hyping the game for themselves), enough time has passed for the dust to have settled and to finally look at this title more objectively. While normally this would be a Second Opinion due to having had a Duke Nukem Forever review already, there’s been so much of a time gap since the original review that this will be labeled a Second Look to determine how well this game has held up after five years since its initial release.

Taking place 12 years after Duke Nukem 3D, the world has been at peace. Duke Nukem has become a celebrity, having an appearance scheduled on a talk show when the aliens invade once again for seemingly personal reasons. Duke seems to not think much of this, though things become personal for him once the aliens kidnap two of his babes, twins, and vows to take the aliens down. Despite Duke’s eagerness however, the President orders him not to go after the aliens; Duke does anyway.

The game starts off with a rematch against the Cycloid Emperor from
the end of Duke Nukem 3D.

This story serves as merely an excuse for the plot to get rolling, which is actually rather typical for a Duke Nukem game. Rather, the gameplay takes center stage while whatever story there is becomes more or less relegated to the background. The core gameplay is similar to Duke Nukem 3D in that it’s a fairly linear first-person shooter with a variety of weaponry and gadgets. However, there is some variety in that there are some elements of platforming and puzzle-solving, as well as a good number of driving sections. The driving sections are a good way to break up gameplay that can otherwise become monotonous, with fairly decent controls and physics to allow traversal across a vast area to reach the next destination.

There’s also the ability to interact with a number of objects within the world, most of which are there to provide a humorous distraction from the main game during a quiet moment. Their main purpose, however, is to provide a boost to Duke’s Ego, the health system introduced in the spin-off game Land of the Babes and improved upon in Manhattan Project, the first time they are interacted with. Such activities include, among others, throwing a paper airplane, admiring yourself, and getting a high score in pinball (though the pinball physics themselves leave something to be desired). Ego regenerates over time when you are not taking damage, though performing an execution on an enemy will fill it back up completely.

You can even sign a copy of Duke's book, Why I'm So Great,
from Duke Nukem II.

Likely a byproduct of the game’s rather lengthy development time, the graphics are a little sub-par, as though mildly unfinished, not helped by the presence of texture loading that usually takes a couple seconds. The loading times themselves between each level can also take a couple minutes, so it can take a while to get back into the action if you die at any time before reaching a checkpoint. There’s also the fact that you can only carry two weapons at a time (unless you play the PC port, which I did not), although I was able to get by with only two by playing on Easy/Piece of Cake (you also earn a Trophy/Achievement for carrying the starting golden pistol with you the whole time).

The game contains a plethora of pop culture and internet references, many of which are evident of the game’s development cycle. Pop culture references include jabs at the games Dead Space, Halo and Half-Life among others, as well as references to movies such as Robocop, while an example of nodding to internet culture would be to memes such as Leroy Jenkins and one that stemmed from a misquote of South Park. References of the sort are not new to Duke Nukem, though at least unlike Duke Nukem 3D these are not required knowledge to advance the game; on that note, Keycards are no longer necessary to get to the next area, which helps everything go more smoothly.

While the game can be easy to get through if you know what you’re doing, the Boss fights at the end of some stages are actually rather difficult, particularly if it is a multi-stage fight; dying once means you have to start the entire battle over again, and multi-stage fights are no exception. The most difficult of them is the Octaking, especially since it can spawn Octabrains to attack you, forcing you to have to either multi-task or try to take the Boss down as quickly as possible before being overrun by Octabrains. Though the Bosses can be difficult, the Ego boost you get for defeating one is worth it in the end.

A positive about the game is the music, consisting mostly of the main theme “Grabbag” and numerous remixes, since it worked well with whatever was going on, though there are moments where it worked not to have ambient music. Some bits I particularly liked were the music that played during puzzle sections, as well as the sound that plays when an enemy encounter is over. The voice acting is pretty decent all around, but the best performance comes from Jon St. John as Duke Nukem himself, his experience voicing the character shining through as his delivery helps pull off the one-liners and pop culture references Duke spouts.

A few months after the release of Duke Nukem Forever, a new bit of single-player DLC was released expanding on the game’s story, called The Doctor Who Cloned Me. This DLC brings back Dr. Proton, the villain of the original Duke Nukem game, who plans to use an army of Duke Nukem clones to try and defeat the alien menace on the moon. Notably, The Doctor Who Cloned Me feels more story-driven than the base game, though what probably helps is that it didn’t take 15 years to make, thus feeling generally more focused.

