Duke Nukem 3D - Plutonium Pak
PC CD-Rom
DUKE Nukem 3D was one of the best and most popular 3D shoot-'em-ups of 1996. And despite serious competition from many other games it was the only one that could be mentioned in the same breath as either Doom or Quake. In fact in single player mode it; beat Doom hands down and; the argument rages on whether or not this is true of Quake also. While Quake and Doom are better multiplayer games, the majority of gameplayers haven't got the necessary equipment to avail of it, so it is the single player mode that is of most importance.
The Plutonium pack is basically a new episode of Duke with 11 new levels. Duke levels, though, are 10 a penny - loads are on the Internet and every month games magazines put levels on their cover CDs, so why would anybody want to pay nigh on £20 for just 11 levels?
Well, these aren't just any old levels. The people who designed these ones are the crowd responsible for Duke in the first place and it doesn't take long to appreciate the quality oozing from each one. On top of that, not only are there three new enemies (pig in an armoured tank, another Alien and another boss - The Queen) but you get the wonderful Microwave Gun to blast them with.
Each of the levels has a "theme": "Duke Burger", for instance, places you in and around a fast food joint, "Babe World" takes place in an adventure park and another level has undertones from the film Mission Impossible. Duke fans will also be endeared to a few extra one liners from the man himself and the new music on each level.
To further justify the price, 3D Realms have included a screen saver, a desktop theme (Windows 95 with PLUS! required) and even a jigsaw puzzle dedicated to Mr Nukem. But don't let these tempt you - this Plutonium pack is strictly for serious fans, of which I'm sure there are plenty.
* Graphics: 92%
* Sound: 90%
* Gameplay: 92%