Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project Review

“What a p***y”

Nothing beats loading a game and hearing the age-old drawling quips of a protagonist I have come to know and love over the years. It has been a while since I’ve played a game that made me feel the way Duke Nukem 3D did; as a young teenage girl getting kicks out of a game that was clearly not designed for someone of my age. That said, it paved the way for my descent into a passion for video-games, and I’ve not looked back since.

Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project is an iOS port of a game that was originally released for the PC in 2002. Though I was unfortunately not able to get my grubby little mitts on this one, it’s with utmost sincerity that I recommend downloading this traditional action side-scrolling platformer. Everything about the game feels very 90s - from the coarse models and textures to the crude animations - but there’s just something appealing about Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project that only those of us who can look past the gritty visuals will understand.

The touch controls on the iPad were tricky to get to grips with at first, but after the first level it all comes together fairly smoothly. The left-hand D-Pad took some getting used to, along with managing to time kicking correctly, shooting, and/or jumping, but it continuously becomes more effortless with more practice. After pulling off around half an hour of playtime, it comfortably becomes one of the most fast-paced enjoyable platforming games I’ve played in a while.

Most of the action in Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project involves jumping off buildings, shooting down pigs, and unlocking secret areas, but the game never fails to surprise and generally manages to keep things interesting by throwing in something new whenever it starts to feel slightly repetitive. There’s nothing more enjoyable than taking a pipe-bomb and throwing it at the pig police to watch them explode into a satisfying mess of blood, guts, and fried bacon.

Combining the decent platforming with a great soundtrack and the trademark Duke Nukem tomfoolery and cheesy one-liners, Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project is a blast to play. And along with the option to play on three various modes of difficulty, there’s oodles of replay value packed into this extremely worthwhile package.

Aside from a few occasional glitches and hiccups, there was nothing that truly broke the game. It’s altogether very generous with checkpoints should the worst happen.

Overall, fans of the original games will love Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project, and those who enjoy a good complex platforming game will feel right at home.