Duke Nukem 3D (1996)

Lore & Background

The game features the adventures of the titular Duke Nukem, voiced by Jon St. John, who fights against an alien invasion on Earth. The story picks up after Duke Nukem II, with Duke returning to Earth and his ship shot down over Los Angeles. He fights through three episodes in the original release: L.A. Meltdown, Lunar Apocalypse, and Shrapnel City. The Atomic Edition added a fourth episode, The Birth. A fifth episode, Alien World Order, was added in the 20th Anniversary World Tour.

In Their Own Story

The corridor reeks of ozone and burnt polymer. Duke kicks the last alien's still-twitching body off his boot and checks his shotgun's cylinder—two shells left, which is fine, because the next room will have a BFG. Through the shattered viewport, the station's reactor core pulses a sickly amber, and somewhere below, a Nazi officer is barking orders at a squad that has no idea what's coming up that ramp. Duke adjusts his sunglasses, cracks his neck, and mutters a one-liner only the player will hear. The elevator dings. He steps in. The doors close. He's already planning the next room.

Reader's Guide

As a first-person shooter similar to Doom, gameplay involves moving through levels from the protagonist's point of view, shooting enemies. Environments are highly destructible and interactive. Levels are non-linear, with air ducts, back doors, and sewers. Duke's arsenal includes the Mighty Foot, pistol, shotgun, chain gun, RPG, pipe bombs, freezethrower, shrink ray, laser land mines, and Devastator. The Atomic Edition adds an Expander; the 20th Anniversary World Tour adds an Incinerator. Items include medkit, steroids, night vision goggles, HoloDuke, protective boots, aqua-lung, and jet pack. Enemies include Pig Cops and various aliens, with bosses at episode ends.

Did You Know?

• The shareware version was released on January 23, 1996, and the full version on April 19, 1996.
• The Plutonium PAK, an expansion pack with a fourth episode, was released in October 1996.
• The Atomic Edition, a standalone version with the Plutonium PAK content and version 1.5, was released on December 11, 1996.
• A fifth episode was released on October 11, 2016, with 20th Anniversary World Tour published by Gearbox Software.
• The game was developed on a budget of roughly $300,000 by a team of 8 to 13 people.