Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach is an expansion pack for the highly acclaimed first-person shooter Duke Nukem 3D. It was released on December 31, 1997 by Sunstorm Interactive.
Contents
Gameplay
Level design
Main Article: Levels in Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach
Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach owes much of its popularity to its happy and unique levels. Players venture through many Caribbean locales including a water park, beach resort, tropical lagoon, and cruise ship.
Weapons
Main Article: Weapons in Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach
Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach features all of the same weapons from Duke Nukem 3D but renamed and re-skinned with new sprites and sound effects. The changes are purely cosmetic and are meant to reflect a Caribbean aesthetic.
Items
Main Article: Items in Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach
The expansion pack also introduces exotic re-skins of the items in Duke Nukem 3D. Access Cards have been replaced with Credit Cards, and the Scuba Gear has been replaced with Snorkels. Medkits are now represented by bananas, and the Atomic Health is represented by a Pearl. Similarly, the Armor has been changed to Sun Lotion and the Night Vision Goggles to Sunglasses. The only item left unchanged is the Jetpack.
Enemies
Main Article: Enemies in Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach
Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach contains most of the enemies from the original game, now dressed in Caribbean clothing. Two new enemies are also introduced: the Inflatable Sea Monster and the Seagull. The only enemies not featured in the game are the Assault Captain and the Assault Enforcer, as their code was required for the Beach Babes and Inflatable Sea Monsters respectively.
Multiplayer
See Also: Multiplayer in Duke Nukem 3D
Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach features an entire episode, Vacation Dukematch, consisting solely of levels designed for multiplayer. The multiplayer builds on the same system used for multiplayer in Duke Nukem 3D.
Storyline
Narrative elements in Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach are sparse. According to the official game manual, Duke Nukem is on vacation in the Caribbean to take a break from killing aliens. However, the aliens have now decided that the Caribbean offers the perfect climate for a new breeding ground, so they begin laying eggs and terrorizing the local tourists. Angered that his rest and relaxation is being delayed, Duke Nukem sets out on a mission for retribution against the aliens who are interrupting his vacation.
Reception
Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach was generally met with praise from players. It is often hailed for its fun and thoughtful level design, and many consider it the best of the authorized expansion packs released for Duke Nukem 3D.
Trivia
- The title theme combines elements of Hawaii Five-O's theme and Duke Nukem 3D's Grabbag.
- The recurring wooden boat, Kobayashi Maru, is the name of the Starfleet training test in Star Trek.
- The credit cards that replace the key cards are branded with the name "Vista," which is a parody of Visa credit cards.
- Enemies resembling humanoid iguanas were showcased in promotional screenshots on Sunstorm's website. They were ultimately cut from the game without explanation.
- Charlie Wiederhold created several levels for this add-on. Wiederhold was later hired by 3D Realms to work on Duke Nukem Forever. He would later join Gearbox Software, but he left before the completion of Duke Nukem Forever.
Screenshots
External links
- Game Manual (via Archive.org)
- Mobygames
- Video Walkthrough by VivisectorITA
- Video Walkthrough by Lingyan203
- Video Walkthrough by GalleyUK
- Duke Nukem Caribbean Voxel Pack Thread and Download