A great action game that stays true to it's roots.
First and foremost, this is a port of a game made in 1992. Any advancements made in the genre since then won't be found here. There is no weapon reloading, no plot progression, and no character development. What little written plot present in the original game has been removed here. The game is all about killing Nazis. Some of the levels can become frustratingly maze-like, but the addition of an in-game map really reduces this problem (don't even get me started on how annoyed I used to get without a map back in '92). The game contains four weapons: a knife, pistol, machine gun, and chain gun. All the guns use the same ammo, so there isn't any strategy involved in deciding which gun to use. Most levels can be completed in between five and ten minutes. Disappointingly, there are no saved games. The game just picks up right where you left off when you last played. Not only does this mean that only one person can play through the game at a time, but it also means you cannot save before big fights. Dying means you must start the level over from scratch with only a pistol and knife.
The game comes with the full sixty levels from the original (While a Lite version is available for free that contains the first three levels). Each level may be shorter than typical for today's shooters, but the sheer number adds up to more play time than modern games. Four difficulties and trophies earned for different goals (such as finding all the secrets, killing all the enemies, or beating the level in a set amount of time) really help add to the replay value.
The action holds up fairly well today and the iPhone controls really help. An onscreen joystick on the bottom left of the screen controls the movement, while a single graphic on the bottom right controls shooting. Strafing is handled by tilting the iPhone left and right. These default controls do the job well enough, but they are also fully customizable. Not only can you move these controls anywhere you want, but you can also change the sensitivity and add another option to have onscreen controls for strafing. These are, by far, the most customizable controls I have seen in the iPhone yet.
Sound and music is straight from the original, which may be basic, but still fits the game perfectly. The sounds of the enemies yelling at you in German stands as the game's biggest highlight. Killing the enemies dressed in blue and hearing them yell, "Mein Leben!" still stands as the greatest enemy death cry of all time in my opinion.
As mentioned earlier, the graphics are fairly behind the times. While some iPhone games look like they would be right at home on the PS2, Wolfenstein 3D is firmly planted in the SNES era of graphics. The upside to this is that the frame rate never bogs down. The action always stays smooth and fluid.
If you can forgive the dated look of the game, Wolfenstein 3D can supply some great action. Older gamers can enjoy this trip down memory lane while newbies now have a chance to see the roots of the genre. If you're still on the fence about the game, try this on for size; you get to fight Hitler while he is in a giant mechanical suit. That's just so cheesy that you can't pass it up.