[FEB 2023 PLAYTHROUGH:]
Every now and again I feel like replaying Duke 3D because in my mind its just such a classic and has so much charm about it. This time I wanted to make sure to get as pure and accurate of the original experience as possible. I played it on MS-Dos, but even in those days you could remap the keys to have WASD+Mouse look up and down, so it plays just like a modern game would.
This playthrough, I only played the first 3 episodes. The original complete package, nothing extra.
The original MS-Dos graphics are just perfect, it may sound weird but i much prefer the cruncy, lo-fi, pixelated fuzzy graphics of the original experience compaed to any upscaled, "HD" high res source port. It's just not the same thing. The graphics in the original version are so immersive because it lets your mind fill in the blanks of some of the fuzzy graphic spots. The lighting seems most accurate and preserved in the original experience too, the pixelation helps to fade things into the darkness and light that doesn't seem to be kept in other source ports. So yeah, definitely I would say you need to play the MS-Dos version, or atleast the most accurate source port possible (Rednukem) to capture the real intended experience.
What can I say about Episode 1, LA Meltdown? It's just too iconic. It was released for free, as Shareware, it only has 5 levels but they're mostly really good and iconic. Level 1, Hollywood Holocaust, is just as good as any first Doom level, and is one of the most memorable and classic levels in gaming history. Has you starting off with aliens shooting down your ship, crash landed on some roof in the middle of the city, then blasting your way through the streets and into a theater playing raunchy adult movies.
Episode 1 takes place on earth, in the streets of USA, then by level 3 you get captured and put in a freaking electric chair in the level 'Death Row' which is really badass way to start a level. Then you have to break out of prison and go through all these prison cells looking for the exit, flipping switches.
Then you get to level 4, Toxic Dump which features a really memorable start of the level where your'e trapped inside a submarine and need to solve a simple button puzzle to escape, while it slowly fils with water, then you make your way inside a complex that has these weird puzzles where you need to first stand infront of a beam that shrinks you as you make your way through a hole like a rat, then press a switch, then come back up and stand on some platform and be grabbed by a claw to be picked up and dropped on another part in the map. The game has some weird puzzles at times, but its kinda clever how innovative they can be with it. The level progresses through a lot of different water based areas and button puzzles and platforming but its never too confusing or hard to follow, its consistently interesting.
last you go to level 5, The Abyss, whic his like this giant desert canyon mountain type area which is admittedly the worst level in the episode, maybe one of the worst in the game, because its this very vertical level and you have to do some weird platforming to some location to trigger a earthquake then climb back down into this volcano, pressing some weird handprint switches on the wall that you basically never see again. It's a confusing mess of a level, but visually it looks pretty cool, its just hard to navigate - but even the worst Duke 3d level is still pretty damn cool. The second half of the level is really cool though, you eventually make your way inside a big alien complex fortress which looks like something straight out of the movie Alien, you make your way through this green crazy base, then find the first boss; this giant Battlelord wearing badass armor and weilding a giant minigun and shoots bombs at you. You can turn your jetpack on and fly circles around the arena and shoot rockets at him, hes pretty easy but fun. When you kill him you get an amazing cutscene where the boss mutters "Who the hell are you!?" and Duke says "I'm Duke Nukem and im coming to get the rest of you alien bastards" then proceeds to blow his face off and stands with his boot on his corpse. Awesome.
Episode 2 really changes things up, because now youre no longer on Earth but youre in outer space, navigating space stations. The level design here is really good, although I think the enviornments are a tad bit more generic and sterile than the rest of the game. It also introduces a few new enemies such as the flying drones, that are in my opinion some of the least interesting ones in the game, but theyre still fun to fight. The difficulty ramps up in this level and they throw a lot more of those chaingun reptile guys at you to keep you on your toes . It really feels like the first episode was just the Demo teaser, but then Episode 2 is really where the real game picks up to test your skills. Its got some impressive visuals such as the spots where you can see the earth from the space station, and the sections where you travel in these little moving carts across the space station in space.Ive got no complaints for the level design here, the pacing is perfect and I never found myself lost or stuck or running in circles for more than a minute or two. They tend to start throwing in these smaller versions of the Episode 1 final boss at you throughout the game now, which is really intense. The last level of episode 2 is this big alien fortress gauntlet complex of enemies, then you find yourself in another circular arena fighting another boss very similar to episode 1. This time it's like a giant bullfrog with rocket launchers on its back, though. When you see him, Duke says "I'll rip your head off and shit down your neck" Awesome. The boss fight is pretty easy you kinda just run in circles and shoot rockets but the great part is when you kill him, you get a cutscene where Duke literally rips his head off and shits down his neck.
