Duke Nukem: Zero Hour

by Nintendo

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000034DML
• Media: Game Cartridge
• Release Date: September 4, 1999
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,948 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

GameSpot Review

While n-Space's Duke Nukem: Time to Kill on the PlayStation was a Tomb Raider-style game that had shooting elements in tow, Eurocom's Duke Nukem: Zero Hour on the N64 is more of a shooting game where you can see yourself, as in Tomb Raider. Like DNTTK though, you act as 3D Realms' trash-talking angry man who travels through different time periods, fighting alien forces that are attempting to repaint human history in harsher, darker hues. Yes, the pig cops and octabrains of sprite-based old have returned in fully polygonal 3D, cantankerous as ever, and even in hi-res if you use the Nintendo RAM Pak.

The gameplay in Duke Nukem: Zero Hour is much the same as in previous Duke games: You clear out levels, solve rudimentary puzzles (a step above matching up colored key cards this time), and free captive "babes." The levels are sprawlingly large, often quite well designed, and surprisingly atmospheric in hi-res. The "running around and shooting" bit that defines the Duke series is well represented here, especially at the points when you face off against alien snipers who are feverishly scanning the environment with their laser-beam gun sights to find you before you can home in on them through your own scope. But the real enemy of Zero Hour is the factor that makes the single-player Zero Hour game almost unplayable, and that's the lack of midlevel save points.

Besides just spanning miles of virtual real estate, each level is peppered with enemies and demands that you accomplish numerous tasks before you can move on (collecting machine parts, flipping switches, and so on). One wrong move and you've killed fifteen/twenty minutes, easy. For example, at the end of the fifth level, you've destroyed gun turrets, battled Venom gunships, sabotaged an energy generator, and are midway up a ladder leading to the exit when a sniper teleports in and takes potshots at you. Since you can't shoot while climbing, as in DNTTK, you must immediately drop down and find cover, or else you're out. It's a situation that you're not going to be able to overcome the first time through, since it's not something you'd think to prepare for - like knowing that you should peek around a corner to check out a room. You have to die to learn how to beat it, and this example is in now way an isolated occurrence. Imagine it happening a few times per stage and you start to get the idea.

Still, that would be all well and good if you had a checkpoint halfway through at which you could save your progress - this doesn't seem like an unreasonable request since you could save anywhere in two out of three Tomb Raider games. Without this feature, the single-player mode is downright infuriating, made up of more than twenty levels that only strategy guide/game reviewers and the most stubborn players will force themselves through.

While the multiplayer mode is missing the computer-controlled enemies and the two-player co-op missions that were originally promised by GT, it's quite fun even without them. There are many levels to choose from, each with its own look, feel, hidden passageways, and array of weapons. For instance, the ice level Cool As Ice is full of freeze throwers and puts all the players on skates. Meanwhile, Fogging Hell is full of thick green fog and trip wires - a deadly combination, for obvious reasons. Trip wires and rocket launchers are still favorites for the Dukematches, but the sniper rifle is a welcome new addition. Setting the game to switch levels after each round will inspire many sessions of four-player play, even though the frame rate makes you feel as if you're running in taffy compared with the frame rate of Quake II.

In the end, Duke Nukem: Zero Hour is a game that could easily be recommended if only the save system were better. As it stands, you're better off renting it to check out the multiplayer modes with a group of friends, and simply forgetting about playing it by yourself. --Joe Fielder
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars IT'S CLOBBERING TIME, excellent third person shooter., November 17, 1999

By A Customer

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Duke Nukem: Zero Hour (Game Cartridge)

Definitely for mature audiences.Use expansion pack to take advantage of superior graphics.The alien creatures are impressive and are enhanced with the expansion pack. The controls took some time to get use to but Duke can move.The level of play is harder than most other games and the save points are far between.Once you complete a level though you can go back and replay any level you want because they are all saved as episodes and you can review them all from just one load/save slot.You can also save the secret levels and play then anytime you want, you don't have to complete them in order.Weapons are really neat, and remember the sniper rifle is your friend,you're going to need it.Make absolutely sure that you go to the training range before you start or you will be in for a rude awakening gas attack plus you pick up some powerful hardware at the beginning. You also need to keep certain inventory items at the ready. The only problem encountered is that sometime encountering the octobrains, old Duke term, underwater and clobbering them, you get kicked out of the game to the continue or restart level screen.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Duke gives Bond a run for the crown!, December 11, 1999

By A Customer

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Duke Nukem: Zero Hour (Game Cartridge)

This is the kind of game that you will spend an hour on a stage... Die, then start that stage again and again without even pegging the controller across the room. It is the most fun I've had since I first got Goldeneye. It grabs you're attention from the first scene and it never lets go. Duke is more angry than ever and he has some of the funniest one liners ever. The action is tough and always fun and the storyline is clever. Play it for yourself.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Game, December 27, 1999

By A Customer

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Duke Nukem: Zero Hour (Game Cartridge)

Duke Nukem: Zero Hour is definitely one of the best games ever played on N64. It has it all, changing scenery, complex and challenging levels, destructive weapons, and a unique story.