Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The first draw here is simple: you get to step back into Duke’s boots after Hoover Dam with an actual continuation, not merely a set of multiplayer arenas. Waking up as Dr. Proton’s prisoner at Area 51 gives the expansion a direct, suitably pulpy reason to get moving, and the central clone scheme is a better excuse for Duke-style mayhem than a detached challenge pack would have been.

The Microwave Expander is the headline addition for good reason. Its return from Duke Nukem 3D: Plutonium Pak is the sort of deep-cut callback that can make a longtime fan smile, while the returning Techbot androids connect this episode all the way back to the original Duke Nukem. These are welcome bits of series history, though they do not fundamentally transform the underlying first-person shooting.

That distinction matters. This is still DLC for Duke Nukem Forever, carrying forward the same broad tone and basic action framework rather than correcting the base game’s rough edges. You will get the most from it if you already have some patience for that formula and mainly want more single-player Duke, with a few new enemies and weapons to break up the routine.

Four multiplayer maps round out the package, but the campaign is the reason to buy in. If competitive matches are your priority, the Duke Nukem Forever: Hail to the Icons Parody Pack is the more naturally relevant companion add-on. Here, multiplayer feels like a side dish next to Dr. Proton’s campaign.

Graphics

Area 51 supplies the campaign’s main backdrop, with Duke facing Dr. Proton’s Duke clones, returning Techbot androids, alien forces, and a new Alien Queen. It is a fittingly comic-book selection of targets for a Duke episode: secret-base sci-fi machinery on one side, exaggerated series callbacks on the other.

Story

This is a sequel chapter first and foremost. After the Hoover Dam battle, Duke wakes in Area 51 as Dr. Proton’s captive, immediately putting an old adversary from the first Duke Nukem back in the spotlight. That alone gives the DLC a stronger sense of purpose than an unrelated mission collection.

Proton’s plan is knowingly absurd: build an army of Duke clones, use them to beat the aliens, then take over the world. It is exactly the kind of oversized scheme that fits Duke’s universe, and the story understands that the joke is the escalation. A villain trying to weaponize Duke by mass-producing him is silly in the right way.

General Graves and Captain Dylan provide Duke with help as he works toward stopping Proton and confronting the new Alien Queen. Do not come expecting a dramatic reinvention of the series’ storytelling. Come for a direct continuation that leans into familiar names, old enemies, and an appropriately ridiculous threat.

Overall Experience

The Doctor Who Cloned Me is a decent, fan-oriented extension of Duke Nukem Forever rather than a rescue mission for it. It knows which pieces of Duke history to pull forward—Dr. Proton, Techbots, and the Microwave Expander—and turns them into a compact follow-up with a clearer narrative hook than its modest scale might suggest.

Frustration can set in if you were hoping the DLC would dramatically rethink the base game’s combat or attitude. It does not. The payoff is in getting a concentrated extra slice of Duke that continues the story, adds a few worthwhile callbacks, and does not pretend to be anything more ambitious.

Give it a chance if you completed the main game and were left wanting another campaign, especially if the prospect of battling a clone army under Dr. Proton’s control sounds more entertaining than exhausting. Everyone else can safely treat it as optional: competent supplemental Duke material, but not an essential reason to revisit the game.

Retro Replay Score

6.2/10