Then, in Episode 3, you go back down to earth to finish off the alien invasion. The levels here are some of the highlights of the game, Levels like Raw Meat, LA Rumble, Hotel Hell are all classic levels and perfect examples of what makes the game great. Clever innovative level design with well placed keys and 'objectives' and memorable locations. However one of the levels here, Rapid Transit is probably the worst level in the game. Its in a subway station and you have to get on this train as it goes around in circles but its not really clear what youre supposed to do, you have to jump off the train at the right moment to jump up to an above ledge to grab a key. Then after you get the key and progress, another wall blows up and it spawns Overlords around you randomly its just kinda a clusterfuck and not much fun to play. Finally at the end of Episode 3 you have the legendary finale in a football field against the final alien boss where you go around in circles dodging his rockets and shooting him with your own, then the game ends you get a cutscene of yourself kicking his eyeball thru the football goal.
So yeah most of the levels are just awesome with great pacing and memorable locations. But what about the enemies and guns? Yeah theyre pretty much perfect too. The arsenal here is a lot of iconic typical stuff you' expect, pistols, shotgun, chaingun, rocket launcher, pipe bombs, but also more crazy stuff like a freezethrower, Shrink gun, trip mines etc all sorts of stuff. The gun sound effects and overall sound of the game is just amazing every sound effect is so raw and crunchy, the enemies taking hits makes loud spurts of blood and screams and gurgling noises, everything feels really impactful and chunky. The shotgun in particular makes such a large raw blast sound and clanging reload coupled with the graphic of pumping it and shells flying out is just really satisfying. The rocket launcher as well is really fun to use and makes enemies turn into exploding masses of giblets and flying gore, but its also really strategic because you can easily kill yourself with it so you have to carefully plan back and forth what the right time to use it is. The enemy variety here is amazing too, the enemies are sci-fi aliens but its almost more like they're horror inspired monsters than stereotypical aliens. They look really menacing and theres a large variety of designs. You have the standard alien grunt soldier, then you have these weird flying brain octoupus things that make really creepy noises, you have these chaingun reptiles that can really wittle your health down, you have the classic pig cop shotgunners that have more health, then theres other weird designs like these half spaceship half mutant alien things that say "Suck it down!" at you. The game has a really great and charming sense of humor and everything about it just melds together to create this sense of passion and handcrafted personality that a lot of other games dont achieve. The gunplay is really satisfying like Doom where you have to constantly juggle back and forth which weapon to pull out for which situation using the number keys, it can get really intense and challenging too.
Another cool feature is the difficulty selections. Theres 4 difficulties, and really the difficultie sdont even change how much damage you take or deal, it changes the amount of enemies you encounter. So it makes for replayability and seeing new encounters on higher difficulties. On the highest difficulty, it even makes enemies respawn unless you destroy their corpse with explosives, which is a really neat and appreciated alternate sort of gamemode. It's also notorious for jam packing tons of secrets and interactivity in the game, everything in the enviornment you can frequently interact with and change parts of the levels, eavery level has almost 10 secrets , cracks in the walls, interacting with a random painting opening a compartment, finding all sorts of power ups and pickups from portable health packs, Jetpacks, Steroids that make you run fast but largley are pointless, Night vision goggles, Decoys etc. This is an innovation in FPS design where you actually have a inventory and can at any moment use one of these items it really changes up the gameplay and gives you incentive to explore and find these secrets, its really satisfying finding some of these secrets cause theyre often humorous or just interesting but also the game has so many hidden little jokes and easter eggs it almost makes the game infinitely replayable because theres always something new to see.
Duke 3D is just a classic of FPS gaming genre and gaming in general, its got so much personality and charm, really fun gameplay and combat, memorable levels, its one of the greats.
9/10
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[OLDER 2020 PLAYTHRU, ATOMIC EDITION , weak review]
the base
game is pretty much god tier, all 4 episodes with almost every single
level being memorable and really exciting to explore. tons of funny
easter eggs and secrets, really impactful unique weapons, awesome
oldschool detailed graphics, great FPS mechanics / inventory system,
keycard hunting, amazing SFX and music. the game is just a legend. my
only small gripe is episode 2 is my least favorite because of the space
setting, but its still cool.
9/10
Duke It Out In DC (Expansion, Megaton Edition)
taking place in DC with 7 levels you go through various landmarks,
this is made by a third party dev but officially released by 3d realms.
its lesser than the original levels of course, with some frustrating and
truly annoying maze like level design, but it has some impressive
architecture and after all, its competently done more duke content! so
its good in my books.
7/10
Duke Caribbean: Life's a Beach
made by the same devs as duke it out, this one takes place on a
vacation beach resort and replaces all weapons and items / sfx /
graphics with appropriate comfy styles. you have waterguns instead of
real guns basically. the whole vibe of the expansion is really cozy and
peaceful, even if your blasting aliens away. level design is memorable,
with some less than good moments. its another competent expansion, a
short but difficult one too.
7/10
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