
Always bet on Duke. It seemed only a matter of time before Duke Nukem 3D cropped up on the Switch; after all, it'd be downright odd for him to miss a format. Sure, there was Bulletstorm: Duke of Switch Edition, but that's not real Duke. This, however, is. It's the magnum opus of the series, when the Duke was in fine fettle, yet to be reduced to rubble by Gearbox's wretched Duke Nukem Forever, and act of both character and franchise assassination.
Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour brings you a brilliant version of the 1996 PC classic, spruced up really rather nicely. It's not perfect, though, with content missing from this version that's been included in prior releases, but we'll get to that. For now, some context in what Duke Nukem 3D is, and why it's so great.
Duke followed Doom – also the case on Switch! – introducing the world to 3D Realms' Build Engine, the glorious building blocks that also gave us Shadow Warrior and Blood. The engine was far advanced over the Doom engine (though 1995's Hexen was still pushing that tech), allowing the environments with sectors raised over other sectors. It still wasn't true 3D, but it was closer and allowed for much more verticality and devious secrets. At the time, locations looked and felt real, with great attention paid to their verisimilitude and interactivity. The first level, for example, has an operating movie theatre, bathrooms with vents you can blow out and crawl through, and an upstairs arcade. You can even shoot out fire hydrants and drink from them. It sounds minor, but this was a big deal.

It's still impressive to play, helped along by the Switch version's multitude of options, including (yes!) gyro aiming, an enormous help given the precision you'll often require. The controls are generally excellent, responsive and placed very logically – of course, you can remap them if you want to. Movement is slick, and the game's performance didn't falter once in our time with it; 60fps all the way, as you'd expect.
If you haven't had the privilege of playing Duke Nukem 3D before, you're in for a treat. One of the very best classic first-person shooters, it packs in a formidable bestiary, some of the best weapons in gaming history (shout-out to the Ripper chaingun), The levels are diverse, expansive, challenging and packed with secrets (including full secret levels). Each 'Episode' can be played individually, but sequenced together they tell the minimal story of Duke Nukem 3D – essentially, "kill the aliens, save the babes".
Briefly addressing this slightly antiquated premise, it's worth noting that the supposed 'adult content' of Duke 3D is downright quaint these days, and his beefheaded machismo is played for laughs rather than setting him up as any kind of serious role model. This was, sadly, the major point that was missed in the rightly-condemned Duke Nukem Forever, which amplified the uglier aspects of the character proudly, completely spoiling the fun.

This 20th Anniversary edition brings some new features to the table. Remember how we mentioned that the game wasn't 'true' 3D? Well, that's no longer strictly true – the game has been rebuilt in a 3D engine, meaning that buildings no longer warp when you look up at them, and – in a more apparent aesthetic change – there's now real lighting. In practice, said lighting often ends up looking rather strange and perhaps too colourful, but thankfully a quick tap of the D-pad switches you to the original graphics and back again, so you can decide for yourself.
Also brand new is a the episode, "Alien World Order", crafted by some of the original Duke Nukem 3D's level designers. It's good too, if perhaps a smidgen more gimmicky and overly expansive than the main game. Crucially, though, it feels like more Duke 3D, and that's always welcome. There's a new flamethrower weapon too, and optional developer audio commentary has been sprinkled throughout the new episode and the main game. The voice of Duke, John St John, has also returned to re-record Duke's iconic voice lines. Online and ad-hoc play are catered for; the classic Dukematch returns and the campaign can be played in full co-op by up to eight players, which sounds like utter carnage.

As for that missing content, that's a bit of a sickener. The previous release of Duke Nukem 3D, Megaton Edition, also included the lesser-known expansion packs Duke it Out in D.C, Nuclear Winter and Duke in the Caribbean. They're no Alien World Order, sure, but it's a shame that this additional content has vanished when it was previously available. We'd speculate about it possibly being patched in like the bonus episodes were to Bethesda's Doom ports, but that didn't happen with the PS4, Xbox One or PC versions, so it's not likely to happen here.
