The first three episodes of the game focus on William "B.J." Blazkowicz's attempts to escape from Castle Wolfenstein and overthrow the Nazi regime.

In the first episode, Escape from Castle Wolfenstein, B.J., an Allied spy, has been captured while trying to find the plans for Operation Eisenfaust, and was imprisoned in Castle Wolfenstein. Initially armed only with a knife and a Walther P38 (obtained by overpowering the guard in his cell), B.J.'s initial goal is merely to escape the castle prison. Taking on SS guards, he eventually finds himself face to face with head prison guard Hans Grosse.

In the second episode, Operation: Eisenfaust, B.J. finds out that the operation is real, and that Nazis are creating an army of undead mutants in Castle Hollehammer. B.J. enters the castle and confronts the mad scientist Dr. Schabbs, creator of the mutants. His defeat signals the end of this biological war.

Die, Führer, Die! is, chronologically, the final episode. Fighting through Nazi soldiers, and attacking the bunker under the Reichstag, he finds himself up against Adolf Hitler himself (equipped with a robotic suit).

The Nocturnal Missions form a prequel storyline, focusing on the Germans' plans for chemical warfare (Giftkrieg). A Dark Secret deals with the initial pursuit of the scientist responsible for the development of the weaponry; B.J.'s task is to enter the weapons research facility and hunt down another mad scientist, Dr. Otto Giftmacher (Poison Maker).

Trail of the Madman takes place in Castle Erlangen. B.J.'s goal is to find the maps and plans of the chemical war, guarded by Gretel Grosse (Hans' sister).

The story comes to a close in Confrontation, set in Castle Offenbach. The final battle is fought between B.J. and the leader of the chemical war initiative, General Fettgesicht (Fat Face).
[edit] Gameplay

The following section describes aspects of the original MS-DOS versions. The various ports often implemented changes.

Each episode features ten levels (or "missions" which have to be finished sequentially. Only nine levels need to be completed; hidden in one of the first eight missions was an entrance to the tenth, secret level. The secret level of the third episode was notable in that it recreated one of the original Pac-Man levels, complete with ghosts, seen by the player from Pac-Man's perspective. Wolfenstein 3D was the first game to use the ExMx map/level naming convention.

Each episode has a different boss who has to be killed in the final mission in order to complete the episode. Unlike normal enemies, boss enemies are drawn from one angle instead of eight, so the player can't sneak up on them or take them by surprise; when first encountered they are always facing the player. Bosses also won't notice the player or become active until they see the player. When most bosses are killed, a replay (called a "deathcam" of the boss's death is shown; the episode then ends. In other levels, behind the boss is an exit from the stronghold; entering it causes the camera to rotate around to face Blazkowicz and show him running out and jumping in elation (complete with a freeze frame of him in mid-air). In the version released for the Macintosh, all the bosses, except the final boss, Adolf Hitler, drop a gold key when killed which opens a door to the end of the level. Hitler was proclaimed the 15th greatest video game boss in history by The Phoenix.[2]

Despite the presence of Hitler as an episode boss, the game bears no resemblance to any actual Nazi plans or structures. Indeed, many of the level designs are highly fanciful; at least three levels heavily feature swastika-shaped room layouts and maps, going as far as having one level built entirely of a tessellation of them.

The early concept of the game included some innovative stealth concepts-dragging dead bodies, swapping uniforms with fallen guards, silent attacks, etc., like in the earlier Wolfenstein games, which focused more on stealth than action. These ideas were dropped however, since they drastically slowed the game down and made the controls complicated.[3]
[edit] Development
In-game screenshot

To render the walls in pseudo-3D, the game uses ray casting, a special case of ray tracing. This technique emits one ray for each column of pixels, checks if it intersects a wall, and draws textures on the screen accordingly, creating a one dimensional depth buffer against which to clip the scaled sprites that represent enemies, powerups, and props.

Before Wolfenstein 3D, the technology had already been used by id Software in 1991 to create Hovertank 3D and Catacomb 3D for Softdisk, albeit using only EGA 16-color graphics (which the game was designed to use, early in development). Other games using the Wolfenstein 3D game engine or derivatives of it were also produced, including, Blake Stone, Corridor 7: Alien Invasion, Operation Body Count, Super 3D Noah's Ark, Rise of the Triad, and Hellraiser (Unreleased Color Dreams game planned for the PC and the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)).

According to id Software programmer John Carmack, the game's engine was inspired by a technology demo of Looking Glass Studios'/Origin's first-person CRPG, Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss from 1991. Carmack claimed he could make a faster renderer. In this he was successful. The Wolfenstein engine lacks many features present in the Underworld engine, such as ceiling or floor height changes, sloped floors and lighting, but it runs well on relatively weak hardware.

