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I recently came to the realization that I don’t check out enough Duke Nukem 3D mods. Some maps, Duke Plus, and the Polymer renderer; that’s basically it. In general, I typically look for gameplay mods mainly because they can change the whole experience, making the gameplay more violent, brutal, tactical, and/or change it in other ways and when I came across Duke Nukem: Alien Armageddon, I was immediately interested. Developed by a creator going by the name DukeBoss, Duke Nukem: Alien Armageddon is a mod for Duke Nukem 3D that adds new features and content including new playable characters, weapons, enemies, and maps. I would describe it as a gargantuan mod. Seriously, it’s enormous.
The main plot of Duke Nukem 3D is still intact and the mod features new cut scenes and all new episodes that make up the “New Invasion” storyline unique to Alien Armageddon. There are four new playable characters, each with their own unique weapons, abilities, and equipment and the mod also includes the expansions Duke It Out In D.C. and Duke Caribbean: Life’s a Beach but reworked to fit in with the mod’s new features and content and then there’s the War of Attrition episode which has you playing through a randomized sequence of maps. Almost two hundred as of this review. Needless to say, Duke Nukem: Alien Armageddon is quite massive and I was blown away.
Before jumping into the gameplay, you must choose your character and you have the option to disable the XP system. You can play through all the classic Duke Nukem 3D episodes and even play them in succession and your experience and upgrades do carry over from episode to episode. The experience and upgrade systems really add a whole new layer to the experience as well as add an addictive quality to the gameplay and make you feel more powerful as you progress. The War of Attrition episode explains how these systems work and it seems to apply across the board and not just to War of Attrition from what I can tell. Your character gains experience by killing enemies. When you earn enough, you level up and gain bonus maximum health and a damage boost to all attacks. Leveling up also increases the chances of more difficult enemies appearing. But wait, there’s more. Every weapon slot has a proficiency level and damaging enemies will increase that weapon slot’s experience. When it earns enough, it levels up and the damage for that slot increases.
As for the upgrade system, enemies drop coins or money when killed and you can also find coins in the environments and are awarded some when you rescue babes. You can spend the coins on upgrades and perks in the shop which can be accessed at the press of a button. The shop interface is also where you can customize your character. You can buy new weapons and upgrade existing ones with increased ammo storage and alternate fire modes among other things. Then there’s Perks which include stuff like increased health, regenerating health, and side guns that fly around you and shoot foes automatically.
You might be thinking the experience and upgrade systems make the gameplay easier. But I can honestly tell you that’s not the case. Not in my experience. Alien Armageddon features an entire roster of new foes and bosses that are mixed in with the existing ones and the behavior of existing enemies has been altered in various ways. Foes range from easy to tough and come in different variants and you’ll never know what awaits you around the next corner. As it relates to the classic episodes, several of the new playable characters have abilities that will enable you to reach areas much more easily or sooner than you would normally be able to as Duke. This is because their abilities grant you new ways to get around. But when it comes to the combat and enemies, I would say the new foes balance out the new arsenal nicely. My only real complaint with this mod is that sometimes you’ll encounter huge or tough enemies in small or cramped spaces and these battles can be slightly frustrating or tedious because of the limited room you have to maneuver.
Alien Armageddon does feature the D.C. and Caribbean expansions reworked to fit in with the mod’s new features. I think it’s pretty cool considering the expansions are not easy to come by and because the Duke Nukem 3D: Megaton Edition, which did come with them, was removed from storefronts a while ago. I have played through D.C., Caribbean, and even the Nucelar Winter expansion (not included in the mod) multiple times but I’m not going to pretend I know every map in and out because I don’t. I say that because the reworking here only relates to the action and enemies as far as I can tell. As for the level design, I really can’t say. I got lost and stuck numerous times in the D.C. maps so I found it just as confusing to navigate here as I do in the vanilla experience which I’m not holding against the mod.
