Wolfenstein 3d Classic -- Review

Category: first person shooter games, classics
Price: $4.99
App Store Link: [Full] / No Lite Version

Review: Love it
Recommendation: An excellent port of the computer classic, and solid iPhone first person shooter; worth buying for any fan of the genre.
Replay value: High

Id's classic first person shooter, Wolfenstein 3d, has officially been released for the iPhone and iPod. As a predecessor to the legendary Doom (which is also scheduled to be realized to the App Store) Originally appearing in the early 90's, many gamers credit Wolfenstein 3d with pioneering the first-person shooter genre.

For those unfamiliar with the premise, gamers play as special agent B.J. Blazkowicz; your mission: to escape from Castle Wolfenstein and bring down the "twisted Nazi Regime" along the way. The app includes all six missions of the original game, totaling in 60 levels of action-packed exploration and slaughter. During the adventure, players will encounter secret passage ways, stolen Nazi treasure, a dangerous arsenal of weaponry, and countless villainous enemies and bosses (including the infamous MechaHilter).

Developers have created a new control system to accommodate the iPhone, which consists of several new schemes to choose from. The schemes include four variations of touch joystick controls and allow players to incorporate tilt for strafing or turning. Overall, the controls work better than one might expect for a first person shooter and allow significant customization. Currently the controls do not allow for tilt forward movement; this is an addition I would truly love to see. Once I got used to the tilt-to-strafe movements, several times I found myself instinctively trying to move forward with tilt. The greatest difference between iPhone and keyboard controls, in my opinion, is precision movement and aiming. These elements came naturally to the keyboard controls, but may take a little longer to get used to on iPhone (though I do believe it is possible to master).

Additional notable features include a new scrolling map that utilizes pinch controls; multiple difficulty levels; and episode & mission selection (including boss and secret levels).

Playing this game brought back a lot of great memories. The game transitions so well to the iPhone platform that newer gamers might not realize it was originally developed and published for PC. This is a great addition to the App Store.

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Gameplay Video:

~M@