Duke Nukem: Zero Hour

Lore & Background

In Duke Nukem: Zero Hour, an alien race known as the Cycloid Empire launches a coordinated assault on Earth by exploiting temporal anomalies. Duke Nukem, the cigar-chomping one-liner machine, is dispatched by the Earth Defense Force to use a prototype time-travel device to stop the invasion at its source. The game's levels span various historical eras, including a post-apocalyptic future, the Old West, and a haunted mansion inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's works.

In Their Own Story

The chrono-watch hums on Duke's wrist as he steps through a shimmering portal into the heart of a Wild West town. Dust devils swirl around him, and the saloon doors creak open to reveal a posse of aliens wearing cowboy hats. Duke grins, cocks his shotgun, and says, 'Looks like you varmints need a lesson in hospitality.' The time stream shudders as he fires the first round, altering the course of history with every shell.

Reader's Guide

Duke Nukem: Zero Hour is a location-based game where each level represents a different time period, from the Old West to a futuristic London. The game is a third-person shooter with a focus on exploration, puzzle-solving, and combat against a variety of alien enemies. Duke's arsenal includes classic weapons like the shotgun, pipe bomb, and shrink ray, as well as time-specific tools like the chrono-watch. The game's hub is the Earth Defense Force headquarters, where Duke receives his missions and upgrades. The levels are designed to be linear but offer secrets and branching paths, encouraging replayability. The game's tone is a mix of action, humor, and horror, with Duke's one-liners punctuating the chaos.

Did You Know?

• The haunted mansion level is directly inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, featuring monsters like the Shoggoth.
• The game was developed by Eurocom, not 3D Realms, and published by GT Interactive. Unlike Duke Nukem 3D, which was created by 3D Realms, Zero Hour was handled by a different studio entirely.