Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project

Pros • Shifting perspective keeps things from getting dull • Cool Duke talk • Slick assortment of weapons • Nice use of 3D graphics for what is essentially a 2D game	Cons • 3D engine makes it look like you can go anywhere, but you can't. • Monsters sometimes get into awkward, unmoveable positions
Bottom Line Who would have thought a side-scroller would work on the PC in this day and age? Well, it does. Long before he went first person shooter, Duke Nukem was the hero of a series of side-scrollers. And before they hit on the mega-lucrative hunting genre with Deer Hunter, Sunstorm Interactive was making Duke Nukem 3D add-ons like Duke It Out In D.C. and Duke Caribbean: 'Life's A Beach'. Sunstorm has now taken Duke on a nostalgia trip by creating Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project, a new side-scroller, for the PC no less. And you thought they were only getting resurrected on the Game Boy Advance.

Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project is a strange but interesting beast. For one thing, it's a side-scroller when nobody makes side-scrollers for PC anymore. It also uses 3D graphics, although its gameplay is essentially 2D in style. It's a most unusual choice for a game, and somewhat risky to pitch to a PC audience. But after all is done, it's a pleasant little trip.

PC gaming hasn't seen a side-scroller in awhile. But even while it's in a genre with no real competition these days, it's still a well done side-scroller. It's made with a decent 3D engine, but the gameplay dynamics remain 2D--you're only ever really advancing forward or retreating, but the camera shifts perspective so that you might be looking at the action from directly above, at a 45 degree angle from in front of Duke, etc., and not just your typical side-scroller cross-section. This perspective shifting is quite clever and makes the game much more interesting to look at and explore.

It certainly doesn't hurt that they don't rely on lethal drops to challenge you. Most of the conflict comes from the monsters, but there is more to do than fight. Duke has to dodge cars (or burst through them using the force field, that's fun!), hop across electrified floors or toxic waste, or avoid Duke-charring incinerators.

The game is similar to the first two Oddworld games, probably the last major side-scroller to hit PC. Duke can climb, jump, underhand climb on ropes, use a jetpack, and duck into doors for special areas, or just to continue the trip under a different perspective. Unlike Abe though, Duke has an arsenal of weapons. There's the Golden Eagle handgun, shot gun, assault rifle, and Duke's pipe bombs are back. My favorite weapon is the GLOPP Ray, which turns mutants back into their original forms. So, giant cockroaches shrink to normal cockroaches when zapped with it.

There are all sorts of enemies, both new and from previous games. There are Pig Cops, Rat Men, Giant Roaches, whip-wielding dominatrixes, robot drones, and so on. The game also has some good boss fights in unexpected locations. Combat has its share of gore, with lots of blood splatter and giblets (I approve).

The plot is typical Duke. Evil guy Morphix is running around Manhattan doing evil guy things, such as releasing an army of mutants and kidnapping scantily-clad, top-heavy women. It's Duke to the rescue with the usual combination of guns and quips, as he and Morphix exchange shots and thinly-censored obscenities.

As with previous Duke games, there are pop-culture references a plenty. Duke makes references to and steals lines from--I mean, pays homage to--movies like Scarface, The Matrix, Mimic, and many more. There's also references to other games like Max Payne and Frogger, and lots of Duke self-referencing. I love it when you reach a door that requires a key card you don't have and Duke says "Mother-bleeping key cards!" Amen brother. Testify.

Manhattan Project is not meant to be any grandiose A-list Max Payne killer. It's good for what it is and entertainingly kills the hours, particularly if you've been without Duke for a long time. The only complaint I have to make is that because of the 3D graphics, it looks like you can go anywhere, but you can only follow the game paths. Sometimes you forget that. More seriously, occasionally a monster will sit in a position that Duke needs to jump to or climb up to, and since the laws of the universe and gaming prevent two objects being in the same place at once, Duke can't get past. You could shoot the monster, but sometimes you can't shoot at that angle, such as when you're on a ladder. This means reloading, mucking about until you luck into moving or killing the monster, or using cheat codes.

The game has eight episodes divided into three parts each, so there's a lot of gaming to do. On top of this, the game is priced lower than your average major release, but it doesn't feel like a quicky budget title. Nope, it's polished and consistent. I'm surprised they didn't release it for one of the consoles. Maybe in the future. In the here and now, Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project does a great job of bringing Duke back to the PC, where he has been absent far too long.

Now, where the frickin' frick is Duke Nukem Forever?

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