Wow! Have you ever looked back at your past self and just kind of cringed at the kind of person you used to be? I did that yesterday as I was doing some research for an article and saw that one of my favorite video games was released 25 years ago that day. Duke Nukem 3D was first released on January 29, 1996 for MS-DOS and went on to receive plenty of commercial and critical acclaim, especially from gamers like myself who were looking for something else from video games at the time. Back in 1996 I was a high school senior and while I grew up on the mostly family-friendly platforms of the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, the Sega Master System, and the Sega Genesis, I was starting to look towards the PC for more mature and engaging games. More mature games Wolfenstein 3D and Doom had already been piquing my interest in the several years prior, and I was looking for more mature fulfillment in that vein. So, when I first started hearing rumblings of a game called Duke Nukem 3D I knew I had to get my hands on it – and I did early that Summer in 1996.
I’m not going to lie to you, as a young adult male, I absolutely ate that shit up. The violence, the vulgarity, the adult themes and nudity; oh yeah, I was all into that. The pissant childish humor that was present in Duke Nukem 3D was everything that 18-year-old Ricky was looking for. And the developers at 3D Realms knew as much when they developed this game. Duke Nukem was all about machismo and chauvinism and violence – everything that the young male gamers who were “growing out” of family-friendly consoles were looking for. Did I love the tall, muscular look that Duke Nukem sported? Yes. Did I love all the violence and blood and gore that was in the game? Hell yes. Did I like all the childish humor, locker room jokes, and pop culture references? Hell yeah. And did I like all the nudity and the way Duke had his way with the women that were presented in the game and in the way in which they were presented in the game? Yes, oh hell yes. Everything yes. But as I look back on the way I enjoyed the game and what was presented… it can be a bit cringy.
And don’t get my wrong; I’m no “white knight” or social justice warrior. Heck, before pandemic, one of my favorite things to do was go to a strip bar and enjoy a few drinks. I love nudity. And I still enjoy toilet and colorful humor. But would I ever talk in public the way that Duke Nukem does in the game? No – but back in the late 90s you would hear me drop a few lines from the game every now and then when I was out with friends. Do I talk to women or objectify women the way that Duke does in the game? No, but it wasn’t above me to do so or reference it back in the day. I don’t condemn what was presented in Duke Nukem 3D, but I have realized that I, as a person, has learned and grown up from that. And I think that was more evident when the eventual sequel to Duke Nukem 3D, Duke Nukem Forever, was released 10 years ago on June 10, 2011. 15 years after Duke Nukem 3D hit the PC, I bought Duke Nukem Forever and was surprised how little of the game I was able to relate to.
Oh, I’m pretty sure that 18-year-old Ricky would have loved the humor and references in Duke Nukem Forever, but by 2011 a lot of people had grown up and left those kinds of sensibilities behind, 33-year-old me as well. By 2011 I was already married, graduated from college, and a father to 3 young kids. And not just that, but I had grown out of the kind of low-brow humor that the game presented. I’m sure a lot of people enjoyed the walk down memory lane when the game released, but looking at the time the game was released in, it just wasn’t for me anymore. While I still enjoy some low brow and adult humor, the kind that was presented in Duke Nukem Forever just didn’t strike a chord with me anymore. And I was the kind of gamer that immediately went out and bought Duke Nukem: A Time to Kill, Duke Nukem: Zero Hour, and Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes. I was really into the series. But a lot changes in 15 years, and I grew up a bit – actually I grew up a lot in that time and my sensibilities had definitely shifted during that time.
But 25 years removed from the release of Duke Nukem 3D; hell, 30 years removed from the release of the original Duke Nukem game (July 1, 1991), I can’t say that I am totally relating to the series the way it is as an adult. I look back at the humor and presentation of Duke Nukem 3D and realize that it was a perfect fit for the time, but where it comes fitting into today’s world, it just doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t fit. All in all, the game just didn’t age well. And I can see that when I play the game (still) on the PlayStation 4 because I did get the Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour when it was released on October 11, 2016. I still have fun when I play the game, but the dated jokes and presentation just don’t sit with me the same way they used to. I look back at that and cringe just a bit at the way I was because I was trying to emulate the game in life. And that’s not the game’s fault, that was all my own and I accept that. But it was a game that I looked up to, especially as an 18-year-old, and that’s what I look back on at cringe at. I don’t try to be Duke Nukem anymore – I’m me and I am perfectly happy with that. And while I do enjoy the game from time to time, I definitely don’t look back at it with rose-tinted glasses. As a gamer, it’s a great piece of nostalgia; but as a near 43-year-old man, it doesn’t hit the same notes as it used to.
