Wolfenstein 3D

"Best Wolfenstein Ever!"

There's a rumor about this game that iD wasn't originally planning on making it. While they were working on Doom for the Jaguar, they tried porting Wolfenstein to the system just for kicks (and probably to see what the machine was capable of). Apparently, the port only took a single weekend, and they were impressed enough that they decided to finish up the game and publish it! I don't know if that rumor is true, but I will say that I'm glad they decided to release it, because this is definitely the best version of Wolfenstein I've ever played!

For those of you who've never played the original Wolfenstein 3D (shame on you!), the story is fairly simple. Your character, B.J. Blazkowics is a top agent for the U.S. Army, and is sent to Germany to try and stop Hitler (No, there's no time travel... this game takes place during WW2). You end up attacking various castles and killing many nazi troopers along your way. Did I mention that this game single-handedly invented first-person shooters?

Now, for those of you who have actually played the PC version, you're probably wondering what's new. Well, first off, this game doesn't diverge from it's roots any.. it's not meant to overtake Doom. It's just here for nostalgia, to be enjoyed by those of us that enjoyed the original. To this effect, this game should probably be looked at along the lines of other classic remakes like Tempest 2000 and Asteroids, where the underlying game shouldn't really be changed. Don't expect to see rising elevators, stairs, or 45 degree angles in this game...

What they DID add was icing on the cake. While the play mechanics were mostly left unchanged, the graphics received a major overhaul. Everything is done in a much higher resolution, which eliminates all the pixelly blur that you used to get when you approached things. All the wall-hangings are here without crappy censorship (*coughsnescough*), and you can even see the anger in the faces of your enemies when they fire at you. The status bar was mostly removed in favor of numbers and icons overlaying the action. Yes, the view is full-screen! Other changes were the addition of two new guns, the flame thrower and the rocket launcher (at least, I think they're new... I certainly don't remember them from the PC version). Both are extremely powerful, but ammo is limited, so you're best off saving them for the nasty bosses in this game (including the grotesque Ubermutant, with four arms and a gatling gun implanted in his chest). The rocket launcher is so powerful that it will mow down an entire line of enemies. Unlike Doom, the rocket doesn't actually explode until it hits a wall, so any enemies it hits on the way are killed instantly (bosses excluded of course... rockets explode on them).

Another nice addition to this game comes from the (otherwise awful) SNES version... the automap! Just press 5, and you get a nice map of everything you've already seen. This definitely helps in some of the more maze-like levels.

I believe a number of the levels were changed slightly. My memory of the original is a bit foggy, but I'm sure the first boss level has been changed (don't worry, it wasn't ruined). Also, I think some of the levels were taken out. Again, I can't remember everything from the original, but the first mission is only three levels, and I'm sure I remember it being longer than that in the PC version. Personally, I think it's better that they reduced the number of levels.. it helps the game from becoming too tedious. There's bonus levels amung the madness too, which are both challenging and rewarding.

It should be noted that some of the basics of the game were changed in this translation. You no longer have a score count... instead, when you pick up treasure, it adds 2% to your health (Hey, if coins give you health in Super Mario 64...). Also gone is the concept of lives. Instead, you just continue after you die. In case you were curious, the extra life items are still there, but they bump you up 100% health (Like Doom, you can handle up to 200% total). Personally, I think the game is better off this way. No one really cares about score in an FPS game anyways. These changes simplify the game a lot, and remove the clutter that was otherwise present in the heads-up display.

And now, the breakdown:

Graphics: 9/10

The graphics in this version are definitely the best, and put the PC and SNES versions to shame. I'm not sure how it compares to the 3DO version (which I only found out existed recently) though. Not only is everything high-res and full screen, but it all clips along at a nice, fast pace. No slowdown to be found, even with enemies everywhere! The only thing keeping the score from being a 10 was the absense of floor and ceiling textures. I know they weren't in the original, but I think this game would really have benefitted from them. It doesn't hurt the game though.

Sound: 9/10

All the sounds are here, including all the german shouts of the guards, and their screams as they go down. Fans of Jaguar Doom will also be glad to hear (no pun intended) that the in-game music is preserved. Not only that, but it actually sounds better to me than the original... especially some of the jazzy tunes used in the bonus levels, and some of the creepy ones in the later levels. However, I would have liked to see some of the extra sounds that were used in Spear Of Destiny (the sequel), such as the extra death shrieks and such. Some of them were disturbingly entertaining.

Control: 8/10

There's a few issues here that I didn't like. First of all, the movement is easy, and the controls aren't hard either. You have three buttons, which you assign to Fire, Open, and Run... this isn't a problem at all. However, the walking and turning seems a little odd. I'm not sure why, but it seems like you don't turn as fast while you're moving forward. It's really hard to explain, but it feels odd while you're playing, and it knocks off a point here. The other lost point has to do with the extra controls. In addition to the three main buttons, you also use Option to switch weapons. At first, I thought this sucked compared to Doom's ''one button, one gun'' method using the pad... however, you can only switch between the chain gun, flame thrower, and rocket launcher anyways, so I guess it's not inconvenient. Notice that I didn't mention anything about switching to the pistol or assault rifle. That's right, once you get a chain gun, you can kiss those weapons goodbye. This kind of sucks, since I'd often rather use the assault rifle to conserve ammo (the chain gun eats through it). You also have the knife, but you only get to use it when you're completely out of ammo (I would have liked to be able to switch to it too). Another problem I should note is the use of the number pad. 1, 2, and 3 are all used as save buttons. Press them, and it'll save your game instantly in one of three save games. Although it's very convenient, I've often hit these accidentally, and saved over a game, so be careful. As I said before, you use 5 to bring up a map as well, but the rest of the numbers are unused (except for inputting cheats). I would have liked to see them use 4 and 6 for strafing (which would, in turn, use L and R for strafing on the Pro-Controller), as well as 7, 8 and 9 as instant weapon change buttons (which also serve as Z, Y and X on the Pro-Controller). I don't want to make a big deal out of it though... the important thing is that you won't have any trouble blasting Nazi's.

Replayability: 7/10

Well, I have to say that once you know where everything is in the game, it doesn't really offer much else. There's a lot of hidden rooms in the game, and it's always fun to take a few turns blasting Nazi's, but other than that, there's not a lot here. However, the game itself is quite long, the levels become quite varied, and there's some cool enemies that you run into (especially the bosses). The game is a definite challenge on the higher skill levels, and you'll have a hard time beating it on ''Maximum Death'' (By the way, they changed the names of the difficulty levels). There's three save slots that save your exact position in the level, so you can pick up right where you left off.

I'm not sure where else this fits, but I should mention that this game doesn't have even a fraction of the atmosphere that Alien Vs. Predator does. It's not really that kind of game. Aside from some tension when the music is pounding, and you know the Death Knight could be around the next corner, the game is mostly a blast-fest.

Overall: 9/10

I should warn you that by buying this game, you get Wolfenstein 3D, and that's pretty much it. If you're not a fan of the original, then you should probably stick to Doom, as you probably won't be impressed by the two-dimensional level design. However, those of us who used to play the original PC version will have a great time with this one! It's too bad they didn't include Spear Of Destiny along with this one :)

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/08/02, Updated 08/08/02