DUKE NUKEM Nintendo 64

Weapons

Duke’s Foot—Sometimes a good swift kick will do the trick. You’ll be reduced to kicking when you run out of Pistol ammo, so do your best to stay loaded because Duke’s kick requires you to be at close range to your target, and it isn’t very powerful.

Use your foot to stomp Protozoid Slimers. You can squash them quickly without taking any damage, or using any precious ammunition.

Pistol—Your first line of defense is a fairly reliable one. Duke’s sidearm is effective against just about every enemy in the game. Assault Troopers and Captains, as well as Pig Cops will go down quite easily with this. Each Pistol Clip holds 12 shots, and you’ll automatically reload as needed. You can carry 192 rounds for your Pistol, and any Pistol you find will come pre-loaded with 48 rounds. Use this weapon in close quarters, or as a last resort.

Check out some special ammunition called Dum Dums that will give your lowly Pistol some real punch. These come in a Red striped Pistol Clip. Holds 12 rounds of high-impact ammunition. Dum Dums are as powerful as Shotgun shells at close range. Coupled with the Pistol’s faster fire rate, they are extremely deadly.

Shotgun—The Shotgun will take out Assault Troopers, Captains, and sometimes Pig Cops with one blast. Firing time is a bit slower than with your pistol, but is worth the wait. The Shotgun has good stopping power at close range, but it’s also got good punch at a distance. Use this sweet stick to work on one or two aliens at a time. In a crowd, reach for something more substantial. You can carry 50 rounds, and any Shotguns you find will have 10 rounds inside (unless it was dropped by a Pig Cop who was firing it—then you’re stuck with whatever he hadn’t used).

There is special ammo for your Shotgun, Explosive Shotgun Shells—These come in Red Shotgun Shells. Each box holds 10 shells. Delivers a high explosive impact instantaneously over great distances. Not as powerful as a Missile Launcher, but faster.

The Submachine Gun—This will definitely become one of your favorite weapons. These will cut a swath of destruction through all but the most fearsome alien scum. Use them in tight, crowded situations when multiple enemies are in your face. The only downfall these rapid-fire wonders have is that they use ammunition at a horrendous rate. You can carry 400 rounds for them, and any SMG you find comes loaded with 100 rounds.

SMGs work great on slow-moving Octabrains, as well as the higher level Boss aliens such as the Battlelord.

Grenade Launcher—A real crowd stopper, the Grenade Launcher is a staple of Duke’s arsenal. You’ll find one in the first level, and you’ll want to keep it handy throughout the game. The Grenades it fires will bounce off walls and around corners until they hit a target. If they hit alien flesh first, they’ll detonate, turning most of the game’s aliens into salsa. You can make Grenades fly further by aiming upwards before you fire. Be forewarned—if one of them detonates too close, Duke will be blown up as well. You can carry 48 Grenades, and any Grenade Launcher you find will contain 12 rounds.

A Grenade Launcher can be used early on for exploring. Shoot any cracks you find in walls with a Grenade to blast openings into new areas for Duke to explore.

Pipe Bombs—Another explosive addition to Duke’s backpack. Pipe Bombs can be thrown or laid on the ground, then safely detonated from a distance. The blast is similar to that of a Grenade. Hold down the fire button when you toss a Pipe Bomb out to make it fly farther from you. In addition, you can set traps with up to five Pipe Bombs at once. To lay down multiple Pipe Bombs, drop one then switch weapons. Switch back to Pipe Bombs and drop another. Repeat this until you’ve dropped five. You can detonate your trap from anywhere in the level. Just switch to Pipe Bombs and pull the trigger.

Pipe Bombs will explode if you shoot them with a Missile or other projectile, so be careful setting traps in a crossfire—you might not survive the attempt.

Shrinker/Expander—This alien weapon has two modes. As a Shrinker, it reduces your enemies to the size of bugs, allowing you to squash them under your feet. In Expander mode, this weapon cooks your foes until they grow larger and explode (a lot like a hot dog left in the microwave too long). You can carry 66 shots for the Shrinker, and 99 for the Expander. Shrinkers glow green, and will have six shots in them when found. Expanders glow red, and are loaded with 33 shots.

The Shrinker is the more effective of the two modes, since it only takes one shot to shrink most aliens. You can use it to reduce a crowd in a hurry, where as the Expander takes multiple shots, so it’s not a good idea to use it in a crowd.

Missile Launcher—Once you fire one of these, you’ll never want to use anything else. The Missile Launcher is deadly at long range. It’s capable of wiping out large crowds of low-level aliens, and it can even be used to whittle Bosses down to size. You don’t want to be anywhere close to the impact point of one of the projectiles the Missile Launcher fires, unless you’ve got a death wish. You can carry 50 rounds for it, and any Missile Launchers you find will have five rounds inside.

In later levels, you’ll stumble upon an extra-special surprise: Heat-seeking Missiles for your Launcher. Load up with these red-tipped monsters, fire, and forget it!

Laser Tripbomb—For those who like to use a bit more finesse to complete their missions, Laser Tripbombs are just the ticket. Push these onto walls, and a laser tripwire form accross the corridor. Anything crossing the beam will trigger the bomb, which is equivalent to a Pipe Bomb explosion. You can set multiple Tripbombs, as long as you don’t cross any of the beams yourself. You can carry ten of them, and they are found in single form only.

In the Boss levels, you can set a trap for the beast in question just outside their entry point. When they cross it—BOOM! You can do some serious damage in a hurry.

Plasma Cannon—This extremely powerful weapon is almost more than Duke can handle. You can fire single shots, or if you hold the trigger down, power will build up to almost unbearable levels. Your vision will shake, and the device will sound like it’s going to explode. If you release the trigger, a super-charged ball of Plasma Energy will fly toward the target. All but the largest Boss aliens will be instantly vaporized by this attack. In addition, you will still damage your target even if you miss. When the blast occurs, everything in the room will soak up some damage.

This should be your first attack on the Overlord and the Cycloid Emperor—the two toughest aliens in the game.

Power ups

These items are used immediately when picked up, and cannot be stored in your inventory.

Inventory Items

These items can be stored in your inventory for later use. You select these from your inventory, then use them as needed. They disappear from your Inventory when they have been used completely.