Duke Nukem 3D

D
MS-DOS 0 subscribers
Manual

287K plays 1996 #Action#Shooter

Duke Nukem 3D is a 1996 first-person shooter game developed by 3D Realms and published by FormGen for MS-DOS. It is a sequel to the platform games Duke Nukem and Duke Nukem II, published by 3D Realms.

Duke Nukem 3D features the adventures of the titular Duke Nukem, voiced by Jon St. John, who fights against an alien invasion on Earth. Along with Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake, Duke Nukem 3D is considered to be responsible for popularizing first-person shooters, and was released to major critical acclaim. Reviewers praised the interactivity of the environments, gameplay, level design, and unique risqué humor, a mix of pop-culture satire and lampooning of over-the-top Hollywood action heroes. However, it also incited controversy due to its violence, erotic elements, and portrayal of women. Since its release, Duke Nukem 3D has been cited as one of the greatest video games ever made.

From Wikipedia's article Duke Nukem 3D, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Controls

This is a PC game: it uses the keyboard the way it did under MS-DOS, and the mouse where the game supports it. Click the game screen first so it gets your key presses.

Many DOS games start with a menu or ask a question first — read the screen and answer with the keyboard. Arrow keys, Enter, Space, Ctrl and Alt are the usual game keys.

From the manual, pages 3–4

Open the manual at page 3

Emulator help & troubleshooting

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Controls

This is a PC game: it uses the keyboard the way it did under MS-DOS, and the mouse where the game supports it. Click the game screen first so it gets your key presses.

Many DOS games start with a menu or ask a question first — read the screen and answer with the keyboard. Arrow keys, Enter, Space, Ctrl and Alt are the usual game keys.

From the manual, pages 3–4

Open the manual at page 3

Emulator help & troubleshooting

Videos

Duke Nukem: Episode 1 - Shrapnel City MS-DOS 56K plays • 1991
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Doom II: Hell on Earth MS-DOS 998K plays • 1994
Wolfenstein 3D MS-DOS 2.1M plays • 1992
Raptor: Call of the Shadows MS-DOS 417K plays • 1994
Blood MS-DOS 198K plays • 1997
Heretic MS-DOS 219K plays • 1994
Doom MS-DOS 3.7M plays • 1993
Quake MS-DOS 201K plays • 1996
Vlak MS-DOS 413K plays • 1993
Jurassic Park MS-DOS 89K plays • 1993
Tunneler MS-DOS 119K plays • 1991
Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold MS-DOS 129K plays • 1993
Tyrian MS-DOS 58K plays • 1995
Spear of Destiny MS-DOS 187K plays • 1992
Rise of the Triad: Dark War MS-DOS 98K plays • 1994
Airlift Rescue MS-DOS 47K plays • 1995
Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf MS-DOS 62K plays • 1992
CHAMP Galaxia MS-DOS 40K plays • 1996
Catacomb 3-D: The Descent MS-DOS 60K plays • 1992

Pixel Verdict

Duke Nukem 3DDOS

4.5 Great job!

Metascore 89 · 8 critics

What the reviews talk about

Key wordsvariedimpressivedatedcomplexsolid

What the critics said

  • A Next Generation critic summarized: "Duke Nukem 3D has everything Doom doesn't, but it also doesn't leave out the stuff that made Doom a classic."

    — Next Generation

  • Next Generation stated that "The sound effects and music are solid, the levels are still interactive as heck, and it's never quite felt so good blasting enemies with a shotgun or blowing them to chunks with pipe bombs."

    — Next Generation, 1998

  • Peer Schneider of IGN called it "a better and much more intense shooter than Hexen and Doom 64, and currently the best N64 game with a two-player co-op mode. If you don't already own the PC or Saturn version of Duke, do yourself a favor and get it."

    — IGN, 1997 (Peer Schneider)

  • Crispin Boyer of Electronic Gaming Monthly, while complaining that the large weapons obscure too much of the player's view in four-player mode, assessed that "You're not gonna find a better console version of Duke."

    — Electronic Gaming Monthly, 1998 (Crispin Boyer)

  • IGN's Jay Boor gave it a more enthusiastic recommendation, saying it "plays exactly like its PC predecessor" and praising the PlayStation-exclusive levels and link cable support.

    — IGN, 1997 (Jay Boor)

  • Next Generation reviewed the Macintosh version of the game and stated that "Though it took a year, the Mac port of Duke Nukem 3D is an impressive feat, both for the game's own features, and the quality of the port."

    — Next Generation, 1997· about another version

  • AllGame editor Colin Williamson highly praised the Sega Saturn port, referring to it as "one of the best versions" and that it was "probably one of the best console ports ever released."

    — AllGame (Colin Williamson)· about another version

From the Reception section of Wikipedia's Duke Nukem 3D article, under CC BY-SA 4.0. The words are the critics'; their full reviews are on the publishers' pages.

Scores

  • Metascore 89/100 · 8 critics · PC
  • GameRankings 89% · archived average · DOS
  • AllGame 4.5/5 (SAT) (other versions)
  • Electronic Gaming Monthly 7/10 ; 8/10 ; 8/10 ; 7/10 ; (SAT) ; 8.0/10 ; (N64) (other versions)
  • Famitsu 21/40 (PS1) (other versions)
  • GameSpot 1998 8.8/10 (PC) ; 7.3/10 (N64) ; 4.8/10 (PS1)
  • IGN 1997 8/10 (N64) ; 7/10 (PS1) (other versions)
  • N64 Magazine 1997 86% (N64) (other versions)
  • Next Generation 4/5 (PC, MAC) ; 3/5 (N64)
  • Maximum 5/5 (PC)
  • Sega Saturn Magazine 97% (SAT) (other versions)
  • Computer Game Review 1996 94/100

From the review table of Wikipedia's article. The face takes, first that applies: the Metascore for this platform, GameRankings' archived average, our average of the critics (one number per publication, a panel averaged), one review alone, the players' rating. Critics and players are never mixed.

Players' rating: 72/100 · 1,228 votes

Full reviews

Face key

  1. 1.00+
  2. 1.540+
  3. 2.050+
  4. 2.560+
  5. 3.068+
  6. 3.575+
  7. 4.080+
  8. 4.585+
  9. 5.090+

5.0 Outstanding! · 4.0 Great job! · 3.0 Good job · 2.0 Could be better · 1.0 Wake me up when it's over · A thumbs-up adds half a point. Our own drawings, in the spirit of the faces GamePro magazine used in the '90s.

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