Duke Nukem: Zero Hour

Take cover!

When the big hand is packing heat, it's ZERO HOUR. He's all that stands between us and a time-spanning alien invasion. He's Duke Nukem - gaming's greatest action hero. And this is his finest hour! Zero Hour!

Time has a way of slipping away - sometimes into the future, sometimes into the past - but one thing remains the same: Duke Nukem's beefy, ass-kicking goodness! And as you take up the helm of the Dukester in his latest outing on the Nintendo 64, you're going to need all that beefy goodness. You need to head back in time and stop those alien jerks from creating a world in which there is NO Duke Nukem. It will require all of your wits and whatever beefiness you can add to Duke's. This high action game is an original Duke Nukem game for the Nintendo 64 only.

You can check out a list of the weapons from the game, or a list of the enemies!

The Game Story

After single handedly defeating the original Alien invasion of the planet Earth, Duke Nukem was looking forward to a little R&R. But the Alien scum are still determined to destroy humanity and have launched another attack, this time aimed at New York. As the police and army are driven back, the Generals call for Duke Nukem to save the world again. But do the Aliens have more planned than a simple invasion? Only Duke can find out...

Zero Hour begins with Duke in a top secret military base. Here you can practice using the control system, test your speed over an assault course, and familiarize yourself with several weapons on the firing range. But don't spend too much time here - a helicopter is waiting to carry Duke into battle with the alien scum.

Originally released September 1, 1999.

Source:

3D Realms website

This page contains quotes from various magazine (and online) publications about Duke Nukem: Zero Hour. People love Zero Hour, just see what they have to say! If, after reading these, you wish to buy the game, you can do so by clicking on the Order button above. There are more quotes posted daily on our main news page - check 'em out!

"DN:ZH is fantastic. Excellent, imaginative levels, plenty to do, splendid weaponry." - Arcade Magazine

"DN:ZH is a success. It's chock full on ammunition-wasting violence, thrilling action and effervescent imagination. It's an unreserved triumph...the developer appears to have an excellent grasp of the N64, and--more importantly--an innate understanding of what makes a game challenging, immersive and damn good fun." -- Arcade magazine

"The gameplay is deeper and more entertaining than in previous Duke Nukem games." -- Nintendo Power

"DN:ZH is a success. It's chock full on ammunition-wasting violence, thrilling action and effervescent imagination. It's an unreserved triumph...the developer appears to have an excellent grasp of the N64, and--more importantly--an innate understanding of what makes a game challenging, immersive and damn good fun." -- Arcade magazine

"For visual pleasure, you can choose between three resolutions: low, medium, and high...[and] medium and high both look amazing...gorgeous textures and stellar effects such as realistic fire, mist, and smoke." -- Gamers Republic

"Developer Eurocom has outdone itself with some of Duke's visuals. The game features huge levels with giant skyscrapers, multiple enemies on-screen and a truckload of particle effects to boot. Duke is well-modeled and detailed, as are his foes. There is no fogging (save for the Victorian levels and it is used here for effect only)." -- IGN64 Online

"It's not just what Duke says that makes him the king of cool raunch, it's the timing and how he says it as he stands over a splattered alien carcass. If Duke were a stand-up comic, he'd slay his audience and bring the house down with every line!" -- Nintendo Power Magazine

"There's plenty of cut-scenes and for the first time in a Duke game you're genuinely interested to see the story unfold in-between blowing the limbs off bad guys." -- N64 Pro

"DN:ZH is part trashy Turok, part gory GoldenEye, and all Duke!...the gun shy, the squeamish, and the politically correct should stay--make that RUN away." -- Gamepro Magazine

"ZH's solid controls make you the Master of Mayhem. They're nicely tuned to the always-on-target game cam, heaping the action hot and heavy. Duke's easier to play than ever." -- Gamepro Magazine

"...Duke Nukem: Zero Hour is a highly enjoyable experience. Control is tight, levels are well-designed (though difficult at times) and weapons work in an extremely intuitive manner...the weaponry in the game is fantastic. The sniper rifle is particular ingenious, enabling players to zoom in on an enemy, target a specific part of its body and fire away. Heads can be shot clean off, as can mid-sections." -- IGN64 Online

