I'm always a bit of a Johnny Come-lately when it comes to games. I didn't play an FPS till I was 21. Didn't play Duke 3D until I was 22. Didn't play Doom until I was 23. And now that I'm 28 I have finally played and completed Wolfenstein 3D.

Id don't always live up to the hype in my opinion. I consider Quake to be one of the most overrated games of all time. And a lot of their games all have the same problems. Shared ammo pools, levels that take too long to finish, a total lack of immersion, AI that couldn't outsmart as a ham sandwich, and a really terrible boss fights. I've considered making a journal about the awful boss fights in Id games and maybe I still will. As of now the only Id games I haven't played are Rage and Doom (Does Doom 4 count as an Id game?) and none of them have had bosses that I would call great, but some are definitely worse than others (coughcoughQuakecoughcough).


So if Wolfenstein 3D was awful I wouldn't have been too disappointed. But heck, the game is good, almost great.
Sure it has problems. levels go on for way too long, it's easy to get lost due to repeating textures, and it does get samey after a while. But I don't feel the game is dated as people often say. I mean it's definitely dated technically. But the antiquated game design doesn't stop it from being fun.

The difficulty in this game is really well-balanced, whether you get slaughtered in seconds or are untouchable badass really comes down to how you play it. The fact that the difference between life and death is playing cautiously and being aware of your environment gives it a real sense of tension. It's much smarter than Id's later games. you can sneak up enemies, lured into traps, and while I still don't like the shared ammo pool, switching between weapons to get the best range adds some nice on-the-fly tactics.

The AI is also somehow smarter than in most other id games. They react to noise, follow each other, go on patrol, and will react with surprise if you blindside them. Unlike in other games where the AI attacks you on sight.
the bosses are also really fun.
They're dead simple, I beat mecha-Hitler on my second go. but the bobbing and weaving around cover is just fun. And the bosses have actual personality. Strangely, I think Wolf 3D might have the best bosses of the classic it games,
Also, that chain gun is just really fun to use!

The games also got a pretty good atmosphere. Turn the music off and put on some light horror fiction and the game becomes downright creepy. Combine that with the fact that you are really vulnerable at close range, and the game gets really tense.

I feel like Wolf 3D has been unfairly maligned. It's a romp. It may not have been a big tech breakthrough like Doom and Quake were, but even as someone who doesn't think that FPS games were ruined the second they stopped being all Doom clones, I was able to get into this and have a really good time. The game deserves more love.
I definitely enjoyed it more than Wolfenstein: The New Order!

So what do I play next; Return to Castle Wolfenstein, or Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold? Or maybe I should play Comander Keen instead!? 0_0



Here's how I'd rank the id games I've played so far.

Quake 2
Doom 1&2
Doom 3
Wolfenstein 3D
Quake 3 (Mostly due to my dislike of multiplayer games in general)
Quake
Catacomb 3D

Thanks for listening :)

Some good fps i like are: Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Blood (first game), if you can find a physical copy of No One Lives Forever 1 and 2, FEAR 1, Shadow Warrior Classic, Hexen series, Heretic series, Solder of Fortune and Painkiller Black.

If you liked Wolf3D then you should play Blake Stone, it's the same game in another setting and with some new features that make it a bit more polished. Don't bother playing the sequel, though, it's just a very cheap expansion.

Commander Keen isn't a FPS, but it is a good game; the series has aged fairly well. Blake Stone is a hell of mazes and mindless objective busywork.

Yeah the early id stuff never gets old, it just has that simple and satisfying gameplay loop. That said I rarely play past the first group of episodes now-a-days, just for time reasons, but they're all super fun to put on for a few levels. Don't be afraid to try Hexen/Heretic, they're very underrated early id style games.

My favorite FPS games from later years are FEAR, Crysis, Halo 1 and all the later Wolfenstein games. Yes, even Raven's Wolfenstein from 2009, which I think is super underrated.

Also FPS/RPG hybrids are maybe my favorite genre, if you haven't played those. Games like Deus Ex, Bioshock, Far Cry 3+, etc.

About the wolf3d enemies: They can be set to be deaf to gunshots until they see you then take action, hear gunshots take action. Set to patrol via waypoint arrows. Source: Someone made a Wolf3d map editor.

If you enjoyed those, I can recommend Heretic and Blake Stone.

If you want to play Wolf3D in Zdoom, there is a WAD available.

