Duke Nukem is a long standing franchise that saw its start in the 2D action-platformer genre with both its 1991 and 1993 releases. After the success of series' such as Doom and Wolfenstein, Duke saw himself reincarnated into the 3D world of then-modern shooters in 1996 with Duke Nukem 3D; the third installment in the series. Much later into its lifespan, the Megaton Edition of the game was released in 2013, and it included both the Atomic Edition of Duke Nukem 3D, along with Manhattan Project.
I'll start out by saying two very important things: Yeah, Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour isn't as good as the Megaton Edition. Yeah, people (fanboys in particular) are blowing it way out of proportion. The removal of the Megaton version of Duke Nukem 3D was not malicious or part of a grand scheme for Gearbox to make more money. They didn't even have the distribution rights to the Megaton Edition; Devolver Digital did, and their distribution agreement ended in early 2016. It was only after this LEGALLY BINDING distribution agreement ended that Gearbox Publishing took over. Some people here really need to do more research before bashing a company for something they didn't do.
I love Duke Nukem as much as the next guy who enjoys fast action, big explosions, slaughtering aliens, and tipping hot strippers to see their pixelated boobs. That being said, I'm no fanboy to the series and this review will probably be the most unbiased and well constructed one that you'll read here. There are a plethora of downsides to the 20th Anniversary World Tour if you're comparing it to the Megaton Edition, so let's just get those out of the way. This version does not come with all of the "extras" that Megaton did, such as Duke It Out in D.C., Duke: Nuclear Winter, Duke Caribbean: Life's a Beach, or the classic version of the game. Additionally the sound, particularly the music, seems a lot more muffled in juxtaposition.
Those two aforementioned downers are the only problems, though, and they could easily be fixed by Gearbox with free DLC and a patch to fix the sound. There's actually a lot that the 20th Anniversary World Tour does very well. For one, there's a nice lighting and visual upgrade. Long gone is the semi-disorienting skybox that didn't quite move properly when looking up at it; there's now real depth perception in terms of the skyline, and it doesn't look boxy anymore. A lot of the level textures have had a pretty solid upgrade as well. You can even see the contrast by switching between modes on the fly in-game without having to pause by pressing the C key.
A lot of people are angry about the new Duke Nukem voice-overs, because that's another new feature in this edition of the game. Simply put, if you don't like the high-definition version, you can go back to "retro Duke" in the options menu; stop making a big deal out of this when it isn't something to downvote about... you can turn it off. I personally don't feel like Jon St. John sounds "tired" and "exhausted" with his voice acting. I did a lot of comparisons by saving before a one-liner and then reloading and listening to it with retro Duke turned on; most of it (so far) sounds the exact same. Even if he does sound a little tired to some, he's earned the right... he's nearly 60 years old for god sake; 20 years have passed since he first voiced Duke.
Onto the game itself. If you've never played Duke Nukem 3D, you're missing out on a spectacular experience. With what little story there is available, the events pick up right where Duke Nukem II left off; Duke returns to Los Angeles in his space cruiser, but before he can land his ship is shot down by unknown hostiles. As he's sending out a distress signal, Duke discovers that aliens are attacking his home city. They've even mutated the LAPD. As such, you go on a violent rampage of alient assassination in order to stop the invasion.
The gameplay itself is very similar to Doom, in that you have to collect keycards to open new doors to progress through the levels. However, Duke Nukem features a never-ending supply of enemies that respawn, so you can't get comfortable for long no matter where you are. There are a multitude of weapons, by the way the weapon selection has been revamped in the 20th Anniversary World Tour... another plus side, health and ammo pick-ups, and steroids that send Duke into a high octane killing frenzy. The secrets in each level are also much harder to find that in say Wolfenstein 3D, and you get a real fulfilled sense when you end up stumbling into one.
Now, the deluxe feature of Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour is that it comes with a fifth episode that was crafted by the original episode designers. I'm not going to spoil anything for you, but yes it's worth buying this game just to play the new episode. Can you still buy Duke Nukem 3D: Megaton Edition? In some places, yes. Is it cheaper than the 20th Anniversary World Tour? Sure is, for now. Which one should you buy? It really doesn't matter, the real question you should be asking yourself is whether or not you want to experience a new, killer episode or revisit multiple expansion packs; which will most likely be included later after the developers are done remastering them. Either way, aside from some audio issues, Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour is a solid re-re-release of one of the best early shooters that has a kickass attitude all its own.
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