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Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project
Everyone knows that Duke Nukem is the ultimate ass kicker so when mastermind gone bad Morphix unleashes his mutant hordes on the city of Manhattan there’s only one man for the job of cleaning up. Since the water supply is flooded with radioactive green glop the place is swarming with mutants and Duke is determined to exterminate the menace at its source so drop the bubble gum and get your gun. With the whole world holding their breath for Duke Nukem Forever I’m sure a lot of people are just going to dismiss this platform title without a second glance. In homage to the 2D games where their star was born, 3D Realms has crafted a brand new adventure for Duke which will have early fans going wild with nostalgia. While initially a 2D game in this day and age might look a little out of place, a closer look will reveal that the engine this game is running on has a little more under the hood than you might think. While gameplay is essentially 2D, stages contain a lot of 3D and you’ll be playing in up to three separate planes. So while you might simply be walking from left to right in early levels later on you’ll have to crisscross your path and try different routes to get to your destination. It can become a little tricky later on but you’ll never get as lost as might have been possible in a full 3D game.
Gameplay is rather simple as all you have to do on each level is rescue one babe that’s been strapped to a bomb and find the keycard to the exit. Of course, each level is packed with foes looking to make life a little harder for Duke, but since he’s armed to the teeth this isn't really a problem until much later on. If you're feeling up for a little exploration, each level also hides 10 nuclear token and finding each of these will boost your carrying capacity and gives Duke a bit more Ego (that’s what the man uses for health apparently). This is also a Duke Nukem game so keep an eye out for those secret areas.
The graphics aren’t too bad considering what type of game this is although enemies and characters can appear a little angular up close. Still there are plenty of cool enemies (both old and new) to battle and the impressive bosses deserve special mention. The levels take place in locations like the rooftops, Chinatown, a subway, factory and come to a climax aboard Morphix’s huge orbital space station. Each level has some nice lighting effects and the 3D layouts look really good as you can see places in the fore- and background which you need to get to but have to figure out how to reach. As is the norm for Duke you’ll also find plenty of parodies of other games and movies such as Max Payne and the Matrix. I’m glad that the man behind the voice is Jon St. John himself and not some other wannabe. Some of Duke’s sayings can become a bit repetitive and the music isn’t as cool as I would have liked but overall the audio wasn’t too bad.
I haven’t seen a platform title on PC in ages so it will take a little time to get used to the controls. My advice is to invest in a good gamepad as playing this game with the keyboard just ain't right. Duke can double jump, slide kick, hang from ledges and do all kinds of other moves so you might just injure yourself trying to pull everything off with a keyboard. To ease the frustration you can quick save at anytime except during boss battles which work well and cut back on a lot of needless repetition.
While I had fun playing this game I’ll be the first to admit that the formula starts to wear a bit thin after a while and this probably isn’t a game you’ll be playing for hours on end. The fact that they've included a preview clip of Duke Nukem Forever doesn’t exactly hype you up for this game either. Duke Nukem has a cult following of loyal fans, so I’m sure this game will find its audience but don’t go expecting something cutting edge.
*Review originally published in 2002. |
System Requirements
TAGS: Duke Nukem, Manhattan Project, Morphix, Mutants, Radioactive, Platform, Shooter
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