Wolfenstein 3D is a first-person shooter developed
by id Software and originally published by Apogee Software. The game was
originally released on May 5, 1992 for MS-DOS. Play Wolfenstein 3D online here, in web browser!
Wolfenstein 3D game description
Wolfenstein 3D
is an episodic first-person shooter and a follow-up to the top-down
infiltration game Castle Wolfenstein. The game puts the player in the
boots of B.J. Blazkowicz, an allied spy. There are six episodes: the
first distributed complete as shareware; the second and the third
available after registration; and the three final missions (which happen
before the events of the first episode) available in the Nocturnal
Missions pack.
In the first episode (Escape from Wolfenstein), B.J. is captured, but
overpowers a guard with the help of a concealed knife and manages to
get out of his cell. Throughout the next nine levels the player guides
B.J. searching for an escape from Wolfenstein, guarded by Hans Grosse.
After returning to Allied territory, B.J. is given the instructions to
Operation: Eisenfaust, where he has to stop Dr. Schabbs and his army of
mutant prototypes before they are released into the battlefields. The
final mission (Die, Führer, Die!) has a simple goal: infiltrate the
bunker under the Reichstag, and terminate Hitler (in a robotic suit)
himself.
The Nocturnal Missions are focused on the Nazi plans for
chemical warfare, and start with Dark Secret, where B.J. hunts for lead
researcher Dr. Otto Giftmacher. It’s followed by Trail of the Madman,
where the goal is capturing the war plans guarded by Gretel Grosse, and
the final episode Confrontation, where B.J. meets General Fettgesicht,
the planner for the chemical assault.
Each episode has nine levels
(eight regular and a final boss level), plus a secret level activated
by an hidden switch somewhere in the eight first levels. Regular levels
often feature a maze-like appearance or large areas with many enemies
(the number of them on each area depends on the difficulty level), where
the player must reach the exit elevator. To do so, he must kill the
enemies (while it’s possible to move behind the guards’ backs and even
there’s a slight bonus in attacking them from behind, most enemies have
to be dealt with by fire power), and depending on the level, activate
“push walls” and/or get silver and golden keys to open certain doors.
Many
objects can be found in a level, from medikits, chicken meals, and even
dog food (to restore health), ammo and treasures, which solely exist
for points. There are four weapons (knife, pistol, machine gun and
Gatling), all of them using the same bullets except the knife. The knife
and the pistol are given at the start of the level, while the machine
gun is either found (usually in secret areas) or picked up from SS
troopers, and the Gatling is always dropped somewhere in the level.
There are five kinds of enemies (excluding bosses) – Dogs (fast, but
more a nuisance than life-threatening), Army Soldiers (dressed in
regular brown outfit, not very powerful but usually found in large
groups), Officers (dressed in white, armed with a very accurate pistol
and tough to kill), SS Troopers (blue attire, armed with a machine gun
and tough to kill), and Mutants (the rarest and toughest of regular
enemies, pale-skinned troopers with green clothes and a machine gun
stuck in their chest).
The player character has a number of lives;
once he loses the last life, the game ends. To win extra lives, the
player has to either find the 1-up item in the level or get 20,000
points (by killing enemies and capturing treasures or completing a level
below the ‘par’ time while killing all enemies, finding all secrets by
pushing walls, and collecting all treasure points).
