Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes: So Many Ladies, So Little Time
Company: Infogrames
The graphics found in 3D Realms/Infogrames? latest offering are decidedly Duke, although in my opinion, the raunchiness seems somewhat toned down from the last PSX Duke title, Duke Nukem: Time to Kill. Even still, Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes is filled with the bawdy humor we all know and love. Bouncy babes abound in the super cool FMVs, and scary-ass rockers Static X pound out Duke?s theme song. Over the top cheesy voice-overs and good sound effects add to the overall Duke experience. Presentation in Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes is A+ all the way. Hey, you can even have phone sex with an English babe named Lara (Croft?), just be sure to make a call at every phone (you get extra Ego/Life points for it anyway).
Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes has got it goin? on in the gameplay department. You start this game with guns blazing and don?t stop too often (unless, of course, you do the Training Level first). Here?s the deal - basically, those damn aliens have killed off all the men sometime in the future. It?s up to Duke to kill the aliens, save the babes and no doubt, repopulate the earth. :) There are girls around to ?interact? with (this earns you Ego points as well), alien police pigs, various monkeys and rats to shoot, and puzzles here and there to solve. Some points in the game (and entire levels as well - I am thinking of the water level) had a very Tomb Raider feel (no pun intended) to them, what with the jumping from ledge to ledge, but I have no problem with that. Plus, if you go exploring as I did, you?ll be rewarded with either Quest items or extra goody items such as Duke?s Biography (my personal favorite - Lara has an entry here as well), which gives your Ego points a boost when you are low. And the levels are HUGE in this game - and well-designed. There is so much to do and so much to explore that I found myself spending hours in front of this game, and not even noticing how the time was passing. That?s one of the signs of a good game. Now, there were a few times that I found myself at a loss as to where to go (or what to do, depending). It just didn?t jump out at me because I was so involved in the game. Just be aware of that. It certainly isn?t anywhere near linear. Again, not such a bad thing, but it can get a little bit annoying at times. Explore, explore, explore as there are many hidden goodies to find which will help you along your way.
There?s also a multi-player mode called Dukematch. Basically, Deathmatch in the Duke world. It?s nothing stellar, but a nice diversion. The levels seemed kind of small, which made fragging pretty easy. Still, a nice little addition to the game that allows you to share some of that Duke goodness. As I mentioned earlier, you may get stuck a few times in the game, but nothing too bad. Persevere. It is worth it. There are also twos modes of Difficulty: Get Some and Death Wish. I think you can figure that one out. Get Some was plenty hard enough for me. :) The level of difficulty is quite good, though. Just the right combination of long but interesting levels, tough but not impossible enemies, and decent puzzles. Mmmmm, good stuff.
Duke comes complete with all his old moves, but what I found that has really improved is the auto-aim targeting feature, and also the sniper mode. I just found them easier to use and -use proficiently- in Land of the Babes. In fact, all around, I found Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes to be a huge improvement over Duke games of the past. I have always had a soft spot in my heart for this series. It?s rude sense of humor, Duke?s dashing good looks, and the fact that it?s the only mainstream series (that I know of) to have a strip joint standard in every game - and one called Bootylicious at that). I play Duke for the laughs, to see what kinda crazy shiznit gets put into the game. But this time, I was playing for the love of the game itself. The humor was secondary to the incredible gameplay offered, and I am really looking forward to this title when it hits the shelves this Fall. Lookout Lara. The boys are back in town!
-Psibabe, GameVortex Communications AKA Ashley Perkins
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