Before FPS games got fancy, there was Doom. Before Doom, there was Wolfenstein 3D.
Story:
There are 6 episodes, each covering a unique story. I'll only cover 3, as I'll let you figure out the last three yourself.
Episode 1: Escape from Wolfenstein
You are B.J. Blazkowicz, Polish-born American agent extraordinare. Your mission is simple-assassinate vital members of the Third Reich and put an end to the Nazi's attempt to use secret and deadly weapons of mass destruction. However, your fate doesn't lead you as well, as you have been captured by the Nazi Regime and held in the bowels of Castle Wolfenstein itself! Fortunately, you were able to beat the bloody pulp out of an unfortunate guard and jack his equipment (a puny pistol and a knife). Now, with the guards unsuspecting of your actions, you must find a way to get out of the castle itself-or die trying. You must confront the vicious guards of Castle Wolfenstein, from weak guards armed with pistols to the hulking SS Elite Guards with deadly machine guns, and finally, the guardian of the fortress itself.
Episode 2: Operation: Eisenfaust
After your escape from Wolfenstein, you are informed that Dr. Schabbs, the Nazi's brillant and maniacal scientist, is creating and breeding undead mutants to unleash upon humanity. You must find a way to stop his madness!
Episode 3: Die, Fuhrer, Die!
This is it. You've taken out the Third Reich's most vital assets, and all that remains is the mastermind and dictator of Nazi Germany. Break into his fort, kill his henchmen, and end this once and for all.
Gameplay:
This is where the mainstream of FPS really began. Your goal is simple-find the exit and kill anyone that gets in your way.
Along the way, you'll encounter a number of enemies. They are: a guard, an attack dog, the almighty SS Elite Guard, mutants, and the massive boss characters themselves. All of them have a recognizable weakness-shoot them until they drop.
To do this, you'll need ammo and weapons, of course. You'll start out with a pistol and knife, but you'll eventually find the machine gun that you can acquire via killing a SS Soldier or find it the conventional way. The other weapon, the massive Chaingun, is an ammo eating machine that chews through enemies like they weren't even there. Don't get too cocky, though. Without ammo, you'll be a big fat target for the trigger happy soldiers. Conserve and locate ammo whenever you can!
If you're damaged, you can pick up food, medikit, dog food (sounds nasty but it'll do) or if you're lucky enough to find it, the 1-UP item.
Acquire points via killing enemies or grabbing treasure. Everytime you hit the 40000 point mark, you'll be given a bonus life. You start out with three, but once you hit zero, game over. Save often, find and hoard as many treasure items as you can, and play it safe.
You'll find them mostly in secret areas, so check suspicious-looking walls and areas whenever you can.
Control:
You can play with either the keyboard or mouse, but I stuck with the keyboard. Up arrow moves your character forward. Left and right turns your character in the respective direction. Down arrow makes your man run backwards. Hold down shift to run quickly (funnily, your character will never run short of breath). Alt button allows strafing, enabling you to shoot enemies with accuracy while you dodge theirs. Spacebar opens doors and secret areas, but some doors may require a key. Pay close attention to door designs-if it has grey/black color scheme, you'll need a key.
Sound:
Although it may sound bad today, back in its days, the sounds were amazing. A guard will bark "Halt!" or "Stop!" in German if he sees you, while the bosses will taunt you in German also once they know you're on their turf. Killing them is also refreshing-who wouldn't love to hear the screams as a SS Soldier falls to his knees?
The music is alright-I didn't really pay attention, but remember, technology back in 1992 was so primitive, this game was considered superior in that area.
Graphics:
Same as sound. While ugly and unpleasant today, back in its days it was awesome. The characters, items and walls are all well designed and crisp, although at a distance they can be seen as unrecognizable blurs. Like I said, poor technology back then had limits so this was the best of its time.
In conclusion:
Wolfenstein 3D may not seem much nowadays, but back in its days, this was the only game we had access to. An old school gamer may find interest in this, but a newcomer used to new, high tech and detailed shooters will fall short of expectations here.