Get psyched, because Activision recently uploaded one of the earliest first-person shooters to the Xbox Live Arcade download service. While not the very first FPS game, Wolfenstein 3D paved the way for everything from Doom to Halo to Call of Duty. But 17 years later it's hard to go back and enjoy this dated classic. Thanks to all of the advances in the genre, playing Id's World War II-themed shooter is a frustrating and mostly disappointing experience.
Going in I already knew most of the game's limitations. I knew that all of the levels would be flat. I knew that the game would reuse the same graphics, often making it difficult to gauge where you are and where you're supposed to go next. And I knew that I would essentially be dealing with a series of mazes that only seem to get more cruel and detailed as you go along. These were all things that I expected going in. I didn't want to get my hopes up too high, but at the same time I was curious to see how these archaic trappings would affect my opinion of the game.
What I wasn't prepared for was my almost immediate negative reaction. Don't get me wrong, I've played through Wolfenstein 3D before, but it's certainly been a few years since playing the entire campaign from start to finish. From the get-go I found that the idea of running around an elaborate maze to be rather maddening, to the point where shooting Nazis ceased being fun. Could it be that Id's classic shooter is too dated to be fully enjoyed?
In case you're one of the very few gamers who missed Wolfenstein 3D the first time around, you play the ridiculously named William "B.J." Blazkowicz. As the game starts you have just killed a guard and are trying to escape what appears to be a Nazi prison. To do this you will need to navigate through dozens of levels, killing hundreds of guards, collecting tons of stolen treasure and taking out some truly impressive bosses (including the Fuhrer himself). Back in 1992 this was a kid's dream come true, your own 3D playground full of evil Nazis and the most evil man to ever walk the planet.
Wolfenstein 3D was not only a hugely successful shareware PC game, but also a game that managed to help birth the popular first-person shooter genre. Because of this 1992 classic, games like Doom and Call of Duty exist. In fact, this game was so successful that Activision has gone on to release several other installments in the series, including the upcoming PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 game simply known as Wolfenstein.
This is one of the most important titles in video game history, a release that just about everybody should play at once point in their life. It's with that context in mind that I have such a hard time admitting that this 17 year old shooter hasn't held up especially well. There are elements that are definitely still fun, but too many of the game's archaic design decisions get in the way here. For example, it takes far too long for B.J. Blazkowicz to turn around. While this may not be a problem when you're out exploring the maze-like environments you're stuck in, it's a deal breaker when you are being attacked from behind and need to turn around quickly.
Another problem are the level designs themselves. I'm sure there are people that like mapping out mazes on graph paper, but I'm not one of those people. By the time you're up to the third set of levels the maps just sort of devolve into difficult mazes that are extremely easy to get lost in. Searching around a level made up of similar colors and textures for an hour looking for a door is not my idea of fun, and I'm glad that first-person shooters have moved past that kind of gameplay. This problem could have been lessened a great deal had the developers given us a map button (like what we have in the Xbox Live Arcade version of Doom). As it is, I spent far too much time stuck in the video game equivalent of one of a maze of mirrors you might see at a carnival (or in a crummy 80s movie).
As I played through the game's lengthy campaign I started to wonder if I would have more fun playing this with a friend. I know from my experience with Doom that it's always more fun to search around mazes with a friend at your side. Sadly there is no such option in Wolfenstein 3D. It's just you versus the evil Nazis. There's not even a multiplayer death match, this is strictly a single-player affair.
Oddly enough, it's the game's most glaring limitations that I had the least trouble accepting. I know a lot of modern gamers will look at this game and wonder why everything is so flat (and there's no ceiling in sight). They'll be confused why you can't aim your gun up and down. But I didn't have a problem accepting these limitations. Your lack of aim doesn't really affect gameplay and I had much more of a problem with the same wall textures than I did with the lack of a ceiling. What I can't get over is how slow you are to turn around, as far as I can tell that's the leading cause of death in Wolfenstein 3D.
Fans of the PC game will be happy to know that each of the levels (including the super secret levels) are identical to the original game. So if you still have your homemade maps handy you shouldn't have a problem busting through the dozens of levels found in this game. While I didn't have any graph paper handy, I did find a few maps online that definitely helped me in a pinch. The graphics and sound are also identical to the PC game, which is either good or bad depending on how you look at it. The game's presentation hasn't held up particularly well, but it's not the reason that this game is hard to recommend.
As I said before, Wolfenstein 3D is a game that everybody should play at least once in their life. Unfortunately that doesn't mean that you should buy this Xbox Live Arcade release. At a mere $5 it's not too expensive to try out, but there are certainly better things you can put that money towards. All in all, Wolfenstein 3D is a competent shooter that is brought down by slow gameplay and unfair level designs. It's a game that I consider to be a genuine classic, the kind of game that influences everything that comes after it. Unfortunately even classics can show their age after 17 years of advancements.