The music in this add-on content is still good, though I noticed that some of whatever was in the main game had either been cut or altered; for example, the puzzle music is absent in what seemed like a puzzle section and the sound that plays during an Ego boost is a little different. I can only speculate that it may have had to do with original DNF developer 3D Realms in some way, but I can’t say anything for certain. The voice acting is still great, with Jon St. John still providing an excellent performance for Duke Nukem. This is also the first time I’ve heard Dr. Proton speak (I gather he was also voiced in Duke Nukem: Critical Mass for the Nintendo DS), though unfortunately it’s impossible for me to find out who exactly voiced him in this game.

Behold, the return of Dr. Proton.

The graphics quality is similar to that of Duke Nukem Forever, though that’s likely a result of recycling the same engine; there’s even the same issue with loading screens and texture loading, though at least the loading screens contain new messages. The add-on also introduces some new enemies and Ego boosts, plus there’s now a mechanic where you can just let the aliens and Dr. Proton’s forces fight each other, provided you don’t get caught in the crossfire.

I was going to make a quip here about how much longer we’d have to wait before getting another Duke Nukem game, but coincidentally enough a new one was formally announced within the span of my Duke Nukem Forever playthrough, Duke Nukem 3D 20^th Anniversary World Tour, an HD remake of Duke Nukem 3D. The remake is set to include new music from the original composer, a brand new level designed by the original level designers and new voice recordings and one-liners for Duke Nukem by none other than Jon St. John. This seems like a great way to celebrate the legacy of the franchise, though it appears we’ll still have to wait a bit longer for a proper Duke Nukem 5 (that hopefully won’t take 15 years to develop).

Let's just hope this is good until then.

As a whole, Duke Nukem Forever is an okay game. When you know that it took 15 years to develop, it kind of shows in the end product, though on its own the game is actually pretty enjoyable to varying degrees. It doesn’t really stand apart that much from other games in its genre, but the charisma of the Duke Nukem character and the historical significance of the game are enough to give it a shot.

As for The Doctor Who Cloned Me, it takes many of the better aspects of Duke Nukem Forever and concentrates them into an enjoyable extra campaign that is arguably better than the game itself. I would still recommend playing Duke Nukem Forever first, mainly for historical and story purposes, but generally fans of the original Duke Nukem will find great entertainment in seeing a classic villain return to take center stage in this DLC.

Remember, always bet on Duke.

[OLD] Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project

Even after the release of Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes, Duke Nukem Forever continued its infamous development time. In the meantime, another game was developed by Sunstorm Interactive for PC in 2002 called Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project. After seeing how the last 3 games turned out, I was hoping this entry would at least be an improvement. After playing it however, I must say I was actually blown away by this title.

As with the first game, this installment has a rather simple plot. Duke's new nemesis, Mech Morphix, has created a substance called GLOPP (Gluon Liquid Omega Phased Plasma) that mutates living creatures on contact. Morphix plans to use this substance to take over the world, and it's up to Duke Nukem to stop him. Along the way, he must also rescue babes from detonators while giving his enemies his usual style of ass-kicking.

The game is comprised of 8 episodes split up into 3 parts, for a total of 24 levels. In each one, you must rescue a babe and use a colored Keycard before you can advance. The game itself returns to the roots of the first two games in that it plays like a side-scroller complete with a similar control scheme. However, this game puts a spin on it in that it's more three-dimensional, with some areas even having multiple layers, stretching the definition of 2.5D to its limit. As such, there are times where you can go between the different layers at designated points in order to perform certain tasks to help advance the level.

This game also sees the return of the Ego system from Land of the Babes, except this time it's treated more like Health. You get Ego boosts by killing enemies and grabbing what resemble Health boxes, small ones giving you 25 Ego and large ones 100. You can also gain Ego from vending machines, albeit with limited usage, and Ego is lost from contact with hazards such as lasers, enemy attacks, and uncontained GLOPP. When you exceed your maximum Ego, it will slowly drain until it hits the cap, but thankfully you can still use the extra amount like a shield. Another collectible is Nukes, and there are 10 in each level. If you manage to get all 10, your maximum Ego, GLOPP, and Ammo count will go up.

Speaking of Ammo, this game has a range of weaponry you can use, but unlike Time To Kill or Land of the Babes, there isn't an overabundance of them. Rather, you have a choice between a select few weapons that you pick up along the way, including your starting Golden Eagle Pistol and Pipebombs among others. You also have a GLOPP Ray and a Pulse Cannon, which both use GLOPP to restore mutated enemies to their original, unmutated forms and fire charged lightning respectively. In some sections you are also allowed to use a Jetpack, albeit for a limited amount of time. Other temporary power-ups include Double Damage and Forcefield, which both do as they say until they expire.

