VGR Duke Nuclear Winter

While you guys wait for my own review of Duke Nukem Forever, which I haven't finished yet and want to explore in detail in a future review properly, here's another Duke Nukem 3D expansion!

This one is the last of the proper new episodes released for the game as add-ons.
Other add-ons were released (officially or not) but those were just map packs. (like Duke Xtreme to name one)

 
VGR: Duke: Nuclear Winter

From Apogee Software/3D Realms/Simply Silly Software/WizardWorks

Played on PC 

Also available on /

Type FPS/Expansion

Year 1997

Nuclear Winter was the only expansion made by Simply Silly Software for Duke 3D.
Though such name for a game studio wouldn't inspire me much confidence, if they got officially selected by 3D Realms and released on disc means it is at least playable unlike some unofficial non-licensed expansions.

Released for Christmas '97, it was an appropriate Christmas-themed brand new episode featuring new enemies, new settings and more!

Oh man... Those aliens f*ckers are back and annoying the hell out me!

The pitch:
Santa Claus has been captured! So we are told in a little CGi animated sequence at the start.
Those aliens bastards from Duke 3D are back with a vengeance.
They captured the old man and brainwashed him so he will help 'em conquer the world through an elaborate scheme.
And they've made a deal with Santa's lil' helpers who have formed an anti-Duke force, the Feminist Elven Militia.

Duke will have to travel from L.A. to the North Pole in order to put a stop to this Evil Santa and the alien invasion, once and for all! Again!

It's cold. It's freezing. And friggin' civilians are annoying the hell out of Duke, singing in the streets...

The game offers a whole new episode to explore.
It plays and looks as the original Duke 3D was, though it does require the Atomic updated edition to run smoothly and propose some of its nice implementations. (such as snow on screen, etc..)

The weapons are all the same, no custom modifications as it was the case in the awesome Caribbean themed add-on.

You'll visit plenty snow themed locations, including the 2 first levels straight from the original Duke 3D (Episode 1), only played in reverse from end to start, until Duke gets to the roof where it all began, catch his helicopter back to the North Pole.
You'll explore Santa's headquarters, a Christmas themed village, a toy factory, etc..
It's kinda funny to see Duke battling aliens in such out of ordinary places. (which changes the mood from the past Los Angeles or Washington for example)

There isn't new weapons, but hopefully there's brand new enemies, like evil Snowmen, throwing snow at you and freezing Duke, variations of the Snowman on vehicles, the Elf gals using dual guns..
Also there's mutated Santa Clauses Pigs instead of the usual PigCops (but serving the same purpose and behave the same), the aliens are back wearing Xmas hats, etc..

 Hail to the Noel, biatch!

It's not a particularly long episode, I found myself surprised to finish it so fast and easily.
There's also a serious lack of secrets. Apart from both returning level's own original secrets (and some minor tweaking around), the new levels have usually 1 to 3 secrets.
Only 7 levels and no secret hidden level this time.

"Santa Claws" is the final boss of the episode. Unlike previous Duke bosses, he isn't a gigantic monster but a human-sized foe who acts like the Duke, meaning he can use a jetpack, has access to most of Duke's arsenal, can take "steroids" to pump himself, etc..
It's quite different and harder than usual regular Duke bosses.

The game is filled with new appropriate Xmas music.
It gets a bit repetitive after a while, but is funny to hear in the background while playing Duke nonetheless.

No actual proper pop culture reference..though Mario (!) playing Mario Kart does make a completely random appearance and you'll even partially visit Doom's first level in that same chapter!

Overall, it was...okay.

The game originally received mostly a negative response from the fans, unlike both previous Sunstorm Interactive developed expansions.

There's a serious lack of new weapons or new Duke quotes (which would have been great in this setting), but so was the case for the much more appreciated Duke it out in DC.

Some also critized the reuse of the previous levels Red Light District & Hollywood Holocaust from Duke Nukem 3D... And it's a legit critic. I mean it looks cheap to simply have those old levels back, and back then paying for a brand new game..and ending up with 2 reassessed levels seems like a pretty cheap move on the part of the developers.
But playing those today, I guess I find this a bit funnier than "back then".
It's fun to have Duke go through those well-known environments under new circumstances.


All in all, it's playable, decent, fun. But I'd take Duke Caribbean over this anyway.
Try it!
For fans who want more Duke Nukem maps to go through!

I give it:

 2 / 3 Invaders!

VGR Duke it out in D.C.

With Duke Nukem 3D's success, expansions were inevitable.

