RETRO – Twenty-eight years ago, this third-person shooter revolutionized the genre and was a technical marvel that could be played without a 3D accelerator card. MDK became one of Shiny Entertainment’s boldest and most iconic creations, not only for its pitch-black humor but for how it sidestepped hardware barriers with style.
The late ’90s were a period of seismic shifts in the gaming landscape, largely fueled by the emergence of true 3D graphics and the hardware to power them. After years of two-dimensional dominance, developers began pushing for full-blown 3D worlds. Although early FPS games and simulators had flirted with three-dimensional environments, a genuine leap into fully realized 3D was still on the horizon.
Everyone wanted in on the revolution — and Shiny Entertainment was no exception. Known for its offbeat creativity, the studio was riding high during the golden age of PC gaming. It was the combined madness of Nick Bruty and Dave Perry that birthed MDK — one of the first third-person shooters to experiment with expansive level design, paving the way for the genre’s evolution.
Bruty injected the same absurdity that defined Earthworm Jim, while Perry brought a level of optimization wizardry that made MDK accessible to just about anyone. The kicker? You didn’t even need a 3D card to run it, even if the screenshots seemed to scream otherwise. Shiny didn’t just embrace accessibility — they made it a core design principle.
The Janitor With a Sniper Helmet and a Mission to Save Earth
From the get-go, MDK radiated Bruty’s signature surrealism. The Earth is being invaded by aliens and only Kurt Hectic, a former cleaner for a secret organization, can stop them by donning the ultimate combat suit developed by his superiors: the Coil Suit — a sleek, armored combat rig with a sniper rifle built right into the helmet. It’s up to him to infiltrate colossal alien mining vessels and blast his way through everything in sight.
The premise may have been straightforward, but the level design was anything but. Each mission opened with a skydive down to the target ship, forcing players to collect power-ups mid-fall — a mechanic reminiscent of Earthworm Jim’s zany transitions. Once Kurt hit the ground, the real mayhem began. Despite its minimalist design, the suit packed a surprising amount of firepower. The sniper scope in his head and the arm-mounted blaster with infinite ammo made sure of that. And he needed every bit of it, as alien hordes flooded each zone relentlessly.
What made the experience stand out, especially in its time, was the sheer scale of the arenas. MDK’s maps were surprisingly vast and open, which allowed for a blistering pace and brutal difficulty curve. If you didn’t take out enemies fast enough, they’d swarm you in seconds. But the brilliance of Shiny’s approach was that stealth was a viable strategy — an unusual concept for shooters back then, and one that would become standard years later.
Gadgets like the parachute for gliding down from high ground, the world’s tiniest nuclear bomb, or the jetpack for missile-fueled air assaults brought a level of playful chaos. And the enemies? Pure Shiny — more hilarious than horrifying. They’d taunt you with silly gestures mid-battle, or hold up literal bullseyes to their faces, daring you to shoot. The game only had six levels, but they were massive and built for replayability. Quality over quantity was clearly the motto.
Masterclass in Optimization — No 3D Card, No Problem
What really set MDK apart technically was its refusal to shut out players without expensive gear. While most studios either required or strongly recommended the new 3Dfx cards, Shiny zigged where others zagged. Dave Perry managed to pull off something remarkable: a full 3D engine that offloaded the processing entirely to the CPU. At the time, Pentium processors were far more common than dedicated graphics cards — and just powerful enough to render 3D worlds via software alone.
The result was a shooter that ran fluidly on setups many considered outdated — a feat that made it a favorite for budget-conscious gamers. Perry would later clarify that Shiny wasn’t anti-tech; they simply wanted hardware acceleration to be an option, not a requirement.
Of course, enabling a 3D card made everything look better, but even without it, the game was a visual standout. Bruty’s industrial-meets-alien aesthetic gave the world an unmistakable flair. Despite the lack of GPU support, the game held steady at 30 frames per second — which, for 1997, was borderline wizardry. No hiccups, no frame drops — just smooth, stylish carnage.
MDK was one of the most talked-about releases of its year, and a sequel eventually followed — though not from Shiny, but from BioWare. That, however, is a story for another time. What matters is that MDK laid foundational work for the modern third-person shooter, introducing mechanics that would become genre staples. And yes, it’s still available on GOG.
– Gergely Herpai “BadSector” –