"...a new benchmark has been set...it ranks right up there with the almighty Golden Eye." -- Game informer

"In DN:ZH, the Dukester runs around doing what he does best: Saving babes, hauling big guns, and spilling more blood than you'd find on the floor of a meat slaughter house." -- N64 Magazine

"Zero Hour comes highly recommended thanks to top control, lots of environments to explore, more baddies to kill than ever before, an excellent multiplayer mode and extremely pretty visuals." -- IGN64 Online

"There's no way I could pass on mentioning the sound effects either, which are both numerous and humorous, featuring clips of the man himself dishing out wisdom to the masses. Who could forget such timeless phrases as "come get some" or "that's gotta hurt," especially when delivered with the wit and poignancy that we've come to expect from the Duke. Hail to the king, baby, because the Duke delivers his one-liners with punch." -- The Adrenaline Vault

"DN:ZH's other big feature is its highly amusing deathmatch game. In this mode, the game is played from a first-person viewpoint, like GoldenEye. There are 29 different characters (to pick from), ranging from the classic Nukem, his various outfits for each time zone, through [all the other characters you encounter in the single player game]." -- 64 Magazine

"One of the first notable things about Zero Hour is what a good-looking game it is. Taking advantage of the Expansion Pak, the graphics are sharp and smooth looking, with lots of great visual effects and nicely animated characters. Levels look gritty and atmospheric, including the dark, apocalyptic New York streets; dusty Old West towns; dank London sights; and even a Scottish castle" -- GameCenter.com

"Above all, DN:ZH has realized that shoot-'em-ups can't simply be a procession of things to shoot in a series of identical futuristic dungeons. Post - GoldenEye, N64 owners demand realism, variation and fresh ideas, an Duke doesn't disappoint...it's refreshing to see a game with so much time and care put into it." -- N64 Magazine

"This time around you see Duke's massive bulk running around in front of you. We were worried that this viewpoint would be really awkward to use, but it's been done with such skill that it makes Tomb Raider look like an old-biddy hobbling around Tesco's with a zimmerframe. (3D Realms note: This quote from a England magazine -- we don't understand the references either!) There's no awkward camera angles in this game and you can constantly see what's running around in front of you." -- N64 Magazine

"The levels are sprawlingly large, often quite well designed, and surprisingly atmospheric in hi-res." -- Videogames.com

"With its third-person vantage point, adult humor, and loads of cool features (including enhanced graphic abilities), Zero Hour should definitely appeal to a broad range of players." -- GameWEEK Magazine

"Excellent graphics and fun, violent shooting action highlight this well-done third-person shooter. A top-notch shooter with Duke's trademark personality." -- GameCenter

"The 3D camera is so effective, it makes moving around completely problem free...eschewing the need for a frustrating Tomb Raider-style camera adjustment." -- Edge Magazine

"The run-'n'-gun fighting rocks, and there's just enough puzzle-solving and exploration to keep the game interesting. Moreover, the single-player mode is an epic length adventure. mated with the multiplayer games, Duke gives you more than your money's worth." -- GamePro Magazine

"In deathmatch, it feels steadier and more convincing than in Turok 2...the arenas are intelligently mapped...minimizing aimless wandering." -- Edge Magazine

"Duke shoots first and makes quips later. Four-player multiplayer action makes it a winner. Overall score: $$$$$ Brand rating: *****" -- MCV Magazine

"DN: ZH is a brilliantly executed shooter that'll leave you in stitches, calipers and crutches. There are some pretty storming shooters on the N64, but Duke's sense of humor has always set it apart. There's nothing finer than blowing an alien's head clean off with a shotgun and hearing Duke say, "your face, your ass -- what's the difference?" Turok 2 may have plenty of blood but only the Duke shouts "whoooaa, Momma" when it splatters all across the screen in slick fashion!" -- N64 Pro

