Wolfenstein 3D
Wolfenstein 3D is a first-person shooter presented with rudimentary 3D graphics and a follow-up to the top-down infiltration game Castle Wolfenstein. The game is broken up into levels, each of which is a flat plane divided into areas and rooms by a grid-based pattern of walls and doors, all of equal height. Each level is themed after Nazi bunkers and buildings. To finish a level, the player must traverse through the area to reach an elevator. Levels are grouped together into named episodes, with the final level…
Historically priceless and still a quick blast, but its flat corridors show their age fast.Kit · Sadkitty Games
Loved
- Smooth, fast 3D that stunned players in 1992
- Simple, satisfying gunplay with a great chaingun
- Pushwall secrets reward curious players
Not so much
- Levels are repetitive mazes of identical corridors
- No map, so getting lost is easy
Play it if shooter fans curious about where it all started, or anyone after a 15-minute arcade blast.
Skip it if anyone who gets bored of samey blue-stone hallways.
Every Wolfenstein 3D cheat we know
Single-player only. Cheats can turn off achievements and some saves; use them on a spare save.
Play it better
- Hold Shift to run and Alt to strafe. Strafing around corners lets you shoot guards before they turn to face you.
- The knife is silent. Use it to take out a sleeping guard without alerting the whole floor.
- Gunfire alerts nearby enemies, but guards who are facing away and haven't heard you won't react.
- Save the chaingun's ammo for officers, SS troops and bosses. Plain brown guards die to the pistol.
- Dogs move fast but die to two pistol shots. Back up while firing rather than letting them close in.
- Treasure counts toward your score, and points give extra lives, so grab the crosses, chalices and crowns.
Hidden in plain sight
Tap a secret to reveal it.
Trivia
- It's a remake of Muse Software's 1981 stealth game Castle Wolfenstein, and id bought the name rights after Muse went under.
- John Carmack built the raycasting engine, John Romero and Tom Hall designed the levels, and Bobby Prince wrote the music.
- The SNES version replaced dogs with giant rats and removed Hitler's moustache to satisfy Nintendo's content rules.
- Apogee released the first episode as shareware in May 1992, and the full six-episode version sold by mail order.
- The game was banned in Germany for years because of its Nazi imagery.
