Duke Nukem 3D Walkthrough


The Queen
Episode 4, Level 11 (Boss / Final Level)

[ Previous | Next | Main ]

This is it.  The last level in both Episode 4, and in the game.  Finish this one, and you're done.  It's a medium to large size level, but it does have a lot of combat, particularly with the Queen at the end.  Let's get to it.  You start off in a room that has nothing in it, so just head through the teleport.

You will be left in front of where the yellow key goes (much later in the level).  There are several sections to this level, and the parts before the boss can be divided into two halves.  These two halves mostly mirror each other, so once you do the first half, the second will feel familiar.  Anyway, from your start point, you want to go to the left side of the pillar in front of you.  From there, you can choose two paths.  Take the right of the two paths as shown here.

Make your way down this corridor, and about halfway down (if you make it all the way to the end where there are slimer eggs, you went too far) you will see some passageways that go off to the left.  This is where you want to go.

If you walk to where the "X" is and turn around 180 degrees, you will see a short stairwell that leads upwards.   Head up the stairwell.

Once up the stairwell, you will see a podium in the middle of the room with a switch puzzle on it.  You need to complete this switch puzzle to allow you access to the next part of the level.  You need to flip the first and third ones, making the puzzle look like the shot below.  There is no text saying "unlocked" like most of these say, you just have to go look.

The switch puzzle opens up some doors at the bottom of the short stairwell you took to get up here, it looks like the shot below.  From here you can run around a circular room (going up and down various ramps).  While there are some enemies to fight here, this is a recommended move, as you will pick up objects you will need later in the level.

As you are making your rounds around the room, there are several alcoves with items in them.  One looks like this screenshot.  You want all this stuff.

Once you have made it around the circular room, you will end up back at the entrance.  From here you need to enter the door in front of you.  Opening the door will let out a lot of enemies who will attack you.  While you can ignore them, they will get in the way in a little while, so if you can, take them out.

After you've taken out all the enemies, you need to go jump up to where the small ledge is in the screenshot below.  Do not go up to the door above it yet - that releases a Battlelord, it's not time for that yet.  

Going up on the ledge will open a wall to your right, and it will reveal a small pool of water, and another Enforcer.  Take out the enforcer and make your way into the small pool of water.

At the bottom of the pool, you will come across a room where there is a switch in the back that looks like this.  Go in there and flip the switch.

It will reveal another switch immediately to the right, which you also need to flip, as it opens up a door elsewhere in the level.

Come out of the pool, and then jump into the water in the middle of the room (still don't go to the upper ledge, you don't want a Battlelord yet).   You will find yourself in the large underwater area that the little room with the switches looked out into.  As you make your away around underwater, you will find a small alcove with a couple of crushing pillars in it.  This is where you want to go.

What you need to do is swim in here, avoid the pillars, and hit the four switches on either side of the room.  This will open the door at the far end, allowing you to get the blue key, an Atomic health, and some armor.

After you collect these items, you need to swim back to the room you jumped into the water from.  The one where you were twice warned not to release the Battelord.  Well, now it's time to release the Battelord.  Or more importantly get to something in the room where he is.   Take him down if you can.  The goal here is to get past the Battlelord and use the blue key.

After disposing of the Battlelord, head into his room, and use the blue key.  This will open a wall with a switch and a medkit.  Flip the switch, take the health. 

The switch here opens up another part of the pillar in the central room you went to back near the start of the level.  Remember that?  You need to head back there.  This is the part of the level where everything starts to seem familiar.  You are about to essentially redo what you just did.  Another switch puzzle, another circular room, another couple of switches in a pool, etc.  It's not 100% duplicated, but for the most part it is.

Anyway, make your way back to that small room with the switch puzzle in the middle of the level (overlooking the river of purple acid).   The combination to this switch puzzle is to flip numbers two and three.

Turn around, and make your way down the second stairwell (not the one you just came up, but the other side).  It will lead you into a nearly identical circular room that you just went through on the other side of the level.  Make your way around this circular area, picking up the various objects and items around here.

As you are making your way around the circle, you will pass an alcove that has these items in it.  YOU DO NOT WANT TO FORGET THE BOOTS - they are probably the single most important thing you can pick up.  The reason is you cannot make it to the boss area without them.

