Welcome to another edition of Retro Corner Review and we take a look at another Id game that practically made this studio. Castle Wolfenstein 3D released in 1992 for PC is often considered a hallmark of gaming as it's the great-grandfather of the FPS genre. It basically created the genre by introducing many PC gamers to a new style of action. Till this day, Castle Wolfentein 3D is a classic FPS, despite its outdated gameplay and level design. The story is about an American sergeant named William "BJ" Blazkowicz, who was given an assignment by the United States Office of Secret Actions (OSA). His missions were to investigate strange rumors about Nazi Germany's experiments. Turns out that the rumors of the Third Reich have attempted experiments as a new form of biological weapons during World War II. The rumors even state the Nazis have been dabbling with supernatural and unworldly elements to further their weapons. The game has six episodes that have BJ escape the Nazi bases, or stop German forces and its leaders from seeking global domination. Gameplay Wolfenstein is everything you would expect from a classic FPS from the early 90s. The player walks through the corridors and rooms gunning down enemies while collecting items and finding keys to the exit. Surprisingly, the gameplay is still enjoyable as I had fun gunning Nazi forces down whether they were human or some mutation. The game is divided into six episodes (three are from the expansions) as each one includes nine levels and a secret stage. There is a total of 60 levels alone of pure running and gunning action. That is a great deal of content for only being the first FPS as normally I would expect at least half of it from such an older title. The enemies may feel the same, however, as you play through each episode some new ones appear. The only difference is they either rush at you, carry a stronger gun, or even both. Of course, there are also bosses which only show up at the end of an episode. They are relatively easy if you keep your distance and avoid their projectiles. Overall, the enemies are considerably decent and are a little challenging even on the normal difficulty. There was always something I enjoyed the most from Id's games and it's the many secret areas that are found in the levels. Despite the gameplay being enjoyable after all this time, the game hasn't aged that well after 25 years. Wolfenstein was showing its age for years as early as the late 90s when other FPSs like Doom and Quake were better. In fact, those games easily surpassed Wolfenstein in more than graphical presentation. After playing Quake and Perfect Dark, it was rigorous to go back to the simplistic fun. The gameplay feels extremely dated with simple one heightened maps and four weapon types. The level design is as easy as going through each room and corridor gunning down enemies to find a gold and silver key for the exit. There is only a knife, pistol, rifle, and the chain gun to choose from. Unlike Doom that had several weapon types, this feels very limited. Another thing I noticed about the guns is that each one shoots the same way and the difference is the speed of the gunfire. I know the chain gun can take out at least several enemies in a row. However, there isn't a weakness versus strength for the weapon selection like it is in the later 90s FPS titles. For any annoyances, it was entering a room with an enemy being stationed right at the edge of the door. I also hated how the soldiers spammed their gunshots too fast at times especially from the zombies. Another issue is the lack of armor because these enemies can drain your health quickly. It's not the faster or stronger enemies that can do this, but the regular guards and dogs which makes the challenge unbalanced. Rating: 7.5/10 Graphics/Presentation I'm sure this has been said since the early 2000s by many, but clearly, the game is showing its age. Even though the perspective was in 3D, the textures are in 2D for the levels and characters. Thanks to this graphic style, Wolfenstein 3D had aged properly in the way it should for most retro games. The reason is that Id didn't take their ambitious really high like Infogrames did and actually scaled back. It's another example of how these studios achieved 3D design and didn't have to use pre-rendered backgrounds or polygonic models during that time. Looking at it now, the detail does come off a little bland and even uninspiring. That's expected from these early 3D games and like I said in my Alone in the Dark review, there really wasn't any standard set at the time. John Carmack, who created all sorts of game engines for Id, is a pioneer of the industry. He was able to design an engine and help put together a concept with John Romero that set a new standard of gameplay. It's interesting how Id designed the levels as they do resemble a castle compound and dungeon. It may appear cartoonish, but unfortunately, 3D graphics had at least several years until reaching that level of realism. The sprites are not colored swapped versions and have their own appearance from the other. I guess this is what happens when you work with a more powerful system compared to the consoles. The animation looks basic today with the enemies walking fast to the player and raising their gun to fire. For the soundtrack, it now sounds generic and uninspiring every time I hear these songs. Id might have used this theme because the story takes place in WWII and the studio presumably was going for the old fashion American patriotism. However, that comes off bland as many games have passed this concept to point I genuinely don't care anymore for the theme. That is why we looked to Doom often than Wolfenstein because its soundtrack was better. Now the sound effects are still a thing of beauty when collecting an item. Nothing speaks the classic PC, then rough thumps when picking up ammo or different chimes of something filling after obtaining treasures. Wolfenstein will always be remembered for establishing this graphic style. Rating: 7.7/10 Features/Content Wolfenstein is loaded with six episodes of 54 levels and 6 secret stages to explore. The levels themselves mostly have many rooms and corners to look in if the player wants to find ammo or health items and treasures. The secrets like usual are mostly concealed to the point where you will need to do more than look for the obvious. However, the secrets are too concealed at times, unlike in Doom where you needed to either step on a certain spot or activate a switch that might be hidden. It's evident that Id would correct this in Doom as Wolfenstein feels dated here. A couple of things you will notice is the lives and score part of the HUD. It definitely has an old school look since this was during a time where a player's score got recorded. Any kill counts and collected treasures are all added and your progress gets ranked at the end of a stage. Just like in Doom, the results screen debuted here as well and provided your results of kill counts, secrets found and treasures the player collected. The only thing a high score does is earn extra lives and can feel pointless to get anyway when saving is an option. Although I did find it annoying that you can't save on the ninth level of any episode so don't lose your lives. For a game this old, it's still surprising that the third entry has this much content. Rating: 8.2/10 Final Rating Despite its age, Wolfenstein 3D is still an enjoyable experience of running and gunning through the levels. Its simplistic concept created a new genre for its time as another form of action for gaming. There is nothing to say anymore about the graphics that haven't been said in the last 15 years. Wolfenstein 3D has aged properly as the great-grandfather of the FPS genre. Nevertheless, Id was able to capture the time period and the vibe of the dungeon and castle environments. As for content, this game offers a great deal of it, considering there are 54 levels and 6 secret stages. I can't think of that many games in the early 90s that has so much content. Wolfenstein does suffer from outdated gameplay features such as simple level design, primitive enemy A.I., and the lack of diversity in weaponry. There wasn't even an armor system which in turn made this annoying when a simple guard can drain your health easily. It's fortunate Id fixes these problems in Doom and would take the FPS genre further by improving the gameplay. Gameplay: 7.5/10 Graphic/Presentation: 7.7/10 Features/Content: 8.2/10 Final Rating: 7.8/10 Good
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Retro Gamer has over 25 years of gaming experience and played many classics since the Golden Age. She has been an avid fan since the day the NES graced her life and changed it forever.
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