Wolfenstein 3D

Wolfenstein 3D (commonly abbreviated as Wolf3D) is a first-person shooter video game that popularized the genre for PC. It was created by ID Software and distributed by Apogee Software in May 1992. This game was a pioneer in its genre and was followed by others as important as Doom and Quake. The game has been taken to other systems such as 3DO, SNES, Gameboy Advance, Spectrum and even iOS, Android or Motorola Z6. This game was also released for Wii and PSP, but in homebrew form.

Description

In Wolfenstein 3D the player is William "B.J." Blazkowicz, an American spy trying to escape from the Nazi fortress in which he is a prisoner. This fortress is full of armed guards and attack dogs. The building has a large number of secret rooms that contain treasures, food rations, and first aid kits, as well as different types of weapons and ammunition, all of which will help the player achieve his goal.

First he must eliminate Hitler's Nazi Superman, Hans Grosse, and escape from Wolfenstein prison.

Then, go to the Hollenhammer Castle underground, kill Dr. Schabbs and steal the plans for Operation Eisenfaust, which plans to make an army of mutants perfect for the Führer. Then go to Hitler's bunker in the Reichstag and destroy the Führer.

Wolfenstein 3D was released as shareware, which allowed it to be widely copied. The shareware version contained one episode, which consisted of 10 missions (levels). The commercial release consisted of three episodes including the shareware, and an expansion called "The Nocturnal Missions". Like the shareware episode, each episode in the retail version has 10 levels, completing a total of 60 in-game missions.

The episodes are:

• The original trilogy:

1. "Escape from Wolfenstein" (episode shareware)
2. "Operation: Eisenfaust"
3. "Die, Führer, Die"

• The Nocturnal Missions:

1. "A Dark Secret"
2. "Trail of the Madman"
3. "Confrontation"

Each episode has a different boss that must be defeated at the end of the mission to complete it. Only 9 of the 10 missions need to be completed, as hidden in one of the first eight missions is an entrance to the tenth, secret level. The secret level in the third episode recreated one of the Pac-Man levels, with the ghosts being seen from Pac-Man's perspective.

Also on the 3DO and Mac console version was an episode titled "Original Encounter" that constituted 30 levels with the summaries of the 6 episodes with Hitler as Final Boss.

The Game

It was very successful as it was one of the first video games that allowed a pseudo-real 3-dimensional perspective to be displayed on computers with a medium power capacity, since it combined raster graphics, such as walls and doors, with 2D generated scenarios, enemies and other objects, adapted to the perspective of the field of vision. For this reason the same "side" of any of the objects that are represented on the stage when moving around it. And also for that same reason you cannot raise or lower your gaze, since it would require equipment with great computing power for the time.

Enemies

• German soldier - Soldiers wearing a gun and wearing an orange uniform. They can usually be eliminated with one or two bullets, and relatively have very slow reaction times.

• Guard dog - A German attack pastor. Unlike soldiers, who often find themselves static in a place when found, dogs are always on the move. They are the weakest enemies, as they do not have a range of attack and can always be eliminated by a single bullet. Your only strength is speed.

• SS Guard - More corpulent soldiers with blue uniform. They have a MP40 subfusil, they are a bit more resistant than standard soldiers. Their reaction time is not instant, but they are more precise and deadly than soldiers.

• Mutant - It is a creature of grey skin and red eyes in a dark green uniform, with a pair of knives and a gun held by a hand that emerges from his chest. They don't move faster than the guards, but their reaction time is instant, and they remain silent when they detect an enemy instead of shouting alarm. They shoot much faster, and they're pretty hard to remove. They only appear in Operation: Eisenfaust and on the secret level of Episode 6.

• Officer or Captain - Dress up with a white uniform and their guns are guns like standard German soldiers. They are almost as powerful as the Mutants, with the difference that these are faster. They only appear in the last four episodes.

• Phantom of the Fuehrer - They only appear on Episode 3: Floor 9, protecting Hitler's bunker. It is similar to it, only that they possess a ghostly form using a black robe with the particularity that they float as a spectrum. Its attack is very strong as it launches fireballs lowering more than 75% of the health. The character is drawn in a single angle (i.e. he will always be watching the player). When he dies he always throws a malevolent laughter.

Bosses

At the end of each episode, on the ninth floor, the player has to face an enemy boss. The bosses are only drawn at an angle instead of eight, and thus the player will not be able to surprise them or sneak up on them. The bosses are also 'deaf' and they will not notice your presence, therefore they will not become active unless they see you. When a boss dies, the phrase "Let"Let's see that again" is displayed on the screen, and a repetition of the death of said boss, with which the episode ends. In the Macintosh version and also in the Super Nintendo version, all the bosses (except for Adolf Hitler, who is the final boss) drop golden keys which open a door at the end of the level.

• Hans Grosse - A Nazi supersolda who takes care of Wolfenstein's castle exit using a blue armor. He's Gretel Grosse's brother. He's got two big machine guns. Unlike the other bosses, there is no repetition when he dies. Instead, he throws a golden key. The player uses the key to open a door, where we then see BJ Blazkowicz escaping the castle. This character appears again in Wolfenstein (2009).

• Dr. Schabbs - The doctor and creator of Hitler's mutant army. Unlike other enemies, it is equipped with syringes that can remove 25% of the player's health. If the player dies in his hands, the face where the state looks becomes gray and without any emotion, just like one of his mutants.

• Adolf Hitler (The Fuehrer) - It appears with a high resistance robotic armor carrying four machine guns. When the suit is destroyed, it retains two of those machine guns. His death is exaggeratedly bloody.