After making your pass around the circular room, make your way back to the door to the inner room, and open it, taking out the enemies in here.  This room too will look identical to the earlier one.  Clean it out, get up on the ledge (but again, not the second), and open up the wall.  You will need to go down into the pool area, flip the same two switches, and make your way back up to the top of the pool, jump into the water in the larger part of the room, and swim out into the larger body of water.  This time though the room you are not looking for crushing pillars, you are looking for a room with rotating gears.  It looks like this:

What you need to do here is follow the blueish colored part of the gears around in the circle until you can get to the switches on the wall (this time three), and eventually make your way to the back of the room where the red key is.  If you try to go around the gears in the non blue areas, you'll probably get squashed - it's pretty easy to do that in this gear puzzle.

Once you have the red key, it's time to make your way back and release the Battlelord.  Swim back into the room, head up on the ledge, and release Mr. Battlelord.  Again, like the other side, you need to use the red key slot behind him, so take him out, as there's no time for you to do that while he's shooting at you.   After the Battlelord is gone, use the red key.  It will open up a wall revealing the yellow key, some health, and a switch.  Take the items, and flip the switch, and it's time to make your approach to the boss.

Make your way to where the yellow key goes, and use it.  It will give you access to the river of purple acid that is directly behind you at this point.

THIS IS THE POINT OF NO RETURN!

It is probably a good idea now to make a run around the entire level and pick up any health and items you can find.  Because once you get across this slime, you can't get back (not without a save game or the 360 replay feature, anyway).  This slime/acid/whatever hurts. A LOT.  Remember the acid path in Derelict?  We're talking that.  If you don't have the boots, forget it, you can't get there.  The jetpack is useless too, as you take the same damage whether on your feet, or in the air.  Steroids help a lot here, but aren't necessary.  Basically if you start with boots at 100% here, they will be gone right before you get to the other side.  You also need to run the entire way.  If you dawdle or stop anywhere, you're dead.

Once you get to the other side, you will encounter a small rock pathway.  A word of advice.  You will find some health here.  If your character health is at something like 89% (like in the shot below), don't get the 30+ health pack you see here.   You will need all the health you can get, and wasting 19 health like that will probably hurt you later.

Once you make your way to the end of the path, you will see a wall with an Atomic health in front of it.   Going up to it will reveal the final area of the level, where the Queen is.

Excluding just outright stepping on you, the Queen has two main modes of attack.  The first is electrifying the water, which looks like she is covered in electrical sparks.

The other mode is an indirect one.  She will "give birth" to Enforcer drones.  If you let her do a lot of them, it can quickly become a nightmare, as you can end up with 12 or 15 of them which get in the way of you trying to attack the Queen.  Try to disallow that as much as possible (which isn't easy).

There are a few areas around the Queen room that provide ammo and health.  One in the ceiling is a secret area, the rest are not, but can be used if you need a breather, or need to pick up some health.  That's about it for strategy in this area.  Just shoot the Queen a lot, and try to not let too many Enforcer drones be born.

Once the Queen is dead, you will get to see a short cinematic, then the final level tally screen, and that's it - Game over man, game over!

 

 


The Queen Secrets

The Queen level has seven secrets.  Four of them however, are exactly the same, and are essentially two pairs of two.  These are the areas that are recognized as secrets by the game.  There are a few other areas that are not recognized by the game as secrets.  This secrets area will only show the "true" secrets in the level.

Secrets #1-4:  Pillars of Secrets

The first four secrets are pretty much easy to get, but do require a jetpack.  In the initial hallways you walk, you will find four pillars, two on each side of the level.  Jetpack up to each of the four pillars to collect the secret, and an item.

Secrets 5 & 6: I need T.P. for my uh...

When you are making your way around the first of the two circular rooms, you will come across what looks like a sphincter.  If you jump in there, you will get a secret area, as well as several items.  Back out to continue your path, or keep going to take a shortcut into another part of the level (which has a ton of enemies in it, so be careful).  There is a second secret that looks exactly the same in the outer room on the other side of the level.  Repeat this over the other side for both secrets.

Secret #7: Above the Queen

The final secret is in the Queen battle area.  If you look around on the ceiling you will see an area that you can go up into that contains a small ledge with some armor, a medkit, and an Atomic health.  Take these because, well - you need them, and to get the final secret of the game.

[ Previous | Next | Main ]