The graphics are a great improvement over Land of the Babes, with the character models looking smoother and more realistic. While movement is still somewhat limited, actions are still presented in a very fluid manner and the great AI helps to create a better immersion. The level design is very well laid out and reminded me of my experience with the first game in that you can easily memorize where you need to go and what you have to do to get through each stage. The Save system also improves over the last 3 games in that like in Duke Nukem II and 3D, your progress is saved at well-placed checkpoints and you can save whenever you want to, so that when you die you come back at the last point you saved.

The voice acting here is casted very well, with Jon St. John playing Duke Nukem as sharp as ever. Duke's one-liners are handled better than in Land of the Babes and I would go so far as to say they're a bit funnier. While he does still make pig jokes when facing Pig Cops, a lot of the dialogue is self-referential to it being a game. For instance, when you try to open the exit without having a Keycard, he will make a stab at how frustrating it can be to look for Keycards and how they're required to move on.

While this game was really fun, I must say the bosses were a little easy. Though they can take a few tries to figure out how to beat them, some you can just endlessly shoot if you have enough Ego to spare. Despite this they still provided a good challenge, a few having multiple parts that you need to go through in a single sitting.

Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project is an excellent game that any Duke Nukem fan will enjoy. Though it doesn't have a big legacy like Duke Nukem 3D, it's an excellent throwback to the original games that also flawlessly utilizes the best elements of the franchise. Even on the lowest difficulty it provides a great challange that will make you think harder about how to defeat enemies in a dire situation. If you're a Duke fan or haven't played any of the games yet, I highly suggest you check this one out.

Playing the Duke Nukem games like this has been like seeing the evolution of gaming itself. From the roots of 2D side-scrolling to the transition into 3D, these games have evolved over time and will continue to do so, even with some drawbacks. After 15 years, Duke Nukem Forever will finally be released from development hell into the hands of patient players. To quote the end of Manhattan Project's credits, "Look for Duke next in Duke Nukem Forever."

[OLD] Duke Nukem: Zero Hour - Zero Patience

As Duke Nukem Forever continued to reside in development hell, 3D Realms released another Duke Nukem game in order to satiate fans. This time working with developer Eurocom, they created Duke Nukem: Zero Hour (written as Zer:0 H:0ur) for the Nintendo 64 (N64). Released in 1999, it is a game said by many to be a great addition to the series. Continuing the third-person shooter (TPS) formula of Time to Kill, Zero Hour makes many improvements to create a better experience. Unfortunately, one thing is required in order to play: Patience, and lots of it.

The game begins with an unskippable cutscene explaining the plot: A Duke Nukem from the past contacts the present one, revealing he is stuck there because aliens destroyed his time machine. It is then up to Duke to travel back in time in order to save the future and prevent the aliens from screwing it up. As I do not own the manual for this game, this is all I have to go by. While it's not original for time travel to be in a Duke Nukem game (Duke Nukem 1 and Time to Kill), I would say that Duke seems to have a better incentive to time travel than in the last game.

The controls are solid and respond perfectly, but can get awkward at times, if only due to the layout of the N64 controller. By itself, however, you must move Duke using the C D-Pad while controlling the camera with the Analog Stick in the center which takes some getting used to. Also, you use the Right Shoulder Button to jump, which is fine, except that the animation to jump is a little slow, making the timing off for jumping out of water. Otherwise, the aiming is much improved over the previous Duke game, since the red icon in the center will always stay where you point it.

Like the previous game, there is plenty of variety in the weaponry, and ammo is dropped with every enemy you kill. Your weaponry changes depending on the time period, which makes plenty of sense for a time-travel game, but you will find a favorite to use in no time. You can also use a variety of items such as Medkits and Gas Masks, the latter of which is especially needed when facing certain Pig Cops. The graphics are actually nice for an N64 game at the time, a notable aspect being that the Pig Cops are this time much less portly than in the last game. Everything is rendered with clear detail, with Duke looking more noticeably masculine than in Time to Kill. When you get a view of the background scenery, the buildings contain a lot of humor alone. The sound quality is also nicely put together, with a great score and Duke seeming to have less-annoying one-liners this time around (again, compared to Time to Kill).

