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'Duke Nukem 3D' iOS Is Free For Some Reason

posted December 13th, 2010 5:06 PM EDT by Brad Nicholson in Action, Free, iPad Games, iPhone games, iPod touch games, News

Duke Nukem 3D, the game that spawned the greatest Ventrillo prank on the planet with it's oh-so-memorable bile-spitting quotes, is now free on the iPhone and the iPad [Free / HD] for an unspecified amount of time for an unspecified reason.

When we talk about DN3D, it's usually in the context of early shooters like DOOM [$6.99] or Wolfenstein 3D [$1.99]. The Duke represented a change of pace, as well as a dramatic shift in tone and style. DN3D for iOS is a very faithful port of that original PC version, so you'll probably be able to come to understand what all the brouhaha was about -- if you decided to give it a download.

Just as a minor note here: the game still suffers the same problems we complained about in our write-up back in August 2009. Simply put, the controls suck. I would normally use words like "unacceptable" and "cringe worthy" to describe them, but those seem a tad too critical considering DN3D's current price of zero dollars.

Need a bit more Duke in your life? Require a refresher before Duke Nukem Forever hits other platforms in 2011? Might as well give this a try. In the words of the Duke: "What are you waiting for? Christmas?" Indeed, sir. Indeed.

App Store Links:
    Duke Nukem 3D, $0.99
    Duke Nukem 3D SE, $0.99 (iPad Only)

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  • RandomGamer

    It should be free. It's a terrible port.

  • Dhondon

    Is it really that hard to fix the controls? There are so many working 3d games on iOS with great controls.

    • BruteOutlawz

      If they fixed the controls, this would actually be a top ios game. But i cant see it happening, its been too long

  • Anonymous

    Never mind free, they should give away an $5.00 itunes gift card to all those who download it.

    • BruteOutlawz

      lol

  • Peanuts

    Wow.... I'm glad I never bought that! Unplayable controls!

  • Anonymous

    ? This is old news. It became free months ago.

  • John14

    I just downloaded it, after playing it for 5 minutes, I deleted it. The controls are hilariously bad.

  • Dawnmetropolis

    The fact that it wasn't free was the only reason I was pissed at the developers. because hey if i bought it for 5 bucks, everyone should have to deal with it. Now that its free and i've waited months for working controls on a game that i bought on launch i feel cheated. Rather then fix the issue, they have just ignored their previous customers and made this tempting/ unplayable game free. Thanks. I'm glad i supported this port when it launched.

    • vimy

      I cant agree with you more.

      this was a classic
      during the reign of doom and doom 2, many start ups came and made there FPS, most of which sucked.

      then Duke 3d came, out of no where
      It was funny,
      it had logical maps that resembeled real places
      it had a story line
      it had multiplayer, with themes
      it had user created mods and maps.
      Every body said the same thing, DUKE NUKEM was better than Doom, DUKE was the king.

      after a few years,it retired ih pride,
      0we aited for a sequel, we waited FOREVER, but nothing came
      until XBLA re introduced us to DLC DUKE and it was awesome,
      Dwaine, 'The ROCK' Johnson was going to Play Duke in the Movie
      and then.

      we faithful, we got the IPHONE version, payed good money, but
      It was unplayable.
      The developers apologised, promised to fix ithe controls
      we awaited, days passed into months
      they release several patch's and claimed it was fixed,

      BUT IT STILL F%^&$#%$^N UNPLAYABLE GARBAGE

      I just dont get it
      How could any company with such a great franchise, screw up as badily as this.
      DUKE COULD have been a houseghold name, hey, DUKE was for a while,
      Now DUKE stand out as an example of short-sightness and terrible business acumen.
      The4 franchise, at one time the hottest IP in the industry is worthless.
      Just pathetic.

      • Anonymous

        You said a mouth full....Look at Wolfenstein still has the best controls, even better than Doom's controls..

  • Ease

    The controlls are really bad, I'm sorry for everyone who actually bought this

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmy-TheFish/100000139595167 Jimmy TheFish

    Looks awesome.

  • DJCubs

    They should make sex criminals play this game.

  • Bad Hanson

    It's free because it's total shit = QED

  • voice of reason

    this has been free for a while. the reviewer paints it as some great product that we should be grateful for. can't really blame him though. he's probably never tried playing it on iphone before. i can't remember if i actually bought it on iphone back in the day, but i was disappointed like everyone else on this comment list. maybe one day when no one cares anymore the publishers will change the controls. maybe it will be sooner though :)

    • Anonymous

      'The reviewer paints it as some great product'? I don't think "unacceptable" and "cringe-worthy" are words typically used to make a game sound great.

