Duke Nukem Manhattan Project takes place in a world where a company named Mech Morphix has created a slimy radioactive substance called G.L.O.P.P. (Gluon Liquid Omega Phased Plasma) that mutates all living things on contact.  G.L.O.P.P. can transform your standard rat, roach, or alligator into a hulking beast that can easily take out a normal human in a matter of seconds.  Morphix has unleashed this ooze on the city of New York and what's more they have set up an elaborate pipeline to distribute this dangerous substance.  Morphix, quite obviously, plans on taking over the world.  It’s up to Duke to save the planet from a complete takeover of mutated animals unleashed by Morphix.

The first thing you will notice about Duke Nukem Manhattan Project is that it is not an FPS.  The developers, Sunstorm Interactive, have taken Duke back to his roots and opted for a side-scrolling platform foundation for its gameplay style.  Probably not the Duke Nukem sequel that fans were hoping for but an impressive title nonetheless.  Duke-fans should more then make due with Manhattan Project until Duke Nukem Forever is released sometime in October (or “when its done” according to 3D Realms.)

Graphics are super sharp and look really good, all the characters including Duke are very well rendered and are incredibly detailed, the enemy models look awesome and sport real-time lighting reflections on the slickness of their skin. Atmospheric textures are equally good looking and the entire 3D environment is rendered in a fashion that looks almost embossed with detail.  Firing your gun in the dark will create a huge splash of momentary light on all surrounding objects.  A T&L based video card is a must to experience all the graphical nuances of this game.  Animation is slick, smooth and fluid, there are a lot of different animations used for the various objects and characters in the game.  For instance, when Duke is on an incline he will shift his feet to better balance himself and it actually looks realistic with only minimal clipping.

Every visual facet about the game is brimming with life, textures are crisp and colorful, shadows reflect accurately, weapons look very cool, and of course Duke himself has never looked better.  Not being limited by a static 2D universe makes the game much more entertaining by giving you the ability to zoom in and out and rotate the surroundings on the fly. 

Enemies react realistically when they are shot with pieces of their body being torn off with each piece of shrapnel that rips through them.  Destroying cybernetic enemies result in a violent explosion with parts whipping around the screen.

Music consists mainly of techno and rock and compliments the game quite nicely.  Each stage has its own unique soundtrack that was designed specifically for the level for example in the last stage in the orbiting space station there is electronic buzzing sort of sound with a metallic ambiance.  Expect a slew of new Duke Nukem quips and catch phrases.  Among the more notable remarks is “Confucius say die!” or “Now you see me, now your dead”.  Sound effects in the game are surprisingly really good, simple sound clips are not rehashed for multiple actions as they normally are in most other budget games.  For instance, the sound of Duke grunting when he jumps is not the same every time, there are about 6-7 grunt variations for the jump action alone.

This game plays like a kickass, revamped version of Super Contra.  You use the directional pad to move left and right, pushing up and down will take you to the background or foreground on a level in certain areas.  Each level usually consists of 2-4 different depths of play meaning that while progression is for the most part linear you can move into the background or the foreground in certain situations in each level.  There is a rare occurrence in the game where you will be stuck between depths of field and you won’t be able to progress (or even move for that matter) until you reload your last saved game (this tends to occur mainly in level called Deviant Drilling Part One.)  Duke can fire his weapons not only horizontally but vertically as well. Among the slew of acrobatic feats that he can perform are the double-jump, rope/pipe grab, crouch, and flying via the jetpack.  Duke has the ability to use 7 different weapons: Golden Eagle Pistol, Pipe Bombs, Shotgun, Assault Rifle, GLOPP Ray, the PRPG grenade launcher, and the Pulse Cannon.  Aside from artillery based combat he can also kick it melee style with heavy-boot-kicks, slide kicks, stomping, and jump kicks.  While action consists mostly of your typical run-and-gun action some levels include a somewhat puzzle-oriented theme making you flip switches to modify the environment to allow you to progress.

The objective is the same for every level, first locate the keycard and then find the exit.  While this objective may seem generic, well, it is.  However, the fun is in the process of retrieving the keycard and using it, the levels stay very exciting from start to finish and the fact that you have to retrieve a keycard never really enters into the thought process, the experience is so consistently entertaining that you rarely question the generic-ness of the objectives.  Along the way you will save babes who are trapped inside a GLOPP bomb device, saving them will defuse the bomb and allow you to progress to the next stage.  The game consistently changes its gameplay dynamics, one second you’ll be on top of a speeding bullet train dodging overhead objects by ducking and jumping and in another level you will be flying high above the ground with a jetpack to get to the other side of an enormous chasm.