However, there is one big flaw I should mention with this game, so big that it can just as easily cripple the experience as the game can make it: There's no Save feature. Rather, there is one, but it's like in the first game where it can only Save after every level, meaning that you have to start over again after you die. This would be more accepting if the levels were smaller, but they are actually quite large, so you must re-do everything you ever did every single time. What makes this worse is that the game is very scripted, so you'll more often than not die after seeing something unexpected and have to re-do at least 20-30 minutes of progress at a time. Unless you have an ungodly amount of patience and willpower, you are likely to give up rather quickly.

I apologize for this, but this flaw actually caused me to give up after a few hours, without even beating the first level! Without the motivation to keep playing, I looked up the ending on YouTube to see what it was like. I will say that it's better than the last game, but I honestly don't think getting frustrated over replaying a level several times in a row is worth the effort.

Duke Nukem: Zero Hour is fun at first, but that can all change in an instant once you start dying a few times. Because I succumbed to the game's major flaw, I can't exactly say whether or not it's overall good, but I can say this: If you're a big Duke Nukem fan and/or have patience for this kind of Save system, you might get some enjoyment out of this game. However, if you are the type that gets easily frustrated with that kind of system, this probably isn't a game for you.

[OLD] Duke Nukem: Time to Kill - You'd Better Have Plenty of It

After the release and success of Duke Nukem 3D in 1996, 3D Realms announced the long-delayed Duke Nukem Forever. Once development hell began for DNF, 3D Realms and n-Space developed the first of many side games for the franchise called Duke Nukem: Time to Kill for the PlayStation (PS1). Released in 1998, this was not only the first game created specifically to satiate fans until the release of DNF, but it was also the first third-person shooter (TPS) in this line of games. While this game should be able to keep one entertained for as long as it should, I can say that I am definitely not a fan.

The first thing to mention, as always, is the story of the game. It is actually important that you don't skip the cutscene that plays when you pop the game in for the first time, which I must say was put together rather excellently with great accompanyment by "The Thing I Hate" by Stabbing Westward, as the game picks up exactly where it leaves off. We see in the video that aliens, including the familiar Pig Cops, have come to take over the Earth, again, and it is up to Duke to stop them. The manual elaborates by telling us that the aliens are called the Draks and they have the goal of altering Earth's past in an attempt to erase Duke from history. While time travel isn't completely original for the series, Duke Nukem I had this for Episodes 2 and 3, it seems like an interesting concept in theory, especially since the entire game is built around this. Unfortunately, it only goes downhill from here.

When the game actually starts, there is a pretty steep learning curve for controlling Duke. It doesn't help that the game utilizes "tank controls", where moving and turning the camera are assigned to the same stick. While you would think the rest of the controls would probably make up for this, they seem to only work when they feel like it, especially Duke's movement speed and jumping. This is a real pain during later platforming segments where your control has to be very precise or you end up dying or halting your progress, which led me to using a jetpack to bypass even the smallest jumps over lava. The control is further crippled by the ratio of the speed of Duke's actions to the speed of his enemies. The speed of drawing and holstering his weapons, and even strafing, is so slow that you will more than likely take a hit or two before you can get one on the enemy.

But the aiming system itself deserves special mention, which you'll have a hard time wrestling with. The manual states that Duke can aim pretty well as long as you point him in the general direction. During gameplay, this seemed more and more like an outright lie. While it is true that Duke can aim at an enemy on his own, it only applies to what appears to be a thin line of sight in front of him. So naturally, I tried to aim manually, which is also very tedious, as enemies are much faster than the aiming speed in both normal and precision modes. However, the biggest problem I had was trying to aim at an enemy directly in front of me. To elaborate, when near an enemy, the red aiming reticle, which only appears when in a firefight by the way, will attach to the enemy like it should. But instead of staying there, the dot will sometimes bounce back and forth between your intended target and the wall behind them, leading to more lead in the wall than in an alien's chest. For this reason alone, I used the Combat Shotgun as soon as I could and never thought twice about it.

Duke is definitely no stranger to weaponry, and this game has plenty of choices, overwhelming even. There's the standard Desert Eagle, Combat Shotgun, and RPG, among others. But throw in the fact that each time period also has it's own unique weapons, like a Buffalo Rifle and Holy Hand Grenades, and your list of weaponry will cover the selection screen, which ends up with you having more weapons than you will actually use. While most of these work just fine, especially the guns, some of the weapons, like the Throwing Knives, have abyssmal control and overall aren't worth using.

