Developed By: 3DRealms/Abstraction Games
Published By: Devolver Digital
Date of Release: January 6, 2015
Price: $9.99 (CROSS BUY!)
In a land where alien asses need to be kicked, babes need to be saved, and bubblegum needs to be chewed, there is and always will be one hero for the job: Duke Nukem. A bona-fide cigar-chomping, booze-swilling, swaggering maestro of machismo, Duke is always ready at had when alien bastards show up to give the earth a bad day. Duke Nukem 3D was by far the breakout moment for Duke's current melange of attitude and violence, and is also remembered fondly by many as his finest outing to date. Well, things just got a helluva lot finer!
True, Duke Nukem 3D is not a graphical tour-de-force by today's standards, but it sure as hell stands strong even to this day (my only complaint beign that they filtered the hell out of the graphics, no more retro pixels here sadly). The sprites are lush and detailed, and there are so many little nuances to the level designs. You can spend hours looking for secrets in the sprawling levels, and though a bit dated, there are so many awesome references and jokes strewn about. If you are a fan of the late 80s/early 90s pop culture, you are in for a treat. They even added in the ability to rewind time after you die, a-la Duke Nukem 3D on Xbox Live Arcade.
So on top of the original Atomic Edition of Duke Nukem 3D, you also have the three official expansions. They are Duke it Out In DC, where Duke has been charged with rescuing the president. The slightly lackluster Duke Nuclear Winter sees Duke on a quest to save Christmas. And my personal favorite, Duke Carribean: Life's A Beach starts with Duke taking a much deserved vacation. Everything is fine until aliens crash the party! Of course this IS Duke Nukem 3D we're talking about here, so naturally it comes with all the Dukematch you could ever handle. You can play an 8 player match on any of the games various levels, and you can even tackle the campaign in co-op if that's your thing. The multiplayer experience is smooth and lag-free, and has a convenient invite system to get your friends in on the action.
So all in all this is the total package for Duke Nukem 3D fans. With the fact that you get both the PS3 and Vita versions in one package, plus the cross-save and cross-play capabilities, there's a lot to love about this release. Hopefully the inability to switch to the unfiltered graphics was just an oversight, and they'll be able to patch it back in. Slight graphical annoyance aside, I seriously recommend Duke Nukem 3D: Megaton Edition. Go buy it now! What are you waiting for, Christmas?
