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Duke Nukem: Overall rating: 88%

It's rare when a game comes along that really kicks your ass. 3D Realm's full version of Duke Nukem 3D is just that kind of posterior pummeler. With its free-flowing 3D action, over-the-top weapons, and ruthlessly attitudinal protagonist, Duke Nukem will have PC gamers worldwide rubbing their rumps with spine-tingling glee. Prepare to take off your thinking cap and immerse yourself in a world of violent bliss. The ballots have been cast and the verdict has arrived: The Duke is A-#1.

Based on the hackneyed first-person Doom formula, Duke Nukem 3D is the first 3D shoot-em-up to offer the player more. There are more diverse environments, more devastating weapons, and greatly improved playability. Unlike the fantastical dungeons and lava pits found in Doom and its kindred, the atmosphere in Duke Nukem is more tangible. The story revolves loosely around a "Mars needs women" theme, involving aliens and their abduction of scantily-clad women. As Duke, you explore everything from an alien mothership to metropolitan underbellies, including smut shops, skin flicks, strip bars, and the horror of horrors: karaoke bars. The levels are massive and, even on the easiest difficulty setting, provide a formidable challenge.

Duke allows you to be an action hero to the tenth power. If it moves, shoot it. If it doesn't move, shoot it. Anything and everything can be destroyed. Coin stuck in the soda machine? Pipe bomb the sucker. Toilet won't flush? Nothing a few rounds from your doubled-barreled shotgun can't handle. You slay your way through each scenario, filling aliens full of lead, even shooting wounded adversaries as they bleed on the ground, whimpering for mercy. And all the while, Duke punctuates the violence with the type of flippantly cool asides required of our modern-day action heroes: "It's time to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and I'm all outta gum."

Sure Duke's a brazenly tough chartacter, but as the saying goes, "the weapon makes the man." 3D Realms has saved the most destructive weapons for the registered release. In addition to the standard issue firearms found in the shareware version, you now have access to the Freezer (transforms your opponent into a fragile block of ice), the Shrinker (reduces your opponent to bite-size proportions), the Tripbomb (great for creating booby traps), and the Devastator (the name says it all).

There were, however, a few morally questionable conventions of the game - namely those numerous instances in which the player comes across one or several women, bound and rendered helpless by the aliens, who are almost always inadvertently caught in the line of fire. Aside from that, Duke Nukem 3D is one of the best action games to be released in a long, long time. Dozens of games have tried to snatch the Doom crown, but Duke may be the first contender to get a clean shot at the throne. And as Duke himself would say, "Hail to the King, baby."

Duke Nukem: Duke it out in D.C. Overall rating: 78%

Question: Why spend $20 for ten levels when you can get 1,500 levels for the same amount of money?

Answer: Quality.

If you've tried those 1,500-level Duke packs, you know most of those episodes are terrible. Brief, little, uncreative excursions. On the other hand, working your way through the ten huge and cleverly connected locations in Duke It Out in D.C. will take several days and massive quantities of caffeine.

Our affable buddy Duke takes on one task: blasting through a gazillion aliens to rescue the kidnapped President (of course, once you've reached the beleaguered soul, you can take a pass on the final rescue). Along the way you'll visit most of the capital's major tourist stops, from the White House and the Lincoln Memorial to the Smithsonian and the Capitol. Plus you'll head underground into the sewers and subway and work your way to a nuclear submarine base and a nuke-proof (but not Nukem-proof) command bunker. And if you look carefully near an abandoned subway stop, you'll find a crack in a wall that takes you to a humongous, top secret government warehouse full of goodies, including a time machine. (This level was designed by Charlie Wiederhold, who is something of a Duke guru.)

There's a lot to like in this low-priced gem. And you've got to love its behind-the-scenes story. Eight of its ten levels were created by one guy: Robert Travis. He worked for a year at Babbages, and in his spare time he struggled through the frustrating task of creating Doom levels. Then along came Duke, with its much easier level editor, and he began cranking out one good version after another, posting them on the Internet as he went. Meanwhile, a small software start-up in Indiana wanted to get into authorized add-on packs, saw his stuff, and snarfed him up.

Travis managed to create those eight levels in only 16 weeks. Hard to believe, considering their complexity and the quantity of new art, including paintings, flags, and museum exhibits. Each episode takes plenty of time to navigate and some are frustratingly difficult. For instance, in the Smithsonian, you can see a door key card hovering in a fish tank. Getting there requires finding a few hidden passageways, diving into a half-dozen shark-infested tanks, and locating several nearly invisible underwater switches.

D.C. is a little behind the times (one reason may be because they finished D.C. in January but held it for release until now). It has none of the new weapons and monsters from the Plutonium Pak, and there are no new sounds, no new music, and no light switches. You find yourself going a long way down some lengthy tunnels and elevator shafts just to throw a critical switch or find another key card. After that much effort there should be a larger reward. Plus there are too few surprises. The opportunities for humor, irony, and sight gags in this political setting should have been too numerous to pass up. But pass them up they did.

Meanwhile, there are many improvements over the original Duke. This version's nuclear submarine is full-sized and fully functional (even the torpedoes work), not just a means to end a level. The Smithsonian is an amazingly detailed level with aquariums, a space exploration section, and an overview of ancient civilizations. The subway system is well designed and appropriately gritty. There are plenty of wide-open areas with places to duck behind for decent multiplayer matches. Plus, you shouldn't miss the final animation. It's not that spectacular, but if you click any key after defeating the "Boss," you'll skip it

Duke It Out in D.C. misses a few obvious opportunities to improve on the original, but the numerous enhancements that weren't missed, and the low price, make this a worthy investment for anyone looking to prolonging the reign of "the king."

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Page Updated Sun May 13, 2001 4:11pm EDT