"The levels themselves...are full of smart touches and it's rare that you get frustrated by an apparent lack of progress. There are plenty of surprises along the way to saving the world, with a number of missions featuring unexpected time limits that kick the old adrenaline glands into action. An early timed challenge gives you a worryingly short amount of time to break through enemy lines and find your way into a military base before it's overrun, and later, when you're aboard the Titanic...well, you know what happened to that particular ship!" -- 64 Magazine

"[The developers] have admirably distanced the feel of the game away from the monotonous third-person shooting, with the sounds, visuals and brilliant set-pieces melding to create an unexpectedly well-realized sense of involvement. For example, at one point, Duke stumbles across a series of giant test-tubes containing Alien-style face-huggers in suspended animation. As he walks past, they spring to life and with a resounding smash break free and clatter towards our hero." -- N64 Magazine

"The sound, music and Duke-isms dangle dangerously over the edge." -- Nintendo Power

"The gameplay's tuned to near perfection so there's never a dull moment." -- GamePro

"The sound, music and Duke-isms dangle dangerously over the edge." -- Nintendo Power

"The gameplay's tuned to near perfection so there's never a dull moment." -- GamePro

"...The particle [graphics] effect system really shines like no game before it. Shooting off a nuke sends waves of fire through the sky and around Duke, there is a lightning-type weapon that achieves a similar effect. Real-time light effects illuminate hallways, explosions do the same. Quite frankly, the game is a visual treat." -- IGN64 Online

"N64 Staff Most Played Games for the Month: #1 - Duke Nukem: Zero Hour (beating Zelda 64)" -- N64 Magazine

The action is nonstop, and there's more adventure packed into one stage of Zero Hour than most shooters spread through an entire game...along with all the gun-slinging, Duke encounters a real plot, lots of characters and multiple objectives. -- Nintendo Power

Everything you'd want in a typical kick-tail Duke Nukem experience is here. The 'edgy' imagery is a refreshing change, especially in a N64 game...multiplayer modes are a frickin' blast." -- Electronic Gaming Monthly

"DN:ZH continues the welcome trend (introduced by Duke Nukem 3D and maintained by GoldenEye) of conjuring up realistic, atmosphere-laden 3D environments. [The levels are] all beautifully drawn, extending way off into the distance without any fuzz, misting or pop-up." -- N64 magazine

"Rating - AAA. This is Duke, and there is really no competition for the man on the N64 platform. This one is anticipated, venerated, and not to be relegated." -- GameWEEK

"Duke Nukem: Zero Hour is a resounding success. It brings something to the system it desperately needs--a hard-core 3D action adventure with mature themes--and is incredibly hard to put down. Bravo." -- Gamers Republic

"Rated: Gaming Masterpiece! A rocking four-player fragfest, a wheelbarrow load of cut-scenes...superb attention to detail, no fogging at all and tons of speech. Impressive!" -- Games Master magazine

Duke Nukem: Zero Hour comes laden with crystal-clear sampled speech, helping to make the business of shooting aliens much more entertaining. Opening up a mutant's head with a bullet and creating a fountain is far more satisfying when it's followed by the Duke's hilariously gravelly voice booming "Piece o' cake," or "Woooaaaah, Mama!" -- N64 Magazine

"The gameplay's tuned to near perfection so there's never a dull moment." -- GamePro

"Ahhhhh. After month after month of tedious braindead racing games and 17 million indistinguishable American sports titles, it's as refreshing as a blast of pure oxygen to get a game into the office that someone might actually want to play. DN:ZH is the stopper of video game madness in question...You start playing, you kill things, *you keep playing*. It's this latter part that seems to have confounded a lot of new games to date." -- 64 Magazine

"Zero Hour is easily the best Duke Nukem game yet. The graphics are great, the sampled speech is fantastic, the levels are devious but you don't get lost, and above all the wacked-out humor will leave you clutching your gut in agony. What more could you ask for in a video game!" -- N64 Pro

Source:

3D Realms website: "What people are saying"

The original foul-mouthed alien annihilator is back, with an over-the-top adventure that is bigger and more explosive than ever. Alien scum bags are traveling through time in an effort to take over the earth, and Duke is the only man with enough testosterone to stop 'em.