Wolf3D & The Spear of Destiny

I played most of these. But I haven't played FEAR, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, or Soldier of Fortune. I tend to zigzag in what types Of games I play.
Maybe I should have made it clearer that I am very experienced with FPS, But for some reason it took me seven years to get to Wolf 3D.



Blood is amazing, easily the best doom-style FPS ever made, and still probably in the top 10 of whole the genre,
I kind of liked No One lives Forever, but it's gimmicky and really hard. It still deserves a rerelease here though.
Shadow Warrior is almost as good as Blood. Best balance difficulty I've seen in an FPS game.
Never cared much for Hexan or Heretic. Heretic feels like doom re-skin but somehow less fun, Hexen was just a chore to play.
Painkiller was pretty cool. I want to play it again sometime. I just wonder if it can be modded so you can have the Battle out of Hell weapons in the main campaign? Thanks, I might give it a try :)

I'd be willing to read your journal (not just for the boss fights, maybe a more in-depth view of these oldies).

I played most of these when they came out, and they were great (with Doom and Quake being my favorites), so I'm very biased and can't see them for what they are. So, a fresh eye would be a good read.

I played Doom II last year (I think it was my first time, but I can't be sure), and I absolutely hated it.

Yeah the early id stuff never gets old, it just has that simple and satisfying gameplay loop.
It's true. Even the Doom-style games I don't like so much like Quake, Duke, and Hexen I still play quite a bit because they make good background noise games when listening to podcasts or audiobooks.

I love Crysis and Halo. I still need to play FEAR. Given that you are the second person here who told me to try it out maybe I should get round to it this year.
The only other Wolfenstein game I've played is The New Order, Which was fine, but I didn't feel like the weapons had much punch to them. They always seemed stronger when the enemies are using them.

I like a good FPS/RPG hybrid as well. Bioshock is my favourite game of all time and the one that got me into FPS games to begin with. I still haven't played Deus Ex yet. Maybe that should be my next game instead? ^^; I've played at least two games people often claim to be "The Best of all time" this year. Undertale and System Shock and enjoyed both immensely, So maybe now really is the time to play Deus Ex. I like Doom 2, But it does go on forever. They could have cut a couple of levels and given Quake some extra story instead. And the final boss is a bad joke.

Also, fuck archviles! Like I said, this seems to be more going on with the AI and Wolf 3D than in Doom. Doom and Quake may have been technical revelations, But Wolf is way more advanced than it looks.

I played heretic, it seems fine to me. It's basically the same as Doom but somehow not as fun?
I've heard some good things about Blake Stone. I've heard it was Half-life Before Half-life was a thing. Given I'm a huge Half-life fan that sounds pretty cool.

You should definitely play Return To Castle Wolfenstein, for me possibly the best FPS of all time.

Still haven't played Duke 3D, Doom 1 or 2, Quake 1 or 2 or 3, wolfenstein 3D.
Never really was into shooter games too much unless they were really something unique and good.And i am a few years older than you are.
Did only play Quake 4 and Doom3 with add-on, also return to castle wolfenstein i beat that one last year i believe and i did enjoy all of the games. First bought pc was 2004 i did have one a pc from 2002 when my father gave it to me.
Somehow i haven't noticed these games you mention the most, sure i will try doom 1 for the first time some day since i bought it here.
Other shooter games i enjoyed were Half life 2, Halo 1, Sin but i didn't have or played the gold version of it which i have now on GOG, aliens versus predator 2, FEAR
Also i did play all 3 stalker games and i kinda enjoyed call of pripyat the most, since it's my favorite game, but it has some rpg elements, do love the upgrading of weapons and armor there.
Also very different shooter game is boiling point road to hell which is xenus 1, never did i beat it even though i was close, still love that game also has upgradable weapons,rpg elements, you could also buy vehicles and drive around with them.

Also i think i just haven't played any shooter dos games that have pc keyboard only control yet i believe. And i haven't mentioned every shooter game i played.

Yup, those a quite good aside from not having a modern mouse setup by default (if I recall). I'm glad Blood is finally getting some modern love ala Nightdive, Atari was being pretty closefisted there for a while.

Even better in the Doom engine:
https://www.moddb.com/mods/wolfendoom

What can i say, i love old and janky controls it's part of the charm haha but even i cannot deny that if the Blood remaster is as good as Nightdives other efforts then i'm going to be happy either way.