Duke Nukem: The Manhattan Project is a platform game, rendered in a 3D engine. The game menu shows its age, with Direct X 8 support, and Open GL as options. Sadly, neither are particularly well at placing a layer of concealer over the top of what is ultimately a dissapointing romp in the world of Duke Nukem.
Apart from the voice acting, which is indistinguishably unique Duke Nukem, there isn't a bountiful crop on offer in this game.
There's jumping. There's shooting. There's the fact that Duke Nukem 2 feels a heck of a lot better from a pure game play perspective.
There's also the fact that this game was originally released in 2002, and now at the ripe old age of Australian "allowed to drink", "allowed to vote", this Duke Nukem instalment feels like a fresh faced school leaver, riddled with acne scars.
Not yet ready to conquer the Earth, this graduate of the school of Nukem sees Duke jump across the nondescript roofs of buildings in Manhattan, an unimaginative collection of brick, service doors, air conditioning vents and electrical equipment.
I'm not quite sure why a furnace section in the first level of the game spews jets of flames upwards, within an enclosed space. The janitorial maintenance on many of these buildings is in serious need of some hazard reduction.
I'm not happy with platform games on the best of days, but with a beloved character like Duke struggling past hazards like those previously described, there's a place and time for this game, and it is not on my computer's storage, or my Steam library.