Duke Nukem II: Episode 1 – The Apocalypse

Lore & Background

The Rigelatin Empire, a technologically advanced alien race with a taste for conquest, has long coveted Earth's resources and population. After their initial invasion was repelled by Duke Nukem in the original Duke Nukem (1991), they retreated to their homeworld, licking wounds and plotting a more insidious attack. In Duke Nukem II, the aliens have allied with a rogue human scientist, Dr. Proton, a balding megalomaniac who developed a mind-control device that can enslave entire cities with a pulse of sickly green energy. The Rigelatins use this tech to turn Earth's own military and civilians into zombie-like puppets, creating chaos to cover their true objective: harvesting human brains for genetic experiments that could create a super-soldier hybrid. The episode's title, 'The Apocalypse,' isn't hyperbole—it's the immediate threat of civilization collapsing under its own turned weapons. The aliens have established beachheads in major urban centers, industrial complexes, and secret underground bases. Duke Nukem, having barely survived an ambush at the start of the episode (a Rigelatin plasma bolt scorched his jacket), must fight through these locations to disable the mind-control towers and reach the alien command center. The episode ends with Duke destroying the primary transmitter in a shower of sparks, but the Rigelatins escape via teleporter to regroup, setting the stage for the next episode.

In Their Own Story

The sky bleeds red over the city. Duke Nukem kicks open a door into a street littered with overturned cars, their alarms wailing into the droning hum of alien ships. A Rigelatin patrol spots him—three of them, with bulbous heads and clawed hands. Duke grins, hefting his shotgun. 'Time to kick ass and chew bubblegum... and I'm all out of gum.' The first blast sends an alien flying into a shattered storefront. Duke moves forward, each step crunching on broken glass, as the mind-control tower looms ahead, pulsing with sickly green light like a diseased heartbeat.

Reader's Guide

Episode 1 of Duke Nukem II consists of five levels: 'The Apocalypse,' 'Industrial Warfare,' 'The Death Row,' 'The Abandoned City,' and 'The Alien Queen.' The story begins with Duke in a city under alien attack, where he must fight through streets and buildings to reach the first boss, a giant brain-like creature pulsating with psychic energy that controls the local mind-control tower. After pumping it full of lead, Duke infiltrates an industrial complex ('Industrial Warfare') where the aliens are mass-producing their weapons on conveyor belts, then escapes a prison facility ('The Death Row') where captured humans are held in cages, awaiting brain extraction. The fourth level, 'The Abandoned City,' is a ruined urban landscape where Duke must navigate through collapsed structures and alien patrols to reach the final level, 'The Alien Queen.' Here, Duke confronts the queen of the Rigelatins, a massive, screeching creature that spawns smaller aliens from a pulsating sac. Defeating her destroys the primary mind-control transmitter, freeing the city from alien influence. However, the Rigelatins' leader, Dr. Proton, escapes via teleporter, setting the stage for Episode 2.

Did You Know?

• The episode's title 'The Apocalypse' was originally used for a shareware demo that included the first three levels, making it one of the most-played episodes in the series—and the reason so many gamers still hum the firs
• The final boss, the Alien Queen, was inspired by the Xenomorph Queen from the Aliens film franchise, though the game's chunky pixel art gives it a distinct retro look—like a neon green nightmare from a 16-bit fever dream
• Duke Nukem II was the last game in the series to use a side-scrolling perspective before the series transitioned to 3D with Duke Nukem 3D in 1996, marking the end of an era for pixel-punching platforming.
• The episode's soundtrack, composed by Robert Prince, features heavy metal-inspired MIDI tracks that became iconic among fans—tracks like 'Grabbag' still get headbanged to at retro gaming conventions.