Duke Nukem 3D: Episode 2 – Lunar Apocalypse

Lore & Background

In Episode Two: Lunar Apocalypse, Duke journeys to space, where he finds many of the captured women held in various incubators throughout space stations that had been conquered by the aliens. Duke reaches the alien mother ship on the Moon and kills an alien Overlord. As Duke inspects the ship's computer, it is revealed that the plot to capture women was merely a ruse to distract him. The aliens have already begun their attack on Earth.

In Their Own Story

The sky above the lunar base was a black sheet pocked with cold stars. Duke Nukem, bootprints fresh on the dusty surface, kicked in the airlock door. 'Time to clean house,' he muttered, shotgun raised. The aliens had turned the moon into a fortress, but they hadn't counted on one pissed-off human with a cache of weapons and a bad attitude.

Reader's Guide

The final level of Episode Two is not named in the source article. The source states that Duke kills an alien Overlord on the Moon, but does not specify the level name. The alien queen boss first appears in Episode One (L.A. Meltdown) in the level 'The Queen's Lair', not in Lunar Apocalypse.

Did You Know?

• The shareware version of Duke Nukem 3D was released on January 24, 1996, while the full version was released on April 19, 1996.
• The game was developed on a budget of roughly $300,000 by a core team of around 5-6 people for most of the development cycle.
• Duke Nukem 3D is considered responsible for popularizing first-person shooters along with Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake.