Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project

aka: DNMP, Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project - Total Mutant Mayhem, Duke Nukem: Projeto Manhattan - A Ameaça Mutante
Moby ID: 6505
Windows Specs
Note: We may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made via eBay or Amazon links (prices updated 3/25 4:41 PM )

Description official descriptions

Duke Nukem returns in a new adventure in a third-person platform game which hearkens back to the days of the original Duke Nukem platformers, but this time with a 3D game engine. The story takes place in New York City, where Duke battles his way across towering skyscraper rooftops and through gritty subway stations on the hunt for power-hungry villain, Mech Morphix. Mutants of every kind are thrown at Duke as he chases down Morphix through eight large stages and avoids the green slime called GLOPP that is causing all the chaos.

There are over 25 different enemies Duke has to face such as Uzi-sporting alligators, ten-foot tall roach beasts, Fem-mechs (Female mutant robots with deadly whips) and the classic Pig Cop - all while spouting off his sarcastic one-liners and saving babes. There are nine weapons to choose from, such as the Golden Desert Eagle Pistol, pipe bombs, a machine gun, a rocket launcher, a pulse cannon, and others.

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Videos

See any errors or missing info for this game?

You can submit a correction, contribute trivia, add to a game group, add a related site or alternate title.

Credits (Windows version)

49 People (42 developers, 7 thanks) · View all

Thanks to
  • The 3D Realms Staff
  • The Remedy Crew for additional playtesting
Special Thanks to
Design Consultants
Producer
Lead Programmer
Behavioral Programming
Programming
Prism3D Programming Support
Lead Artist
Artist
Art Support
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 72% (based on 54 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.7 out of 5 (based on 75 ratings with 5 reviews)

Fantastic little gem that proves that you can still kick ass well under the 20$ mark.

The Good
You would expect a bargain bin-direct spin-off to a beloved franchise to be a shameful and boring accident for everyone. Truth is, Manhattan Project is a fantastic little gem that is worth much more than it's bargain bin price of admission.

The idea was to give Pc gamers something to tide them over until Duke Forever gets released.... right... anyway, so 3D Realms licensed their main man for a quick return to it's 2D roots in the form of an action-oriented sidescroller. The trick behind it is that regardless of the gameplay style the game uses a fully polygonal engine that allows the camera to zoom in on the action and change perspective on the fly for a more cinematic action, besides allowing for the use of particle and colored lighting effects a fully polygonal environment allows for, making for a considerably more spectacular experience that the usual sidescroller.

Taking place in a mutant-infested Manhattan, the game follows a classic Duke storyline: bad guy Morphix is flooding the city with the mutagenic Glopp Umbrella Corp.-style, but instead of turning everyone into zombies Glopp turns harmless lizards into giant kung-fu fighting monsters, cockroaches into gigantic man-eating beasts and cute piggies into the good ol' pig cops. On top of that Morphix has kidnapped dozens of girls and attached Glopp-bombs to them, and we all know Duke ain't having none of that, so packing his arsenal of weapons and equipment(which include the classic lineup of items from Duke3D as well as some new goodies such as a de-mutating Glopp gun) Duke sets forth to kick some ass while jumping around and saving some babes.

The levels are all simplistic affairs in which you have to collect unlock the exit, find a babe and defuse her bomb, and demolish everything in the middle. Fortunately top-notch level design with plenty of good platforming action and a lot of charisma in the enemies, items and locations take the tedium out of the experience and give the game a fresh look and feel.

As in every platformer you have secret hidden areas, powerups and all sorts of extras in each level which are always fun things to unhide, specially when they award you juiced-up versions of your weapons and other niceties as in this case. Add to that the traditional Duke-isms (by now expanded beyond being Evil Dead ripoffs) as well as good production values for a game of this kind and you have one of the best platformers for the PC in a while.

The Bad
Kind of short (the lenght is where the "budget release" tag in the game is most felt) and truly lackluster boss fights (which should be a high mark in these kinds of games).

Besides that there are some weird ass bugs that caused me to restart at least one level (another consequence I believe of developing a game for a budget release).

Also it comes with a Duke Forever trailer which is extremely sad, specially considering that the game looks quite good.

The Bottom Line
Quite a good release that proves that budget titles don't need to be horsecrap. Add a profitable license, proven gameplay mechanics and a group of developers willing to put some heart into their product and you have a title that delivers the best Duke-fun since the seminal Duke Nukem 3D, and that's counting the gazillions of console-born sequels and spin offs.

Windows · by Zovni (10504) · 2004

Kicks much in the way of ass!

The Good
Ah, finally a CLASSIC Duke Nukem game. No more of that stupid 3D shooter, no more useless comments about one of the most impressive vapourware products in history: a Duke Nukem game in classic platform flavour. Hoozah!

I've been platform-deprived for ages. Not being much of a console gamer, the last two worthy platform game in memory before Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project had been Alice and the astounding MDK. Mind you, these games are years apart! So when Manhattan Project came out I went out on a limb and bought it right away, and hoo boy, I was not disappointed.

Take the Schwarzenegger-parody Duke Nukem attitude, add to it a bottom-line kick ass 3D engine called Prism3D, classic platform controls, mix it with some great graphics and level design, stir and serve cold - DNMP has it all. It's short (at hard difficulty, and with my anal-retentive attention to detail and the desire to find every single secret it took 8 hours net), fun, to the point and has the exact amount of varied locations and enemies to keep you constantly interested. Right down to the end, the game never gets boring. As for frustration - even at the highest difficulty level the game is challenging, but not overly so, and simply does not frustrate. Damn fine work, if you ask me!

A word about the 3D engine: a modern graphics card should be able to run it with antialiasing and anisotropic filtering turned on. The difference can be astounding at times - while the game generally looks very good, with AA it looks smooth and with AF it looks extremely sharp despite some mediocre textures. So bottom line, the graphics are absolutely beautiful, particularly for a "classic" 2D platform! The camera angles and varying motion directions really give that extra punch to what would otherwise be a dying genre.

The sound is true-to-form: not absolutely inspired, but gets the job done VERY well. Duke is as, well, as Duke-ish as ever, with snug remarks and silly machoistic attitude ("Babes, bullets, bombs... damn, I love this job!"), the explosion and gunfire sound effects are crisp and everything is just right.

Finally, the level design ROCKS: it never gets repetitive, usually is not easily predictable and all in all extremely pretty. Thumbs up!

The Bad
The save point system is slightly annoying, but admittedly being used to Keen-style platform games where one mistake means running the whole level over again, that's not too bad.

The Bottom Line
An oldschool platform game, with great graphics, sound and level design and 3D twists and surprises to keep you on your toes. If you find it somewhere in a bargain bin, make sure to grab it!

Windows · by Tomer Gabel (4539) · 2004

A reminder of the first two Duke Nukem games

The Good
It will be a long wait until we get our hands on 3D Realms’ latest Duke Nukem game, Duke Nukem Forever, but in order to keep us entertained, 3D Realms, in conjunction with Sunstorm Interactive and Arush Entertainment, bring you Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project. And if you played the first three Duke games (Duke Nukem, Duke Nukem 2, and Duke Nukem 3D), you’ll know who the hero is by now. Only this time, Duke takes a trip to New York where it seems that an evil ruler known as Mech Morphix is producing Glopp, radioactive slime capable of turning innocent citizens into monstrous beasts. And as part of his plan, Morphix has taken a few babes and strap them to bombs that will explode at any minute.

There are eight areas to explore: Rooftop Rebellion, Chinatown Chiller, Metro Madness, Unholy Underworld, Fearsome Factory, Tanker Trouble, Deviant Drilling, and Orbital Oblivion; and there are three parts in each area. When you load up Manhattan Project, you can also load up one of your saved games and pick which area and part you want to play or replay. Only those parts can only be played if you at least complete that part. In each, the object is simple: find the bomb strapped to a babe, defuse it, get a keycard that will open up the exit, and get the hell out of there. When Duke defuses the bomb, the babes will then thank you and position with her arms up in the air, suggesting that either she is holding up an invisible object, or begging Duke to hold her tight.

Stopping you from defusing the bombs and obtaining keycards are a bunch of enemies such as Fem-Mechs, Ratoids, and Gator-Oids. There are also your favorite Pig-Cops from Duke Nukem 3D. To kill these bastards, you have up to seven weapons at your disposal. These include the Golden Eagle, shotgun, pipebomb, assault rifle, missile launcher, and Glopp Ray. You also have your mighty boot kick that really packs a punch. Out of all these enemies, the Fem-Mechs are worse, as they somersault all over the place to avoid being shot at, and use kinky devices like whips and electrical rods. However, two shots from the mighty rocket launcher will wipe out these bitches. Some weapons have their advantages and disadvantages. The Glopp Ray, for instance, may be used to shrink enemies to the size of a rat to make them less threatening, but the process of shrinking takes time and it’s more likely that they will kill you before they have a chance to shrink.

You also can get items called Nukes, which helps you build up your weaponry if you manage to get all ten of them in each areas. Some may be out in the open, or hidden behind walls, which might be blown open by a pipebomb. Secret areas may also contain a few power-ups like more health, Double Damage and Force Field. Double Damage makes your weapons do twice the damage, while Force Fields turn you invincible for a short period of time.

Gameplay is similar to Duke1&2. Yes, you do have infinite lives, but there are some major differences. Unlike in these games, Duke can double jump to help him get to hard to reach areas, and if he is about to miss, he can hang on to the ledge and pull himself up. One thing I like about the game is when Duke moves, the camera angles moves as well, allowing you to either view the action close-up or far away (you can make the camera stay still by turning automatic zoom off in the Options menu). There is also no score indicator. You can even save in the middle of your game, so when you die, you’ll restart at the last save point.

Duke can interact with the environment. In most areas, for example, you can look at a monitor and spy on something. In the Chinatown Chiller and Metro Madness areas, you can use the phone to receive a funny response. And you can use soda machines to receive more health. But more often than not, you’ll have to push a switch in order to open a door, raise heavy items like crates, or make platforms appear. And finally, your favorite "Duke-Talk" from Duke Nukem 3D is back, with Duke this time saying one-liners like "You're more beautiful when you're dead!", "Say hello to my little friend", and "I hate pigs!"



The Bad
While playing the game, I found several bugs, even when I patched the game to Version 1.0.1. When I fired several weapons at some enemies, particularly the rocket launcher, the bullets and rockets go straight past the enemies, missing its target. In Part 2 of Orbital Oblivion, the part where you have to open the lab doors and de-mutate a couple of fiends, I was able to go beyond the start point, causing Duke to be sucked into space and float around (see Screenshot #28) Finally, the frame rate was a bit choppy when I got through this area.

The Bottom Line
Great game. If you’ve played all Duke Nukem games straight away, and can’t wait until Duke Nukem Forever is released, then Manhattan Project will get you playing for hours. ***

Windows · by Katakis | カタキス (43092) · 2003

[ View all 5 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Very underrated. DNMP (178) Dec 13, 2011

Trivia

Development

Developer Arush originally planned to do a remake of the original Duke Nukem platform game. In the game's folders there still is a soundfile called "proton", where Duke talks about the enemy he fights against. Proton was his enemy in the original Duke Nukem game from 1991. However, Arush then made up their own story with Morphix being the enemy.

Editor

Following the tradition started in Duke Nukem 3D, the game includes a complete level editor hidden in the CD's folders.

Extras

The initial release included a limited edition collectors keychain. The silver colored metallic keychain is circular in design. One side says "Duke Nukem Manhattan Project" and shows the Statue of Liberty with Duke Nukem's signature radioactive (Nuke) symbol behind it. The other side has "NYC" in big letters and says "Good for one fare - Transit authority".

References

  • In the first stage, there's an outdoor to the "Rats" play, a reference to Broadway's Cats.
  • In the second stage, if you pick up a public phone you'll hear a woman's voice saying something like "I know you're searching something Duke, and I know how you feel. Follow the White Rabbit", a reference to The Matrix movie.
  • Latter in the second stage, Duke must avoid some cars crossing a street. As he does it a couple of times, he says "what am I, a frog?", a reference to Frogger, the game.

Release

According to some reports, some retailers were initially not intending to stock this game claiming that it would not sell very well due to it being a budget release.

Information also contributed by chirinea, Daniel Saner and Zovni

Analytics

MobyPro Early Access

Upgrade to MobyPro to view research rankings!

Related Games

Duke Nukem Mobile: Bikini Project
Released 2005 on J2ME
Duke Nukem: Time to Kill
Released 1998 on PlayStation
Duke Nukem Arena
Released 2007 on BREW
Duke Nukem Mobile
Released 2004 on Zodiac, J2ME, BREW
Duke Nukem 3D: Megaton Edition
Released 2013 on Windows, Macintosh, Linux...
Duke Nukem 3D: Atomic Edition
Released 1996 on DOS, 2001 on Windows, 2014 on Linux...
Duke Nukem Forever Collection
Released 2012 on Windows, Macintosh
Duke Nukem 1+2
Released 2012 on Windows, Macintosh, Linux

Related Sites +

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 6505
  • [ Please login / register to view all identifiers ]

Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Xantheous.

Macintosh, Xbox 360 added by Sciere. iPhone, iPad added by Kabushi.

Additional contributors: Roger Wilco, Apogee IV, tbuteler, formercontrib, Patrick Bregger, Starbuck the Third.

Game added June 2, 2002. Last modified March 16, 2024.