Wolfenstein 3D

Developer: id software
Publisher: Apogee Software
Release Date: 05/05/1992
Format: MS-DOS/Mac OS/Amiga 1200
With a new Wolfenstein game (The New Order) to be released on the next gen I thought it’d be interesting to revisit the grand daddy of them all, the game that kicked of the FPS genre as we know it – Wolfenstein 3D. Now no longer on the Store, but its still worth revisiting for a historical (video game history) sense.
Born from a couple of games released on the Apple 2 computer (Castle Wolfenstein and Beyond Castle Wolfenstein) made by Muse Software id Software bought the licence to try out a 3D engine they developed. You play as American GI - William ‘B.J’ Blazkowicz, trying escape from Castle Wolfenstein in WW2 (Dubya Dubya Two) by the best way he knows how – killing all the villainous Nazis (and their dogs) that get in his way. He just didn’t reckon what lay awaiting him, among the normal cannon fodder you had big blockhead Huns in robot suits, armed with mini guns and Hitler himself in ..... well that would be spoiling the fun.
Publisher: Apogee Software
Release Date: 05/05/1992
Format: MS-DOS/Mac OS/Amiga 1200
With a new Wolfenstein game (The New Order) to be released on the next gen I thought it’d be interesting to revisit the grand daddy of them all, the game that kicked of the FPS genre as we know it – Wolfenstein 3D. Now no longer on the Store, but its still worth revisiting for a historical (video game history) sense.
Born from a couple of games released on the Apple 2 computer (Castle Wolfenstein and Beyond Castle Wolfenstein) made by Muse Software id Software bought the licence to try out a 3D engine they developed. You play as American GI - William ‘B.J’ Blazkowicz, trying escape from Castle Wolfenstein in WW2 (Dubya Dubya Two) by the best way he knows how – killing all the villainous Nazis (and their dogs) that get in his way. He just didn’t reckon what lay awaiting him, among the normal cannon fodder you had big blockhead Huns in robot suits, armed with mini guns and Hitler himself in ..... well that would be spoiling the fun.
It’s a fun, very simple game. You run through the castle with your Shoota, blasting all that breathes, also, the first time you play it you hugging the walls afterwards looking for the countless hidden rooms. Just imagine if CCTV existed and someone saw you , a well-hard, vicious American GI humping every wall he sees.
Time has moved on (22 years) and the genre has jumped leaps and bounds since 1991, so I can’t say I recommend this game to play some serious time on, or pay any money for it as you can find it on the internet. For some still fantastic fun I’d start with Doom 2 (available in HD, with the other Doom games, in Doom3 BFG Edition), but it’s interesting to experience if you’re nterested in the genre’s history.
Simon James 5/10
Time has moved on (22 years) and the genre has jumped leaps and bounds since 1991, so I can’t say I recommend this game to play some serious time on, or pay any money for it as you can find it on the internet. For some still fantastic fun I’d start with Doom 2 (available in HD, with the other Doom games, in Doom3 BFG Edition), but it’s interesting to experience if you’re nterested in the genre’s history.
Simon James 5/10