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Preamble: This isn't a review. It doesn't contain critical analysis, just the subjective opinions of one person. The intent is to remember the games I've come across in my life and share the nostalgia, nothing more. And some of those games I didn't play in great depth.
Wolfenstein 3D
Developer: iD Software
Platform: PC
Release Year: 1992
Stephen's Rating: 6/10
![[image loading]](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZeZCvwJyKNY/TrNY7Fgw4ZI/AAAAAAAAAeM/rORKEx5TyDI/s1600/250px-Wolfenstein-3d.jpg)
Basic Plot
Your goal is to escape Castle Wolfenstein and overthrow the Nazi regime.
Gameplay
Wolfenstein 3D is the grandfather of first person shooters, although it should be noted that it did not use a 3D engine. It used 2D graphics to "fake" a 3D world. The easiest way of observing this is with the enemies. They can only face one of 8 directions at any time because they are actually 2D sprites with animations to fake them facing in different directions.
Unlike modern PC first person shooters you didn't use the mouse to look around, instead it was all controlled by the keyboard. The game involved killing enemies and staying alive, finding keys and unlocking doors, and handling environmental hazards and puzzles.
You obtained a set of guns during the game which became increasingly powerful, but you had to find ammunition. There was also an element of saving ammo or using it efficiently.
![[image loading]](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5n0d7X9em9w/TrNZAkgvYwI/AAAAAAAAAeU/5FPLWoiKPv4/s320/wolfenstein-3d.png)
Machinegun, fighting generic Nazi tropps. Note the face down the bottom centre. This is your face and as you take damage, the face becomes increasingly beaten up with cuts and bruises. This became a common mechanic in future first person shooters.
Positives
It was groundbreaking for the time and opened up a whole new perspective to gaming. I also really liked the concept of secret passages and stashes as well as the secret level.
Negatives
It's unfair for me to put it here, but this game was the grandfather of all first person shooters, a genre which in my opinion has been over-done. It seems the big studios release the same game with slightly better graphics over and over again.
The story was pretty weak, but I don't think anyone was paying attention to it anyway.
![[image loading]](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Cx7hs-_qvZM/TrNZQ-0jeqI/AAAAAAAAAec/QoWkgDboSyI/s1600/shot4.jpg)
One of the boss fights.
Memorable Moments
One time at intermediate school some classmates were playing the game at lunch. I watched for a while and got frustrated as they died over and over again. So I jumped on after a while and breezed through the game, and I had half the class watching me in semi-awe.
What were your experiences with Wolfenstein 3D?
  
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I loved this game when I was a kid. Wolf3D and Doom were among the first PC games that I actively played instead of watching my parents play.
To this day, I don't really understand what the hell was up with the floating Hitler clones in his boss level. They just seemed like a really random thing to put in there. I mean, they looked like a mixture of Hitler and Count Dracula and they were conjuring up these weird fireballs. I know the mutants weren't all that realistic either, but still.
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Literally one of my first formative memories is of my uncle sitting me in his lap while he fired Wolfenstein 3d, and he used to make these ridiculous noises when the zombies did their cha cha blasts. The game certainly scares me no longer, but that memory still haunts me.
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Pretty similar to you guys, my brother and I were so little that Dad would do the moving/aiming and we would just shoot. I actually didn't like the game very much but my brother loved it. We stopped letting him play when he started sleepwalking in middle of the night, running down the stairs yelling "it's gonna get Dad!!!"...
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Wolf3d and sc were the games that started my career of nerddom. And both were thanks to my uncle. He'd show up to my parents house with some floppy's or a CDROM and be like "hey nate! check this out!" solidifying his role of "cool uncle" for my entire life. Constantly playing video games with me, and we even played some 2v2 RogueSpear on MSN Gaming Zone!
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This was my first ever computer game. I was a playing on an old pentium I using Windows 3.1. You had log out of windows and start using DOS to play.
The best bit were the secret doorways and using badass weapons. I never finished the game but it was awesome, just an amazing game. Doom came later and then suddenly there were FPS everywhere but to me this is the definition of childhood computer games. The only other one that comes close is the original Civ I.
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Thanks everyone for your experiences! I feel pretty old, this wasn't my first game but pretty close although I played it myself, my parents (to this day) don't game at all... except once my mum got addicted to that Windows game "Life Genesis"... very odd.
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those memories... this was my first game ever on my very own first pc i got from my dad, a 486 dx2 i believe with 66mhz.  he was playing leisure suit larry haha ) someone remember commander keen 2d ? oder duke 2 ? or the old prince of persia on the 5.25 inch ? oh man... i feel so old, i imagine what if me was father now, im 27.. i wouldnt get my kid to playing wolf3d :D but back in the dayz no one really cared about that pc gaming. actually wolf3d was indexed for the european regions, glad i live in switzerland.
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On August 22 2012 09:18 JohnnyReverb wrote:those memories... this was my first game ever on my very own first pc i got from my dad, a 486 dx2 i believe with 66mhz. he was playing leisure suit larry haha ) someone remember commander keen 2d ? oder duke 2 ? or the old prince of persia on the 5.25 inch ? oh man... i feel so old, i imagine what if me was father now, im 27.. i wouldnt get my kid to playing wolf3d :D but back in the dayz no one really cared about that pc gaming. actually wolf3d was indexed for the european regions, glad i live in switzerland.
I remember Commander Keen! I actually played the entire series at university when it was WAY outdated. Duke Nukem 2 was the best! I loved the laser gun the best (the one that passed through enemies). Prince of Persia I didn't play much of but I did play it.
I'm 28 and I *am* a father! But my daughter is only 3 months old and not really ready for Wolf 3D...
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On July 24 2012 06:20 DRTnOOber wrote:
Unlike modern PC first person shooters you didn't use the mouse to look around, instead it was all controlled by the keyboard.
Nope, you had the choice between keyboard, mouse or both. I used the keyboard to walk(WASD) and the mouse to change direction/look and shoot. So that was already possible.
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I loved this game and I remember it going me motion sickness as a kid fr some reason
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EPT
