Wolfenstein Game Series: 10 Things We Love Most about the Wolfenstein Video Games

I don’t think he’s surviving that.


List of all the PC Wolfenstein Games

  • Castle Wolfenstein (1981)
  • Beyond Castle Wolfenstein (1984)
  • Wolfenstein RPG (1992)
  • Spear of Destiny (1992)
  • Return to Castle Wolfenstein (2001)
  • Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory (2003)
  • Wolfenstein (2009)
  • Wolfenstein: The New Order (2014)
  • Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (2014)

 

Shameless Nazi Killing

Wolfenstein: The New Order trailer

All of the Wolfenstein games take place during or after World War II somewhere in the Nazi regime.  The newer released games follow an alternate timeline where Germany won World War II and the world is falling to Nazi rule.  Every game features the ruthless murdering of Nazi SS soldiers, who, let’s face it, are monsters and deserve to die anyway, right?

Keep reading to find out the greatest features of the Wolfenstein series as a whole. 

1. Ammo Must be Conserved

 Alternatively, use melee weapons.

This concept adds a completely different element to gameplay.  You can’t always just shoot without thinking.  You have to think and conserve your resources to progress through the story.

These stealth elements have been around since the original Castle Wolfenstein in 1981.  While Wolfenstein 3D (1992) took a more FPS approach with ammo-spraying, stealth aspects appear in all of the games.  The game is set up to take you through navigating Nazi territory and killing vital people, all while keeping your mission on the down-low.  

Be careful, because wrong moves will lead to your own death.

2. Bounce Between Stealth and Ammo-Spray

That’s actually more of a laser cannon.

As I mentioned before, the first two Wolfenstein games involved the stealth and conservation method whereas Wolfenstein 3D focused primarily on shooting Nazi’s directly in the face.  The cool thing about the later games, New Order and Old Blood is that you can switch between the two playing methods depending on the situation and level.

At some points during the game, you are well within your rights and reason to charge into a room guns-ablazin’.  Some of the enemies, however, require a more tactical approach lest you die.  That said, New Order still ranks up there for best FPS games to play.

In earlier games, it was encouraged for you to hold a gun to a Nazi guard’s back and frisk him for supplies.  The choice of whether to kill the guard or let him live after that was up to you.  Later games also include the ability to hide bodies after you’ve killed them to hide your trail. 

3. Not for the Faint-Hearted

Violent kills and Deaths.  And these aren’t even your own. 

I hinted earlier that you could potentially make a wrong move that will lead to your death.  The thing is though, there are really just a lot of game elements that will simply leave you… dead.  This is good though, it brings back the days of “Nintendo Hard” games where you played them again and again to figure out exactly what combination of moves got you through a level. 

And, before you ask, it really doesn’t matter what difficulty you play it on, expect to die a few times.  It’s the nature of the game.  At least in the newer games there are checkpoints so you aren’t starting from the last save point. 

The older games? Think Nintendo Hard.

4. Making You Think About Your Health Bar

I don’t think you should be facing off against that many with only 20hp.

In the Wolfenstein games, it’s not always as simple as picking up a health pack.  You have to keep moving and use health items wisely.  Running into walls can stun you and even chip off a couple of hit points.

In the earlier games, if you ran out of health, you respawned without weapons that you had previously gathered.  In newer games, you have health sections.  Once you’ve lost an entire section then you need to use a health pack. 

Either way, misuse of a health pack may cause you problems later. 

5. Revolutionary Graphics and Gameplay

Gameplay from The New Order. 

Even in the 1980s, these games were revolutionary.  Despite not having much of a plot, Castle Wolfenstein’s gameplay was still captivating in its side-scroller glory.  Future games have built upon the world and added intriguing plot elements to enhance gameplay and vice versa. 

Wolfenstein 3D popularized the FPS gameplay, even if it was kind of like playing through a Windows screen saver.  That said, for its time, it was top-of-the-line.  Return to Castle Wolfenstein incorporated team AU, which made the Nazi guards much harder to evade because they were actively working together.

The graphics of every game are up-to-par with contemporary games and each fully utilizes the graphics capabilities of the systems it’s released on.  PC games, of course, have the upper hand in this regard. 

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Gamer Since: 1999
Favorite Genre: RPG
Currently Playing: Dragon Age: Origins, Ori and the Blind Forest
Top 3 Favorite Games:Dragon Age: Origins, Portal 2, Resident Evil 4 Ultimate HD


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