Duke Nukem

Duke Nukem is a video game series named for its protagonist Duke Nukem. Created originally by the company Apogee Software Ltd. (now 3D Realms) as a series of video games for IBM-compatible personal computers, the franchise expanded to games released for various consoles by third party developers. During 2010 the rights of the franchise were acquired by the company Gearbox Software, who completed the development of Duke Nukem Forever and released it on 10 June 2011 in Europe and Australia and on 14 June 2011 in North America.

The voice actor for Duke Nukem is Jon St. John.

Games

Main series

The original game was released as Duke Nukem during 1991 as a two dimensional platform game, which was IBM PC compatible, and featured 320×200, 16-color EGA graphics with vertical and horizontal scrolling. The original game had three episodes, the first distributed as shareware. The first Duke Nukem game was titled Duke Nukem, but Apogee learned that this name might have already been trademarked for the Duke Nukem character of the television series Captain Planet and the Planeteers, so they changed it to Duke Nukum for the 2.0 revision. The name was later determined not to be trademarked, so the spelling Duke Nukem was restored for Duke Nukem II and all successive Duke games.

Duke Nukem II

Duke Nukem II is a platform game developed by Apogee Software and released December 3, 1993. The game consists of four episodes (of 8 levels each), the first available as shareware. Not to be confused with the second episode of Duke Nukem 1, it is the second Duke Nukem game, following the 1991 Duke Nukem debut and being followed by Duke Nukem 3D in 1996 and Duke Nukem Forever in 2011.

Plot

In the "near future" year 1998 (Duke mentions that he had defeated Dr. Proton the previous year), the evil Rigelatins plan to enslave Earth, and they kidnap Duke Nukem (who was performing in an interview about his new autobiography Why I'm So Great), to use his brain to plot the attack for their forces. Duke breaks free to save the world, again.

Gameplay

The player's goal is to proceed through the levels collecting items, destroying enemies to the level exit and at the final level, defeat the super alien boss. In one level of each episode Duke needs to destroy radar dishes to progress.

Duke Nukem can pick up weapons along the way. There are four types of weapons: His regular default gun, the flamethrower (which can shoot through walls and launch him in the air), the laser (which can shoot through anything) and the rocket launcher. Duke can also get a rapid fire powerup. Health items can be collected to heal damage Duke receives or to boost score points at full health. Keycards need to be collected to access past the force fields and keys must be obtained to get past locked doors. A cloaking device makes Duke temporarily invincible and disables the super force fields.

Duke Nukem Forever

Duke Nukem Forever is a first-person shooter video game for Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. It is a sequel to the 1996 game Duke Nukem 3D as part of the long-running Duke Nukem video game series. It started development at 3D Realms and Triptych Games, and was finished by Gearbox Software and Piranha Games.

The game stars the titular action hero who must come out of retirement and save the world from aliens when they begin kidnapping the women of Earth. Intended to be groundbreaking, Duke Nukem Forever became a notable example of vaporware due to its severely protracted development schedule; the game was released in 2011 after fifteen years of development. Reception to Duke Nukem Forever was generally average, with many critics singling out the game's second-rate graphics, dated humor, simplistic mechanics, and unpolished performance.

Gameplay

Duke Nukem Forever is an action-oriented first-person shooter. Players take control of Duke Nukem and navigate a series of levels which take place on Earth and beyond. The game allows players to interact with various in-game objects, including water coolers, urinals, and whiteboards, which allow players to draw their own images. The gameplay is similar in some respects to the first-person shooter games of the late 1990s and early 2000s, with each level culminating in a boss battle in which Duke has to fight and kill a large, significant alien.