Duke Nukem 3D

Duke Nukem 3D, released by 3D Realms in 1996, took the first-person shooter into brash new territory. Built on Ken Silverman's Build engine, it offered far more interactive and believable environments than its predecessors: you could shoot out windows, wander into strip clubs and cinemas, flush toilets, and press switches that meaningfully changed the level. Compared to the more abstract corridors of earlier shooters, Duke's Los Angeles felt like an actual, if seedy, place.

Its personality was inseparable from its star. Duke was a swaggering, wisecracking action-movie parody who spat one-liners lifted from films as he blasted invading aliens who had, in the game's memorable framing, come to steal Earth's women. The arsenal matched the attitude, from the pump shotgun and chaingun to the RPG, pipe bombs, shrink ray and the devastating Devastator, and the level design hid secrets, jetpacks and plenty of dark humour around every corner.

Duke Nukem 3D holds up as one of the most enjoyable shooters of its generation, thanks to snappy movement, clever levels and a genuine sense of place. Its crude humour is very much of its time and will not be to everyone's taste, but the gunplay remains satisfying and the atmosphere distinctive. It represents the high point of the Build-engine era just before fully 3D shooters like Quake changed the landscape again.