I do need to correct something before I continue on. Back in my review of Duke Nukem games on Steam. I stated I played off a friend's account on Steam for Duke Nukem Forever. I also currently own the game on Xbox 360. More recently I got Duke Nukem Forever Collection on Steam for a great price.
Now there is notable difference between all three versions of Duke 3D. I do got a lot to say about this new version indeed. For this version, some of the original developers came back for the new content. This is rare for a FPS game to get this much attention over the years. Officially twice beating out the original Doom.
Obviously I will be comparing this to the previous Duke Nukem 3D: Megaton Edition. They added new lines for Duke to say during the game. Let's be honest the new lines are okay for the most part. I felt Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach had better new lines & those were actually said by a different actor.
They brought back the rewind feature from Xbox 360 port. This feature was last used in Duke 3D: Megaton Edition on PS3 & PS Vita. They added commentary you could have enable but I don't recommend them. I heard more entertaining commentary in bad horror movies. I haven't got to experience the multiplayer yet but I kept hearing it isn't good.
The high light of this version is adding a new fifth episode. I like the concept behind this particular episode for many reasons. Usually Duke is mostly in one particular location for an entire episode. Every level features a new location around the world. This sorta reminds me of Duke It Out in D.C. that has a similar thing going.
Also unlike most episodes within Duke 3D, there is a couple boss fights. They also introduced a new enemy that can be annoying since they can change sizes. If you are close by when they are about to explode, you will take a lot of damage. I noticed most of the sounds they make comes from another common enemies.
You get a new variation of the Freezethrower called the Incinerator. Basically a flame thrower that sorta comes out like fire balls. Honestly I do enjoy using this new weapon a lot. The final boss is an alternation version of Cycloid Emperor called Cycloid Incinerator. Although I really like his appearance, he wasn't a good final boss.
In his defense, the boss fight was more fair than the Queen boss fight. Yes you have to deal with enemies during it too. At least it isn't those annoying alien rip off creatures. The famous Duff Beer Blimp is close by if you are low on supplies. I do like how they went about the campaign in general. It is up there but not by much for many reasons.
Let's talk about the audio, in most versions you can hear Duke lines & the in game music. However for some reason in this version you have trouble hearing those lines. I never had this problem with Duke 3D: Megaton Edition on Steam or Duke 3D on Xbox 360. Another weird thing is it takes longer for the levels to load.
Thankfully it won't take more than a few minutes but in Megaton Edition I'll already playing them. Also I did play that version's multiplayer I do agree it is way better than what I have seen for the new version's. Another let down is all three expansions presented in Megaton Edition isn't here. Thankfully if you know what you are doing since both versions of Duke 3D has Steam Workshop.
You could play the expansions through 20th Anniversary or playing Episode 5 in Megaton Edition instead. I would say it is better programmed than some of the Duke Nukem games on Steam. This is a good but not great version. It has some good things while some of what it does have isn't as good as some versions.
I am not trying to give this version a bad name since I do like it myself. I do agree with many fans that Megaton Edition was way better. For one thing the price they were asking for was more justifying due to the expansions. Now granted the way you would select either the main game or expansions does work similar to Duke Nukem 1.
For those that never got to play Duke Nukem 1. They have three campaigns set up but the game can only play one of them at a time. Which is virtually the same concept as Duke 3D: Megaton Edition. I felt the sound effects in general were better in Megaton Edition too. I also felt the achievements were too easy to get them all.
I did have some trouble with the multiplayer achievements. Thankfully a user created a map specify for those achievements. Yes I tested this map with other user, you can get those achievements in under an hour at best I'm not kidding. I would say if you missed out on Megaton Edition, you should check out this version.
I believe it is time to update the official Duke Nukem Steam ranking...
9. Duke Nukem 1
8. Duke: Nuclear Winter
7. Duke Nukem 2
6. Duke It Out in D.C.
5. Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary Edition
4. Duke Nukem Forever
3. Duke Nukem: Life's A Beach
2. Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project
1. Duke Nukem 3D: Megaton Edition
If anyone is interested, I could also rank all their campaigns from worst to best saving Duke 3D for last. Until next time I'm Jack Red and I'll see you all later.
No comments:
Post a Comment