This Duke Nukem title is a celebratory remaster of the iconic 1996 shooter, aiming to modernize the experience while staying faithful to its roots. It introduces true-3D rendering via the Build engine, dynamic lighting, enhanced visual effects, and improved sound quality, alongside re-recorded voice lines by Jon St. John. I have limited experience with the original title, which I played back in the day on PlayStation, and never got past the first few levels, but I have played other Build engine games and I can safely say this is a very high quality product of it. Although it doesn't have a ton of options such as more recent Build titles, it has a good amount of them, while at the same time, it has excellent defaults, especially when it comes to controller support. So much so that I've played this game completely using a controller, which is something that I never do since these titles are best suited for keyboard and mouse.

The standout addition is a completely new episode, Alien World Order, which expands the campaign with several large, original levels designed by some of the game’s original creators. And by far this additional content is the hardest levels of the bunch, being the most chaotic and unpredictable, displaying the creators' evolution in level-design. At its core, the game preserves the fast and old-school gameplay that made it famous. Combat is immediate and aggressive, levels are dense with secrets and interactive elements, and the game’s irreverent humor and pop-culture satire remain front and center. And even though it can start to become annoying like on Shadow Warrior, Duke is way less frequent with his comments. The level design, while sometimes maze-like, still rewards exploration and experimentation, offering a refreshing contrast to more linear modern shooters.

The new episode generally fits well with the classic content, even if its level pacing can feel uneven at times. The presentation upgrades are subtle rather than transformative. You can really notice a big difference compared to other similar titles when it comes to the level-design. This game tries to use the most out of the tech available at the time, to try and mimic real-world objects and structures. I'm particular fond to levels that tries to replicate cities and more detailed environments, rather than alien-like or otherworldly scenarios, and this title is packed with those. Improved lighting and rendering give environments more depth, and the cleaned-up audio enhances weapon feedback and atmosphere. Control adjustments, including mouse input and camera behavior, have also been criticized for feeling less precise than expected on PC.

Content-wise, this game is somewhat incomplete as a “definitive” release. While it adds new material, it omits some classic expansions found in earlier editions, making it less comprehensive than alternatives available to PC players. Overall, this title is a strong nostalgic package that succeeds in preserving the spirit of a landmark shooter while offering just enough new content to justify its existence. It is best enjoyed by fans of retro FPS games or those with fond memories of Duke’s best days, but newcomers may find its dated mechanics and uneven polish a barrier compared to more modern reinterpretations of the genre. I highly recommend this game if you like old FPS to any extent, especially because it is easily available for modern platforms, there is no reason to play the original inferior versions, it'll absolutely be a good time.

"Duke Nukem’s step from 2D platformer into the realm of 3D FPS was a big one, and it executed that step excellently. What it turned out to be was the apex, the yoked zaddy, of early FPS games inside the DOOM formula. With a fully fleshed-out and gorgeous world, absolutely solid gameplay (including new verticality), and tons of levels, it showed that FPS games could have quality and quantity. That said, it would be a solid pick for my favorite DOOM-era FPS, as it’s certainly the most fun and polished, but it’s riddled with misogynistic “humor” that falls tastelessly onto my palette, and brings back memories of gaming’s “golden” age of boys’ club bullshit. Games should be for everyone, and Duke Nukem 3D, despite being pretty awesome, led the late-90s to early-00s charge of hyper-masculine gamer marketing, and for that I have to dock it considerably. Maybe it was bad timing, but there’s certainly no shame about it, even in the newer 5th chapter from 2018."

(from my blog.)

Duke Nukem 3D is a classic FPS that still holds up in many ways. The level design is creative, full of secrets, interactive environments, and moments that were way ahead of their time. The gunplay is fast and satisfying, and the game has a strong identity that makes it instantly recognizable. Duke himself is loud, stupid, and iconic, and the one-liners are part of the charm.

I didn’t complete it yet and I’m planning to come back to it soon, but nothing about the game feels massively off. At the same time, I just don’t enjoy it enough to call it one of the games that I have a "connection" with. Still, as a piece of gaming history, Duke Nukem 3D absolutely deserves its legendary status