PCPP Online - PCPP#003: Duke Nukem 3D Review

It's all in the game

Right. Let's put an end to this silly, penile competition over who has the best 3D engine. The theory of which being that since "mine is bigger and faster and more powerful, then my game is obviously better too". It doesn't matter, it is all just hype. Sure, a capable 3D graphics engine is necessary, but it is hardly sufficient to produce a good game. Play Wolfenstein 3D today and be surprised at how absorbing and cleverly-designed it is. Play Tekwar, for which Capstone borrowed 3D Realms' Build engine, and you will be surprised at the dull, sprawling levels, the characterless foe, the underwhelming weaponry, and the fact that people you cannot see kill you all the bloody time. Play Duke Nukem 3D and... oh, you know.

Duke is unquestionably the best-looking 3D game around. It's not the most realistic - the Build engine can't compete on a technical level with Bethesda's XnGine, as used in Terminator: Future Shock. It's not the most frightening - you won't be scaring yourself stupid every time you open a door or peer round a corner, as in Doom. And it's not the most absorbing either - only occasionally do you believe or feel as though you are really there, so to speak, as in Terminator again. But it IS the best-looking. The enormous variety on display is one of the reasons for this. The other is the way 3D Realms have let their imagination run wild. No other game in this genre has so many diverse locations and then so many interesting and exciting things happening in them. The attention to detail is staggering and Duke doesn't give you a moment to get bored. Each level has oodles of secret bits, as well as plenty of amusing incidental touches (the cinema, the pool table, the toilets, the secret room that has "How did you get here?" written on the wall)

Exaggerated and Cartoon-Like Act!

Bold colour is used to great effect, creating a world that is completely unreal, almost like a cartoon. Similarly, all the action is just as exaggerated and cartoon-like, the explosions especially, are simply immense and totally over the top. These elements together add a welcome sense of fun to the game. Duke is definitely one game that doesn't take itself seriously. Why, when you have Duke himself: uttering wisecracks such as "Hur, hur! What mess!" after a particularly successful killing spree or "Don't have time to play with myself" when you find a Duke Nukem arcade machine, it almost borders on the light-hear ed. The comment that brings a smile to my lips every time though, is when he sees himself in a mirror and says, "Damn, I'm lookin’ good!". I guarantee it'll have you stopping at every mirror you find.

I can also guarantee that this game will alter your perception of the world. I, for one, will never be able to look at a fire extinguisher in quite the same way again. Whenever I have walked up a ramp since, I tilt my head so as to keep my line of sight parallel to the ground. And it is with great difficulty that I have managed to restrain the urge to rip the air-conditioning vents off the walls at uni over the last couple of weeks. But I digress.