Duke Nukem: Time To Kill

Yeah, you know who Duke Nukem is. He's that wise-crackin' take-no-mess kind of guy who likes fast women, unfiltered smokes and heavy artillery.

All he thinks about is kickin' ass and chewin' bubblegum. Basically he's the guy we all would like to be but luckily we're all smart enough not to go that far. With that said, there's not a thing wrong with playing Duke in a video game. After all, that's where we go when we want to play make-believe. Enter Duke Nukem: Time to Kill from n-Space, published by GT Interactive.

The first thing we should mention is this version of Duke Nukem isn't a first-person shooter. It's more like Tomb Raider with a very Duke Nukem style about it. In fact, the project name is Duke Raider, which pretty much sums the game up in two words. But we should also mention the team working on Time to Kill believes the similarities to Tomb Raider are only on the outside, and from what we've played so far we have to agree.

The story behind Time to Kill starts around the same time as the alien bastards from previous Duke games decide to travel back in time to, as n-Space President Erick S. Dyke puts it, "prevent Duke from kicking their asses." Since Duke can't have this, he jumps through time right along with them. While in different time periods (the Old West, Ancient Rome and Medieval, among others) Duke and his friends, enemies and weapons all fit the era. For example, Pig Cops wear armor in the Medieval period while Duke uses a crossbow. Thanks to the various time periods, Duke has easily more than a dozen different kinds of weapons to blow away alien scum with.

Besides weapons, Duke has a whole array of new moves similar to those in Tomb Raider. Instead of just being able to jump around and crouch like in the first-person Duke, he can now do running dives from platforms and grab on to ledges just before he falls to his doom. On top of this, he can wade and roll and sidestep--the list goes on and on.

So are you worried about weird camera problems inherent in 3D action games of this kind? You shouldn't be. The camera in Time to Kill is pretty smart and when the camera goes behind Duke obstructing your field of view, Duke becomes semi-transparent. This transparency effect also occurs when you go into "Look Mode." By holding down Ri you can aim anywhere on the screen with the help of a little red pixel and blow away your enemies from a distance.

What Duke game would be complete without a multiplayer mode? None, which is why Time to Kill features a Two-player Split-screen Mode. It is not yet known whether or not this mode will have Al bot characters though. For more info on Duke Nukem: Time to Kill be sure to check on Videogames.com (www.videogames.com) for their Designer Diaries.

One of PC gaming's superstars marches onto the PlayStation with the same brash attitude and gore laden mayhem that earned him his fame. While Duke Nukem: Time To Kill could've delivered better graphics and controls, it's all about action, baby, and Duke won't let you down.

After suffering various defeats in the PC games, the aliens want Duke eliminated for good, so they're traveling through time to the Old West, medieval Europe, and ancient Rome to take out his ancestors and prevent Duke's birth. Naturally, it's just another day at the office for Duke, who deals out lead from a third-person perspective through 12 long levels. Tons of bad-ass weapons and secrets, solid puzzle-solving adventure elements, ; r and two-player split-screen deathmatches keep you deep in the game.

If only the graphics were a little more clean and the controls a little more crisp, Duke might've stood alongside Lara. Still, those flaws shouldn't stop you from checking out Time to Kill--Duke's brand of ex-plor-action is gripping enough to show you a wild time.

Graphics

Duke's travels through time are depicted well with scenic levels, smooth camera work, and one sharp-looking Duke. But his animations are a little stilted, the enemies look pretty blocky, and, up close, the scenery pixelates too much.

Control

Duke can bust off a ton of cool moves, so the controls take a little getting used to. Once mastered, you'll have comfortable control of everything. The auto-targeting, however, is often too inaccurate to rely on.

Sound

The sound kicks as much ass as Duke himself, with scorching weapon effects and atmospheric tunes. The hilarious Duke-isms are icing on the cake, as he comments on everything from local babes to South Park Mr. Hanky.

Fun Factor

In his second PlayStation outing, Duke Nukem conies out with guns blazing in an engrossing action game. While it's far from perfect, nothing's so terribly wrong that you won't have a great time--especially if you're looking for a Tomb Raider-esque experience with a little more firepower.

Duke is back, and you'd better like it because he's on his worst behavior. This 3D ac-tion/platform title is still "Duke Raider"--it's a fast-paced game with a lot of weapons and gore galore (see cover feature "Duke Nukem: Time to Kill," March). Get ready to have your fragile sensibilities skewered, wussy, 'cause there's enough suggestive skin in this game to make Madonna blush. But amidst all the toilet humor, you'll find a solid title that will make Duke fans say, "Damn, that's good!" Some areas that are still under construction and in need of fine-tuning include the game's polygon collision (Duke seems to "stick" to objects in the room) and its massive clipping. The music could use a hard-rock whupping, too. We'll keep you updated on how Time to Kill shapes up as GT finishes up work on the game.

Overview

One of the perks of being in this industry is that I hear about games before the rest of the general public. Since I was such a big fan of Duke Nukem Total Meltdown, I was ecstatic when I heard that a new Duke game was in the works. I can never get enough of that Duke attitude and blasting action so I knew it was going to be a long wait. Well, the day has finally come that the new Duke is on the shelves and more things have changed than just the name of the game. You can bet that one thing has not changed and never will: that Duke attitude.

