5 Retro FPS Games That Tried To Copy Duke Nukem 3D

"Duke Nukem 3D" is one of those video games from the '90s that could never be made today. Taking the muscular, unapologetic pastiche of American machismo from a side-scrolling action game to a first-person shooter experience, the 1996 game made waves upon its release. Blending crude humor with the gory violence that FPS titles were known for at the time, "Duke Nukem 3D" earned its own vocal fanbase. And just as many '90s games tried to copy "Doom," Duke's first-person adventure featured its own wave of copycats and titles visibly influenced by it.

There were plenty of first-person shooters that surfaced in the wake of "Duke Nukem 3D," each bringing their own sense of attitude. Some titles spawned their own respective franchises, while others were one-and-done experiences that didn't reach anywhere near the same heights as 3D Realms' gun-toting hero. Highlighting the good, the bad, and the weird games inspired by Duke Nukem and his delightfully ribald adventures, here are five retro FPS games that tried to copy "Duke Nukem 3D" with varying levels of success.

Living up to its title, 1997's "Blood" is the most violent game on this list, keeping up with the carnage of "Duke Nukem" and "Doom" before it. The game follows Caleb, a gunslinger and cultist who rises from the grave in the 1920s to seek revenge on those who betrayed him. This vendetta takes Caleb all over the world as he fights waves of cultists and paranormal monstrosities. The game also features its own variation on deathmatch mode and cooperative multiplayer for its main story campaign.

Despite its darker title and premise, "Blood" does have its own distinct sense of humor and, like "Duke Nukem 3D," plenty of pop culture references. The combat and aesthetics draw more visibly from the game's horror influences, helping distinguish it from its contemporaries, though the similarities are still clear. For example, having a voodoo doll as a weapon, an incredibly damaging one at that, is an inspired choice that only "Blood" could get away with. Gleefully gruesome and a '90s cult classic, "Blood" is a first-person shooter with plenty of sanguine personality.

The '90s were a decade that reveled in gross-out humor, something that the era's cartoons and slapstick comedies relied heavily on. This trend also spread to video games, evidenced by titles like "Earthworm Jim," "Primal Rage," and "Redneck Rampage." The latter is a 1997 first-person shooter centering on Arkansas hillbilly brothers Leonard and Bubba trying to rescue their pig. This seemingly innocuous quest gets sidelined by an alien invasion, with the siblings put in the position of saving the world.

Much like "Duke Nukem 3D," "Redneck Rampage" truly is a retro game that couldn't be made today. Health is refilled by its protagonists guzzling alcoholic beverages and junk food, though the characters get drunk and flatulent if they overindulge. The humor is as crude as one would imagine, leaning deliberately into hillbilly stereotypes as its title and premise suggests. The game did well enough to receive a sequel and several spin-offs, surprisingly demonstrating that there was a market for "Redneck Rampage" — which was perhaps a sign of the times.

After making "Duke Nukem 3D," developer 3D Realms created "Shadow Warrior," another first-person shooter using the same engine. Released in 1997, the game stars corporate enforcer Lo Wang, who learns that his cruel boss, Master Zilla, has summoned monsters in a bid to conquer Japan. This turns Lo Wang against the corporation and its supernatural army, with Lo Wang's quest further fueled by the discovery that Zilla murdered his mentor. Lo Wang has a whole arsenal at his disposal, with East Asian weapons like a katana and shuriken in addition to guns.

With their shared development background, "Shadow Warrior" is the game on this list that has the most in common with "Duke Nukem 3D." Like Duke, Lo Wang is a wise-cracking hero always ready with a quip, often heavy on innuendo, making him a video game character who would be inappropriate today. That said, "Shadow Warrior" has been much more successfully revived than Duke, with a reboot series launching in 2013. For players looking for a more East Asian-inspired take on the familiar gameplay and presentation of "Duke Nukem 3D," the original 1997 "Shadow Warrior" provides this in full.

Any day I get to write about the Kiss first-person shooter game "Kiss: Psycho Circus — The Nightmare Child" is a good day. The 2000 title has players explore an urban environment, like "Duke Nukem 3D," while blasting through waves of monsters. Each band member, controlled by the player in different intervals, undergoes their own set of trials to transform into demigods. With their powers combined, the band stops an extra-dimensional invasion from overtaking the Earth, with plenty of hard-rocking sensibilities along the way.

For whatever reason, "Revolution X," a first-person shooter experience built around Aerosmith, worked much better than "Kiss: Psycho Circus — The Nightmare Child." This feels more like a game that Kiss slapped its name on than one distinctly built around the band and their 1998 reunion album "Psycho Circus." The environments and weapons are uninspired and derivative of any number of late '90s first-person shooters and the story is a convoluted mess. We're not saying that "Kiss: Psycho Circus — The Nightmare Child" is the reason why the Dreamcast failed, but it is the only home console that released a port of it, so make of that what you will.

The early 2000s got their own muscle-bound first-person shooter hero in Serious Sam Stone (no relation to this article's author), starting with 2001's "Serious Sam: The First Encounter." The game centers on time-traveling 22nd century soldier Serious Sam, who is sent back to ancient Egypt to help with an alien invasion in his native time period. Sam arms himself with an extensive variety of weapons in increasingly chaotic gameplay as he blasts through sci-fi enemies. In contrast to the dark and gritty settings that dominated most first-person shooters, "Serious Sam" goes for a much brighter environment that reflects its sand-filled setting.

Another product of its time, "Serious Sam: The First Encounter" helped pave the way for first-person shooters going into the 2000s. A bit more refined than Duke Nukem, Serious Sam still brings plenty of action hero quips and unwavering bravado to the heavy gunplay. This is a game that featured dual-wielding weapon mechanics and both local and online multiplayer months before "Halo: Combat Evolved." Starting its own small franchise, "Serious Sam: The First Encounter" feels like a cross between "Duke Nukem 3D" and "Timesplitters," to great effect.