Richard "Levelord" Gray, George Broussard note None of these levels were created from scratch but were instead refined and repurposed from materials that were scrapped before the initial release. The fourth episode was added to the game as part of the Atomic Edition. The third episode takes place back on Earth. The second episode takes place in outer space. Luckily I still have a wealth of classic, gameplay heavy PC experiences that I’ve yet to sink my teeth into (X-COM: UFO Defense, you’re next!).The first episode takes place in Neo Los Angeles. Maybe there is no longer a market for it’s brand of action, and if that’s the case, so be it. ![]() I’ve found plenty to enjoy in modern games, and story-focussed ones as well, but I feel the Duke Nukem 3D approach to gameplay has been mostly lost in recent years. This isn’t to say Duke Nukem 3D is a simple game, or that say, Bioshock Infinite is a more complicated one, but the latter did a whole lot less to entertain me. As games become more complicated I fear we’ll lose some of the qualities that were held dear decades ago. By staying focussed, as opposed to spreading out in a hundred directions at once, Duke Nukem 3D feels extremely tight and concise. Of course I’m not saying this is a flaw of the industry, just that the current trend’s aren’t particularly to my liking. I’m sorry, but when I sit down to play a game, I’d much rather be instantly entertained than sit through backstory and character development. While the trend towards deeper stories and more relatable characters in games is certainly admirable, it’s also made me feel increasingly out of touch with the medium. What I mean by this is that Duke Nukem is, first and foremost, a piece of entertainment, and is enjoyed as a game nothing more, nothing less. What Duke Nukem possesses (and what The New Order had to a lesser degree) is an overall game-y nature. ![]() Turn 90 degrees to shoot an enemy here, shoot this wall with a rocket launcher to reveal a secret, drop down to find a keycard here the game starts to become more of a puzzle than a straight-up run and gun shooter, and it’s brilliant. After a few tries, the player begins to memorize enemy placement, and the game gradually becomes more methodical. This may sound like a negative (how could confusing level design possibly be a good thing?), but in Duke Nukem’s case, the sense of accomplishment garnered from learning it’s intricate levels back to front is simply unmatched in many modern shooters. ![]() While games like The New Order have offered wide-open environments with multiple approaches to combat, the game never really had me scratching my head like Duke 3D does. The level design here is exquisite, and while it can get fairly confusing at times, the maze-like structure is something seen very rarely in modern shooters. Sure, I enjoyed Bioshock Infinite, up until the last hour or so, and Wolfenstein: The New Order was the same case, but I can’t help wishing story was once again tossed aside in favor of gameplay, in the case of FPS’s.īut it’s not just the focus on gameplay in Duke Nukem that appeals to me more than just about any other FPS in recent memory. Perhaps my attention span has deteriorated after years of playing games, but the increasing focus on narrative in FPS campaigns left me extremely tired of the genre. The question is, does this” shoot first, ask questions later” approach work to the game’s advantage? After spending some time with Duke 3D, and other classic FPS’s, my answer is a resounding yes. There is no opening cutscene, nothing to set the stage for the ensuing chaos, only the player, a pistol, and angry aliens. Mere seconds into Duke Nukem 3D, and the action has begun.
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