Death Row is the third level of L.A. Meltdown in Duke Nukem 3D.
The level begins in an electric chair, with none of the player's weapons or items from the previous level.
Secrets
Secret 1: Behind the electric chair
In the control room beside the electric chair, press the left-hand switch (as seen while looking out of the small window at the chair). The chair and surrounding floor will drop down, revealing a hidden area.
Secret 2: Chapel rafters
In the chapel, stand at the rear of the room, in the middle. Facing the altar, look up and shoot the red button. An elevator will take you to the rafters and a hidden area. While here, shoot the hanging monk, and an Atomic Health will fall to the ground.
Secret 3: Doomed space marine
In the chapel, use the stone with the alien face on it at the front. The chapel will turn red. Shatter the left-hand stained glass pane and follow the tunnel to a hidden area.
Secret 4: Behind the bed
In the jail cell beside the chapel, duck in front of the mattress and use it. It will slide aside to reveal a tunnel to a hidden area.
Secret 5: Row of Atomic Healths
In the outdoor area surrounded by Turrets, climb either of the slanted platforms beside the locked gate that leads to the submarine. Jump from the slanted platform to the raised walkway above. Along the wall that divides the two halves of the raised walkway, climb another slanted platform and walk into the wall. It is possible to pass through the wall and find a secret area with a trail of Atomic Healths leading to the other half of the raised walkway.
Secret 6: Steroids in the canyon wall
From the raised walkway in Secret 5, go to the end of the walkway above the Red Access Card, and blow up a crack in the wall to reveal a secret area with Steroids inside.
Secrets 7-8: Two compartments beside the map on the bridge
Use the Red Access Card to reach a rotating control room with a hologram of an alien's face. From the rotating control room, exit through the red door to reach a bridge above the central hub area. From the bridge, use the rectangle on the wall to reveal a map of the facility. When this happens, two small compartments will also open on either side of the map. Jump from the bridge into each of the opened compartments. The two compartments are counted as secrets 7 and 8, respectively.
Secret 9: Night Vision Goggles beside the submarine gate
Upon reaching the submarine, turn left and follow the path to the locked gate from earlier in the level. On this side of the gate, there are slanted platforms on the left and right sides. Climb onto the right-hand platform. Using the wall will open a secret compartment with Night Vision Goggles inside.
Secret 10: Engine room inside the submarine
Inside the submarine, examine the wall behind the crate to find a door. Use it to reveal a hidden area.
Walkthrough
See Also: Written/Pictorial Walkthrough by 3D Realms
Achievements
Megaton Edition
Doomed Marine: Find the dead space marine in the chapel (see secret #3) to unlock this achievement.
Development history
See Also: Duke Nukem 3D prototypes
Footage from a May 9, 1995 demo shows a test map containing a modified portion of E3L7 from LameDuke. The area shown in the footage would later be incorporated into Death Row.
In addition, there is footage of an earlier build of Death Row that can be dated to November 1995.
Easter eggs
- Pressing the gray panel with the Battlelord's face near the front of the chapel will open a doorway behind the stained glass window on the left. Follow the passage to discover the space marine from Doom, dead and covered in blood. Duke will say, "That's one doomed space marine."
- The priest hanging from the chapel ceiling is a deathfire monk from Rise of the Triad. This is actually the level designer's way of inserting himself into the game. Allen Blum, the designer of Death Row, was photographed as the human model for the deathfire monk's artwork in Rise of the Triad.
- The tunnel behind the poster in the jail cell is a reference to The Shawshank Redemption, in which the main character conceals a tunnel in his jail cell by hanging a poster over it.
- The "USS Dallas" submarine is a reference to The Hunt for Red October, which features a submarine of the same name.
- In the jail cell beside the chapel, there are two tunnels in the walls. Using the Night Vision Goggles inside the right-hand tunnel will reveal the faint words, "BEHIND THE BABE." This is likely meant as a clue for discovering the tunnel behind the poster near the end of the level. However, the one pair of night vision goggles in the level can only be obtained after having already gone through said poster.
Trivia
- This is the only level in the game where your inventory (items and weapons) are removed before beginning.
- This removal of the player's inventory is coded to occur if the player's starting position is on a particular tile. This same tile also causes the electrocution damage and effects if the player is in contact with it (but not flying above it).
Screenshots