      But hey, if your mind says "This sounds great!" when you read about unacceptable cringe-worthy games, then all the more power to you!

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=774507787 Zach Williams

      I'll be the voice of reason here and go ahead and point out that this isn't a review and the "reviewer" has simply written this article to let us know that a classic game has gone free. Sheesh...

      • Pajsaraf

        no one is complaining about the reviewer

        we are all just venting about how sadly the developer has treated this classic

  • Guardian Of Asgaard

    I disagree, the best Ventrillo prank ever is this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5AkIfgioA4

    Seriously.

  • TKO

    I wonder how easy it would be for someone else to get a license to release Duke Nukem for the iPhone? A blind, drunk, stoned, and truly *stupid* person could implement better controls than this app has. This idiot dev has had a ton of time to fix it. All they ever did was the barest bugfixes. It'll never be anything more than a shoddy port.

    • Anonymous

      Show us how it's done, then, since you fit the description. ;^)

      • TKO

        I would've done it too, if it hadn't been for you meddling kids! {/scooby-doo} :)

        Actually, if I could afford the license, I'd be tempted. Not sure I'd enjoy delving about in someone else's code (I'm a code-snob .. I like my code tidy.) :) But heck, it would be a fun project. Duke deserves better than this! {shakes fist}

  • TheTheory

    Welp, I gave 'er a download. The controls are as advertised. Haven't decided yet if they're enough to make me give up on the whole concept or not...

  • Jeepster2982

    The controls are total rubbish. It's like they refused to acknowledge that doom classic exists, or even Rise of the Triad for that matter. i keep it on my devices for the pure nostalgia factor, even though I NEVER saw D3D as superior to Doom, it was still a classic from my time. Christ I feel old writing that

  • Swamp7hing

    Duke Nukem 3D is so passe. Let's see a port of Shadow Warrior.

  • Pow R Rock

    You can adjust the controls to your liking. I beat the game and had fun. You guys cry too much. Go into the friggin settings and adjust it to your liking

    • Pajsaraf

      there is no setting you can set for this app to make it worth playing

      the fact is, controling an fps should not be so mind numbingly banal. its just lousy, and the fact that its DUke 3D makes it all the worse.

      I tried changing the settings, tried pretty much every combination,
      there is no setting that will let me enjoy the game in the least, its to hard to straffe, its too uncomfortable to aim, its to painful to look.

      Considering Wolfenstein, CUBE or Nova etc, it is very possible to fix this situation, just no interest too. I guess they made there money and dont care about there product.

    • TKO

      Yeah, like there are *any* settings that make this game work. This game wasn't originally designed for iOS, so it's not forgiving on inaccurate touch controls. ..the Digital controls are randomly splayed out on screen to maximise frustration, the Analog controls *aren't* *analog*! (they're digital on analog-looking sticks), and there's no aim-assist .. even a basic auto-vertical-aim like Doom does would make me happy.

      Look, it's not *hard* to tweak the controls so they're a little bit more iOS friendly. The dev just never bothered. Even an alternative digital layout (that *doesn't* look like it was vomited out of a blind monkey that failed design school) would do for me.

  • Jeepster2982

    I HAVE gotten in the "friggin settings" Its rather inferior to doom classic or ROTT. definitely detracts seriously from the overall experience

  • Klouud

    I deleted almost immediately... controls are terrible!!!

  • Brusilov

    with n.o.v.a. controlls it would rock!

    • http://www.mooedia.co.uk Tom - mooedia

      I agree. There are plenty of games in the app store that control really well. Some arent perfect but the transition to the iOS platform for where they started seems fine. Controls work, and they arent frustrating. This however is just the sign of a lazy developer who thought it best to put the game out there, knowing full well the loyal fan base would purchase making them a nice bit of cash.
      The developer really needs to sit up and take note if they want any future on the app store. From what could be a top title that would be recommended to alot of people its now just fond memories of playing the pc version as this one isn't worth keeping on your device.
      Devs, if you are reading this then just do us and yourselves a favour. Download Doom or Wolfenstein 3D and see how the controls work. But don't just ignore it as you potentially have a top iOS title on your hands.


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