Duke Nukem 3D

Has the Duke lost his innocence?

• Duke Nukem 3D
• 3D Realms Entertainment
• PC CD-ROM
• 486DX/66, 16MB RAM
• $39.95

oor Duke Nukem. He didn't even make it back home after defeating the Rigelitans (in Duke Nukem II) before more alien nasties invaded the Earth and shot him down over Los Angeles. Now he's angry and ready to pound some alien butt.

With this plot, Duke Nukem 3D takes the classic 16-color, side-scrolling game from Apogee into a new dimension. Duke's new medium is a first-person, lightning-fast shoot-'em-up in the style of Doom. Thrashing his way through movie theaters, sushi joints and adult book stores, Duke can unload on his enemies with shotguns, chainguns, pipe bombs and the insanely destructive Devastator. Opposing him are mutated police, alien assault troopers, "Octabrains" and various slimes all too happy to shoot back with equally deadly force. As usual, Duke must collect colorful keys to get from place to place while picking up all the useful ammunition and first aid that (as we all know) litter the streets of Los Angeles. He is also called upon to scuba dive and use a jet pack.

So what does this game offer that's new to the Doom genre? Frankly, not much. There are some amusing weapons: The Shrinker zaps opponents down to bug size for Duke to step on. The Freezer temporarily turns them to ice and when Duke goes near he "auto-kicks" them into shards. Duke can also angle his point of view up and down, which helps when shooting over ledges or up at snipers. Another fun bit is that all the levels have cameras accessible from terminals, so Duke can see where the monsters are.

Those tricks aside, this is essentially a standard wade-through-a-sea-of-blood, which wouldn't be such a bad thing were it not for the "babes." Yes, the alien invaders desire human women with impossible figures (presumably that's why the invasion begins in Los Angeles). At the end of the first segment, the aliens take the "babes" to the moon where they tie them up, leaving them naked and in suggestive poses. No, really. The babes can even be shot -- their bodies rip apart in gory detail.

While the first two Duke Nukem games treated Duke's over-testosteronized masculinity ironically (powerups included footballs), this whole babes thing goes too far. The game's "Adult Mode" can be turned off and password protected, which removes the babes but doesn't change the posters at the triple-X movie theater. Duke Nukem has lost his innocence in other ways as well. He used to get a charge out of a turkey leg or a can of soda. In 3D he collects steroids. On the brighter side, the game comes bundled with a number of bonuses, including the full version of that real gem, the original Duke Nukem.

Were it not for the babes this game would be a pretty admirable, if not enormously innovative addition to the genre.

Don't think that I haven't spent hours blasting virtual monsters to shreds. I have. This kind of interface is really fun, but when is someone going to design a game around it that's not just a hyper-violent Doom knockoff? -- Brooks

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