Assault Commander
From Duke Nukem Wiki
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The Assault Commander (sometimes called the Fat Commander) is an enemy in Duke Nukem 3D. It is first encountered in the third level of Lunar Apocalypse, Warp Factor, and does not appear at all in the episode L.A. Meltdown.
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[edit] Description
The Assault Commander is the most dangerous alien in the "Assault" group. Stronger and deadlier than the other "Assault" troops, the Assault Commander sits on a floatation platform commanding its forces via a radio headset. When facing an enemy itself, it will often taunt them with evil throaty laughter and phrases such as, "Suck it down!". It is one of the most dangerous enemies in the game.
It has the unusual ability to create and/or store explosive rockets within its body, and happily fires them at its enemies in rapid succession from what appears to be its rectum. It can also use its spiked floatation platform as a melee weapon by spinning rapidly and ramming into its foes, slashing them.
[edit] Appearance
The Assault Commander is a large fat brown creature with no legs. It sits on a round black floating platform, to which it is strapped and wired into by large dark tubes. The platform has a hole in the middle to allow a small appendage with a large hole dangle through. This appendage fires rockets. The outer edge of the platform is lined with blades, which are used as a melee cutting weapon when the Assault Commander spins around rapidly. The bottom of the platform has four round objects surrounding the central hole, which are believed to be the anti-grav devices.
Its head is round and shapeless, and it appears to have no neck. The main feature of its head is its large bulging mouth lined with large teeth. Above that it has two bulging red eyes, and on the top of its head is a small fleshy tentacle pointing backwards. It also wears a wireless communications headset. It has two fat arms, and three claws on each hand. It wears a minimum amount of armor, which are two large black shoulder pads with spikes and red patterns, and a black collar plate.
[edit] Combat analysis
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As the Assault Commander sits on a floatation platform, it can fly and go anywhere. However, it is rather slow-moving, and so cannot often take its opponent by surprise.
The Assault Commander tends to appear at a distance from its opponent, so its primary weapon is its rocket launcher. It tilts back on its platform, exposing its lower appendage, and fires rockets from it at a fast rate. It is presumed that these rockets are organic, and are stored and/or created inside the Assault Commander's body, but this is not confirmed. As with all enemies, it must remain stationary to fire its weapon.
The Assault Commander's secondary method of attack is a melee attack. Once close enough to its opponent, instead of firing rockets and receiving splash damage from their explosions, it will begin to spin around rapidly, causing the floatation platform and the blades lining its edge to behave as a circular saw.
The best weapon to use against the Assault Commander is undoubtedly the Shrink Ray, as only one shot is needed to shrink it. The Shotgun is also quite effective, as is the Freezethrower (14-18 shots). The worst weapons include the Mighty Boot because of the enemy's melee attack, and the Pipebomb and the Laser Tripbomb for difficulty of use (because the enemy flies around in open spaces, it won't often be close to a wall or the floor, which these weapons depend on).
[edit] Data
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[edit] The Assault Commander in other games
- The spinning animation sprites were redrawn for the Duke Nukem 3D Plutonium PAK. The original animation made the Assault Commander appear to stretch, while the redrawn sprites showed a sharper, more typical movement effect.
[edit] Trivia
- A common bug can cause a shrunken enemy to behave like a normal (unshrunken) enemy. Because of the shrunken enemy's small size, therefore, it is difficult to kill.
- The bug is caused when the enemy flinches after being shot in its shrunken state.
- Some have postulated that it is related to the Overlord, as they are both large creatures that fire rockets (albeit from different places), and have similar facial features (such as a bulging mouth).
