Wolfenstein 3D

Let's not mince words, Wolfenstein 3D is one of (if not the most) important PC games of all time. In some ways, it's more important than the signifcantly more popular release of Doom only a couple years later. Wolfenstein single handedly made FPS the dominant genre on home computers for generations to come and its fast raycasting engine brought 3D graphics to the masses. The gameplay is quick, simple and easy for anybody to understand. That's why it pains me that the folks at Bethesda still haven't given the game a proper remaster. This isn't a modern source port. Instead, it's the same DOS release we've seen for over thirty years now. The Spear of Destiny mission packs have inexplicably been stripped from this release, we still don't have proper widescreen support for higher resolutions. Modern keyboard controls have been mapped but you still can't circle strafe. There's no option to toggle between the original and higher resolution sprites of the MAC/3DO/Jaguar version. I can understand excluding the Mission Packs as Bethesda may never have had the rights to them to begin with, but where's the remixed levels from the console ports with new weapons? As it stands, this is such a small slice of Wolf3D compared to the many versions that would follow. Including SOD and a new menu to select which game you're playing is a nice touch. I just wish more could be done to present a more complete Wolfenstein package to a new generation of players.

Compared to the Doom and Quake, Wolfenstein 3D is easily the hardest to go back to out of Id Softwares old-school FPS games. The main thing holding the game back is really just that it lacks the variety that make those other two so great. There are three guns in the game, and they're all basically just fire rate upgrades. The levels are maze-like hallways with the same texture over and over again and very little in the way of features to orient yourself after. The enemies are also pretty much just variants of the same basic guard you see in the first level, with the occasional dog or boss thrown in. There's still fun to be had with Wolfenstein 3D, especially playing on higher difficulties where small mistakes can leave you dangerously low on health and ammo, but at the end of the day it's hard to recommend Wolfenstein 3D over pretty much any of the old-school FPS that it inspired.

It is a very revolutionary collection for the 90s. Before Martian demons, the Nazis had to be humiliated, why not? A must for any collection. I've been lost in the labyrinths of this pair of games, with almost 80 levels, it's anachronistic fun guaranteed!

This is the father of all FPS First Person Shooter games. A classic and still fun to this day.

Well like wine gets better over the years this game actually started to rot. I am a massive iD software fan but I have to give my honest take. First off compared to Doom the level are bland as ever, It was a nice technical achievement back in the day but it didn't hold up to the test of time, grey floors and ceilings without textures, rectangular walls and the same sized doors, room after room after room.. I started up the game but couldn't pull myself through more then 5 levels, it's just too boring now. The score system with lives are some remnants from the arcade days that just doesn't fit in somehow. The movement is a bit strange and ultimately it lack atmosphere and level design that make other iD games so legendary. How many times did we run through Doom and still and amazed at the level flow and placement of secrets, items and monsters? Same goes for Quake. They never get boring, actually one might say they are becoming better because every once in a while you find something new, like a secret room or a new route or even a rocket jump that makes you skip sections! All in all it was a great game then and its a okay game now that stands in the shadows of greater games. Would only buy this if the price was right.