Duke Nukem: Time to Kill – Review

Quick primer for anyone unfamiliar with Duke Nukem: Duke is a 90s American action hero, egotistical, wisecracking, strip-club-loving, and loud. In Time to Kill you guide him in third-person through different eras, blasting alien mutants. Imagine Indiana Jones, but minus the education and plus twice as many explosions.

If, like me, you played Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes first and then Time to Kill, I strongly recommend sticking to that order if it's still on your list.

Time to Kill is clearly the stronger entry. The controls are still a bit clunky, but they feel just a touch more responsive. What makes the bigger difference, though, is the difficulty: Time to Kill is noticeably tougher than Land of the Babes. I often got lost in the levels and couldn't figure out where to go next, so, shame on me, I occasionally had to consult walkthroughs.

Both games owe a strong debt to Tomb Raider, the famous action-adventure starring Lara Croft. The internal codename Duke Raider really does sum it up.

The main menu, however, is awkwardly implemented: while a demo scene plays in the background, nice touch, it's rendered in real time by the PlayStation instead of being a pre-rendered video, which makes the menu feel sluggish.

Visuals & Level Design

Visually, Duke Nukem: Time to Kill is, unsurprisingly, a late-90s PlayStation title: angular levels, pixelated textures, exactly what you'd expect from the hardware of the day.

What's far more impressive is the level design. Each world has its own distinct setting, making it feel almost like playing several different games, more on that below. The puzzles, however, are fairly pedestrian and follow the same basic pattern in every level. More on that later as well.

German Localization

There is no localization at all, no German text and no German voice acting. Yet because the game avoids lengthy briefings, mission descriptions, and dialogue, the omission matters less than you might think.

Instead, the game tells its story through the environment: details on walls often reveal hidden rooms or hint at where to go next. That actually pulls you deeper into the action than any on-screen exposition ever could.

Story

⚠️ Spoiler warning!

The game opens, predictably enough, with a full-motion video, a pre-rendered cutscene in which Duke Nukem roars through a night-time city on his motorcycle and ends up at a strip club. The music in the intro feels jarringly out of place and bears little resemblance to the usual Duke Nukem sonic palette.

While Duke settles in for some downtime, Pig-Cops, half-man, half-swine, all menace, burst through portals. Naturally, they interrupt his well-earned break. True to form, Duke opens fire.

What follows is a loosely stitched-together collage of events: Duke's motorcycle suddenly shrinks into a child's tricycle while the firefight rages on in the street. In the next scene he torches a few Pig-Cops with a flamethrower drawn from a backpack that strongly resembles Lara Croft's, unfurls a jetpack, and takes off as the world below explodes.

At this point I'd argue Duke is the bigger threat to humanity than the mutants.

Cut to Duke lobbing a pipe bomb at a Pig-Cop who freezes in a perfect T-pose before he, and an entire city block, are reduced to rubble.

You could almost believe the mutants are the good guys here.

Level Overview

Streets / Time to Kill

The game picks up right where the intro left off: Duke stands outside the strip club and is greeted by three mutants. After a few hidden secrets, you reach a dominatrix in a secluded apartment, naturally accompanied by a mutant in tow. When you speak to her, she purrs, “Turn off the lights and I'll show you the meaning of pain.”

I could swear I recognize that voice from somewhere else. A quick check on IMDb confirms: it's Lani Minella, the same actress who voiced Adria the Witch in Diablo I. What I missed earlier: she also played Jane in Land of the Babes. Good voice acting means you don't make every character sound the same.

Flip the lights off and you're rewarded with a stack of pipe bombs. Alongside a handful of Easter eggs, including Lara Croft's outfit, you proceed into the subway.

The subway needs to be powered up first because one car blocks the track. After that, you enter a flooded section crawling with lizard mutants. A security camera reveals a device surrounded by three terminals. Later you collect crystals that activate the device, which marks the level's end and whisks you to a rather unexpected location …

Wild West / Duke Hill

… the Wild West! The device wasn't just any teleporter, it was a time machine. And, of course, Duke is instantly decked out in appropriate cowboy attire.

