Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Return to Castle Wolfenstein is a first-person shooter video game published by Activision, released on November 19, 2001 for Microsoft Windows and subsequently for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Linux and Macintosh. The game serves as both a remake and a reboot to the "Wolfenstein" series. It was developed by Gray Matter Interactive and Nerve Software developed its multiplayer mode. id Software, the creators of "Wolfenstein 3D", oversaw the development and were credited as executive producers. The multiplayer side eventually became the most popular part of the game, and was influential in the genre. Splash Damage created some of the maps for the Game of the Year edition. A sequel, titled "Wolfenstein", was released on August 18, 2009.
Wolfenstein 3D
"Wolfenstein 3D" was the second major release by id Software, after the "Commander Keen" series of episodes. In mid-1991, programmer John Carmack experimented with making a fast 3D game engine by restricting the gameplay and viewpoint to a single plane, producing "Hovertank 3D" and "Catacomb 3-D" as prototypes. After a design session prompted the company to shift from the family-friendly "Keen" to a more violent theme, programmer John Romero suggested remaking the 1981 stealth shooter "Castle Wolfenstein" as a fast-paced action game. He and designer Tom Hall designed the game, built on Carmack's engine, to be fast and violent, unlike other computer games on the market at the time. "Wolfenstein 3D" features artwork by Adrian Carmack and sound effects and music by Bobby Prince. The game was released through Apogee in two sets of three episodes under the shareware model, in which the first episode is released for free to drive interest in paying for the rest. An additional episode, "Spear of Destiny", was released as a stand-alone retail title through FormGen.