In 2021, discourse around Duke Nukem 3D typically focuses on this game's misogynistic elements and seemingly-endless procession of '90s cultural references. As a whole, I honestly think that Duke 3D's reputation as an uniquely antifeminist game is a bit overblown. Yes, it has an immature sense of humor; yes, it treats women as objects; yes, there are definitely some elements that haven't aged well at all. Honestly, though, it's only slightly more retrograde than most male-oriented games from the '90s, and it pales in comparison to the Actual Violent Misogyny of Duke Nukem Forever.

Duke 3D is one of the most influential first-person shooters of its era, and that makes it a historically-important game. That said, the main issue with it as a game (if you can look past the misogyny, which will vary from person to person) is that the later episodes really do not stack up to the first few levels of L.A. Meltdown. Unlike Doom or Quake, you really get the sense that they poured all their creativity into that first episode and then sorta phoned in the other ones. In 2021, if you're curious about Duke 3D, I would suggest playing the first episode and then just booting up Ion Fury, which is a better game in every way.

Memory can be a fickle thing, but what people remember of a game years afterwards can be illustrative of what made it great. The collective recollection of Doom is uniquely clear, being the first FPS most people would ever play. The level of violence and satanic imagery created a moral panic, but the action was so compelling that more people had Doom installed on their computers than Windows. Quake is where the arena-shooter genre began with its full-3D environments, bunny hopping, and strafe jumping, and might be where esports as a modern concept originated. Meanwhile, even though Duke Nukem 3D is in the same pantheon of revolutionary shooters, people remember the strippers. People remember the enemies in the bathroom, the pop culture references. It’s not the action or gameplay that stuck with people, it’s the irreverent tone. This makes sense when you revisit the game, and note its surprisingly basic design. The majority of enemies are hitscanners, and are encountered in small numbers. Since you can’t circlestrafe and dodge instantaneous projectiles, most of your time will be spent peeking around corners or fighting enemies in corridors, and even the wide-open arenas require you to keep your head down. Shooters from the 90’s are commonly praised for their speed and flow between fights, but you never get to enjoy that here, and are left with a barebones gameplay experience. If it didn’t have the memorable theming, I wonder if a title with the same level and weapon design would have been more than a footnote for the other shooters which would use its engine.

Of course, that’s not a fair thing to say. Taking out half of a game and then saying the rest wouldn’t be very good isn’t exactly astute. Duke Nukem 3D’s personality is at least kinda fun, if extremely dated, and there are some unique weapons that hinted at the potential games like Blood would realize. If you’re like me and had the impression it was mechanically groundbreaking, you might walk out disappointed, but the highlights will be hard to forget.