The graphics of this game are pretty standard fare for that point in the PS1 era, but I found that the graphics of Duke Nukem 3D were a lot better to look at, and those were mostly rotating sprites. Duke's character model actually looks a little feminine, even with his time-accurate costumes, and the Pig Cops are more obviously portly, which can be a little jarring after watching the opening movie. However, I can't complain too much, as it is an older system, but it was still a little hard to look at at times. At the same time, the level design was done well for a TPS like this, but some moments are a little cryptic, like needing to blast open a wall to get to the first Gun in level 3 or needing to push a trash bin in level 6 to get one of the crystals for the time machine. Overall, some of the levels could have used some minor tweaks in size and design to be more interesting to play through.

On that note, the boss levels are the shortest, being basically a room. However, instead of being challenging, they can actually be taken out with total ease. You don't even have to enter the center part of the room to kill the first one and hiding in one of two pools of water is enough to kill the second, which even conveniently hovers above to let you get in a few cheap shots. These stages just didn't provide enough of a challenge to excite me, instead making me wonder if they knew how to properly design a boss room. The same can be said for the overwhelmingly difficult challenge stages. If Duke finds a Stopwatch in a level, he can be transported to an extra level at the end where killing the enemies in a room within a time limit will net you a new weapon. However, the enemies deal enough damage that it is very unlikely you will get the weapon, let alone survive with it.

The biggest aspect of a Duke Nukem game is actually the one-liners that he churns out. They are the bread and butter of his dialogue and are usually pretty hilarious. But this game is actually a little off here. While it is funny the first couple of times to hear what Duke has to say, it gets annoying when you hear him say the exact same lines repeatedly, sometimes in a row. It appears that Duke here has a limited dialogue pool, which is a shame as a bigger selection for the game to cycle through would have made it easier to tolerate.

Now, the game would be a fairly decent reccomendation, even with the control problems, if not for one simple flaw: the game utilizes an arcade-style continue system. While it is easy to get used to at first, screwing up enough can get you to focus on getting through levels flawlessly and saving continues, actually making the experience more painful given the wealth of enemies and the damage they can deal at once. Compounding this further is the fact that checkpoints seemed to be placed too far apart from each other, making for large sections that need to be redone at a time. This became more and more unbearable over time, reducing my willingness to continue playing. In fact, it got to the point where I was almost getting to an "infinite death cycle", where no matter what you do your progress is forever halted, the only solution being to restart the entire game.

I have played through a majority of the game, about three levels off from the end. But at this point, I had just about lost all will to continue playing. I decided to watch the ending on YouTube, and it turns out that a scene in the opening where Duke's motorcycle is transformed into a pink girlie bike offers a rather questionable motivation for the narrative. This just didn't make sitting through the game seem that worth it anymore, so I just relinquished all will then and there.

Duke Nukem: Time to Kill has an interesting time travel premise, but the numerous gameplay and control problems actually make it more frustrating than fun. I have read that there was some influence from Tomb Raider, but I have no experience with that line of games and thus have no comment on that. I can't really recommend this game, except to those who have played both Duke Nukem and Tomb Raider before, or are brave enough to bear the flaws and make it to the end. Otherwise, I would suggest that you look somewhere else to find a TPS worth playing.

[OLD] Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown - Hail To The King, Baby!

If you have ever played a Duke Nukem game in your life, there's a very good chance it was this one. Released in 1996, Duke Nukem 3D was, and still is, the most popular Duke Nukem game on the market. In fact, there still exists a huge following of the PC version's level editor to this day. It's also the game that introduced Duke to the Mature rating, and has consistently remained with each installment. This game was originally brought to the PC through DOS, but has also been ported to the major consoles of the time it was released; it has also been recently ported to the Xbox 360 and iPhone. With so many versions to pick from, I have decided to play and review the PS1 port, Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown.

The story of Duke Nukem 3D takes place immediately after the events of Duke Nukem II, which is explained in the manual of Total Meltdown (the PC version has it on-screen). After the defeat of the Rigelatins in the last game, Duke has hijacked one of their ships, making his way back to Earth for relaxation. As fate would have it, his ship is shot down by unknown hostiles, forcing him to eject. He lands miraculously on the roof of a skyscraper, vowing revenge on the aliens that attacked him.

