Wolfenstein

In honor of the release of Wolfenstein The New Order, and the fact that I started playing it last Saturday, I thought it could be fun to do a bit of a historical run down of the franchise.

It all started in 1981 with Castle Wolfenstein, released by Muse Software on Apple II, MS-DOS, Atari 400/800 and Commodore 64. This was a simple but clever game. Ancient 2D graphics (of course) by today's standards but it received a loyal following pretty quickly. And unlike the younger titles, it was more focused on stealth and evasion than combat.

In 1984 the sequel, Beyond Castle Wolfenstein was released. As any good sequel, it was more of the same, since that's what the public wanted. Like it's predecessor it focused on stealth and deception.

Then it was quiet for eight years. But in 1992, id Software's Wolfenstein 3D exploded onto the gaming world. It was neither the first 3D game or first person shooter (FPS) but it was the first game to bring these concepts together so successfully. And in doing so it became known as the father of the FPS.

Wolf3D was also the first time we were introduced to the hero of the series: William Joseph "B.J." Blazkowicz. The character in the first two games was never named, but it has always been assumed that it was B.J.

This is also where I got my first taste of Wolfenstein, and I've been hooked ever since. I played this game until my fingers ached, but I slaughtered my way through level after level of nazi carnage. This was also the game that introduced the concept of Nazis that were creating zombies and experimenting with future tech. After all, at the end of one level, you get to kill Hitler wearing a mecha-suit, wielding four chainguns.

In one year, id Software had sold more than 100.000 copies, which was unheard of at the time, since the whole thing started as shareware.

Fresh off of the success of Wolf 3D, id released a sequel, The Spear of Destiny the same year. Although sold separately, it was like Beyond Castle Wolfenstein, much the same as it's predecessor, in this case Wolfenstein3D.

Now we must leap forward nine years, to 2001 and the appearance of Returnto Castle Wolfenstein (RtCW). Unlike the difference between the two first games and Wolf3D, these nine years were full of exciting FPS releases. The Doom franchise, the Quake series and many many more. None the less, fans were ecstatic to have a new Wolfenstein game. I know I was. Like 3D, I played this game to pieces. The graphics were gorgeous for the time, the story was electrifying. It was simply a magnificent game.

In RtCW we meet Blazkowicz's nemesis Wilhelm "Deathshead" Strasse for the first time. A fanatical Nazi scientist he despises the supernatural and wants to beat the Allies with his monstrous inventions. RtCW had a great blend of super-science and the supernatural that blended together very well.

It didn't get a sequel as such although one was planned. Instead the multiplayer deathmatch Enemy Territory was released for free in 2003.

The Wolfenstein RPG was launched in 2008 for mobile platforms, but I can't comment on it as I haven't played it.

However in 2009, a game simply titled Wolfenstein slid onto the market. I have very mixed feelings for this game, for although the start was great, it became in my opinion rather tedious towards the end, and I never really finished it. But to be fair, the parts that were good, were incredibly good. The hospital level is one of my all time favorite spooky levels in any game.

The general Wolfenstein themes of Blazkowicz fighting a mix of super-science and supernatural Nazis continued, but despite this, the game wasn't a commercial success.

And now, in 2014, we have Wolfenstein The New Order. The supernatural is gone, an the super-science is ramped up. But as I'm sure you all know, the real kicker is that it's set in 1960 (the intro is in 1946) and the Nazis won the war an conquered the world.

Now, I've only played four hours, but I can honestly say this game is ridiculously good. The all the stuff you want from a modern game; graphics, sound etc., but it's the story that's so gripping. WTNO has more emotion running through it than most games, and certainly more than most shooters. And still it is just that. A great old school shooter.

I won't spoil anything, although I could even after only four hours. Suffice to say, I haven't been this impressed in a very long time.

That's all I have for you tonight. I have Nazi's to kill.

See ya next week.