• Otto Giftmacher - The poison maker after the chemical war. He's wearing a white officer suit with a sky-gun missile launcher.

• Gretel Grosse - She's Hans Grosse's sister, and she takes care of the room key with maps, dresses like her brother but red. He has two powerful machine guns and like Hans, there is no repetition of his death and throws a key.

• General Fettgesicht - The top general in the chemical assault on the allies. He is the final enemy of Nocturnal Missions, he wears a brown uniform and as weapons a machine gun and a missile gun like that of Otto Giftmacher.

• Death Knigth - It appears in the Super Nintendo version, and in Spear of Destiny, it is equipped with a black armor, two machine guns and two lancers on the shoulders.

• Trans Grosse - It appears in the Super Nintendo version, and in Spear of Destiny, he's Hans Grosse's brother, carries 2 machine guns.

• Ubermutant - It appears in the Super Nintendo version, and in Spear of Destiny, it is the greatest creation of Dr. Schabbs, like the mutants, brings a machine gun in the chest, and white weapons in the hands

Controversy

Due to the use of swastikas, paintings representing the Führer and the Horst Wessel Song (Nazi party anthem) as the game's central theme, the PC version was banned in Germany in 1994, since in this country the use of such elements in multimedia productions is considered a federal offense, unless the circumstances justify it.

Due to Nintendo's concern, the SNES version of the game was modified to not include any reference to Nazism, and even changed the dogs to giant rats, and the blood was turned into sweat for the purpose of making seem to play less violent.

Aftermath

• Spear of Destiny appeared as a protostrate of this great game in September 1992, which had many more levels and new enemies, but a playability and graphics equal to those of Wolfenstein 3D.

• Return to Castle Wolfenstein was published in 2001, being the third part of the classic game. The game mode and stage are similar to the original, but the graphics and audio received an improvement due to the id Tech 3 engine. RtCW starts like the first game, but from that moment on the two divergen stories. In general, RtCW holds a small resemblance to his predecessor beyond the title and stage. However, players have access to a replica of the game interface at the bottom of the screen if they activate 'cg_uselessnostalgia' through the game console. The Xbox version contains the full version emulated Wolfenstein 3D as an extra to complete the game.

• Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory is the game that followed RtCW and was published in 2003. It is freeware and exclusively for multiplayer mode.

• Wolfenstein appeared in August 2009, made using the modified graphic engine Doom 3 (IDTech 4). The game appeared in PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

• Wolfenstein: The New Order It is presented in the E3 of Los Angeles of June. The plot is in 1960, in an alternative story in which the Nazis won World War II, dominating the most important capitals of the world.

• Wolfenstein: The Old Blood It was released on May 5, 2015 digital version for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and in its physical format on May 14, 2015 for Australia and New Zealand, May 15, 2015 for Europe and July 21, 2015 for America. It's a prequel. Wolfenstein: The New Order, the plot is located in 1946 and narrates the events aroused before the events narrated in The New Order.

• Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus Launched on October 27, 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch platforms. He was joined in the E3 of 2017, being the successor of Wolfenstein The New Order. The plot continues when old Blazcowicz wakes up from a 5-month coma following the events that occurred in The New Order.

• Wolfenstein: Youngblood: Announced at E3 2018. It's the sequel. Wolfenstein II: The New ColossusIn this delivery we will stop playing with Agent William Joseph Blazcowicz and take the role of his sister daughters Jess and Soph. The game will add a cooperative mode, unlike previous titles.

Legacy

Wolfenstein 3D is generally credited with starting the craze for first-person shooters, though surprisingly there weren't many clones of it until the release of Doom in 1993.

The success of the game helped ID Software quickly become a high-profile developer company. His subsequent products were closely followed by gaming fans, and when he released his next first-person shooter, Doom, he was guaranteed a fairly receptive audience. However, instead of relying on the technology that made Wolfenstein such a success, Doom introduced quite a few technological advances compared to Wolfenstein 3D. Some of these advances were a higher level of detail in levels and characters, animation improvements, and a multiplayer mode. Later Wolfenstein would be recreated in a modification of Doom II called WolfenDoom.

Platforms

The Super Nintendo version of Wolfenstein 3D was released in 1994, which was an adaptation with fewer levels and much graphic censorship.

The version for the Panasonic 3DO console was made in 1993 and closely resembles the Mac version. The graphics were re-done with a better quality of 128x128, but in only one angle; with this the "stealth assassination" effect was lost; for the console, as well as adding many new sound effects spoken in German by German speakers and different music to the original PC version.

In 2002, when Return to Castle Wolfenstein was re-released as Game of the year edition, it included Wolfenstein 3D as an extra. The Platinum Edition version, released in 2004, also included the original game.

In August 2002 the version of Wolfenstein 3D for Game Boy Advance was released, achieving a faithful adaptation of the game for the portable console, identical to the original PC version. The only differences were the save game method and the pixelated graphics seen when zooming in on the textures, as well as retaining the original sound effects. This version has no music.

Wolfenstein 3D was included as a bonus for finishing Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War for the Xbox console, released in May 2003.

Since March 2009, a version for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, faithful to the original and with touch control, has been available in the Apple App Store.

On June 3, 2009, Wolfenstein 3D was released on the Xbox Live download service for the Xbox 360 console, and 8 days later (June 11, 2009) it was released on the PlayStation Network download service for the PlayStation 3 console. The approximate price of both versions is about 5 euros.

On May 9, 2012 on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Wolfenstein 3D, Bethesda and ID Software have released a free online version via browser.