

Now, though, I’m older and wiser and I’m not really a fan of Duke’s boy fantasy antics any longer. In an era of Doom Guy clones being in control of a character with actual personality was a neat novelty, and when the game was new I was too young to realise just how irritating Duke actually was. Duke growls through level after level with his unique brand of humour too.Ĭredit where credit is due, back when Duke Nukem was new your character in the typical FPS didn’t have much of a personality. Duke Nukem certainly did that, with a near-endless stream of toilet humour, and posters of big-breasted women adorning every wall so that the environments look like an extended teenage boy’s room. When this game was new the games industry was a different place – it was a relentlessly juvenile boy’s club and targeting the teenage male ego was the priority in order to see commercial success. What made Duke Nukem 3D awesome back in the day was its attitude. It is also available on the PlayStation Vita.

Related reading: Gun Commando is a modern game that deliberately looks and plays like a retro FPS. Playing the game now through Megaton Edition, it’s easy to get nostalgic about what it achieved back in its day, but it’s equally difficult to enjoy it as a game. Whether it’s Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Heretic, Hexen, or even the likes of Goldeneye, it’s harder and harder to go back to these games and enjoy them as games.ĭuke Nukem 3D is much the same. If there is one genre that ages more sharply than any other, it’s the First Person Shooter, or FPS.
