Spoilers Ahead!
I finished Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project on Sunday. Overall the gameplay is no masterpiece, but it’s above average. There are a few frustrating levels in the game like the instant kill spikes in the factory and the laser wires on the space station that hinder the fun experience. Luckily the game doesn’t reach the frustration factor found in some Mega Man games.
The use of the weapons is quite decent, but I find that the GLOPP Ray to be more entertaining than useful. The problem with the GLOPP Ray is when you demutate an enemy and stomp on it, Duke only gets one point for health. Where as if Duke shoots the enemy with another weapon he gets the normal health rate of 7 to 12 points.
The boss battles in the game are disappointing. To defeat the boss all you have to do is hold down the fire button and try to kill the boss before it kills you. Most of the boss designs is based on the enemies found in the game which feels a little cheap. The levels Rooftop Rebellion, Unholy Underworld and Orbital Oblivion are the only ones with original boss character designs. Speaking about bosses, the final boss battle is quite surprising – it measures up to Duke’s image and ego, and it almost makes up for the crappy bosses found in the previous levels.