Like the second game, you get a choice of difficulty settings before you start: Piece of Cake (Easy), Let's Rock (Medium), and Come Get Some (Hard), with an unlockable Damn I'm Good (Very Hard). I played on Piece of Cake, not only for the sake of efficiency, but also because I'm not very good with FPS games. Even then, the game provides a bit of a challenge, often leading me to come up with creative ways to kill aliens on very low health. This game also has an improved Save system, allowing you to Save permanently or Quicksave temporarily at any point. Even on Piece of Cake, I recommend using Quicksave as often as you can, since you can easily die if you're not careful.

You start off the game with a Pistol, but over time, you can pick various weapons, including a Shotgun, RPG, and Chaingun Cannon to name a few. At times, you will see a crack in a wall, so it's good to have the RPG or Pipebombs on standby. You can also use your Mighty Foot as a kick attack, which can also be used on glass or trashcans to conserve ammo. In order to advance to certain areas, you must also gather keycards, colored yellow, red, and blue. Power-ups in the game include, but are not limited to, Portable Medkits, Steroids, and a Jetpack, and can be found not in crates, but in the open, behind secret compartments, and inside trashcans. In a change of pace from the first two games, this third installment is a First-Person Shooter, but remains the only one in the series aside from the upcoming Duke Numen Forever.

The controls are tight and respond perfectly, though it can get a little awkward depending on how you use them. Total Meltdown, even though the box doesn't say, is Analog Compatible (recommended), with the Left Stick for normal movement and the Right Stick for strafing. You can move the camera up and down using L1 and L2, which can lead to the aformentioned awkwardness, especially if you are facing a ledge or tall platform. Fortunately, you can center the camera by pressing both Left Shoulder Buttons at once. Aside from that small hurdle, the controls are, as stated, perfect.

The game comprises three episodes (L.A. Meltdown, Lunar Apocalypse, Shrapnel City), with a fourth one (The Birth) for owning Duke Nukem 3D: Atomic Edition. Total Meltdown has its own fourth episode (Plug N' Pray), but I only played the first three as they are universal to all versions. Each episode is comprised of many levels, 7 for the first and 11 for the other two, each with a couple of secret levels. Each episode has its own challenges, but you can also find videos on YouTube on how to progress through each level much quicker, given this game's massive following. Every episode also has a Boss at the end, the first two of which you must find, which prove to be quite a challenge, and can take some time to figure out how to kill in the most efficient manner.

A notable thing about this game is the number of movie references it makes. For instance, the cover is a reference to Evil Dead, and at one point you encounter the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. However, you actually have to know the references in order to get them, and a couple of times they are required in order to advance in the level. At one point early in the game, you see a poster that covers an obscure pathway. I didn't know this was a reference, let alone that I had to go through it, so I had to find that out with an online walkthrough. I was aware of the 2001 reference, but I didn't know I had to go through it, and again I found that out through a guide. Newer players, like me, are likely to miss a lot of these references, so they are more prone to looking them up in a walkthrough. Still, the jokes are funny when you know the references.

The graphics are a big improvement over Duke Nukem II, although they are sort of pixelated in Total Meltdown compared to what I've seen of other versions. To create the 3D effect, levels are constructed in the style of DOOM, with enemies, women, and objects being rotating 2D sprites. Despite the downside of the PS1 port, they're still rather impressive, and still seem to hold up to this day. Since the music seems to change depending on the version, I will say that the music of the Total Meltdown variant is pretty well-done, and you are able to to listen to a few of them by using the PS1 disk as a CD (though the manual warns against playing Track 1 because its really a data file). The voice of Jon St. John suits the Duke Nukem character quite nicely, and it's nice to know that he treats this role with great admiration and respect. My only complaint about it is that some sounds that should be playing at the end of each episode are left out of this port, so I had to look for them on YouTube in order to know what they were.

One last thing I should mention is that this game has a multiplayer function called Dukematch. However, since Total Meltdown, the only version I have, requires two PS1 consoles, I am unable to comment since I only own one.

Duke Nukem 3D is a game I would whole-heartedly recommend. It's fun, even for those like me who don't excel at its genre, and provides a bit of a great challenge. As said with the first two games, it has a lot of trial-and-error gameplay, presented in an enjoyable and satisfying way. It's good to play the first two games so that you know the story better, but this can still easily be one you can pick up and play. As said before, this is a game that has a large fanbase to this day, and chances are, after playing it, you will become part of it.

[OLD] Duke Nukem II - Not Quite 3D Yet

About two years after the release of Duke Nukem in 1991, Apogee launched the first sequel of the series, simply named Duke Nukem II. As with the original, it was released as a Shareware title (offer a portion of the game for free and then pay to play the rest) for DOS. Is it any better than the original? And more importantly, is it worth paying attention to today?

