Livestream 2/10/2022 – Duke Nukem 3D

Hail to the king baby! Duke Nukem 3D probably doesn’t need much of an introduction. It’s been covered, played and picked apart so much everyone is likely at least aware of it. Coming in at a time when full 3D FPS games like Quake were just around the corner, it sits at an interesting cross roads. The engine (Build) isn’t fully 3D and more like the projection style used by Doom and similar games. However it has some more tricks up its sleeve with having some pseudo 3D features allowing it to sort of bridge the gap.

This allows for some really creative level designs that I don’t recall seeing from other games at the time. The levels are often sprawling complexes with clever tricks allowing some wide interactivity and exploration. And that interactivity was, at least for me, key. Gone are the similar looking military installation style of Doom and instead we had near, real world environments. As a young one being able to actually flush a toilet and look at Duke in the mirror as he walked past was something entirely new.

So while the character of Duke is a bit tone deaf in the world of today back in 1996 this was the coolest thing ever. We won’t go into the later fate of Duke Nukem as that’d take… forever. Get it?

Duke Nukem 3D is definitely a land mark title and one that is still very fun to play. Did I fall off any ledges during the stream? Check the replay below. There was lava…