Put Up Your Dukes! (CLIFFBASE.WAD)

PUT UP YOUR DUKES!
by "Sgt. Shivers"

In 2015, Daniel Gimmer - aka the infamous Tormentor667 of Realm667 - decided to host a contest, complete with physical prizes. Doomja Vu gave players a streamlined and depersonalized layout of E1M7 and asked them to build a map around it, with some additional provisions. Of all the entries, Sgt. Shivers' is the least ambitious, but it's refreshing when compared against the space-bound labyrinth of Celestial Site. Put Up Your Dukes! (or, per the filename, CLIFFBASE) is a fun slice of arcade-style action that abandons pretty much any pretense of being Doom II.

Right off the bat, Shivers sets the tone with the music from Duke Nukem II's first level ("He's Back!") and slapping a pulse rifle in your hands. Functionally, it's a slightly faster chaingun that can shoot... rockets, I guess, as an alt fire. They don't stay in the air very long, but they can sure clear a room out quick. The Duke Nukem 3D-textured base is full of distinctly-helmeted soldiers; the ones that move around can shoot you with bullets, too, while their commando brethren stay wherever they are stationed so that they can light your ass up with a rocket while you're not paying attention. And, uh, that's it.

Seriously, it's just you running around and tapping the trigger to take out the mobile soldiers and giving the crouching ones slightly more respect. The action is punctuated with the occasional bombing from what I can only assume is your aerial support, which adds a nice sort of chaotic ambiance as you fight your way through the installation. It would have been cool to see some scripted BATTLE DAMAGE to really hammer in that Duke3D feel, but I'll take what I can get. I kind of wonder if Shivers has more stuff in this style waiting in the wings, in which case it'd be cool to see how it develops over an entire set.

The architecture is fine, with the outdoor stuff looking pretty sharp, and while it isn't the most glamorous, it's a rock solid base to build upon. Altogether, Put Up Your Dukes! is a fun little diversion a nice show from Sgt. Shivers, who I only really know as the dude who makes crazy fun weapon GIFs. Hopefully, the best is yet to come.

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This post is part of a series on
Realm 667's Doomjá-vu competition

Mouldy Old Void	Put Up Your Dukes!
dead.wire	Black Magnetic
The Heart of Stone	Celestial Site