"Holo-walls" are walls created by mapmakers using a glitch in the PC version's engine. They are walls that the player can walk through, and are used in some total conversions to simulate windows that players can climb through, and hedges that players can walk through. One way of creating holo-walls is to place a dead guard in a wall.

Wolfenstein 3D supports the following sound technologies: for sound effects, PC speaker, Adlib and Sound Blaster; for digitized sound, Disney Sound Source and Sound Blaster; and for music, Adlib and Sound Blaster.
[edit] Reception
[edit] Reviews

The game was reviewed in 1993 in Dragon #192 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars.[4]

The game was also reviewed in 1993 in Dragon #197 by Sandy Petersen in the first "Eye of the Monitor" column. Petersen also gave the game 5 out of 5 stars.[5]
[edit] Controversy
A Wolfenstein 3D level viewed in a level editor shows the level is composed almost entirely of swastikas

Due to its use of Nazi symbols such as the Swastika and the anthem of the Nazi Party, Horst-Wessel-Lied, as theme music, the PC version of the game was withdrawn from circulation in Germany in 1994, following a verdict by the Amtsgericht München on January 25, 1994 (Az. 2 Gs 167/94). Despite the fact that Nazis are portrayed as the enemy in Wolfenstein, the use of those symbols is a federal offense in Germany unless certain circumstances apply (see Strafgesetzbuch section 86a). Similarly, the Atari Jaguar version was confiscated following a verdict by the Amtsgericht Berlin Tiergarten on December 7, 1994 (Az. 351 Gs 5509/94).[6]

Due to concerns from Nintendo of America, the Super NES version was modified to not include any swastikas or Nazi references; furthermore, blood was replaced with sweat to make the game seem less violent, and the attack dogs in the game were replaced by giant mutant rats. Employees of id Software are quoted in The Official DOOM Player Guide about the reaction to Wolfenstein, claiming it to be ironic that it was morally acceptable to shoot people and rats, but not dogs. Two new weapons were added as well. The Super NES version was not as successful as the PC version.[citation needed]
[edit] Aborted contest attempts

Level E2M8 features a giant hidden "pushwall" maze consisting of 181 nearly identical 2x2 rooms. Depending on the path taken through the maze, the player is eventually led to treasure, an extra life, or a surprise encounter with Hans Grosse. One and only one correct path leads to a room containing a sign saying "Call Apogee Say Aardwolf." (In some versions there is also an extra life in this room.) This was to have been part of a contest, where the first person to find the sign and carry out its instructions would have won a prize.[7] While no prize was ever decided, preliminary discussion suggested the prize may be registered copies of all Apogee games for life.[8]

However, because the first level editors and cheat programs for the game were released within days of the full version of Wolfenstein 3D, many players were able to find the sign with minimal effort. Additionally, a cheat code was soon discovered and published that allowed the player to view all of the in-game sprites, including the "Aardwolf" sign. As a result, the planned contest was abandoned before it was ever officially announced, or the grand prize even settled upon.[7] The maze and the sign were left in the game as Easter eggs; a text file included with the registered version distributed by Apogee explained the story behind the "Aardwolf" sign and asked gamers not to call in and say it (many did anyway). A 1997 commercial re-release by Activision removed the sign and replaced it with graphics depicting a pile of bones.

After completing an episode, the player is given a three-letter code in addition to a total score and time. This was part of a high-score contest that was abandoned for similar reasons to the "Aardwolf" one; the code would have been used to verify that a player got that score legitimately, without use of cheat codes.[7]
[edit] Legacy

Wolfenstein 3D anticipated the first-person shooter games that continue to be popular today. Before long, it spawned a wave of imitations or clones, a trend that would accelerate with the release of id Software's Doom in 1993; among the most noticeable of these being Blake Stone. Most of these games were distributed via the same shareware strategy as Wolfenstein 3D.

The game's success ensured that id Software quickly became a high profile developer. id's development efforts were closely watched by fans of the game, and when it released its next first-person shooter, Doom, it was guaranteed a receptive audience. Rather than rely on the technology that made Wolfenstein a hit, however, Doom introduced several technological leaps over Wolfenstein 3D. The technology in Doom outdid that of Wolfenstein 3D by being playable over a network. It also provided different levels of height (while Wolfenstein 3D didn't have any stairs or platforms at all), a lighting system (Wolfenstein 3D only had full brightness), multiple levels of detail and characters with more detail and animation than those in its predecessor; it also added a multiplayer mode: Deathmatch, which grew in popularity as online gaming became widespread.
[edit] Ports
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Redrawn character sprites as seen in the 3DO version

The game was ported to the Super NES, Atari Jaguar, Mac OS, 3DO, Apple IIGS, Acorn Archimedes, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, DS, Wii, iPhone/IPod Touch, Symbian and Maemo. Many of the ports had different sounds, graphics, and levels. Some didn't even use the DOS version's episode format.