For starters, there is more of a story in this game than there was in the original. Here, a year has passed since the defeat of Dr. Proton in 1997, with Duke promoting a new autobiography, humorously titled "Why I'm So Great." During a news interview, Duke is taken aboard a spaceship occupied by an alien race known as the Rigelatins, who wish to extract his brain and use it to plan an invasion. Duke escapes from the ship and has to save Earth by fighting on the Rigelatin home world. Again, this is more fleshed out than before but seems more like an excuse plot than anything else. What helps though is that the pixel art is improved and players are accompanied by a static cutscene at the end of each episode as a way to lead into the next. The dialogue from Duke is actually very humorous and well-written, providing the only, but great, source of humor for the game. Then again, it's a game from 1993, so I probably shouldn't be complaining much about the story. After all, the technology wasn't very advanced compared to what we have today, so it suits the time it was made.

Unlike the first game, there is now an option to set a difficulty level when you begin a new episode between Easy, Medium, and Hard. For this review, I played on the Easy setting for the sake of efficiency for this blog's project of playing through as many Duke Nukem games as possible before the release of Forever. The game is fairly challenging by design anyway, with the only main difference being the amount of enemies on screen or how many power-ups you can obtain in a level.

Speaking of power-ups, while they exist in this game, they are, thankfully, not required in order to advance through the game. Instead, power-ups include four different guns with limited shots. These guns are a Laser, a Rocket Launcher, a Flamethrower, and Normal, which sets the gun back to the default one you carry around. Each gun has its own special effectiveness. The Laser can go through anything, including multiple crates and enemies at once; the Rocket Launcher will destroy any enemy in a single hit; and the Flamethrower has a wide range and is the only gun that can continuously fire without needing the Rapid Fire power-up, plus it can act as a makeshift jetpack when pointed at the ground. Health items come in the form of Cola, Turkey, and Atoms, each which boost your Health by one section. However, you can refill six sections with a Six-Pack, or refill by two when you grill the turkey, which now runs toward you instead of being a drumstick, by shooting and then touching it.

All of these power-ups are contained in crates of four colors. Red (Health or harmful Napalm bomb), Blue (Point Items and Atoms), Green (Weapons), or Gray (Essential items or nothing). The placement of these items is not random like one might assume from playing modern games, but rather set in stone. Because of this, it is fairly easy to memorize the placement of certain essential items should you die and have to restart at the beginning or at a handily placed checkpoint. Thus, you can bypass large amounts of crates to get to the essential ones quickly and avoid the crates with bombs more easily.

The game is a platformer by nature, and the last in the series for about ten years to be so. There are eight levels for each of the four episodes, each which seem should get progressively harder as they go. That is actually not the case here. While the first game could get really difficult in the later stages, this game actually has certain "types" of levels, which seem to follow a patterned placement for the first half of the game, but the second half has them placed in a nearly unpredictable fashion. I'm sure this was for challenge, but even that doesn't distract from the fact that the game has a very erratic difficulty spike between levels. The crowning example of this is Episode four, which starts with a difficult platforming segment on the outside of a spaceship, but then the next level is essentially a breeze. Then the game is more difficult but in a way that seems to level out in a very consistent fashion. The penultimate level of that episode, however, requires you to have mastered the platforming of the game to a degree that you will require inhuman reflexes. While I could get used to the game's platforming in the masterfully designed levels, it still doesn't make me less annoyed at the game’s erratic difficulty.

The end of each episode has an entire room dedicated to a boss fight. These fights puzzled me, but in all of the wrong ways. For one thing, there is absolutely no variety in the bosses, save for their pattern of movement or their attacks. Otherwise, they all look exactly the same. Secondly, every single one of them is a total breeze. Their patterns are very easy to figure out and adjust to. Sure you may take some damage during the fight, but they seemed to actually get easier as the game progressed, rather than more difficult. In fact, I purposefully grabbed a power-up in the fourth fight and died just so I could come back with the gun still in my hand and take down the boss with minimal damage. Still, I applaud the developers for making the fights at least somewhat challenging. The first boss requires you to have catlike reflexes to dodge the pattern of nukes and another requires a lot of ducking to stay alive. It may not be much, but I still managed to get some enjoyment out of beating them, if only so I could see another wonderful ending cutscene.

