Wolfenstein 3D Review

Game:  Wolfenstein 3D
Year (s):  1992
Company:  dev.  id Software
            pub.  Apogee Software
Engine:  Wolfenstein 3D Engine.  Prior to id Tech 1, even.
Type:  First-Person Shooter
What I Paid: just a few bucks
Game Time:  8 hours, first time, on difficulty 2 of 4

Obligatory Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C00n4rDUMNo


Plot

You are BJ Blazkowicz, American soldier, fighting Nazis.  The ending of the sixth episode is pretty awesome.  It goes like this: Congratulations!  You are truly a great hero!  You meet the president!  You are cheered in the streets!  People name their babies after you!  You marry a movie star!  Yes!  You are so cool!


Difficulty and Gametime

I played on an easier setting because I'm so used to the WADS system now.  I customized the controls as much as I could, but the setup wasn't ideal.  zDoom isn't an option for this one.

I blazed through the game for a number of reasons.  One, I've played a lot of shooters.  When this came out, nobody had.  There would have been a learning curve.  Two, I didn't find very many secrets, look for all the treasure, or learn the levels well enough to beat par time.  When this was new, it was a great game and players would have played through it several times.  Three, I think the game is, whether by intent or not, pretty casual.  Playing through an episode (nine levels, plus a secret level if you find it) took about an hour.  It was, therefore, easier to put down and pick back up later.


Man, I Feel Old

I remember playing the shareware version of this (the first episode) back in the day.  Back when games ran on floppies, and had shareware versions.  Back before the ESRB, when games did not have to be rated (id voluntarily rated this "PC 13 Profound Carnage.  It has since been revised to M in the US). 

This isn't THE first shooter, but damn near.  This is the game that popularized the genre.  It should be played for historical value, if nothing else.


Arcade Influence

Back Then, there were arcades in every town.  Places where kids used quarters to play games (there were no smart phones or tablets to play freely).  Like arcade games, you have lives in Wolfenstein.  If you die and have lives left, you restart the level with the knife, the pistol, full health, and a small amount of ammo.  Another similarity is the high score list.  Now that I think about it, pretty much every game kept score in the day... Mario, Sonic... anyway.   Killing enemies, finding secrets, picking up items (especially treasure), and beating a level quicker than par time all increase your score.

A secret level was modeled after the first level of Pac Man.  The ghosts from that game are the only enemies, and cannot be killed by your weapons.


Combat and Gameplay

There are four weapons.  The three firearms all use the same ammo.  There are five types of enemies, but most episodes only have four types, plus a boss at the end.  Kill stuff, find keys, pick up ammo and health items to stay alive.  Take the elevator to the next level.

One complaint I have is the relatively difficult time I had navigating some of the levels.  Mazes are incorporated in to several levels, and I would have been totally lost if I didn't hug a wall the whole way.  There's not a great variety of textures, and no changes in elevation, so the corridors and rooms largely look the same.


Development and Apogee
In 1991, id was under contract to develop 12 games for release through the periodical SoftDisk.  They were so excited about Wolfenstein that they subcontracted the last game out to Apogee, who developed a game for them for SoftDisk.  It was a big flop of a game.

Apogee published Wolfenstein 3D.  Doom, however, was not published by them.  Apogee (later known as 3D Realms) competed with id by releasing Blake Stone the same week as Doom (it was quite similar to Wolfenstein, and failed to compete) and later, Duke Nukem 3D and other titles.


Doom Legacy

At the end of each level, Doom continued to display percentage kills, secrets, and par time.  Two midi tracks from Wolfenstein are used in Doom.  Doom 2 features two secret levels modeled after levels one and ten of Wolfenstein's first episode.


Expansions / DLC / Sequels

Spear of Destiny, a prequel, came out shortly after Wolfenstein.  Return to Castle Wolfenstein came out in 2001 and utilized id Tech 3.  In 2003 the multiplayer-only Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory game came out.  In 2009 Raven Software released Wolfenstein, built on id Tech 4.  Quakecon 2008 previewed a game largely for mobile devices (released soon after) titled Woflenstein RPG.


Final Thoughts

Map design is rudimentary.  Gameplay is simple to the point of laughable compared to modern shooters.  You want to interact with you environment?  Open a door.
I somewhat remembered the shareware, so playing this through was refreshing.  If you didn't play shooters back then, I don't think you'll appreciate this.  Except for truly being a great hero!  And marrying a movie star!  Yes!  You are so cool!