Overthinking the 30th Anniversary of Wolfenstein 3D

BJ Blazkowicz's Key Art for Quake Champions. Taken from Bethesda.

In my recent post about Commander Keen, I've mentioned the potential reveal of Wolfenstein 3D re-release as a part of celebration for its 30th anniversary. Now I would like to redirect my attention to Blazkowicz's franchise and what could be stored for it this and the next year. I've done something similar with Quake before, and I ended up being partially right... Not that it was really hard, but a couple of times I was at least very close to the truth regarding re-releases of classic games with other example being Blizzard Arcade Collection.

Besides additional thoughts on previously mentioned re-release of classic game, I would suggest two more older titles from Wolfenstein series that could get more attention from id Software & Bethesda and do a short recap on what's up with the third "New" game based on publically available information. You know, my usual stuff.

Postponed Climax.

There hasn't been much Wolfenstein news after the release of Youngblood & Cyberpilot, both of which seem to receive mixed or negative reviews. Public's receptions of these spin-off titles might've had an effect on franchise's presence in recent years, as the gameplay and narrative flaws of cooperative game definitely weren't praised by the fans. Also The New Colossus has been rather divisive at least in some of its narrative aspects.

It's been known for that Blazkowicz's "New" series will be a trilogy, and general reaction to the sequel would've suggested a greenlight. However, I would assume that developers' focus on previously mentioned games coupled with their criticsm make me believe that Machine Games & Bethesda slowed down the development of "Wolfenstein 3" to reconsider their approach to its narrative that seemed to shift away from the initial gritty seriousness of first chapter and its prequel. Not to mention that it's not the only game they're working on nowadays.

Since it's going to be the last game in the series, it's important to get it right. Getting a proper ending can be difficult and there're already some exceptions as they've already mentioned Mecha Hitler and different approach to the format, I would suspect that they took some time to make sure that everything works in the right way. Either way, we just have to get an official announcement this year as the anniversary of the franchise as we know it is the perfect opportunity for it despite whenever it actually gets released. After all, Bethesda did announced The Elder Scrolls 6 way ahead of time.

Wolf Veterans.

Announcement of the final new Wolfenstein this year with a surprise drop of Wolfenstein 3D's re-release is the perfect marketing opportunity for the franchise. You know, "experience the beginning before the end" kind of deal as Machine Games seem to treat classic game as a part of the New series with some alterations here and there where William actually lost to Adolf in this universe. With the hint of time travel in Youngblood, I wouldn't be surprised if it all "ends at the beginning" sort of speak. Anyway...

This provides even more reasons to "bring back" the "grandfather of First Person Shooters" in 2022, and there's a perfect candidate for it. Nerve Software were responsible for recent re-releases of DOOM & DOOM 2 that used Unity as a wrapper for original games. Previously they ported them to Xbox Live Arcade and those ports still considered by us as the best console version of the game. They did the same for Wolfenstein 3D, so Nerve are the most obvious candidate for similar kind of ports. Perhaps they would go even a step further and add a bit "remaster" flavor to it by offering the visuals of some console & Mac ports. At the very least through add-on, like Quake 64 in recent Enhanced re-release.

Wolfenstein 3D on Macintosh Screenshot. Taken from MobyGames.

Speaking of which, there's another interesting piece of trivia I've found that could result to result in resurgence of another classic game. Just like DOOM 64 was re-released and offered as a pre-order bonus for DOOM Eternal, I think there's a chance for Return to Castle Wolfenstein to get similar treatment with the release of "Wolfenstein 3D". Reason for that is simple: Nerve Software ported the game to the original Xbox as Tides of War version back in a day, so they're at the top of the list again.

But that's just me being overly optimistic about all of this. Perhaps we would have to wait for another year for this to happen while maybe Commander Keen gets some attention as previously mentioned ports of classic DOOM games were released a year after series' 25th anniversary. Or we just get nothing besides the new game, that's also possible. At the end, I would go even further and say that getting Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory on Steam & GOG would've been awesome: game is a freeware and available on Splash Damage's website, so its really more about convenience for the players. I mean, the game's is there on Bethesda's Support page and was or still is downloadble through their launcher.