The Grenade Launcher is the Duke Nukem 64 alternative to the RPG from Duke Nukem 3D. The weapon fires projectiles similar to that of the Battlelord's mortars. A single grenade deals enough damage to kill a Pig Cop, although an Octabrain may require more than one grenade. It has roughly the same fire rate as the RPG. The grenades bounce and roll for roughly three seconds before detonating, so they can be used strategically to kill enemies that aren't aware of Duke's presence. The Grenade Launcher's maximum ammo capacity is 48, close to that of the RPG. However, every ammo container is worth 12 grenades, so ammo is more abundant for the Grenade Launcher than it was for the RPG.
The Missile Launcher, which has replaced the Devastator, is most similar to the retired RPG.
Development history[]
The Grenade Launcher's ammo containers use a blue sprite. For other weapons in the game, blue ammo sprites are typically reserved for weapons that use a secondary ammo type. The secondary ammo containers use red sprites, while the standard ammo containers use blue sprites. This is no coincidence; secondary ammo types were originally planned for the Grenade Launcher. According to an interview with game developer Nick Dry, the unused text "Rubber Bullets!" in the game's memory corresponds to a scrapped secondary ammo type for the Grenade Launcher that would have bounced off walls and merely stunned enemies. There also appears to be an unused sound clip in the game's memory which contributors to The Cutting Room Floor have speculated may correspond to a single rubber bullet being fired from a gun or bouncing off a wall.
DUM DUMS! EXPLOSIVE SHOTGUN SHELLS! GAS GRENADES! RUBBER BULLETS! HEAT-SEEKING MISSILES!
Similarly, the text "Gas Grenades!" is listed as the middle string in this list of strings related to secondary ammo types. For this reason, the Gas Grenades were almost certainly another unused secondary ammo type for the Grenade Launcher, though no developer has ever confirmed this. According to Nick Dry, the Gas Grenades would have emitted a gas that dealt area-of-effect damage.
Trivia[]
- The Grenade Launcher resembles the Hawk MM-1 grenade launcher.
- This weapon was likely inspired by the Grenade Launcher from Shadow Warrior, another game by 3D Realms that was released around the same time as Duke Nukem 64.
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