This add-on is Sunstorm Interactive's first expansion to Duke 3D.
This time, Duke visits actual real-life landmarks, in....

 
VGR: Duke It Out In D.C.

From Apogee Software/3D Realms/Sunstorm Interactive/WizardWorks

Played on PC 

Also available on /

Type FPS/Expansion

Year 1997

After the release (and the very good reception) of Duke Nukem 3D, 3D Realms released the tools the fans could use to make their owm Duke 3D levels. People were able to play with the Build Engine, fans and pros alike took this occasion to be creative and have fun with one of the earliest and best 3D engines that was easy to access.
With so much creativity around, Apogee organized various contest to select some of the best creator levels which would end sold officially under their guidance.

Some of these level packs became actual Expansions rather than just new levels put on a compilation CD.

Sunstorm Interactive developed 2 Add-ons containing brand new exciting maps and even some story.
This is their first official expansion for Duke Nukem 3D.

Fun factoid: this above is actually a real quote from Bill Clinton.

The aliens attack the capital, Washington D.C.!!
This time around, the plot is merely an excuse to explore D.C. rather than a proper continuation of the story in Duke Nukem 3D.

Aliens land into the Capitol and start wrecking carnage on their path.
It's a good thing it happens while the Duke was already there. Bad thing for them then. These alien scums won't see it coming.

While they destroy government locations around Washington, with Duke Nukem on their butts, the president gets kidnapped (never referred to as, but implied with actual pictures shown on walls to be Bill Clinton).

It's a new episode composed of 10 new levels (with one of them being a secret one to find) where the player must defeat the new invasion, rescue the president and stop the Cycloid Emperor one more time. (resurrected? the guy keeps getting his butt kicked by Duke, why can't he learn from his past mistakes...)

Come and get some...and visit the capital!

The game uses the same exact gameplay as the original Duke 3D.
It's once more time an FPS, where you'll have to collect various keys to progress over non-linear maps. Duke can equip himself with a variety of weapons (same returning from the original game, no alterations). There's lots of secret zones to find and loads more one-liners from Duke. (sadly, no new lines were recorded for this expansion apart from the use of some obscure already recorded sentences put into good use here)


This time Duke will actually visit real life locations, based around the actual Washington!
Most levels were inspired by their real counterparts, and it's always fun to realize or recognize these places recreated in the BuildEngine. Even if like me you haven't visited Washington city, seeing these places in the game is pretty fun.

You'll visit landmarks such as the White House, the Capitol, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Smithsonian Institution..
And worry not, it's never dull, you'll also visit a secret marine base (and a huge submarine in the same level), secret passages in the above list of location and a top secret base (as the top secret level).

Time to do like my car keys and get lost.

Considered by some like the best expansion to Duke Nukem 3D and like the worst by the others, the levels in Duke it out in D.C. are huuuuuuge!
But really, huuuuuuge!

The "Smithsonian Terror" level for example is based around the real life massive museum. It's huge, goes on forever, contains very large corridors, various zones and multiple floors.
You'll often find yourself lost and will need to spend some time with each map to finally be able to go on without getting completely stuck in some place.
The game isn't that long per say. There's only one secret level and the levels contain very few secret (between 2-5 secrets in general, there's even a level that doesn't have any secret! blasphemy!).
But this expansion is made of what might easily be the largest, biggest maps done for Duke Nukem 3D!

Besides that? The game is pretty good. Some good music was composed for this new episode.
Bill Clinton makes another one of his famous appearance from the 90s (that president was everywhere back then, Animaniacs, Ready2Rumble, etc..).
There's not much pop culture references this time around... besides a Red October parody, H.G. Wells' Time Machine making a surprise appearance (and part of a level design)...

Overall, a good expansion, but none I'd call "essential".
If you're a fan, check it out! Wanna play some more Duke 3D? Give it a try!
But try to track it down on bidding websites...at least, don't put too much money into this one. You might be able to score a copy for pretty cheap if you find a place that has old PC games in second hand.


No new weapons, no new enemies... 
Not much new sprites done specifically for this episode, since it recycles most of its graphics from the earlier games.


The level design is pretty good...although too large and kinda confusing. (I didn't had much problems myself...apart from  one or two times where I got lost/wasn't sure where to go to continue)
It doesn't take too long to complete either.

Most levels were designed by Robert Travis, winner of Total Entertainment Network's contest  scoring him "Best independently designed and produced maps".


Finally, it's easily the most difficult expansion to get working properly on a modern computer nowadays...
You might have either a problem booting up this one or end up having the music being replace by DN3D's original score rather than the original new tunes.