The controls for this game are exactly the same as the first, so I was able to just pick up and play the game with ease. However, some of the platforming can get awkward, since you need to be dead center to climb up poles or chains. This likely stems from the game using blocks of space to determine location instead of individual pixels, so it's really more because of limitations than anything else, only becoming annoying when asked to do this in midair.

Now, the graphics are done very well for the time it was released and vastly improved over those of the first Duke Nukem. The variety of the enemies really shows this, as well the backgrounds standing out better and combined with better textures. However, my hardware would not allow me the pleasure of listening to the music, so I am unable to personally comment on that. It should be noted that Duke's appearance here is much closer to his iconic image from later games, as well as the final time we see him without his shades. His voice is also only heard once at the very beginning before the Main Menu screen, albeit a different one.

So is this game worth your time? I would say that it actually is. Duke Nukem II is significantly improved over the first game all across the board, even if they aren't completely perfect. While there is a large amount of trial-and-error gameplay going on, I can say that Apogee knew how to do it right and is thus a game worth checking out, especially if you have played the first game beforehand. The 3D Realms site has the first episode for free download if you want to try it out first before deciding to buy the full version. Like the first game, there is a word of warning: The game may not work on newer operating systems, so it would be a good idea to unearth an older computer, up to Windows XP, for full enjoyment.

[OLD] Duke Nukem - Introducing the King

After 14 years of development hell, Duke Nukem Forever will finally see the light of day. To celebrate its release on May 3rd June 14, we on this blog shall play and review as many Duke Nukem games as possible, in order of release. Now, let's start with the original 1991 DOS game, simply called, Duke Nukem.

Before I begin, I should mention the backstory behind the name. The game was originally going to be called "Duke Nukem," but was temporarily changed to "Duke Nukum," since the intended name belonged to a villain in a cartoon, Captain Planet and the Planeteers. Thus, the game was released with the changed name. However, Apogee, the developers, found out that the name "Duke Nukem" was actually up for grabs, so they went back to calling the game what they wanted. This is even addressed on the 3D Realms site in order to settle any confusion buyers may have.

To talk about the actual game, the story is rather simple. Duke Nukem must defeat the evil Dr. Proton in order to save the Earth. The game is split into 3 episodes, each taking place on Earth (Shrapnel City), the Moon (Mission: Moonbase), and Earth's Future (Trapped in the Future!) respectively. Not much else to say, really, although the fights against Dr. Proton are rather easy.

Each episode has a few items, which you must collect each time in order to advance. They are the Super Jump Boots, which allow you to jump higher; the Robohand, which lets you activate certain switches; and the Grappling Hook, which lets you latch onto certain ceilings. Your weapon is a Nuclear Pistol, which can be upgraded during gameplay to allow more shots to appear on-screen at once. In order to reach the next level, you will need Keys and/or Access Cards in order to unlock certain doors or get rid of certain hazards.

Power-Ups in the game include Cola Cans and Turkey for 1 Health (shooting the Turkey makes it Cooked Turkey for 2) and Atomic Health for Full Health, while hazards include spikes, dynamite, and lasers. You can find certain things in a variety of boxes that come in 3 colors: Blue (for bonus point items), Red (for Cola Cans or Turkey), and Grey (for Atomic Health, dynamite, items, or nothing).

I'm not sure what to say about the graphics or sound, since this is a rather old game, so I'll just say they're good for when it came out. There are a couple of small issues I have with the graphics, though. For starters, it's sometimes hard to tell at first what you can or can't interact with, depending on what you expect at the moment. However, it becomes easier to deal with as the game progresses. The other issue I have is with the environments. They work at first when they're on Earth, but it's a little hard to accept when the setting becomes the Moon in Episode 2. However, I just went with it, since it's something best not dwelled upon.

The only actual complaint I have about this game is with the controls. They work well and respond as expected, but sometimes an issue comes up with the timing of the button presses. For example, there's a level in Episode 3 where your timing has to be perfectly accurate in order to ascend a column of blocks. In order to go up, you have to jump and go right at the same time, then immediately go left when you reach the next block. It takes a frame for Duke to turn around, and you have to be careful not to apply too much force to the left key or he'll go right across and fall back down. Once you figure it out, though, there's a feeling of accomplishment when you make it through.

Overall, this is a great game that serves as a good introduction to the Duke Nukem franchise. There are some difficult moments here and there, but it's all about trial and error. If you have any interest in playing this game, I suggest you download the first episode for free off the 3D Realms site to see if you want to play any more. Before you do, I should mention that the game might not work on newer computers, so you might want to dust off your oldest one, up to Windows XP, if you still have it.