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.
Plot
Aliens have set up a new breeding ground in the Caribbean, terrorising the islands. Duke, being on vacation, quickly responds to the situation. Players once again take the role of Duke Nukem through one new episode set in the hot Caribbean, destroying the aliens who wrecked his vacation.
Level design
Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach owes much of its popularity to its happy and unique levels. Players venture through many Caribbean locales including water parks, beach side hotels, tropical lagoons and cruise ships throughout the course of the game.
Weapons and items
Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach features a whole new arsenal of weapons, all of which reflect the Caribbean spirit. They are purely cosmetic changes to the existing weapons, replacing both the sprites and the sounds, and as such all act the same as their original counterparts.
Similarly, it introduces exotic alternatives to the items the player picks up, from Credit Cards to Snorkels. Health is represented by bananas (with the Atomic Health replaced by a Pearl). The Body Armor is changed to Sun Lotion, Night vision Goggles to Sunglasses The only item left unchanged is the Jetpack.
Enemies
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.
Reception
Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach was met with praise from players. It is often hailed for its fun innovation and excellent level design, and many consider it the best of the authorized expansion packs released for Duke Nukem 3D.
Quotes
- Let's go surfing now, everybody's learning how, come on and safari with me! (reference to Beach Boys)
- I'll turn you into a bait!
- Hey! This vacation is looking... up! (short quote)
- You're blocking my sun, asswipe!
- You're fish food!
- Hey, I'm looking to score!
- Damn, i hate Disco! Stayin' alive, stayn' alive, egh!
- Damn, i hate Disco! (short quote)
- I'm feeling a lot of love here. Hey, this vacation is looking... up!
- Ooh, your ass is grass, and I've got the weed-whacker!
- Life's a bitch, and then you die!
- Love! Exciting and new!
- This vacation sucks! (after dying)
- Hmm... There's gotta be a clue here!
- Look boss, ze plane ze plane! (possible reference to Fantasy Island TV Show)
- I'll take what's behind door number one! (possible reference Monty Hall problem)
- Hmm... Most interesting...
- Ugh... i hate kiddie rides!
- Wuhuuu!
- Wohoo!
- Damn! There goes my ride outta here!
- Have one on the house!
- I gotta find a way to get over there.
- Time to crash this party!
- It's time to limbo!
- Hot tubs, hot babes, I'm home!
- Hmm... Looks like trouble in paradise.
- Uuh I like my sunny-side up!
- Eeny, meeny, miny, moe! Ugh... Decisions, decisions!
- Decisions, decisions...
- Ugh... (after dying)
Trivia
- The title theme is a mixture of Hawaii Five-0'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 named Vista which is a parody of the Visa credit cards.
- There was originally supposed to be iguana enemies in the game but they never made the cut for unknown reasons. However, they can still be seen in a promotional screenshot at Sunstorm's website.
- Charlie Wiederhold created several levels for this add-on. Wiederhold was later hired by 3D Realms to work on the sequel Duke Nukem Forever. He would later join Gearbox Software but left before they got Duke Nukem Forever.
Screenshots
External links
- Game Manual (via Archive.org)
- Mobygames
- Video Walkthrough by VivisectorITA
- Video Walkthrough by Lingyan203
- Video Walkthrough by GalleyUK