This level introduces the so-called Octopods, though Quadropods might be more accurate since they sport only four tentacles instead of the usual eight.

Your goal is to reach the sheriff's house, guarded by two massive Gatling guns. You can disable the turrets with raw firepower, which opens a cellar staircase, but you'll end up locked behind a barred door in a jail cell. To reach the front entrance you'll need a key hidden on the map.

From the sheriff's building you head into a mine, an unusual entry point, but fitting.

Wild West / Miner 69er

The purple crystals embedded in the walls aren't mineable, and you don't need them anyway. Instead, you'll find switch mechanisms that open or lock different sections of the mine.

There's a massive drill rig that, contrary to my first assumption, doesn't need to be shut off; you simply have to steer clear of it. Otherwise, it's a winding descent deeper into the mine, packed with climbing sequences and vertical shafts that look like dead ends.

Challenge: Lizard Rush

Between levels you'll occasionally face optional challenges. I failed this one. The task: clear every enemy with the shotgun before time runs out and find the exit. No extra life for me.

Wild West / Gold and Guns

Here the goal is to disable automated laser turrets. It's trickier than it sounds because the switches sit squarely in the line of fire. The trick: move fast and circle the turret, it tracks slowly. Hesitate and you'll end up Swiss-cheesed.

Beyond long climbing stretches and lava-based jump-and-run segments, there's little variety. I expected an Indiana Jones homage at several points, but it never materialized. Most annoying were the tiny, fast-flying fire bats: lightning quick, hard to hit even with auto-aim.

After disabling three of the four turrets (the fourth is already offline), you ride an elevator out of the mine into the next level. I got stuck here for a long while, not least because I'd already burned through all my extra lives in earlier levels and had to reload constantly. Granted, emulator save states gave me a hand.

Wild West / The Reaper (Boss Fight)

An unexpected boss battle against a massive mech on tank treads. Unfortunately, it's over far too quickly: thanks to the abundance of TNT barrels and a rocket launcher or Gatling gun, you can dispatch the “problem” in short order.

Present Day / Obey or Die

After the Wild West, you return, without a time portal, to a version of the present. Or so it seems. The mutants (and Duke) appear to have botched things up in the past: the subway is flooded, and the mutants have apparently built a dystopian surveillance state.

(Note: today you don't need mutants to achieve that, just tools like Palantir and the Gotham software.)

Right at the start you're greeted by three tiny killer bots, the only time you'll see them in the entire game. Duke's favorite haunt has also been “redesigned”: Pig-mutant strippers now gyrate on the poles.

Your objective is to locate a nearby warehouse, collect crystals for the next time portal, and insert them. A red crystal can be pulled back out after use, you'll need it again later.

I spent an especially long time on this level for one simple reason: the game never offers a tutorial, so I didn't realize you can shove containers aside. Behind one sits the final crystal, hidden underwater behind an (indestructible) glass pane.

Heads-up for anyone playing the game: To move a container, stand still, hold the D-pad (PlayStation) or A (Xbox) until Duke leans against the object, then you can drag or push it one square. Press X / A plus a direction to climb onto the container instead. Don't make the same mistake I did, don't restart the level, as some online forums suggest.

Challenge: Quadropod Rush

Timed challenge: defeat 20 Quadropods in 3 minutes 30 seconds. Sounds doable, and it is, once you know where they spawn.

Medieval / Family Jewels

In the medieval segment your first goal is to find a way into the castle while collecting three jewels. Those jewels must then be slotted into a giant Duke-shaped disc to proceed. Instead of pipe bombs and dynamite from the Wild West, you now wield holy hand grenades, historically dubious, but effective.

