Duke Nukem 3D
Back when First Person Shooter games were the new thing on the market, there were a lot of Doom clones out there, but one stood out as almost a direct competitor; Duke Nukem 3D. An FPS sequel to an MS-DOS side scroller, Duke Nukem 3D was over-the top, crude, horribly sexist, but also disgustingly fun and unique.
Duke Nukem is a 80s/90s action hero with giant arms, a golden tan, buzz-cut, sunglasses and cigar-in-mouth. A mouth that only opens to deliver some badass line from either Army of Darkness or They Live and a few other choice quotes. He's a little far from a role model, but he knows how to kick some alien butt.
But really, Duke Nukem was a real product of it's time. Released in 1996, back when gaming was still kind of a 'boys club' thing and even still a bit of a 'hidden hobby'; developers could put quite a variety of content on the market without worrying too much about offending certain demographics. Or at least, it sure seemed that way. During large portions of the game you find yourself wandering through strip clubs and porn shops where you can tip strippers see some tits and oggle the goods. Then whip out your machine gun and mow down some alien pig cops.
As ridiculous as Duke Nukem 3D was however, it was also quite innovative. The game engine offered a number of things that weren't available in Wolfenstein or Doom. This included the ability to fly with a jetpack, the inclusion of CCTV cameras within the game that actually rendered their POV live within the game, light switches, laser trip-mines and if I remember correctly, the ability to look up and down. (Doesn't seem like a big thing, but it was.) All this, but it still followed the same Doom gameplay design. Hunt through the levels for colour coded keys, those keys give you access to further points in the level which require more keys. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
The best part of Duke Nukem 3D, the part that gives it by far the most staying power -especially at the time- was the malleability of the game through it's map editor. The Duke 3D map editor was one of the most easy to use pieces of game modifying software available at the time. You could find all the resources online for building your own levels and modifying the game platform. I used to have a huge guide printed out with answers on everything so far as level building went. Jamie, Mike and myself used to build and share levels constantly, it was a favorite hobby at the time for the most of us. Sketching out ideas on paper, building levels bit-by-bit. I always used to try to make levels based on movies, especially Aliens and Jamie actually started fiddling with the code in an attempt to use the engine to build a FPS version of PacMan. The furthest I remember him getting was altering the code so that ammo and other pickups started chasing you through the level. Which was pretty amusing in and of itself.
If you were to look at Duke Nukem 3D now for the first time, it would probably look like a terrible game. A lot of what separated it from other shooters were the kinds of things that are the norm in all FPS games now. It was fun, I wasn't as excited about it moreso than I was with Doom or Doom II, but the map editor made this game more than just a game. It was the equivalent of digital Lego; which was a ton of fun.
Back when First Person Shooter games were the new thing on the market, there were a lot of Doom clones out there, but one stood out as almost a direct competitor; Duke Nukem 3D. An FPS sequel to an MS-DOS side scroller, Duke Nukem 3D was over-the top, crude, horribly sexist, but also disgustingly fun and unique.
Duke Nukem is a 80s/90s action hero with giant arms, a golden tan, buzz-cut, sunglasses and cigar-in-mouth. A mouth that only opens to deliver some badass line from either Army of Darkness or They Live and a few other choice quotes. He's a little far from a role model, but he knows how to kick some alien butt.
But really, Duke Nukem was a real product of it's time. Released in 1996, back when gaming was still kind of a 'boys club' thing and even still a bit of a 'hidden hobby'; developers could put quite a variety of content on the market without worrying too much about offending certain demographics. Or at least, it sure seemed that way. During large portions of the game you find yourself wandering through strip clubs and porn shops where you can tip strippers see some tits and oggle the goods. Then whip out your machine gun and mow down some alien pig cops. The best part of Duke Nukem 3D, the part that gives it by far the most staying power -especially at the time- was the malleability of the game through it's map editor. The Duke 3D map editor was one of the most easy to use pieces of game modifying software available at the time. You could find all the resources online for building your own levels and modifying the game platform. I used to have a huge guide printed out with answers on everything so far as level building went. Jamie, Mike and myself used to build and share levels constantly, it was a favorite hobby at the time for the most of us. Sketching out ideas on paper, building levels bit-by-bit. I always used to try to make levels based on movies, especially Aliens and Jamie actually started fiddling with the code in an attempt to use the engine to build a FPS version of PacMan. The furthest I remember him getting was altering the code so that ammo and other pickups started chasing you through the level. Which was pretty amusing in and of itself.If you were to look at Duke Nukem 3D now for the first time, it would probably look like a terrible game. A lot of what separated it from other shooters were the kinds of things that are the norm in all FPS games now. It was fun, I wasn't as excited about it moreso than I was with Doom or Doom II, but the map editor made this game more than just a game. It was the equivalent of digital Lego; which was a ton of fun.
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