Duke Nukem Advance

"If you only buy one FPS, this is the one to get!"

-Introduction-

I just can't help it. I've always been a big fan of FPS games. [First Person Shooter] and I've been playing them since as far back as Doom and Wolfenstein 3D

Duke Nukem first saw the light as a platform game; but it wasn't until his move to 3D in early 1996 that he became wildly popular with the main-stream gamers crowd.

Duke Nukem 3D was facing some heavy competition, especially from Quake 1, which was actually released later that year [august 1996], but because of its great level design, great weapons, great humor and above all, scantily clad women, it gained a devoted following overnight, and is still highly regarded as one of the best FPS games ever. It has seen versions on just about every modern system, including Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Gameboy and now, GBA.

While Duke Nukem advance isn't a direct port of Duke Nukem 3D, [different levels, same story] it captures most of its goodness and puts a modern spin on it for the handheld old school gamer.

-Gameplay-

If you like First Person Shooters, you'll love this one. The basic premise is: Aliens want to take over the world. Here's a big gun, go kick some alien rear. Very simple but very fun.

-Controls-

Controls are the biggest worry for any seasoned FPS player. Whereas Duke Nukem 3D had a whole keyboard to play with, you only have a D-pad and 6 buttons. I can tell you, these are some of the best controls I've seen so far. You move around with the D-pad, strafe with the L and R buttons, shoot with B and open doors/push buttons with A. You change weapons by holding select and pushing L or R. As a novelty, you can also look up and down by holding L & R and pressing up or down on the D-pad. [don't worry, you won't have to do that, but you can if you want to]

-Graphics-

These are some of the best graphics I've seen on a GBA. It beats Doom and Wolfenstein hands down. No comparison. Not even Ecks Vs Sever comes close. The textures, the details, the modelling, the construction.. All top notch.

The only disappointment are the enemies. They don't look nearly as good as they did on the PC. Most likely because you'll be mowing them down by the dozens, and it'd slow the system down. But now we're just nitpicking.

-Weapons-

What would an FPS be without weapons? The weapon set was copied straight from Duke Nukem 3D, with some additions and alterations. You'll get two desert eagles [normal and gold] two shotguns [the original double barrel and a new quad barrel] a nice looking MP5 replaces the chain gun [alas, I preferred the chaingun] there's the freeze- and shrink guns, the RPG, the pipe-bomb, and last but not least, Your Big Foot To Kick Some Rear. Nice, very nice.

-Sounds-

It's all good. There's no music apart from the famous intro theme, the weapons sound great and the enemy groans and effects are OK.

=Conclusion=

Great levels, great graphics, great weapons.. What more could you want? It's the best FPS on the system. Whether you're a Duke veteran or just want a good game, I highly recommend you get this one. No gamer should be without it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/20/03, Updated 05/20/03