Medieval / Resistance is Feudal

Pressure ramps up here. Your task is to empty a bio-tank that's spewing toxic gas through the castle's lower levels. This level introduces the bio-mask, which protects Duke from the fumes.

Lava lakes reappear, and those pesky fire-spitting bats are back as well.

After draining the tank, all that's left is to find the exit. If, like me, you overlook the most obvious spot, directly above the tank, you'll end up sprinting half the level and frantically hunting for a switch, a door, anything. Don't miss it.

Medieval / Holy Terror

This level doesn't offer much worth mentioning. The aliens keep getting chased through medieval Europe while you hunt for the sewer entrance that leads to the so-called “Church of Nukem,” where you can finally put the mutants in their place.

Medieval / Wing'ed Death (Boss Fight)

The medieval arc ends with a slightly tougher boss fight: a dragon. Of course, knights, castles, dungeons, and dragons. It fits.

Present Day / Pig Factory

Another alternate present. This time the strip club is staffed by men, much to Duke's disapproval. Again you must collect crystals to travel back in time.

This segment is mostly vertical movement: the Pig Factory is a tower whose base houses the portal. The real challenge isn't finding the crystals, they're almost all visible from the start, but draining the tower of water so the portal can activate.

On a side note, there are hints that the aliens plan to create Duke-pig hybrids. Surprisingly, you never actually face that nightmare creature.

Once the factory is successfully drained, something Duke's quips should have accomplished on their own, you can finally activate the teleporter.

Challenge: Grilled Chicken

One of the game's most unexpected diversions: grill 52 chickens with the flamethrower within the time limit. PETA would not approve. Duke probably would.

Ancient Rome / Hog Heaven

The final era whisks you off to ancient Rome. Duke, naturally, is dressed for the occasion, and the level opens with a few scantily clad ladies, much to his delight.

Later you explore a bathhouse, then a conveniently square colosseum where the familiar fire-spitting bats are back to wreak havoc.

The segment revolves around collecting keys, jetpacking over lava flows, and flipping switches. Toward the end you incinerate batches of alien grunts scattered by the Octopods throughout the corridors until you finally reach the last teleporter.

Moloch the Gatekeeper (Final Boss Fight)

The final boss fight was tougher than expected: Moloch dishes out serious damage while soaking up just as much. Adding insult to injury are eggs scattered everywhere that explode and trigger chain reactions, turning simple med-pack or ammo grabs into a mini obstacle course.

I tried to escape on the jetpack and hide in a niche too small for Moloch, except for the eggs. Long story short: I died a lot in this fight.

The ending is surprisingly underwhelming: Duke leaves the same strip club where the game began, hops on his motorcycle, and rides off. That's it. The end.

Technical Notes

Performance is actually better than in Land of the Babes, despite Time to Kill's levels being larger, more varied, and generally more engaging. The engine used remains a mystery to me; like Land of the Babes, I doubt it's a bespoke engine in the strictest sense.

What I did miss, however, is an enemy lock-on system. Ironically, that's one of the few improvements the sequel Land of the Babes introduced over this entry.

Final Thoughts

All told, Duke Nukem: Time to Kill delivers a quintessential Duke Nukem experience. If, like me, you played Land of the Babes first, you can see why the later title didn't resonate as well, though my overall verdict on Land of the Babes still stands.

What shines is how Time to Kill tells its story: entirely through level design and enemy encounters, much like the classic Duke Nukem 3D. No mission briefings, no NPCs explaining the plot, just mutants, babes, and bullets.

What caught me off guard, because I'd played Land of the Babes first, was the extra-life system. In Time to Kill you earn exactly one extra life per completed level. In Land of the Babes you got four per level, no matter how you played. On the plus side, Time to Kill lets you carry those lives forward, which is fair as long as you're not as hapless as I was and start each new level with zero to one extra life.

All in all, a very polished game, if brutally difficult, even on medium. Still, a clear recommendation!

Hail to the King, Baby!