Conclusion
A masterpiece to this day, Duke Nukem 3D is done proud by this Switch conversion. It looks and runs briliantly, the online options are a welcome inclusion and it's not compromised in any way from its earlier console release. It's a shame that a handful of previously-available expansion packs are missing, but given the low price of World Tour Edition, it feels churlish to complain. In the words of the Duke himself, come get some.
Comments 113
Got it on sale for like $6 here in Canada? Pretty damn sweet.
Excellent price, will surely get it! Been waiting to play this since forever. Nows the time!
For this price, it’s a no brainer for sure.
Yeah, no. If I'm going to have to put up with a constant barrage of misogyny when I'm playing a game I'm going to insist on 21st century misogyny. That 20th century crap can stay there.
Nah. Good game in its own right, but I cannot support Gearbox with my dollars. 👋
I will get!!
Great game!
Bit hard up in the UK at the moment, realised I had five bucks in my US account and the rest (as they say) is history.
I preordered this for like $4 and been clicking the thumbnail everyday for a week like an idiot
I was going to skip this as I never played the original, but a Doom-esque shooter that scores a 9 for $5 - I'd be silly not to get this and give it a run-through.
Awsome game. Really enjoyed what i played yesterday. Absolute no brainer at 4 quid.
Got it for $4.99 in the US. Glad I got it, too. It's a blast to play on the Switch.
@progx i agree. Suits the switch down to a T. They have gone above and beyond with the ammount of customization they have allowed us. Great gyro aiming too if that floats ya boat.
Been playing this today. It was like I got in a time machine but instead of playing on a small monitor in a corner of the office, was sat on the couch, playing on a big TV. One of the best FPS of all time and even today's graphical standards cannot dull the experience for someone who played it back in the day.
Annoyingly, I missed one secret in the first level and I am trying to find it without cheating and looking on YouTube.
@Crockin eeee yea I hadn’t heard about any of the controversy until you mentioned this and I looked it up..
@JimmySpades Playing through most Mario or Zelda games must be hard for you.
Glad to have this on PSVita with the DLC.
But for 5 euro this is a must buy nevertheless. Buy it!
@neogyo Oof yea, it's disgusting
@Crockin Why not?
@PcTV wooooooooosh
@daebiya I preordered it, then 5 minutes later saw the icon and was like “ooooo it’s ready to play.” Yeah, I’m dumb too 😀
To be honest, my only gripe with the game so far is that Duke's voice just doesn't fit right. His voice is higher quality than the rest of the game.
At times, I also find the level design a bit confusing to go through. But otherwise, I'd say this is a really solid port. I never played the original before, and to be honest, I'm actually liking it a bit more than DOOM II.
Wow! I’ve just kicked this up from the e shop for £3.53!!!! Result!
@SteelSunglass
There is an audio option to put the original voice track of Duke Nukem back in.
@MichaelHarvey Oh! Really? I didn't know that.
@Kidfunkadelic83 some day I’ll play with the gyro controls. It’s nice to have it.
The commentary mode, I would love that for the Doom’s as well.
@Crockin I feel similarly to when Overwatch came out on Switch.
I like the game, and the Switch is my favorite console. But supporting ther company, specially at the time, it didn't feel right.
I'd argue about Gearbox and Randy Pitchford, but 5 Euros is 5 Euros... there goes my dignity
@TG16_IS_BAE quick Google search should do it
This is a nice surprise.
@progx they are more for fine aiming than anything but work really well for the long distant shots.
Gonna get it for sure!
@SteelSunglass confusing? Tell me anout it. Im stuck on the 2nd darl vlv 😂😂cant find the first key card for love nor money. I swear ive been in every room available to me.
One of the best FPS of all time. If you like this, check out Ion Fury.
