The game is a first person shooter, so the player sees the game from Duke's eyes. Instead of following the character around like a third-person shooter, Duke Nukem is like being "inside" Duke, and the player can see Duke's hands and weapons on the screen. The player fights the aliens, most often by shooting at them with different guns, but Duke can also kick, and throw pipe bombs like grenades. The player must also sometimes solve puzzles to find the way through the level.