71 people found this review helpful
1 person found this review funny
Recommended
0.0 hrs last two weeks / 4.7 hrs on record
Posted: Oct 19, 2013 @ 8:53pm
Updated: Nov 7, 2015 @ 11:32pm

This game is a living piece of history, with all the good and bad that comes with it.
The main issue this game has is that it's not from the world "Doom" and the like comes from. It has half a foot still in the "atari, beep boop, life and point system" ground, and this becomes obvious after trying to 100% any given level. All the maps look very, very similar, it beccomes difficult to tell WHERE you are without the use of the map, and in general it's insanely difficult to play the game to the full potential it deserves.
The vast majority of the secrets are hidden among identical looking walls, gameplay boils down to corner camping the basic ai, and there's really, really not much to say, since the entire game is a basic package with nothing more than basic floor layout with only right angles, and the sound is nothing but muffled sound effects they could pull off at the time with a small group of midi's used repeatedly (space on floppy drives was incredibly small) for atmosphere.

Despite all this, the game DOES get a free pass simply for being so stooped in history. Without this game, you wouldn't have the vast majority of FPS we have now. If you want to buy this to know your roots, go ahead, but be warned, it's about as odd as a time capsule could be.
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6 Comments
V-Man Sep 22, 2017 @ 4:37pm 
If anyone in the future is reading this review, scroll down for more indepth gameplay analysis by someone more qualified to talk specifics than me.
Fuzzy.Bunny Sep 22, 2017 @ 3:22pm 
Sorry for jacking your comments section, I just wanted to add my thoughts. Yours is one of the few reviews that actually talks about gameplay. ^.^
Fuzzy.Bunny Sep 22, 2017 @ 3:21pm 
(1/2) Right now I am playing through Nocturnal Missions (E4-6) and am on E6M3, playing on 'Bring 'em On' difficulty. This is the same difficulty I played through the the core game (E1-3). Your review misses some key points when it comes to the way the game works mechanically:

-damage and accuracy is terribly random, with the player and enemies able to miss at Point-Blank range;
-doors are not colour-coded (silver and grey) and keys don't match door colour (gold and blue), but even the 'shiny' keys don't always fit 'shiny' doors. I play with ECWolf, so the key colour may be an issue with the source port, but the key-to-door issue is not;
-mutants only occur in E2 but they are silent and fire extremely fast, so players that don't already know where they are frequently see 2- or 3-shot deaths in very short order in that episode;
-all bosses are trivial given the amount of objects to hide behind in boss areas, ample ammunition, and telegraphed attacks.
Fuzzy.Bunny Sep 22, 2017 @ 3:08pm 
(2/2) The above are objective, inarguable points. What is subjective is the amateurish level design from E3 onward where, more and more, the design is contrived and vastly different from E1-2.

In E1-2 Romero and Carmack were designing areas, whereas in E3-6 it looks like they were designing nothing more than ways to trick the player. E4M7 even has a spot where the player must push 2 of 3 secret walls to access a key to simply progress, however if they push 3 they will cover the key and be unable to progress.

Wolfenstein 3D is not a good game and a very poor FPS from a company that did better with Catacombs 3D before it and Doom after it.
V-Man Feb 9, 2014 @ 1:27pm 
I do try.
Bloody Feb 8, 2014 @ 11:33pm 
Excellent review. Short and to the point.