Game:

Duke Nukem 3D (1996)

Duration: 10:30

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Duke Nukem 3D is a First Person Shooter. It was made by 3D Realms and was Published by Apogee in January 1996

What started as a classic platformer series made it's way to the First Person action genre in the third part of the series. Was this game good? Well Duke kinda became an Icon of the 90s in terms of gaming so I guess yeah.

Duke Nukem 3D not only showed us how cool and badass a videogame can be but also changed the way shooters worked.

When Doom came out the shooters were just simple corridor labyrinth's with a lot of enemies, a hero that never talks and has a few weapons and the only things that you could do were run&gun.

When Duke3D came out, this all changed. You no longer had to play a hero that, except for his grunts of pain, never opened up his mouth.
Instead he talks at every given chance and had all his cheesy one-liners which were mostly based on films that came out in the 80's and 90's that gave the game a really humorous touch. Apart from the one-liners spoken there are ofcourse other references to games and movies througout the levels.

For example in the third map of episode 1, you can find a bloody space marine hidden somewhere and the duke say's: Hmm, thats one doomed space marine. Ofcourse a reference to the "Doom-marine" ;)

You had more than a few weapons with you in Duke3D and some of them weren't even guns but instead something like pipe bombs that could be remotely detonated (or picked up again if you don't want to) and laser tripmines that were used as traps (probably more useful in multiplayer matches) Sounds familiar? Well Half-Life had those weapons as well, only pipe bombs were satchel charges. Guess we now know where the inspiration came from ;)

Apart from that there were also some very exotic weapons like the Freezer which would, ofcourse, freeze the enemy you are shooting and then can be smashed into shards with a nice kick of your boot.

And there was also the Shrinker which schrinks the target until it is about as big as a mouse and then you just have to walk over it and Squish! He's history.
Ah, what an hilarious way to get rid of your enemy ;)

Also most of the maps weren't just simple corridors anymore. They tried to give a more realistic feel and although they didn't make sense all the time it didn't felt so random anymore.

The movement was improved which means that you no longer can only run&gun but also duck, jump and even fly (if you find the jetpack) This all made the gameplay more interesting because the maps weren't one leveled areas anymore. And secret places could be found where no one even thought of looking.

Duke3D also had a simple inventory. There are various items that can be picked up such as a portable medkit, nightvision goggles, scuba gear, and steroids (which make you run real fast)

3DRealms wanted to have a lot of interactivity in the world of Duke Nukem 3D. And although this was notably better in the later released Shadow Warrior it was good enough in Duke3D when it first came out.

You can use light switches to turn lights on and off, you can use monitors to see through different surveillance cams throughout the map and scout ahead.
You could use a mirror and hear duke say: Damn, I'm lookin good!
You could even use toilets as...well what they were made for (and get back some health) And so on there was just a lot you could use in the maps.

Apart from that there was also a low level of destructable environments in Duke3D. Most of the walls which can be destroyed are indicated with some kind of crack in the wall and when you see one you can blow it away.
But there are also fire extinguishers which, when you shoot them explode and leave a smalle hole behind.

All in all Duke Nukem 3D was definately one of the best shooters in it's era and no one that is a shooter fan in the slightest way should have missed it.