For $5 it's pretty hard to pass up.
I bought it day one. Coming as late as in almost 25th Anniversary, this version's price is really reasonable, but on top of that we have it at half price for two weeks. Anybody with even the slightest interest in this release should buy it now and not cry later.
It's hard to understand why Gearbox ruled out the missing content, but they made the original platform entries disappear from digital stores, so there must be a reason. I hope this changes and we can play the 2D Duke Nukem adventures again at some point.
@JimmySpades this game is insanely tame.
The most misogynistic thing that he does in the game is says "shake it baby".
We should get Duke Nukem Forever for same price
@Crockin I’m not sure google is going to tell me why Crockin doesn’t like gearbox. I was asking your specific opinion but you don’t have to share it if you aren’t comfortable.
@dimi Sounds like a really long game.
Played it last night online. Man the people skip around a lot, it's like trying to hit a ghost but still pretty funny that this is what I thought was the deathmatch shiz back before unreal tournament came out.
Rest of the game is stellar, played through this on Xbox one and have it for vita but had to check out the new graphics.
I bought this on PS4 a while back. Best of the new levels is Hollywood Inferno, with a close second being Mirage Barrage, which has a Serious Sam feel in its setting.
I do wish it had the aforementioned expansion packs, but at least I have those on the PS3 release if nothing else.
Already bought it it’s amazing. Love these old games on switch! I play them more than new ones
For that price and the added new contents, this is a high value purchase indeed just like Doom 64.
My favourite game and engine of all BUT there's no way in Hell that I'm giving a creep like Randy my money. Google 'Randy Pitchford Peacock Theatre'.
And that's not even getting to how he misrepresented Aliens Colonial Marines and Duke Nukem Forever to the press and the fans while draining those projects dry to fund Borderlands 1.
It's weird that the infamous babes barely factor into the first three games. The creators in each case made something genuinely innovative and polished. It wasn't until Time To Kill and Planet of the Babes that the series became Leisure Suit Larry with crap shooting.
I bought it!
I have fond memories of this game, but never completed the single player campaign, as I always got caught up in multiplayer battles.
Looking forward to testing out the gyro controls!
@arekdougy Same. As Duke Nukem 64 was, this game is too much fun. I hope they remaster the other 64 Duke title, Zero Hour.
@Crockin I know he is a real scum bag but honestly this 5 dollars isn't going to make up for all the ***** ups they have lost money on. Battleborn and we happy few were both high budget mega flops.
If you want to hit him where it hurts skip borderlands 3 and the parade of dlc for it.
Great game! Great value! Lots of fun!!!!
So, let´s "Kick ass and chew some bubblegum!"
@Crockin Jesus, that’s intense. I wish I had known about that before preordering. Sorry, I don’t really keep up with gaming news as it always seems to be bad news. Never heard of Randy Pitchford but he sounds pretty vile.
How the heck did he get off the hook for that stuff? Usually that’s pretty much a guaranteed jailing.
I somehow never managed to play this after all these years. Never been a better time than now and on the Switch. I just need to get my joy con drift issue fixed so I can use gyro aiming. Has Nintendo reopened their service centres yet?
@doctorhino If 500,000 people download the game, that’s 2.5 million dollars. I mean, I know it doesn’t sound like much ($5.00) but it can add up. I feel bad now, knowing I preordered this game and inadvertently gave money to this creep.
I had this on the Saturn. Haven't played it since, my younger brother was absolutely nuts about this game back in the day. Tempted.
@TG16_IS_BAE Don’t take everything you read on an internet comments section as straight up gospel.
Randy Pitchford was ACCUSED of these things by a disgruntled ex-friend and business associate. He was never prosecuted for any of it which is enough to put some doubts on the accusations.
The last thing the world needs is more trial by internet mob based on comments without seeing the evidence.
Not saying he is a good or bad person, but the outrage mob cowboys condemning someone from their computer desk without seeing the proof are far worse in my opinion.
