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Damn, those alien bastards are gonna pay for shooting up my ride! That’s the first thing you hear when entering the world of Duke Nukem, well if you ignore the level select ‘Let’s Rock’. 

So you remember the shareware/experience that was Duke Nukem 3D. The sequel to the side scrolling Duke Nukem and Duke Nukem II. 3D was released as shareware in January 1996 and a full version landing the following April.

If you’re reading this and don’t know what I’m talking about you’re either very young or missed something from your forty-something life that would have changed everything.

As I mentioned before the previous incarnations, Duke games were side-scrolling shooters much in the format of Contra and other similar games but D3D (Duke Nukem 3D for further reference) took a leaf from the Doom/Wolfenstein camp of FPS.

So what made it such an important game? Back in the 90’s with the subtraction of titles such as ‘Leisure Suit Larry’ there were very few games that explored the more ‘adult’ themes of the day. But D3D made up giggle like naugty school boys which the swearing and the objectification of women. I’m not saying that I condone this but this was the 90’s, it was a different time and I was a different age, making my way in the world. So don’t judge me!

It was obvious at the time that even though the title boasts 3D this was fully 2D but what a game it was. Your task, should you choose to accept it was to destroy an alien invasion with nothing more than an arsenal of weapons and a sassy mouth.

By today’s standards it looks pretty naff but at the time it was THE game. There was something about the violence and the satisfaction of blowing away alien scum with a bazooka that made it the classic that it was.

Even though compared to the FPS games you’re enjoying on your modern consoles now this looks like the pits but please give it a go and remember how good it made you feel.

Don’t forget the map editor as a matter of importance. I used to create maps of my student digs in the 90’s and we’d launch LAN games and combat in our own abodes.

Nowadays, it’s considered ‘abandonware’ so you you can download and play at your leisure. I’ve even been so kind to add an online version below for your delectation...

Don’t get me started about the disaster that was ‘Duke Nukem Forever’ it failed on every level to recreate the spectacle of the original and took almost a decade to create. Ignore it and enjoy the original!

Author

Paul Wright

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