STACK Template

111 / 112

THE WOLFENSTEIN STORY
2 13 4
people could easily get their hands on it. The
first episode was ported as shareware and
the final two were available for purchase, so
players could get a taste for the title before
they splashed their money on it.
By end 1993, Wolfenstein 3D had sold
over 100,000 copies. The game received
rave reviews, achieving 5/5 star rankings
multiple times, and was even said to “set a
new standard for PC gaming”. It won “Best
Action/Arcade Game” at the 1993 Shareware
Industry Awards, and also received acclaim
for its outlandish “MechaHitler” boss battle.
Not only did the title cement itself as
“the Grandfather of 3D shooters”, but it
also confirmed shareware distribution as a
profitable and viable release for distribution
companies. The fast pace and technical
prowess exhibited within Wolfenstein 3D
helped it to become one of the defining
games of the shooter genre.
Wolfenstein 3D also received a prequel
from id Software by the name of Wolfenstein
3D: Spear Of Destiny. In this iteration, BJ
is tasked with recapturing the famed Spear
Of Destiny from the Nazis following its theft
from Versailles.
Return to Castle Wolfenstein was the
next to be released, landing in 2001 on PS2,
Xbox, PC, Mac and Linux. The single-player
was developed by Gray Matter Interactive
– responsible for the Redneck Deer Huntin’
series – with Nerve Software – a studio set
up by ex-members of id - responsible for the
multiplayer.
There were also rumours surrounding
a Return to Castle Wolfenstein film, with
Roger Avary attached to direct, but nothing
materialised.
Following in the wake of the previous
games, Raven Software released their
own adaptation – simply Wolfenstein – for
PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The 2009
game sees the return of B.J. in his
mission to (once again) shut down the
Nazis in their (usual) quest for mass
destruction and/or world domination.
The game used an improved
version of iD Software’s id Tech 4
game engine- the likes of which was later
used for the well-known Doom 3 and Enemy
Territory: Quake Wars. However, due to the
underperformance of the game, a number of
staff from Raven Software were laid off.
After Wolfenstein came Wolfenstein:
The New Order, the action-adventure FPS.
Released in May 2014 on PlayStation 3,
PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC,
players once again embraced the role of
William “B.J.” Blazkowicz, as imagined this
time round by MachineGames – who were
later acquired by Bethesda Software’s parent
company ZeniMax Media.
The New Order is played from a first-
person perspective, with the story arranged
into a series of chapters that must be
completed in sequential order to finish the
game. The prologue episode offers a morality
choice that alters the entire progression