I’m pretty surprised about the score and reactions in comments . While I do love the game, I remember the game was never known for its story mode. The strength of this game was always death match . Hollywood Holocaust, LA Rumble, Red Light district were great fun along with a ton of user created maps. Playing this on Kali and/or Ten back in the 90s was the best. Loved the shot gun battles !
@doctorhino no problem skipping a borderlands game lol
@RunninBlue Very much agreed.
I actually just grabbed it since it's on sale for so cheap. Into the backlog it goes.
@RunninBlue Personal testimony is evidence, which I was taught by multiple stints on a jury, and have had confirmed by my brother, member of the Indiana Bar in good standing. Saying there's no proof is simply a bad faith attempt to subvert debate to make supporting accusations impossible. Every time you claim to be an objective outsider you support Pitchford and his bad acts, whether you realize that or not.
@RunninBlue yes it's speculation, but this isn't just one account. He's also been accused of assault and abuse. Pretty easy to lean towards scumbag in this case
@JimmySpades Since you like to talk about “bad faith”, I am sure you are happy to show everyone where I said their is “no proof”.
We’ll wait.
@nimnio You’re not missing anything, you’ve just met members of the “accusations are evidence” club.
They never seem to think about what it’s like being on the other end of these type of accusations.
People are losing their humanity.
Love Duke, hope we get Blood, even better multiplayer in my opinion. One of my favourite games.
@RunninBlue I wholeheartedly agree with you, I just finished looking into it and can confirm what you are saying.
I'm noticing that a lot of these sorts of things seem to be hitting people without first being proved in a court of law. The lack of due process with regards to certain accusations is pretty alarming. Sorry for jumping the gun, and thanks for the heads up.
@Crockin At this point, if all we are doing is speculating about someone and not following any due process, I'm willing to stay neutral and have no opinion one way or another. Let's at least wait until something is proven in a court of law, or if there is a settlement. Something with some weight. At least with my google searches, I was unable to find anything.
@TG16_IS_BAE well you asked why Im not personally spending money on the game. Don't forget Randy Pitchford is also a rich executive lol. Courts mean nothing. Here's an account of him assaulting a voice actor for another example.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/variety.com/2019/gaming/news/gearbox-ceo-accused-of-physical-assault-1203207559/amp/
You can believe this stuff or not, I don't really care, but the accounts are out there
@RunninBlue I'm sure he's pretty comfy with that 12 million.
@Crockin Being wealthy is not a crime.
@RunninBlue it is when you steal it
@Crockin If he stole it, he’d be in jail. As far as I’m aware, he broke no U.S. laws. If he did, I’m open to reading about it. Can you provide a link? He might have been involved in some shady practices, maybe, maybe not, but point me to a big business person who isn’t.
Just dled the game ... disappointed to discover the game appears to lack pro controller support
Edit: maybe a game glitch when I first booted the game up... working now , apologies for misinformation
@nimnio @RunninBlue Idk how else I can say that multiple accounts of toxic behavior, theft, and possession of child pornography are enough to give me pause. I also have zero faith in the American justice system, especially when a well connected wealthy white man is involved. Plenty of games and developers out there, and it's really easy to skip gearbox, so I do. Simple as that. You are welcome to spend your money wherever you want free of my judgement, I do not know you..
@Crockin You’re right, I asked for your opinion. I just figured it would be backed up by something concrete. Not trying to call you out, I just figured since its such a huge allegation that there would be something other than what google is providing.
@Crockin OJ Simpson trial, please look that up before placing blame on one particular group. The courts in America cater ONLY to the wealthy.
@nimnio Yeah, these morally grey situations are the worst, because almost everyone feels like they need to attach an opinion to it.
Sometimes when something is so grey, or just lacks evidence, staying neutral is best. Just my two cents, I appreciate your reply, as well.