I give it:

 2 / 3 Invaders!

VGR Duke Caribbean

With Duke Nukem 3D's success, expansions were inevitable. (not too shy of being the first game to have done lots of things as seen in its review, probably making all these some of the earliest form of expansions PC games have known as well)

This add-on is actually the 2nd developed by Sunstorm Interactive.
And it takes Duke (and the player) to a much needed change of settings.

 
VGR: Duke Caribbean: Life's a Beach

From Apogee Software/3D Realms/Sunstorm Interactive/WizardWorks

Played on PC 

Also available on /

Type FPS/Expansion

Year 1997

After the release (and the very good reception) of Duke Nukem 3D, 3D Realms released the tools the fans could use to make their owm Duke 3D levels. People were able to play with the Build Engine, fans and pros alike took this occasion to be creative and have fun with one of the earliest and best 3D engines that was easy to access.
With so much creativity around, Apogee organized various contest to select some of the best creator levels which would end sold officially under their guidance.
Some of these level packs became actual Expansions rather than just new levels put on a CD.

Sunstorm Interactive developed 2 Add-ons containing brand new exciting maps and even some story.
This is their second official expansion for Duke Nukem 3D.

It all started on a beach...

In this all new adventure, Duke Nukem is finally taking his well deserved vacations in a tropical island...when suddenly trouble ends up finding the Duke as usual.

It seems that the aliens are also having their own vacation on that very same island!

The aliens have set up a brand new breeding ground in the Caribbean and are starting to wreck havoc on the islands...
It seems it's once more time up to Duke to clean up their mess and save the babes.

Once again, the player has to take the role of Duke Nukem in a whole new episode set in the sunny Caribbean islands, killing hordes of monster and facing a big baddie at the end. (once again the Emperor, back for more!)

Life's a beach!

This add-on was based around the original Duke Nukem 3D, so it's once again an old school 32-bits era 3D FPS, using most of the same controls and gimmicks.

This new episode is set over 7 new levels (plus an hidden 8th level!).
The levels are rather long and fairly large. I find them even larger than some actual Duke 3D levels, with lots more ground to cover and new interactive elements to have fun with.

The tone is definitively less serious (as possible as it is) and funnier than past episodes.
The game's biggest selling point is its sunny Caribbean atmosphere and theme. Everything is tuned to reflect these new settings.
New redone sprites, enemies sporting Hawaiian shirts, babes in bikinis, beaches, hotels...

The best part is probably the weapons.
There aren't any "new" weapons per say. But they were all redesigned to fit the theme. Duke now uses water compressed guns, a coconuts bazooka, explosive pineapples..
The ice gun's now more comical, so is the shrink ray/voodoo ring, etc..
And even the Red/Blue/Yellow Cards are now Credit Cards, health is measured in bananas, the shield is now sun cream.... it's complete different approach to the usual world of Duke Nukem.

It's time to limbo!

It's a very funny and complete new episode!

Maybe a bit short, but the larger worlds to explore quite make up for it.

The secrets are maybe a tad bit simpler to find, cracks are easily spotted on walls and there aren't any "stay here to make a panel shift" or "jump through the 4th window on the 2nd floor to find hidden room" type of secrets here.

Duke travels through various original settings on his faitfhul Kobayashi Maru boat (ha!), from voodoo caves to an amusement park, passing through a cruise boat and more!

Overall, easily the best official expansion done for Duke 3D, probably amongst the best expansions for any game I've ever played myself honestly!
The game may not have been done by 3D Realms, but it is a true Duke game in spirit.
It even features new voice work by Jon St. John, THE voice of Duke Nukem!


Sadly on the negative aspects, it was made from the original Duke 3D, so it doesn't take advantage of some of the "Atomic Edition" updates (like weather conditions, 3D tables and objects, etc..) nor its new enemies and weapon.
And it is only one episode long, so pretty short. (take this as a new episode rather than a new "game")


Charlie Wiederhold, who created several levels for this add-on was later hired by the actual 3D Realms to work for them. He then started working on the would-be Duke Nukem Forever sequel...only to end up quitting to join Gearbox Software. (strange turn of events!)


Gameplay's great like the classic game. Level design quite original and the game itself is very funny.

Even the music is pretty darn' good! The title theme is a mixture of Hawaii Five-0's theme with Duke Nukem 3D's Grabbag. Amazing combo!
And there's lot of fun tunes for the rest of the games, always fitting the mood of the different levels and playing with the tropical theme.

I give it:

 2.5 / 3 Invaders!