Looking for something like Duke Nukem Forever? Can’t get enough FPS games that employ crude humor and don’t take themselves too seriously? Looking back there’s a few titles in the last 15 years that could be compared to the legendary Duke Nukem.

 

 

The Postal Series -I’m sure most gamers are familiar with these games. The Postal series let gamers wander around and kill everything in the quest to finish objectives in anyway possible. The over-the top violence and crude humor could live up to Duke Nukem. The games were even banned in some countries. But most likely the games will be remembered for the violence, animal abuse, and the non linear structure.

Shadow Warrior-3D Realms took another shot at making an FPS that was something less than generic. In 1997 gamers were given Shadow Warrior, starring a male protagonist called Lo Wang. He made crude jokes, killed lots of enemies in buckets of blood, and objectified women. This would be one of the last games to use the Duke engine. Shadow Warrior had some features that wouldn’t become mainstream for years, alternate fire modes for almost every weapon, gamers could use a katana and ninja stars, climbable ladders, and the ability to use vehicles and turrets. Looking back it was a fun game, but it hasn’t aged well.

Duke Nukem 3D-Can’t go wrong with the original, if you were one of the few that was disappointed by DNF then go back and play the original for the PC. Don’t pick up the N64 version since everything is censored and cleaned up. Duke Nukem 3D was the game that started it all and I’m sure by now it has not aged very well but it is a classic.

Redneck Rampage-One of the last DOS based FPS games. Nothing like being a down home country boy with with a heavy accent and a shotgun. The point of this 1997 game was to rescue your prized pig and stop the aliens. The game employed crude humor, a lot of alcohol consumption, and bodily functions. At the time Redneck Rampage was fun and was one of those games that reminded me of Duke Nukem 3D.

Honorable mention goes to Carmegeddon 3D, a game I enjoyed in the late 90s when I first got a video card. The game is nothing more then a brutal racing game. Who cares about the finish line? The goal was to finish the race while taking out your opponents, running over animals and pedestrians. The game was definitely entertaining and and it deserves an honorable mention for being over the top.   

Bulletstorm-This modern game is in a sea of classics and deserves praise. The game is a lot more polished than DNF and it employs the use of a combo system with interesting weapons. There’s some humor, especially when you can kick enemies you just force fed explosives to into groups of other enemies. I would say Bulletstorm is a good example of a modern FPS stepping outside the norm.

Well, DNF is an entertaining game but not without its flaws. If gamers are looking for games like DNF, the best examples are games from the late 1990s. That generation was more interested in unique FPS games then the modern generation who is mainly interested in the next generic FPS adventure starring a space marine.    

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