@TG16_IS_BAE Yes wealthy white men probably deserve a little more credit. I'm issuing a full apology to all you lol.
@Crockin I’m not white, so I’m not sure what you mean. I’m not trying to ruffle anyone’s feathers, but I’ll drop the comments. Sorry to bug you.
Duke Nukem Forever does not deserve the hate it gets. It's fun, it looked good, and it's hilarious. The only bad thing I can say about it is the loading times, those were atrocious.
@Crockin You are being knowingly disingenuous. He was not caught with child pornography. Making such a claim in these circumstances is disgusting.
@Crockin I don't support (or not support) companies (as in, I don't really give a flying crap about these companies or they policies or what their employees do for the most part, to be blunt); I just buy good games. If they make a great game I'll show interest. If they make a crap game I'll let it be known that I think it's crap. I'm lucky I guess because it's quite simple for me personally.
@TG16_IS_BAE the money he held back from his developers in the form of $0 bonuses is well documented and caused a pretty big stir. That was the only part I was aware of being proven but making people work for less in the promise of a bonus then withholding it is bad enough to be a scumbag
@doctorhino Wasn't that with regards to Borderlands 3? All the articles I found were stating that Gearbox never made that information public, though employees were complaining about it. I don't feel there is enough compelling information, unless you have a link?
of all the people I expected the comment section to be standing up for, Randy Pitchford is not up there
@theberrage ???? where did you get that idea? i've almost beat hollywood holocaust in its entirety with the pro controller
IIRC the main fan favourite of the 'missing content' is Duke in the Carribean. Ive never fully had a chance to play the TC expansions myself so i dont know whether their exclusion hurts the 20th Anniversary release beyond a lack of a complete package.
Id bought this on Xbox One and later PS4 and the one major issue i recall this having was that the quality of the sound effects were reasonably sub par. Dont know if they fixed it for those releases later. I dont really notice it much for this release but its been a while since i played it i guess.
The main game itself (particularly for its time) played so well and had so many memorable elements (the Jetpack, underwater sections that generally didnt suck, blowing open cracked walls). It had a good balance of level design and recognisable themed locations in pretty detailed maps.
About the only real gripe i ever had with it is that certain enemies (Pig Cops and most notably The chaingunners - forgot their name) tend to counterattack immediately one shot. It doesnt make the game much more difficult since its not overly hard and ammo is plentiful (shotgun + dodging does the job), just an oddity i never understood, particularly compared with Dooms pain states.
@theberrage i played the first 3 levels of this port with the pro controller and its the only way id want to have. Pro controller is supported and works just fine.
This is my 4th time buying this game (X360, PS3, PS4, SW). It really is a classic fps game. Now on the go!
@somebread @DarkScythe13 when I launched the game it wouldn’t work.... I’ll edit my comment and try again
Any idea why the content is missing or just them being idiots?
@theberrage Pro controller worked fine for me too.
Having Duke, Doom, Turok, and upcoming next year Shadowman truly has some nice classics for the switch.
Fond memories of playing this on the PCs during my Uni days. (That is on other students' PCs as I couldn't afford one of my own in my own halls room or student flat!) Hours upon hours. Insta-download
Great game. I have bought it so many times in my life.
Why did Duke have to just rip-off other character's quotes?
Ge definitely must have been a Ash Williams fan.
I was given a 386 PC (yup, I’m so Old School we wrote on slates) by a good friend and Duke Nukem was on it. I played it to death and devoured the fan made levels (big shout out to ‘Roch’) so I was overjoyed when I saw this. Bought immediately for the price of a Cafe Nero Americano and I’m transported back 20 years. A fantastic port. Come get some indeed. Buy, buy, buy!
Duke it Out in D.C, Nuclear Winter and Duke in the Caribbean are independent expansions done and released by different companies, thus this is the reason
This game is so ridiculous cheap and it plays so good. Very nice release
Now bring Shadow Warrior and Blood to Switch
It's a great game, i just think that they should have added a splitscreen mode to the Switch version for N64 nostalgia.
