General Information |
Genre | Original developer | Originally released | Current developer | Remade in | Payment |
First Person Shooter | 3D Realms | 1996 | Gearbox Software | 2016 | 20 pounds on Steam |
Specific issues |
Category | Specifics | Sources / Comments |
Censorship | None | Insubstantial | Moderate | Heavy | Red Cross symbol was removed from medkit (source: https://tcrf.net/Duke_Nukem_3D:_20th_Anniversary_World_Tour) |
DRM | None | Steam | uPlay | Origin | Denuvo | Other | |
Additional Purchases | Cosmetics | Special Services | Boosting | Lootboxes | Virtual Currency | Exclusive Content | |
Modding support | None | Limited | Full | |
False advertising | No | Yes | As far as I can see. |
Comparison to originals / fanmade mods |
Category | Included in World Tour | Included in fanmade mods | Sources / Comments |
Expansions | No | No | World Tour DOES NOT INCLUDE expansions such as Duke It Out In D.C and Nuclear Winter. So, they made a remake 20 years later, and could not even bother to add the expansions that have existed for so long. Of course, the fans can't just do that since Gearbox would go after them. |
Higher resolutions | Yes | Yes | |
Show level stats while playing | Yes | Yes | |
Recording playback | Yes | Yes | eDuke32 has it as well |
Updated look of enemies | No | Yes | High Resolution Pack has 3D models, instead of sprites. World Tour's enemies are the same old 2D sprites as in the original. |
Linux support | No | Yes | eDuke32 runs on Linux. |
New episode | Yes | No | World Tour includes a new episode with 8 levels, new soundtrack, a new enemy and a new weapon. |
Developer commentary | Yes | No | If you enable it, World Tour will have microphones put in various places that, when you pick them up, will play developer commentary relating to that place on the map. Only some levels have it though. |
Verdict: Cash grab. After Duke Nukem Forever's failure, Gearbox needed to justify the acquisition of the IP, and this is it. A 20 year old game was dug up from the grave, decorated with a lipstick and dumped onto nostalgic players. The new episode, (barely) updated graphics, new soundtrack and developer commentary are sure nice - if this was an expansion pack released in 1999 or so, not a full-priced game from 2016. They did not even include all the Duke content that was already there. Also, there's zero modding support unlike in eDuke32. But there's a darker story behind this game. Some time before its release, Gearbox took down EVERY SINGLE other Duke version from the Internet. Now, eDuke32 requires original game files, so you cannot legitimately play Duke Nukem 3D without buying Gearbox's version, unless you get a used CD, or pirate it.