Zero Hour is dripping with the same sarcasm and attitude that has made the Duke series such a huge success, and it carries the same ESRB rating as well: Mature. As if the buckets of blood weren't enough, Duke's dry wit ensures that this game should not be played by children under 17. If you can bear the tasteless humor and gory gameplay, get ready for one of the most entertaining action games on the system.

Duke Nukem is a seasoned veteran of the video game business, complete with his own action figure. Nintendo 64 owners were first introduced to the raunchy ruffian in Duke Nukem 64. In Zero Hour, GT Interactive has made a major effort to ensure that this title offers gamers something completely new.

The most noticeable change is that the traditional first-person perspective has been dropped in favor of more visually striking third-person view. A solid storyline provides the backbone for intense time-traveling action, and mission-based objectives have replaced simple switch puzzles. Duke is still Duke, though, and he spits out more one-liners than Rodney Dangerfield while building the body count.

Duke would rather be chillin' on the beach with the babes he rescued in Duke Nukem 64, but an alien menace is once again threatening the earth. This time they are using a time machine to threaten key points in human history, and are even putting Duke's bloodline in danger. Duke must piece together a time machine to travel through history and stop the aliens from uprooting his family tree.

Zero Hour contains 22 levels, based on different time periods including the Wild West, the Victorian Era and post-apocalyptic New York City. Twenty-two levels may seem sparse compared to Duke's previous romp on Nintendo 64, but each world is packed with enough gunplay to make even Quentin Tarantino raise his eyebrows.

There are nearly 20 different weapons at Duke's disposal, and special items like Gas Masks and Scuba Gear which allow Duke to thoroughly explore each area. Secret areas are hidden everywhere, and Duke must once again save captive babes from the aliens' evil breeding program. It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it.

The character and scenery graphics in Zero Hour utilize polygon models, rather than the flat sprites which were used in Duke Nukem 64. Each level has a distinct visual feel, from the wood shacks of the Old West to the bio-mechanical walls of the alien mothership. Fog is non-existent, except in certain Victorian levels where it's used to set an eerie mood. The Expansion Pak supports a beautiful High Res mode, which produces striking graphics if you can tolerate a slightly slower frame rate.

Comedic billboards and signs are scattered throughout the time periods in Zero Hour, which give the levels a tongue-in-cheek tone that goes well with the game's many "Duke-isms." Thanks to the third-person view, you can witness Duke's many costume changes as he passes from one time period to another. GT's warped sense of humor and attention to detail will suck you into Duke's world, which is like a circus side show: disgusting, but you can't stop yourself from looking.

When it comes to turning your stomach, the enemies in Zero Hour are prime intestine-churners. Pig Cops and Octabrains have returned for encore performances, and new enemies like flesh-eating Zombies and lizard Enforcers are chillingly gruesome. Most of the enemies wear different clothing depending on the time period, which will inevitably be stained with liberal amounts of blood before Duke is finished.

We were naturally skeptical when we heard that Duke was moving from the first to the third-person perspective, but GT surprised us with tight play control. The controls are similar to traditional first-person shooters, but Duke is always visible on the screen. This provides a wider view of the action and more on-screen time for Mr. Nukem.

The third-person perspective is so effective thanks to Zero Hour's excellent camera work and an awesome auto-aim feature. Players never have to think about manually moving the camera, so they can concentrate solely on liquefying aliens. Saving the earth is a challenging task, and luckily the play control doesn't add to the challenge.

Who needs a deathmatch when you have a Dukematch? Zero Hour offers a two to four-player battle frenzy, with 29 different characters and 14 individual battlezones to choose from. Modes of play inclued:

Dukematch
Last Man Standing
King of the Hill
Team Dukematch

Duke's mulitplayer modes may not make you retire GoldenEye 007, but they are highly competitive and a good way to teach your friends who's boss.

In addition to the four different multiplayer modes, Duke Nukem: Zero Hour packs enough secrets into the one player mode to provide plenty of replay potential. This is definitely Duke's most daring adventure, and his egotistical personality has been represented perfectly. Duke Nukem may be a male chauvinist pig, but it's hard to be politically correct when you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. Ok, we know. That's no excuse.

Source:

www.nintendo.com