So I bought it, and playit it for a bit, and I'm a little disappointed to say that the gyro-aiming appears to a bit of a sloppy afterthought.
Not only is the sensitivity a little on the sluggish side, but it simply can't be utilized properly without also using an analog stick stick for turning left/right. You CAN turn with the gyro, but pointing the JoyCon back to a center position always rotates exactly as many degrees back the opposite direction to where you started.
The movement stick click, which serves to re-center your view doesn't help one bit with this issue, as you still need to physcially move your hand back, an action which then rotates you the opposite direction immediately.
If the game actually features some dead-zone settings for this kind of thing, someone please tell me where to find them. Otherwise this feature is borderline useless for anything more than being a precision-aiming addition to regular twin-stick control.
Other than that, this game seems legit!
The level-recording feature is sort of fun, though I do feel as an old-timer that it waters down my curiosity and tenacity that Gearbox have gone with this approach of giving you instant access to all episodes, all levels, and even all the moments of your current session, right up until the moment you die.
I will have to work on my grump in that regard though.
@JimmySpades A personal testemony is evidence, yes but it is never proof of someones guilt without further investigation, other evidence etc.
Same as having no alibi is proof of someone's guilt either.
All that being said, Randy Pitchford is a jerkwad but you cannot hold the entire staff of Gearbox accountable for his deeds.
@nimnio giving out a small bonus to say you gave a bonus is basically withholding money. It may be worse considering you now have no means to pursue the original bonus you were promised.
@TG16_IS_BAE I mean basically what was posted right below. https://kotaku.com/sources-despite-huge-sales-borderlands-3-developers-a-1842617645
I don't know something about giving out a consolation prize when someone is counting on a bonus to make up a large portion of their income seems wrong. I know there are a lot of professions where the bonus makes or breaks your overall income. Im not saying protest them as I bought the game too just hate to see people losing out because someone gave them a bad contract and took advantage of it.
@nimnio I read the whole article, he made an excuse, and now you are being an apologist about it. If you don't like my opinion than fine, but the game is going to make a boatload. Because the team went over budget shouldn't be cost passed along to them in their pockets, it's the companies burden to manage the products financials.
@nimnio I mean if you think it's right for a bunch of managers to make decisions that are outside of the developers power to change, then change your earnings downwards because those decisions didn't work out than you are going to have a fun time in business. I'm guessing you haven't had any jobs that complex yet though.
Such an attitude for sticking up for a corporation that is trickling their own expenses to the developers. Didn't know there were gearhead fanboys this agitated over people bad mouthing their precious business practices.
They really should patch in the missing episodes later, also would be nice if you could swip the sticks in the control settings, but maybe I should try out motion aiming
The recent releases of doom and now this has made me realise something. I thought I was tired of FPS but I’m not I’m tired of modern ones 😆
@sandman89 same here... I’d really like to see Unreal Tournament come out (“headshot!”). I’d also like to see Descent as I never played that much on PC but feel it might be fun on switch
@Crockin I totally stand with you. After what happened with Aliens Colonial Marines the thought of giving them anything of currency kills me. The heartbreak and anguish I felt from that experience returns every time I think about it. By far my biggest gaming letdown moment (and there's been plenty but this takes the cake).
However I really do want this game! Maybe I'll use the girlfriend's credit card so technically it's not my money I'm giving...
I like updates to old games. Duke is a tired old stereotype but for $5 I couldn’t resist. The game holds up, especially with quality-of-life updates like rewinding after you die. Why does it say 20th anniversary? I guess this is a port of a 2016 game?
@Crockin why?
@EmirParkreiner I would buy it if it had 4 player local split screen. For now, it's a pass (online on switch is not a fun experience anyways)
@Gridatttack
Heh... forever.
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