The new episodes that come with the mod are, to put it bluntly, awesome. One cool feature showcased in these episodes is that two of the characters will fight alongside each other in many maps and you’ll be able to switch between them on the fly during gameplay. Not only that, you can command your partner to wait or follow you, and even heal them when they’re down. The level design is phenomenal and each episode feels different. Some episodes even come with cool features of their own. Space Gladiators centers on arena battles, like multiplayer but with bots and the story elements are interspersed throughout. You’re brought to a hub area in between matches where you can interact with NPCs, visit shops to buy upgrades, and complete VR missions which play out like standard maps. The Hail to the King, Baby! episode also features a hub area and collectibles to find throughout the maps which equate to money. This episode also grants you access to all of the playable characters and you can select two before starting missions.
Many of the new maps in the new episodes are quite huge. I think I spent close to a half hour or longer in many. Granted, much of that time consisted of me trying to figure out where to go and how to proceed. I admit, I got stuck and found myself running around in circles often but not as often as I do in the D.C. expansion, believe it or not. Nevertheless, they’re not just big, they’re well designed with a good flow to the areas. Many maps feature NPCs scattered around, some you can interact with complete with voice acting and others will even fight alongside you. NPCs are even thrown into the classic maps which I actually think makes the gameplay feel a bit more immersive as it relates to alien invasion premise of Duke 3D as a whole.
War of Attrition is a standout episode because of the random element and this does make for a ton of replay value. You go from map to map, ending with a final boss map. You beat the boss to finish the episode but you can come back and experience a whole new series of maps each time you play through it because the maps you play through are random. There’s apparently a pool of almost two hundred for the game to pick from. This episode also explains many of the new features and mechanics introduced in the mod like the experience and upgrade systems and what kinds of enemies will appear. In Attrition, the further you progress the higher the chance of tougher enemies appearing. You also earn tokens for completing maps and you need these to restart or abort a map. I can’t say if the quality of the maps truly varies because I didn’t play anywhere near two hundred but the ones I did play were all fine and dandy. I have no real complaints. I thought the ones I played were well designed and I really enjoyed my time with the episode.
Alien Armageddon looks like Duke Nukem 3D but with new assets and some visual effects. The new weapon models look cool and have good audiovisual feedback so they look and feel great to fire and some let you to aim down sights and through scopes. The new environments are exceptionally well detailed and I particularly enjoy all the new urban-themed maps. They’re fun to explore and there seems to be pop culture references around every corner. Everything from the flow of the maps to the textures to the lighting is all very well done. The mod does feature new music and I really enjoyed the heavy metal jams, especially in the Resistance episode. Ultimately, Alien Armageddon showcases a kickass audiovisual presentation that greatly helps enhance the action and even immerse the player into the world. On the technical side, I’m happy to say I did not encounter any major issues.
Alien Armageddon is one of the greatest video game modifications I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing. There’s a ridiculous amount of content added here and it all feels polished. I am blown away. It’s fun, addictive, and will keep you occupied for a very long time. Experimenting with the different characters is fun, they all feel unique, the action is excellent, all the weapons feel distinct, and the new enemies means new obstacles to overcome and strategies to learn. The mod basically enhances the Duke Nukem 3D experience and two of its expansions. They feel more action packed and in my opinion, immersive. The new episodes feature excellent maps and come with unique features of their own to mix things up which keeps the experience interesting from beginning to end. The War of Attrition episode could be a mod all on it’s own. But even without it, Armageddon would still have a ton of replay value thanks to all it’s features and content. Attrition essentially guarantees a different experience every time you play through it and with it randomly picking from a pool of almost two hundred maps to play through, you’ll have to play for quite a while to even see every map. In the end, Duke Nukem: Alien Armageddon has become one of my favorite mods ever made.
I absolutely recommend Duke Nukem: Alien Armageddon. It’s one of the best mods I’ve ever played and may just be the greatest mod ever made for Duke Nukem 3D. From what I understand, it has been years in the making and is still being updated. If you’re looking for a reason to revisit Duke 3D, Alien Armageddon is one great reason to do so. Veterans of the vanilla game will undoubtedly appreciate all the changes and new stuff here. Definitely check it out.