Duke Nukem Trilogy: Critical Mass

Duke Nukem: Critical Mass
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Developer(s)	Frontline Studios
Publisher(s)	Koch Media/Deep Silver, Apogee Software
Designer(s)	Apogee Software
Series	Duke Nukem
Platform(s)	Nintendo DS
Genre(s)	3D2D side-scroller platformer shooter/First-person shooter/Third-person shooter/Shoot 'em up
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Duke Nukem: Critical Mass (DN:CM) is a 3D/2D side-scroller platformer shooter/Third-person shooter/Shoot 'em up video game produced by Apogee Software, co-published by Apogee Software and Deep Silver and developed by Frontline Studios for the Nintendo DS.

Story

The Earth Defense Forces attempts to ensure the Earth's continued security by monitoring the future with the help of their own time machine, but both their agent and a special team sent there have been confirmed MIA. Knowing something is wrong, general Graves sends in the famous Duke Nukem.

Gameplay

Duke Nukem Trilogy: Critical Mass is largely a platforming shooter game, however, several different game modes are available throughout the game. There are first-person shooting sequences when player picks up a sniper rifle, and several third-person shooting elements. The boss battles are presented in pure third-person shooter gameplay. The game includes about 36 levels, many different weapon types, enemies, and bosses.

Development

Originally, Duke Nukem Trilogy: Critical Mass was supposed to be released on PSP as well, and be a part of a planned trilogy of games. Rumors of a Duke Nukem title on PSP and DS began spreading in early 2008, and in July of that year, Apogee released a teaser trailer for then-planned Duke Nukem Trilogy, confirming the game's existence. In March 2009, Apogee attended the Game Developer's Conference and showed the game off to Gamespot, which released a short video of some of the gameplay recorded on a handheld camera. Duke was seen running around a city landscape from a third person perspective in the PSP version of the game, and platforming through an environment while confined to a sidescroller style path on the DS version. In the interview, the Fall of 2009 was said to be the target release period for both versions of the game. This event was followed by several updates about the game's progress by Apogee on Twitter during the following months, including one in which the voice recording sessions for the game with Duke Nukem voice actor Jon St. John were confirmed to have gone successfully.

The three games would have what Apogee calls "multi-mode". Where players switch between third-person over the shoulder, first person, isometric, and side scrolling views. At the moment this action is directed. A four-minute trailer was shown at E3 2008, in which there is no gameplay footage, but rather a series of logos and game-related art. A video that contains screenshots from both the DS and PSP versions, as well as a video with gameplay from both versions, were released in March 2009. A PlayStation Portable version of Duke Nukem Trilogy: Critical Mass was developed but was cancelled. The DS and PSP versions were going to be unique games unified by the same basic story. The games announced to be included in the trilogy are Duke Nukem: Critical Mass, Duke Nukem: Chain Reaction, and Duke Nukem: Proving Grounds. The company announced that the first game in the trilogy Duke Nukem: Critical Mass was released for the DS in Europe on April 8, 2011.

On October 29, 2010, news was released that Critical Mass for both platforms would no longer carry the Duke Nukem license and be renamed Extraction Point: Alien Shootout. However on March 23, 2011 Apogee Software announced that they never lost the license and would release Duke Nukem: Critical Mass for the Nintendo DS on April 08, 2011 in European markets.

References

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