Wolfenstein 3D

Wolfenstein 3D "GET PSYCHED!" Protagonist: William B.J. Blazkowicz Genre: First-person Shooter Platforms: MS-DOS Super Nintendo Atari Jaguar Classic Mac OS 3DO Game Boy Advance Xbox Linux iOS Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 Release Date: May 5, 1992 Developer: id Software Publisher: Apogee Software Franchise: Wolfenstein Previous Game: Spear of Destiny (chronologically) Next Game: Return to Castle Wolfenstein

Wolfenstein 3D, also known as Wolf3D, is a first-person shooter released in May 1992 by id Software originally for the PC and then ported to several home consoles and computer systems, including the 3DO, the Game Boy Advance, the Atari Jaguar and the Super Nintendo. The game was also ported to the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. There is also an online version of the game on the web.

Why It Rocks

1. As one of the first first-person shooters released, it helped to popularize the FPS genre on the PC and also established the run-and-gun archetype in FPS games.
2. It also spawned its own franchise, with a prequel released a few months later named Spear of Destiny. Other games in the series such as Wolfenstein RPG and Wolfenstein: The New Order were also released years later.
3. It's one of the very first games that had Nazi-related content, which was very rare at the time.
4. Smooth controls for the time.
5. Impressive graphics at the time the game was released.
6. Awesome soundtrack.
7. A very variable roster of enemies.
8. Decent level design.
9. All the levels have pushable walls that reveal secret passages that often lead to secret ammo and health caches, extra lives and treasures.
10. There's a secret level where you play in a Pac-Man maze.
11. You get to kill Das Führer himself!
12. It's one of the first games that led id Software to fame, which would only get bigger with the release of DOOM and Quake.
13. The few redeeming qualities of the SNES port are the addition of new weapons and an overhead map.
14. The homebrew Genesis port is identical to the original DOS version of the game and superior to the official SNES version.
15. The 3DO version is an excellent port. It's completely uncensored (unlike the SNES version) and has a kickass new soundtrack by Todd Dennis to boot!

Bad Qualities

1. The original DOS version doesn't have a map, which makes exploration much harder, though the ECWolf source port comes with an automap feature.
2. The SNES version is a pretty bad port, as is the GBA port.
3. The knife, one of the first weapons that the player starts with, is next to, if not absolutely useless. In order to deal any damage with it, you need to get very close to the enemy you want to stab, giving them plenty of opportunity to shoot BJ up close and deal massive amounts of damage to him or even kill him. Even if you do manage to injure an enemy, you need to stab them multiple times before they die, and other enemies that are not on "ambush tiles" will still be alerted to your presence when you stab an enemy.
4. Enemies in most console ports only have front facing sprites, because of this, it makes stealth virtually impossible.
5. The controls are somewhat rigid by today's standards.

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