Duke Nukem 3D was one of the later Build Engine 3D First person shooters that emerged in the mid to late 90s as part of the FPS boom of that era. It wasn't the most technically advanced game, Quake had just launched with polygon graphics, it wasn't the most atmospheric, both Quake and the older Dark Forces beat it on that count, but it had a strange perfect storm combination of level design, humour and action that means it is still spoken about in hallowed tones to this day.
You play Duke Nukem, star of 2 side scrolling shot-em-ups, while travelling home from your latest adventure Duke is shot down after finding out that aliens have invaded, mutated the LAPD and in general caused chaos, and only one man can stop them.
In general gameplay involved you, as Duke, battling your way through levels, solving puzzles and finding keys. Nothing really that new. So, what was it in this game that chewed up so many hours of my adolescent life?
Some would list obvious answers such as its 18 rating, profanity and mild sexual references (It had strippers in) which were fun, as was much of the low brow humour, but it was more than that. The game had an immense sense of fun, often based in toilet humour but also in riffing as many films as possible. In fact 3D Realms were sued by ID Software over a small part of the game featuring a dead space marine from Doom, to which duke said "That's one Doomed space marine" There was stuff like this littered all over the place, but it went further. The level design incorporated in jokes, such as the Shawshank Redemption style escape tunnel behind a poster in the prison level. This was turned up a notch in the Plutonium Pack expansion, particularly in the Pigsty level, which riffed The Terminator, but also had Die Hard and Dirty harry references.
A second part of what appealed to me was the interaction and modeling. On a basic level, bullets left holes in concrete, mirrors and security cameras worked. A better touch was weapon effects, get shot by a shotgun close up, it hurt, and you knew it did, duke screamed, blood was liberally dashed on nearby walls. Similarly blow someone away next to a wall and there was a satisfying blood stain trickling down. It led to a decent but not too serious level of immersiveness.
Duke nukem introduced some interesting weapons. Yes it had the near traditional pistol, shotgun, chaingun, rocket launcher staples that we'd seen previously (Although adding clips to the pistol and making it a weapon with a fair rate of fire was nice) it then gave a fairly original (For the time) selection of extras, we had the shrink ray, which temporarily shrunk opponents down to micro size. This was used in some puzzles to shrink duke himself but there was always fun to be had shrinking and squashing enemies. Similarly the freeze gun allowed freezing and shattering. While Pipe bombs and laser trip bombs weren't used as much in combat they did provide extra spice to multiplayer (Where remote bombs and proximity mines tend to crop up as standard)
Finally level design. Duke nukem had two great aspects in the design of its levels. First was the look and feel of levels. Dukes second episode did some good things using old staples of space stations and moon bases, although these looked more like most other FPS games of the time, its real power was in grungy urban environments, which it did fantastically. Red light districts, Sushi restaurants, underground trains, lapdancing bars, fast food restaurants and a sorting office all crop up and these shine. There were even some pretty damn impressive looking stages, like the sunken city. Similarly the actual level design allowed for some spectacular setpieces, such as cutting down marauding baddies as they invade a bar, or ending one level in a trap, to start the next unarmed and in the electric chair, or on occasion where it just flung and onslaught of foes at you.
In the end, Duke Nukem was a fun adventure with some levels that just made you want to explore, while I liked Quake, ultimately, one had a dumb brightly coloured world where I could shoot aliens on the toilet and have showdowns with flying pigs in an LA backstreet, the other had moody Gothic atmosphere. In the end, you always go back to the flying pigs.
Thought I'd post a few opinions regarding the recent Deadpool Thunderolts crossover. Now, I dislike this sort of crossover, as I pointed out in the post regarding the upcoming Dark Avengers/X-men crossover, I don't like having to pick up titles that I don't normally pick up to get a whole story. Put it in one title or the other. That said at least I currently pick up Deadpool and Thunderbolts.
The scarlet Swordsmistres sis a Katana based scrapper with increased agility powers. My goal here was to try and make a Natural based character with mostly real world powers, so she dodges attacks using martial arts and uses skills with a sword in combat. I actually quite like the close quarters slugging of playing a scrapper, but do have to remember that the don't have the resilience of a tank.
Duke Nukem 3D was one of the later Build Engine 3D First person shooters that emerged in the mid to late 90s as part of the FPS boom of that era. It wasn't the most technically advanced game, Quake had just launched with polygon graphics, it wasn't the most atmospheric, both Quake and the older Dark Forces beat it on that count, but it had a strange perfect storm combination of level design, humour and action that means it is still spoken about in hallowed tones to this day.
Tanko was a mild mannered worker at a tank factory until one day the tank he was working on fell into a sizable vat of toxic waste which was then struck by lightening and probably bathed on cosmic rays. On emerging he had gained mysterious tank like powers, based around increased strength and invulnerability. In fact his skin is now plate metal, like tank armour.
armour pieces on to his skin and formed a costume. Eventually he was discovered by the superhuman Strike force freedom and returned to society in general. As well as general heroing he works part time as a bouncer and has even found a big and tall store to get clothes that fit.
This was a title I really swithered on Picking up. See, I'm a big hawkeye fan, but not so much a fan of Clint Barton: Ronin. That and I'm really trying to cut down my buying. Still I eventually cracked and decided to take a look at this mini focusing on Ronin and his previously thought dead wife Bobbi Morse, aka Mockingbird.
Bob Stranger PI is a magic base controller with fire and weather control based powers. He is my main alt and sits at around level 25. Doctor Bob Stranger is Bob's Nemesis, A necromancer and practitioner of the dark arts. More on him later.
Bob stranger is a Private Detective based in Paragon city, he solves mysteries, locates objects and people for a small fee plus expenses. Bob was not always superhuman. During a case where he was sent to track down a mysterious amulet for M.A.G.I. He located the item being held by a gang of Hellions. Pinned down by fire while trying to retrieve it the amulet mysteriously absorbed into Bob's body. He discovered that he could control fire and the elements. On returning to M.A.G.I. they confirmed the amulet was embedded in his chest and was providing him with magical powers. Thing is, Bob Doesn't believe in Magic. Nonetheless he started using his powers to assist him in the tight scrapes his PI work so often gets him into.
Reading of Bob's exploits Dr Steve soon became almost obsessed with Bob Stranger, even changing his name to match. He decided to discredit Bob in the eyes of Paragon City's heroes. To this end he acquired a similar wardrobe and started wreaking havoc. Bob Stranger PI was now wanted, and had to adopt a makeshift costume to keep working without risking constant attacks from other heroes. Bob set about trying to clear his name. He caught up with Dr Bob Stranger and a battle ensued. Bob had the advantage, as the stone powering Dr Bob was still adapting to its new body. Bob Stranger PI won the day and Dr bob was sent to the Ziggaraut. However, after being sprung by Arachnos he quickly turned his back on them and is now working through the Rouge island's underworld, building up his power to take on Bob Stranger PI again.
During the second Rikiti invasion Bob Stranger Defended his old neighborhood in Kings Row and teamed up with other heroes to thwart the Rikiti's plans. Using his powers caused strange markings to appear on his skin, like mystic symbols, and as his power grew suddenly he was engulfed in a bright light, emerging in a mystical costume. He still prefers his usual suit and hat, but often uses his costume when working with other heroes.
