![]() With that, the self-contained story that is your escape from Castle Wolfenstein concludes-appropriately enough, because it needed to stand alone as Wolfenstein 3D's freely available shareware release. After killing the castle's boss, a massive foe with even bigger guns, the camera spins around you as you triumphantly leap toward freedom. ![]() You searched for keys to open locked doors, all the while surviving on scraps of prison dinners and dog food, scrounging weapons and ammunition from the bodies of fallen Nazis. Yet the narrative fantasy of your escape from capture still felt well-realised. But this version of Castle Wolfenstein didn't feel much like a real location, as its levels were designed more like a maze to puzzle your way through than as something approaching a real castle interior. These origins are also the source of its secret pushwalls: What were once escape passages for kings under siege now conceal Nazi gold and other treasures. Its walls bear an imposing contrast between their grey stone and the warm reds of the swastika banners draped over them. The castle's decor doesn't hide its medieval origins, with ornate chandeliers stretching across ceilings, and hanging cages painting a grim visage of its lower dungeons. As you blast your way to freedom, stern portraits of Nazi officials, or of the Fuhrer himself, watch wordlessly. Though later games render the location with new levels of fidelity, Wolfenstein as a place is always immediately identifiable as the same one from this game in particular. The look and feel of Castle Wolfenstein was established in 1992 with the release of Wolfenstein 3D. With that skillset, Castle Wolfenstein presented a straightforward but difficult challenge: "Escape me." Everything you need to know about Wolfenstein is in this one screenshot. ![]() It is where first-person shooters as we know them were born, and it was the first testing ground of the genre's required skillset. But what is it about these connotations that compels us to return to Wolfenstein's corridors? Why, after 23 years, is it still exciting to find secret walls and gun down Nazis in this cold and oppressive castle?įor me, Castle Wolfenstein has an almost mythological quality about it-as much as a mythology can form around a video game locale. This medieval monument turned Nazi fortress carries all manner of connotations for the series which bears its name. The first-person shooter genre was forged in the grey, stone halls of Castle Wolfenstein.
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