Wolfenstein 3D (1992)

Developers: ID Software

Publishers: Apogee Software

Price: $9.99 on Steam, sold numerous places elsewhere

Platform Played: PC

When I hear the word Wolfenstein, I generally do not think about the newest games in the franchise actually that I reviewed earlier this week. Rather I think about the original. Return To Castle Wolfenstein (2001), that I played in 2004, led me to play this magnificent game. Wolfenstein 3D, may look like a joke now, but it was the pathfinder for a genre: the FPS. It has a science-fiction/alternative history plot. Furthermore, it has simple and accessible gameplay with little to no learning curve. This makes it a true and tried classic.

The gameplay is simple: only four weapons are available: a knife, likely a fairbairn-sykes commando dagger. Three firearms are included in the four weapons. A handgun, likely a P-08 Luger in 9×19 mm like my SP2022 , a submachine gun which barely resembles an MP40, and a minigun. The weapons are limited, but for a game this simple it is expected. Nowadays, a game with four weapons would be quite boring. Remember Rage?  Yeah, I didn’t think so, I believe that game only had four weapons.

There are only five types of enemies present in the game not counting bosses: the helpless German Shepherds. The wrongly uniformed Wehrmachat soldiers who should be wearing Feld Grau uniforms instead of brown. The blue wearing SS soldiers who should be wearing Feld Grau or black. The Frankenstein-like mutants, and lastly the officers which wear white, which I suppose is okay. Again, I have to remind myself that this is an alternative-history themed game. Therefore, it is going to twist the facts and spin the truths.

The levels are simple mazes. There are little details here like the latest Wolfenstein games. Instead of finding letters or fragments of the Enigma codebook, you will find that the Third Reich has a lot of beds, chandeliers, pictures of Hitler, and sinks in their facilities. Look carefully for secret passages. You’ll be rewarded.

When I played it this time around I only played episodes I and III. I didn’t bother with the others. I didn’t want to mess with Dr. Schabbs.

Instead I fought the polite and obnoxious: Hans Grosse:

And you cannot forget the boss of Episode III.

Wolfenstein 3D is one of those games that will be timeless due to the fact that it inspired a community of modders similar to  DeusEx’s. Check out some of the mods on moddb.com. Here are some pics from my last playthrough.

 

Do me and the whole community of gamers: hardcore like some, and casual like myself a favor, play Wolfenstein 3D. This is an incredible game that paved for many others like it.