Duke Nukem Time To Kill takes Duke on an adventure back through time into some of the classic eras in history. Does this mean that the game is going to get all educational on you now? Hell no. This just means that you get to see strippers in all different periods of history. Duke is no longer played from the first person perspective but is now played from the third person, ala Tomb Raider. Oh, by the way, this won't be the first reference to Tomb Raider either.

Gameplay

What a difference a year makes. Not only does Duke have his own game developed exclusively for the PSX (instead of a PC port) but Duke is now played from the third person. This means that you will see every move, shake, scratch and gesture that old Duke makes. This is a first for our hero and to be honest, I think it works quite well. To give you an idea of what it feels like to play this game, think Tomb Raider with more blasting of bad guys and less bouncing of, well, let's just say that there is less bouncing. Sure, Tomb Raider has sold millions of copies and the reason is more than just because of Lara. The games are actually fun to play. So if you enjoy Tomb Raider for the gameplay but think it needs a little more pig splattering than this is the game for you.

One of the reasons that the Tomb Raider games have sold so many copies is also because of Lara. Sure, the gameplay is good but there are also people who bought the game because of her. There is only one other character in all of videogames that I could ever feel compelled to but a game because of. That other character is Duke Nukem. Actually, external traits aside, I think Duke is actually a cooler character than Lara Croft is. He has a kick ass attitude that revolves around blasting pigs and scoring with chicks. I can't think of a better person to model my life around. Well, maybe not, but let's just say that my other half hates it when a new Duke game gets released because I walk around the house talking like Duke for the next two weeks. Some people will just never grow up.

Duke's latest adventure has him traveling back in time to stop the aliens from killing off his distant descendants. See, it turns out that they aliens have figured out that if they go back in time and kill Duke's bloodline, they will destroy Duke. Sounds like a great theory except they did not count on Duke finding the time machine. His first stop is the old west and this is just the beginning. One of the best parts about this game was the whole time travel element. I think they did a great job of making things look like they really would. In the old west level, Duke wears a cowboy hat and boots. In the Rome level, Duke wears a toga. A lot of the weapons are specific to weapons of that time period and the scenery is just awesome.

As with any Duke game, you will find yourself coming across a ton of different weapons to help you in your quest to save the world of today. You will find your standard shotgun and such but this game also has some pretty cool weapons that have not been seen before. Duke can find anything from a throwing knife to a freezer gun. My personal favorite is the RPG that launches grenades and blows up everything with a 10-15 foot radius of the explosion. This little baby is very handy for clearing out crowded areas. The weapons in this game are one of the main things that set it apart from other games. There is just no comparing them to the Duke.

Since this game is played from the third person perspective, the developers were able to develop levels and world that were much more open. You are not limited to a constricting corridor any longer. They also added some elements of a platform game which was good and bad. It was good because it keep the gameplay varied but it was bad because sometimes Duke was a little difficult to control and jumping could be a nightmare to pull off. I think that the developers realized that the jumping was difficult because in most place where you are making jumps you have water underneath so you will fall into the water and don't splat on the floor. I just had a really difficult time getting Duke to jump with any precision. It seemed like I would either overjump or underjump. There was one area that took me at least 30 minutes to pass because I could not make the stupid jumps. This was pretty frustrating but luckily there were not too many instances like this.

One thing that I really did not like about the game was the save system. I could not save my game until I had completed a level. I did come across checkpoints where I could continue from if I died before I could save. The problem with this is that the levels are pretty long. Some levels can take up to five hours to complete. Now that is a long time to keep playing without saving. If you die, you either go back to a check point or start from the beginning. This got really frustrating because I would die and start a level over a few times and it got old playing through the same stuff over and over again. I even paused the game and left my PSX on overnight because I did not want to turn it off and have to start things over from the beginning.

Graphics

Gone for the most part are the pixel graphics of Total Meltdown. Since this game was designed specifically for the PSX, the developers were able to spend some time making it look good. They did a pretty decent job as well. There is plenty of blood flying around and the strippers were really good with the metal poles at the beginning of the game. The swimming portions were also done well and it looked like I was really swimming underwater. Actually, the graphics are very similar to Tomb Raider.

Bottom Line

I recommend purchasing this game if you live to blow stuff up and have a good sense of humor. If you get offended easily, you may want to look elsewhere. Duke has the most personality of any videogame character around and his one-liners never get old. I wish that it was a little easier to jump because it was frustrating to keep falling into the water, climbing back up and falling down again. I think that you may have gotten the point of what the game resembles with all of my Tomb Raider references so now it is time for Lara to "come get some" Dukie style!

You'd think that when Duke Nukem gave those pesky aliens a boot up their collective backside, they'd get the hint--but apparently they're back for more in Duke's forthcoming PlayStation game. The aliens have gotten their hands on a time machine, and are out to annihilate mankind by starting trouble before Duke was even born. And that makes Duke mad.

Duke travels through four historical eras: the Roman Empire, medieval times, the old West, and modern-day America. Time to Kill offers a new third-person perspective, enormous levels, as well as different enemies and arsenals for each new time period. The screens we've seen look very promising: nice lighting effects and cool level touches abound. Can Time to Kill topple Tomb Raider? That's the goal.