Along with Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, Duke Nukem 3D is considered to be responsible for popularizing first-person shooters, and was released to major critical acclaim.

Reviewers praised the interactivity of the environments, gameplay, level design, and unique risqué humor, a mix of pop-culture satire and lampooning of over-the-top Hollywood action heroes.

[citation needed] The Plutonium PAK, an expansion pack which updated the game to version 1.4 and added a fourth eleven-level episode, was released on October 21, 1996.

[3][4] Levels were designed in a fairly non-linear manner such that players can advantageously use air ducts, back doors, and sewers to avoid enemies or find hidden caches.

Some confer gameplay benefits to the player; light switches make it easier to see, while water fountains and broken fire hydrants provide some health points.

Players will encounter corpses of famous characters such as Luke Skywalker, Indiana Jones, Snake Plissken, the protagonist of Doom, and a smashed T-800.

At a strip club, he is captured by pig-cops, but escapes the alien-controlled penitentiary and tracks down the alien cruiser responsible for the invasion in the San Andreas Fault.

Levels in this episode include a fast-food restaurant ("Duke Burger"), a supermarket, a Disneyland parody called "Babe Land", a police station, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez, and Area 51.

Lee Jackson's theme song "Grabbag" has elicited many covers and remixes over the years by both fans and professional musicians, including an officially sanctioned studio version by thrash metal band Megadeth.

3D Realms featured it on the front page of their website and contracted with Kline to use it to promote their Xbox Live release of Duke Nukem 3D.

[11] The original official website was created by Jeffrey D. Erb and Mark Farish of Intersphere Communications Ltd.[12] Duke Nukem 3D was ported to many consoles of the time.

The last major game to make use of the Duke Nukem 3D source code was TNT Team's World War II GI in 1999.

Its programmer, Matthew Saettler, obtained permission from 3D Realms to expand the gameplay enhancements done on WWII GI to Duke Nukem 3D.

[citation needed] The source code to the Duke Nukem 3D v1.5 executable, which uses the Build engine, was released as free software under the GPL-2.0-or-later license on April 1, 2003.

[62] Another popular early project is Jonathon Fowler's JFDuke3D, which, in December 2003, received backing from the original author of Build, programmer Ken Silverman.

[63] Fowler, in cooperation with Silverman, released a new version of JFDuke3D using Polymost, an OpenGL-enhanced renderer for Build which allows hardware acceleration and 3D model support along with 32-bit color high resolution textures.

He particularly cited the game's speed and fluidity even on low-end PCs, imaginative weapons, varied and identifiable environments, true 3D level designs, and strong multiplayer mode.

He praised the imaginative weapons, long and complex single-player campaign, competitive multiplayer, built-in level editor, and parental lock.

Reception of this element varied: Tim Soete of GameSpot felt that it was "morally questionable",[4] while the Game Revolution reviewer noted that it was "done in a tongue-in-cheek manner," and he was "not personally offended".

"[91] The Saturn version also received generally positive reviews, with critics particularly praising the use of real-world settings for the levels[81][94][98] and Duke's numerous one-liners.

"[80] GamePro summarized that "All the gore, vulgarity, go-go dancers, and ultra-intense 3D combat action that made Duke Nukem [3D] excel on the PC are firmly intact in the Saturn version, making it one of the premier corridor shooters on the system.

[94] The Nintendo 64 version was likewise positively received, with critics almost overwhelmingly praising the new weapons[82][85][87][92] and polygonal explosions,[82][87][99] though some said that the use of sprites for most enemies and objects makes the game look outdated.

[82][85][87][92] Next Generation stated that "The sound effects and music are solid, the levels are still interactive as heck, and it's never quite felt so good blasting enemies with a shotgun or blowing them to chunks with pipe bombs.

"[92] GamePro opined that the censoring of sexual content from the port stripped the game of all uniqueness,[99] but the vast majority of critics held that the censorship, though unfortunate, was not extensive enough to eliminate or even reduce Duke's distinctive personality.

[82][85][87][92] Peer Schneider of IGN called it "a better and much more intense shooter than Hexen and Doom 64, and currently the best N64 game with a two-player co-op mode.

"[87] Crispin Boyer of Electronic Gaming Monthly, while complaining that the large weapons obscure too much of the player's view in four-player mode, assessed that "You're not gonna find a better console version of Duke.

[86] IGN's Jay Boor gave it a more enthusiastic recommendation, saying it "plays exactly like its PC predecessor" and praising the PlayStation-exclusive levels and link cable support.

[110] In 2009, IGN's Cam Shea ranked it as the ninth top 10 Xbox Live Arcade game, stating that it was as fun as it was in its initial release, and praised the ability to rewind to any point before the player died.

[116] In 1999, Duke Nukem 3D was banned in Brazil, along with Doom and several other first-person shooters, after a rampage in and around a movie theater was supposedly inspired by the first level in the game.

[117] Despite such concerns from critics, legislators, and publishers, Scott Miller later recounted that 3D Realms saw very little negative feedback to the game's controversial elements from actual gamers or their parents.