Some of the ports were derived from other ports and not from the original game. Both the Atari Jaguar and the Mac versions were based on the code of the Super NES port. However, both were developed independently of one another; the Jaguar port by id Software under the cooperation of Atari and the Mac port by MacPlay (the 3DO port was also developed by this team, making it mostly identical to the Mac version). The Apple IIGS port was in turn based on the Mac port.

The Super NES version of the game is notable for being heavily censored and edited, due to the Nintendo of America's censorship policy at the time. Due to this, most of the blood in the game was replaced with sweat (save for B.J.'s face becoming progressively bloodier as health dropped), and Nazi references were removed. Adolf Hitler, who was a character in the game, had his moustache removed and was renamed "Staatmeister" and the dogs were replaced by giant rats. Additionally, in Germany, the blood was turned green.

In several of the ports (specifically, the Atari Jaguar, Mac, and 3DO versions) the game's sprites and textures are redrawn as 128×128 pixel sprites, rather than 64×64 pixel sprites, allowing more detail in the game's characters and objects. However, they are drawn from one angle, like the bosses, eliminating the stealth element of the game.

In the Atari Jaguar port, the graphics for walls, enemies, and other objects do not become blocky or chunky at close range, a problem that all earlier versions of the game(including the PC versions) suffer from.[9] The status bar was removed, with only displays for health, the head of B.J., ammo, and keys. Since there was no score, the treasure added to the player's health. There was also a flamethrower, rocket launcher, pistol and chaingun which were based on graphics from Doom.

The Mac port and all derivative versions are the only ones to use authentic German voices and speech, recorded by native Germans. The other versions contain broken German phrases, with incorrect article and adjective usages, mostly stemming from the misunderstanding of the genders of the nouns.

Unlike the other ports, the Game Boy Advance port closely resembled the PC version of the game. Differences from the PC version included the removal of music and a change in the save system: players have to complete a floor before they can save, but they can have up to 4 save games on one cartridge. It also used strong mipmapping which made objects and walls in the distance very pixellated.

It was also released on Xbox Live Arcade and PSN on June 3, 2009. However, the music in these ports is played at a slower speed than in the original.
[edit] Mission Pack

Wolfenstein has a mission pack called "Wolfenstein 3D Super Upgrades". It can be downloaded as a zip file from the 3D Realms website. It contains Wolf Creator, a random map generator; MapEdit, a level editor/creator; and replacement gamefiles for the original game. It comprises at least 800 new levels (floors). It was released in 1993.
[edit] Sequels

Wolfenstein 3D was followed by several related games. A first person shooter game called Rise of the Triad was going to be the sequel to Wolfenstein 3D, but the idea was postponed, and the game took off in a different direction. Spear of Destiny, a prequel to Wolfenstein 3D, released a short time after the original game, using the same engine.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein (RtCW), a first-person shooter reboot to Wolfenstein 3D, released in 2001. The gameplay and the setting are similar to the original, but the graphics and audio elements receive an upgrade due to the Quake III Arena rendering engine. RtCW begins as the first game does, but from there the two games' storylines diverge. Overall, RtCW bears little resemblance to its predecessor, beyond the title and the setting. A small bit of nostalgia is available to players of RtCW with a console command. Activating 'cg_uselessnostalgia' via the in-game console overlays a replica of the original game's interface across the bottom of the screen. However, as the name of the command implies, this interface does not keep track of vital game statistics, such as the player character's health or remaining ammunition. The Xbox version of RtCW contains the full emulated version of Wolfenstein 3D as a bonus for beating the game, while the PC version of RtCW-Game-of-the-Year-Edition features the game as a bonus. Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory is a spinoff to RtCW, released in 2003. It is a free full-version multiplayer-only game, featuring elements from RtCW. RtCW ET was meant to be a sequel to RtCW, but the single player was scrapped before finishing, since they had already fully finished the Multiplayer aspect of the game the developers decided to give it away for free rather than waste it and scrap it alongside with the singleplayer.

A new game, simply called Wolfenstein, was created for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It was developed by Raven Software, developer of Quake 4, and released August 18, 2009 in North America.* Wolfenstein RPG, a RPG continuation of the Wolfenstein franchise, previewed at QuakeCon 2008. It is a full version game released for mobile phones in 2009.[10]