Duke Nukem 3D

Posted 4 years ago By - Brian Edey

“Those alien bastards are gonna pay for shooting up my ride!” What a great way to start the Xbox 360 version of the classic PC First Person Shooter which offered some revolutionary gameplay and in many ways it still has not been matched by many games since the original was first played all those years ago. Kick ass weapons, cool concepts and level design mixed with a fun sense of humor is what you got in 1996 and you get basically a better experience today with many new features to add to the games enjoyment.

This version of Duke Nukem 3D is by far the official uber edition of the game, containing the original Duke Nukem 3D three episode arc and the forth episode which is possibly the best out of all of them. All in all there are around 40 missions which can mean some serious gaming length compared too many games on the Xbox Live Arcade.

I found the overall controls in the game to be very good, beyond the rare time in which the game just failed to control well. These control issues are very hard to point to as they are not a consistent issue, but just something which feels off at certain times in certain situations. There is a film clip system which works very well, but honestly it feels like more of a gimmick and something that is slapped together in the end, though it is still handy during those times when the game kicks you down so you can quickly reload from just a few seconds before to almost near the beginning of the level. The film clip system is also nice because it saves them, allowing you to come back in the future and replay a level or section if you want too as well as sharing them with friends. Gimmicky, cool feature, and it works.

There is also one very annoying side of things in this game and that is the monsters which can shoot through walls. It appears to be almost random who can do it and when it happens because it does not happen all of the time, you will be running down a hall and be shot, but there will not be anyone around. This was possibly normal in 1996 (I do not remember) but in 2008 it is something which is uncommon and very annoying.


Graphically the game has not changed since the original release twelve years ago. Many gamers may not believe the game has aged well, but the old school sprite and pseudo 3D graphics still have that charm original players will remember. With some added bilinear filtering (texture smoothing) and motion blur the game looks better then expected even on my 48 inch HDTV. Of course the ancient level design is still there and it is not exactly up to par compared to newer titles, so do not expect the overall level design to wow you if you never played the original game.

The only graphical additions in the game are the actual film clip user interface and unlockable art gallery in the game. The unlocked art is actually a very nice touch to the game as a bonus prize as you play the game. Some of the art is actually very well done and I wish it was possible to send it to my PC.

While Duke’s audio is not exactly the best compared to current games and while updated audio might be nice, what makes Duke 3D fun is the still the excellent one liners from Duke which never get old. The music and sound effects are classic but still sound very good, which is just another example of how well done the original game was made way back in the day.

This is by far one of the most Co-op friendly games on Xbox Live Arcade with the eight player campaign and multiplayer mayhem. With the film clip and rewind option the game has a ton of coolness added to the already cool game. The overall value is very high because the price, Co-op, Multiplayer, film clip and Duke factor.

Its Duke, he is still a bad ass and in the end this version rivals the original with its 8 player Co-op and we finally get a FPS with some cool weapons again. So buy this game… now… and GET SOME!

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