Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour Edition - Review

Duke Nukem has a strange legacy, beginning as a humble PC platformer across two games. The third game had Duke Nukem 3D enter the First Person Shooter arena, becoming a gaming icon. Since 1996 (so this is more like the 26th anniversary edition), Duke Nukem 3D has appeared on nearly every platform in some form or another. Hell, there’s even an obscure Mega Drive version. Now the Switch is stepping up and telling us to ‘come get some’ Duke Nukem 3D. So should we come get some?

Duke Nukem 3D has a fairly simple plot to follow, Aliens have taken over the Earth and kidnapped all of the ‘babes’, and only Duke can stop them. A one man gun-toting, quip-slinging army who wants to kick ass and save some scantily clad ladies...Ok, so it’s unavoidable. Duke 3D is juvenile, it was in the ‘90s and it is the same now. It was always played as over the top. Duke is a muscly ‘80s action movie stereotype in a bombastic alien invasion movie. Throughout the game you’ll come across plenty of references and ‘easter eggs’ from other pop culture movies, Duke’s dialogue almost exclusively coming from movies.  While it’s trying to be a cheesy stereotypical teenage boy fantasy and it manages that, it still feels kinda weird. There’s plenty of strippers (with tassels obscuring any nudity) and nearly naked women imprisoned/infected by the aliens. You don’t have to engage with them, it definitely feels like a product of a different era. Beyond that there is plenty of violence, this was definitely more of an issue back in the ‘90s when Duke, Doom and Mortal Kombat were ‘corrupting’ the youth. These days it’s quite tame, being so long ago I had originally forgotten there was such an outcry at the time. 

It wasn’t until jumping into this Duke 3D that I realised how long it’s been since I last played this. It definitely feels like playing a 26 year old game, having to go from area to area trying to survive on whatever health you can scrounge up before a surprise encounter cuts it back down again. With the sprites-based enemies I also found that from angles other than front on that they nearly disappear. For my sanity's sake I turned auto aim on for Duke 3D, it doesn’t make you an unstoppable killing machine, but it does help deal with flying enemies a little better. 

It’s hard not to enjoy playing Duke 3D, there's a reason why we’re still getting it on every platform we can play it on. Part of it is no doubt nostalgia, it is one of the classics that helped progress the FPS genre forward. It’s also still an enjoyable game, it’s hard not to get caught up in its cheesiness.

Jon St. John has recorded lines for the 20th anniversary, you’ll notice when they’re new lines as you do with any old audio. Either way there’s still lots of Duke to hear, I’ve heard those Bruce Campbell-inspired lines so many times in my youth I don’t pay that close attention to the quips. WIth the 20th anniversary there is also developer commentary you can activate through some of the levels if you want some insight to the game. It isn’t in every level, they’ll show up as icons you can activate when you want to hear what insight they can share about the making of the game.

There is also an option to either play with classic graphics or True3D. Whichever you choose there’s no magic wand to update the visuals too much. But there’s nothing wrong with the originals regardless. The biggest change I noticed with the True3D toggled on was that the lighting made some areas darker and harder to see. I was much happier with the classic visuals and being able to see who’s shooting at me.

Episode select was always available, but more helpful is the level select so you can access any level straight away. Having some trouble on a level? Start a new game on the next level instead, there’s no achievements or unlockables to worry about, play the levels whatever order you want.

The new fifth episode “Alien World Order” was created by original Duke Nukem 3D level designers. These levels are likely where the ‘World Tour’ moniker comes from. Levels take place in different countries across the globe, starting with a weed store in Amsterdam...yeah if anything they’re definitely committed to the goofy Duke 3D schtick. It works too, with the different locations it adds more variety that made it more enjoyable to play through than the earlier episodes. If you’ve missed the 20th anniversary World Tour Edition on other platforms then you get to enjoy these levels like they’re brand new, made by the original team no less.

The real shame here is that this 20th Anniversary Edition isn’t the full package, while Episode 4: The Birth and Episode 5 have been added since the original release, the expansion packs are absent. It is possible there are licensing issues keeping Duke it out in DC, Nuclear Winter and Duke Caribbean: Life’s a beach out of this version. They aren’t vital to the main game, but their absence is still disappointing. 

A feature that really took the sting out of the outdated level designs and enemy ambushes is the added rewind at death. When you die you can rewind back to any point in the level. If you want to go right back to a safer section to give yourself a better chance or if you just want to rewind back half a minute, you can! It’s not always the easiest to find the moment you’re looking to go back to, but it works well enough.

Gyro controls are included as any shooter game on the Switch worth its salt should have. I gave it a go and it seemed fine. I personally don’t use gyro controls often, but they seemed to do what you’d want from them. You can adjust sensitivities of the gyro and of the axis if the default isn’t to your liking.

Duke 3D was also popular for its Online/LAN deathmatch or Dukematch multiplayer. It was the first game I played over a LAN, and I was bad at it. Now I can relive those memories through Switch online, or if you have the Switch connected by the LAN connector you can connect through that too. Deathmatch is a nostalgic return to the ‘90s. It's perfectly fine if you’re looking to kill some hours shrinking and stomping on your friends. If like me you’re sick of being bad at deathmatch games, there is also playing the levels cooperatively. You can even get 8 Dukes running around. If you want some Dukematching without having to deal with other people you can play against bots and duke it out.

Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary Edition World Tour might be six years overdue, but it’s never too late to have another one of the FPS classics that helped define the ‘90s. You’ll be reminded how far the genre has come since then (excluding Duke Nukem Forever), but it’s still enjoyable to play. This is helped by the additions made to this edition by way of the rewind feature, and being able to select what level you want from the beginning doesn't hurt either. Duke 3D may be more for the 30+ year olds such as myself, but just like Doom this is an important part of gaming history.

The Score

8.0

Review code provided by Gearbox

The Pros

+Still classic Duke Nukem 3D

+More Jon St John and Developers commentary

+Rewind feature and level select help make the old school difficulty more palatable

The Cons

+Missing expansions

+True3D can make it a little too hard to see

+Unavoidably dated in some ways