Duke Nukem Zero Hour

"Classic Duke action in a third-person adventure game"

Everyone has played at least on Duke Nukem game at some time or another. From PC to every major console, Duke has appeared in several cross-platform and original titles over the past years. Most recently, he travelled through time in the Playstation's Duke Nukem: Time to Kill, his first original console title. Now he stars in the similarly themed yet very different N64 effort, Zero Hour.

The plot is the same as every Duke title - aliens are invading and threaten to put an end to life as we know it. Enter Duke and his arsenal, intent on putting an end to their antics. This time, Duke's adventure takes him to the near future, back to the wild west of 1848, to Victorian London, Scotland and then back to a warped alternate present where elements of all of the time zones intermingle.

Although Zero Hour is a third person adventure type game, the gameplay more closely resembles the original PC game in that the focus is on intense, almost non-stop action. Thankfully, there is very, very little of the frustrating Tomb Raider-esque platform jumping to be found here. Puzzles are all pretty simple as well, sticking mainly to the find key/open door variety, with the door usually placed somewhere quite near to the key. This helps keep the action high, and that's where the meat of the game lies.

Duke's list of weapons is impressive, and it changes for each time period. In the present he'll have typically high-tech weapons like submachine guns, autoload shotguns, sniper rifles (and the sniping effect here is the best I've seen yet)and grenade launchers. When he travels to the old west he'll find Colt .45 Peacemakers, 30-30 rifles and sticks of dynamite. In London, gatling guns, bombs and experimental volt cannons are the rule.

I'd be remiss to not mention that the Duke Nukem attitude is in full effect here. Not only can Duke actually rescue the babes littering the various levels this time around (they respond with suitable double entendres: "Oh Duke, I knew you'd... come.") but Duke himself is equipped with zingy one-liners for every occasion (kill a pig cop and he might say "Pork - the other dead meat." Drop a lizard-like Enforcer and he'll quip "That's the kind of tail I don't need.") And of course, Duke kills with the syle we've come to expect, often leaving enemies with gaping holes in their midsection or headless.

The graphics are boosted by Nintendo's Expansion Pak, and although at high-res things can go a bit choppy, the game generally look very good. The music is suitable, but the sound effects (and especially the quality of the voice samples) really shines. Control is a bit loose, especially the jumping, but it is easily compensated for and never detracts from the fun. Zero Hour features 22 levels, including a couple of hidden ones and a last boss that will test the limits of your frustration.

Zero Hour is a nice package, and comes highly recommended by this reviewer.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99