duke nukem 3d review
Duke Nukem 3DIf the young players did not necessarily know him, the old ones cannot be passed by the incontrovertible Duke Nukem. A legendary hero, quick to propel rockets into the hindquarters of the extraterrestrial invader by accompanying everything with a scathing reply, Duke truly marked his era. Now imagine that the guy returns to the Xbox Live Arcade in a version filled with small bonuses. The opportunity was too good and we could not help but go and squeeze the paws of the handsome kid the most formidable of the galaxy.
The advantage with Duke Nukem 3D is that you can kill enemies without worrying about politics or international law. Our adversaries are big, off-putting, ugly and for their great misfortune, they had the idea to come to pee on the favorite playground of a hero who loves castagne and ribaudes. The guy, born from the impossible union between a steroid tube, a dumbbell and a charming magazine, will therefore evolve in 39 levels divided into 4 episodes to engage in outright extermination of the aliens. Old-timers of the day before will probably remember that the original game only had 3 chapters, and they are absolutely right. The fourth adventure, entitled Birth, was added later through the Plutonium extension. Party of Hollywood porn cinemas, we will quickly spin in space to return bloody to the streets of Shrapnel City, before making a little tour by the Duke Burger.
It is therefore with great pleasure that we find all this content from the old days. The whole always bathes in a simply inimitable atmosphere. The levels are filled with strippers eager to show off their aggressive breasts for a few dollars. We still find aliens surprised on the throne as they conscientiously unmolded a cake. Duke has remained true to himself and does not hesitate to punctuate the explosions and the geysers of entrails of scathing aftershocks pronounced with the castling voice of Jon St. John, now legendary. In short, Duke Nukem 3D has not sold his soul and still cheerfully titillates films, video games and current events of the time (with TVs that broadcast the leak of O.J. Simpson for example). The winks are numerous and will inevitably speak to old players, and sometimes even to younger ones. We think in particular of the first level of chapter 4, largely inspired by the first film Mission Impossible.
Duke Nukem 3D therefore remains absolutely faithful to the original game. As you can see from these images, its graphics have not benefited from any significant improvement and the game is only displayed in 4: 3. On wide screens, the edges will simply be filled with illustrations. In the same vein, know that the structure of the levels is also the same as that which we had been able to discover in 1996. The monsters are placed in the same places, as are the objects and the multiple hidden zones. In fact, you will quickly feel comfortable crossing Hollywood Holocaust or Spaceport for the thousandth time. Especially since the pad control allows extremely fast and precise movements. And if we can now move the crosshair vertically, it often remains easier to stick to the horizontal plane and trust the automatic aiming (nevertheless deactivable), the game having still been designed on the model d 'a Doom. The comfort is there, but with a joystick, it may be more difficult to change the weapon since it will now be necessary to scroll them by pressing RB and LB. Same fight for objects like the medikit, the jetpack, the steroids or the holoduke, which will have to be selected with the directional cross and activated with B. It is a little bit tedious, but works properly.
As mentioned earlier, this Xbox Live Arcade version also comes with new features that will no doubt delight fans and may make the game a little more attractive to a young audience fond of HD and bump mapping. Solo, we discover the possibility of going back in time in the event of death. The option, undoubtedly useless for the old gamers used to crossing the tortuous levels of Duke the hard way, will perhaps appear sympathetic to the eyes of the neophytes. No need to reload a backup to resume a missed section by one level. The result is more ease and therefore less frustration. The other, much more significant addition is the multi dimension of the software. Just imagine being able to play Duke online, enjoying the little comforts of Xbox Live and without having to go through the mood swings of a dying 56k modem! The dream !
Duke Nukem 3D actually offers the possibility of facing up to 8 players in a death match on Live. Partly customized, all configuration options and all levels are available. In Ranked, only a small selection of maps is used, but everything benefits from nice scoreboards and a nice world ranking. Too bad the latter only takes into account the number of victims and not the frags / deaths ratio. But let's not sulk our pleasure, Duke Nukem 3D remains fun, very fun despite some parts stuffed with lag. Also note that we can now travel the adventure to 8 in cooperation, which will give rise to great laughs. It is a shame under these conditions to see that the title does not offer players to practice these modes in split screen. A frankly heartbreaking oversight as the title seems cut to lend itself to this exercise. Finally, there is one last element to mention. These are small video clips that will be recorded after each of your games, both solo and multi. Nothing will actually prevent you from saving your favorite clips and sending them to your colleagues. It will even be possible to watch the last games of the top 100 players in the world. Convenient to understand their tactics and discover the secret areas of each level.
In short, for 800 Microsoft points, Duke Nukem 3D remains a very good deal. Admittedly, we would have appreciated retouched textures, on the model of mods accessible on PC for a long time, but the Live and the comfort of play which the joystick provides justify the purchase of the software. It is obvious that young players will probably not find as much interest as the old ones to try this legend, but we still recommend them to download the trial version and give a chance to a title which despite its age, still retains immense qualities.
The notes
Graphics
Duke Nukem 3D is exactly the same as when it was released in 1996, and it wasn't exactly on top at the time. It stings a little, but the fans will find it. The title nevertheless retains what used to be its strength: its unique atmosphere.
Playability
Duke is more maneuverable than ever with a controller, but switching weapons and activating objects is much less practical than with a good old keyboard. The game nevertheless retains its frantic pace and plunges us without the slightest problem into the heart of Dantesque shootings.
Lifespan
With 39 very tortuous levels and the possibility of playing 8 on Xbox Live, in coop or in death match, Duke Nukem is rather generous. We cry however not to be able to take advantage of all this on a split screen. Forgetting is inexcusable.
Soundtrack
Here, it's a bit the same catchphrase as for the graphics, except that Duke's cult replicas have kept a lot of their freshness and poetry. The music comes from the original game and frankly find it difficult to pass today. As for the sound effects, they retain a good part of their punch.
Scenario
Everything is on a postage stamp, but the charisma of Duke and the many winks to Alien, Terminator, Star Wars, Indiana Jones or Doom give the game a unique atmosphere. Here, the note doesn't mean much.
The Xbox Live Arcade never ceases to welcome small pearls, whether they are new and extracted from a happy video game past. Duke Nukem lived his adaptation very well on this modern medium. It retains a large part of its qualities, allowing us to take advantage of new features, such as a multiplayer. The fans of the first hour will be delighted, and the young children will find there a title which deserves the detour and which will undoubtedly be more likely to please them than Doom.
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