It is apparent after only a short time of playing Manhattan Project that a lot of thought went into the creation of the game’s levels.  The level design is smart and was created with every possible acrobatic maneuver in mind.  You’ll never find an instance where you simply won’t be able make a long jump due to shoddy level design.  There will be times where you’ll have to attempt a jump a few times before you successfully progress through a certain area but it is never so difficult that you want to give up.  If I have any complaints about the game its that the subway levels seem to go on and on.  After 3 consecutive hours of playing in the same type of atmosphere, I was beginning to wonder if the game includes any other differently themed levels.  Which, of course, it does – Manhattan Project consists of 8 stages with 3 levels per stage.

The fact that the entire game is fully rendered in 3D yet played like a 2D side-scroller leaves a lot of options open for perspective.  The developers were able to be very creative in the side-scrolling universe thanks to the atmosphere’s 3D properties, perspective can change to any angle at a seconds notice, the camera can pan around the action giving the game an incredibly immersive feeling, there really is no limit to the things that can be done (and is) perspective-wise in this game.

As you defeat more enemies, your stats will increase allowing maximum capacity for things like life and ammo to be marginally extended.  This addition gives you incentive to destroy the baddies instead of just avoiding them.  Small-fry enemies like PigCops will do little to increase your overall stats but taking out the more devious foes like the FemMechs or RatOids will level you up with haste.  Also for every opponent you take out you’ll be awarded with a certain amount of health points depending on their difficulty, PigCops will give you 3-6 health points while some of the larger Mech enemies will award you with up to 24 health points.

Boss fights are particularly enjoyable and exciting, usually consisting of 2-3 varied sequences.  Sometimes during boss battles the action will transition flawlessly into an entirely new gameplay dynamic.  For example in the level called Rooftop Rebellion you have to jump onto a ladder dangling from a helicopter as it tries to swing you off and shoot the helicopter down while your hanging on to it.  Another example is in the subway station when you battle the Queen Morphix.  You first have to jump onto different platforms while shooting her (like the first boss in Contra for NES) until a large piece of concrete falls directly on top of her, assumably killing her.  At this point you make a cool getaway on a subway train.  Everything is well and good until she erupts out of nowhere and you have to take her on while your on top of a speeding subway train moving at increasingly faster speeds while the train is on a one-way-course with a brick wall.  Suffice to say the developers really went for the jugular with the action sequences found in Manhattan Project.

As far as side-scrolling platform games go you really can’t get any better then Duke Nukem Manhattan Project.  The game remains entertaining right up to the climatic end battle with a 20-story tall mech that looks suspiciously like Duke in an orbiting space station owned by Morphix, the company that manufactures and distributes the evil substance known as G.L.O.P.P.

While the game is not terribly long it will provide around 15 full hours of entertainment before the end credits start to roll.  If you’re a fan of Duke Nukem, or just side-scrolling games in general I wholly recommend that you make haste to your local game-shop and pick this game up immediately.

Gameplay: 8.4
Controlling Duke is easy and precise, like a good side-scroller should be.  While the perspective changes around a lot, from side-scrolling, to overhead, etc, the simple play dynamics remains the same.  At times the game may look similar to a 3D FPS but it always retains the simplicity of standard run-and-jump dynamics.   

Graphics: 8.1
Manhattan Project looks great, every character, object, and atmosphere is rendered superbly with incredibly detailed bump mapping and a colorful palette.  Minimum system requirements say a Pentium 2 350Mhz and an 8Meg video card should handle the game but on my 850Mhz w/64Meg video card I still experienced some slowdown (particularly on the last level).  So while the game looks awesome you’ll definitely want a T&L based chipset to fully appreciate the level of visual depth in Manhattan Project.

Sound: 8.2
Sunstorm nailed it in the sound department too, the musical tracks fit very well with the overall feel of the game and change pace enough to remain entertaining.  The sound effects are varied and well polished, aurally Manhattan Project delivers with flying colors.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium/Hard
You’ll have the option to choose from 3 levels of difficulty but even on normal mode you’ll get stuck on a few areas thanks to incredibly hard jumping requirements.  Most of the game is a breeze but some of the levels make you run around a little more then I would have liked.  Aside from the time consuming backtracking found in Manhattan Project you should be able to blast through it in less than 15 hours.

Concept: 7.9 
Who woulda thunk it, Duke Nukem in a side-scroller?  Well, long time fans of the series know that Duke was kicking alien ass back in the early 90’s in his very first appearance, which was a side-scrolling platform game for the PC.  So while this game may initially seem off-kilter compared to previous FPS shoot-em-ups in reality this is actually more of a homage to its past.

Overall: 8.1

Hail to the king, baby!  DNMP is a breath of fresh air, if you enjoy side-scrollers you must get this game.  At an MRP of $24.95, you have no reason not to pick it up.  Now go .. seriously, go!