Wolfenstein 3D
There may have been first-person perspective games before this, but so far as I know Wolfenstein 3D pretty much launched the First-Person-Shooter genre. When I was a kid, if you had a PC, you had a copy of Wolfenstein. Especially since, being share-ware, the first episode was free to play and you were sure to know someone who would pass the floppy on to you.
Wolfenstein may not have had the graphical prowess of soon-to-follow games like Doom and Duke Nukem 3D, but it could pretty much run on any system so pretty much anyone with a half-decent PC could play it.
I remember overhearing kids talk about Wolfenstein 3D at summer camp and spotting copies for sale at a computer convention at the Ex one year back in the early 90s. I can't remember exactly how I came across my copy, but I certainly got a lot of life out of it. I also got this game around the same time that I had finally received a sound card for my PC and so hearing Nazis coming up behind me and guard dogs chasing me down a hall was a new experience for me. It was pretty awesome and really added to the whole immersion of the first-person experience.
Wolfenstein 3D was also rolled around at a good time, content wise. I mean, Indiana Jones was still new and really, Nazis were still fresh as a popular video game antagonist. So throwing in a boss battle with Hitler was both hilarious, scary and a fairly new idea. Plus, it really gave you a seemingly decent outlet for all this violence. Because, who cares for Nazis? Right? Right. Seriously though, at the time, they were scary as all hell. It really didn't matter what they were, hearing guys around the corner when you're down to a few percents of health got you real nervous real quick. And this was pretty common; the levels weren't designed with cover like they are now, you were pretty much out in the open when some solder decided to run at you with a chaingun while dogs are at your heels.
Wolfenstein 3D is over 20 years old now, which is always a crazy thought. A game that could easily fit on a 3.5" floppy disk and could probably be carried via a text message nowadays. I think you can even find this playable through your browser and you can most defiantly find this available to play on your mobile phone. I wonder if John Romero ever imagined that was going to happen when he developed this game back in 1991.
There may have been first-person perspective games before this, but so far as I know Wolfenstein 3D pretty much launched the First-Person-Shooter genre. When I was a kid, if you had a PC, you had a copy of Wolfenstein. Especially since, being share-ware, the first episode was free to play and you were sure to know someone who would pass the floppy on to you. Wolfenstein may not have had the graphical prowess of soon-to-follow games like Doom and Duke Nukem 3D, but it could pretty much run on any system so pretty much anyone with a half-decent PC could play it.
I remember overhearing kids talk about Wolfenstein 3D at summer camp and spotting copies for sale at a computer convention at the Ex one year back in the early 90s. I can't remember exactly how I came across my copy, but I certainly got a lot of life out of it. I also got this game around the same time that I had finally received a sound card for my PC and so hearing Nazis coming up behind me and guard dogs chasing me down a hall was a new experience for me. It was pretty awesome and really added to the whole immersion of the first-person experience. Wolfenstein 3D was also rolled around at a good time, content wise. I mean, Indiana Jones was still new and really, Nazis were still fresh as a popular video game antagonist. So throwing in a boss battle with Hitler was both hilarious, scary and a fairly new idea. Plus, it really gave you a seemingly decent outlet for all this violence. Because, who cares for Nazis? Right? Right. Seriously though, at the time, they were scary as all hell. It really didn't matter what they were, hearing guys around the corner when you're down to a few percents of health got you real nervous real quick. And this was pretty common; the levels weren't designed with cover like they are now, you were pretty much out in the open when some solder decided to run at you with a chaingun while dogs are at your heels. Wolfenstein 3D is over 20 years old now, which is always a crazy thought. A game that could easily fit on a 3.5" floppy disk and could probably be carried via a text message nowadays. I think you can even find this playable through your browser and you can most defiantly find this available to play on your mobile phone. I wonder if John Romero ever imagined that was going to happen when he developed this game back in 1991.
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