Wolfenstein 3D Hits The Web For Its 20th Birthday

Wolfenstein 3D is back -- but this time, it's on the web.

First made available to PCs by id Software way back in 1992, Wolfenstein 3D is widely regarded as the game that defined the first-person shooter genre, which many now enjoy through popular games like Halo and Call of Duty.

To celebrate Wolfenstein 3D's 20th birthday, video game publisher Bethesda Softworks, whose parent company ZeniMax Media bought id Software back in 2009, released a browser-based version of the game on May 9. A tweet by id Software shared the good news, announcing,

Happy 20th, Wolfenstein 3D. Play the free browser version here wolfenstein.bethsoft.com

— id Software (@idSoftware) May 9, 2012

This means you can enjoy playing BJ Blazkowicz as he escapes from Nazis during World War II from the comfort of your favorite web browser -- for free.

LOOK:

In addition, as VentureBeat points out, Wolfenstein 3D Classic Platinum is available for free for your iPhone or iPad on iTunes, but only for a limited time.

Relive playing Wolfenstein 3D in all its pixelated glory here. And, if you're really a big Wolfenstein 3D fan, you can watch id Software co-founder and Wolfenstein 3D programmer John Carmack's commentary for the game.

Will you be playing the new versions of Wolfenstein 3D?

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Comments

[Jenfrag]

02:19 AM on 08/14/2012

wooah ! Very cool, hard to believe its been twenty years of Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake, Unreal, System/Bioshock, Counterstrike, Halo, Modern Warfare, Dead Space, NOVA...

http://www.fraglabs.com.au

[fergster]

03:28 PM on 05/13/2012

20 years!!! wow, I'm getting old.. Still, there's no better way to waste 30 minutes than shooting Nazis. Thanks for the freebie.

[elicourey]

12:47 PM on 05/13/2012

awesome!

[PathofTotality]

08:47 AM on 05/12/2012

Many hours spent on this and Doom when it came out.....maaaaany hours.

[white mende man]

03:28 PM on 05/12/2012

yeh, me too, I loved that game best of all.

[PathofTotality]

09:54 AM on 05/14/2012

Played the html version Saturday and it was great. Couldn't save my progress but still.....

[localmoversmoving]

11:21 PM on 05/11/2012

I love this game. I played the last two versions and they were simply amazing and moving motion great work !

[RobJames]

11:00 PM on 05/11/2012

I used to play this and Doom on my computer when I was a kid.

[brueso10]

07:08 PM on 05/11/2012

Played it on iPad for nostalgia's sake and get serious dizzy from the single control.

[AngryMonkey]

09:20 PM on 05/10/2012

Cool, CGA graphics in 2012. On that note I will return to Skyrim.

[Gummy Bear]

11:33 AM on 05/11/2012

This game is why you have games like Skyrim. Pfft.

[AngryMonkey]

11:51 AM on 05/11/2012

Ya and why I have no desire to go back and play it, because of games like Skrim, COD, Starcraft, and Diablo. At least it is a step above the lame games on the iPad.

[dino213aa]

12:16 PM on 05/11/2012

actually VGA.

[AngryMonkey]

01:14 PM on 05/11/2012

Yeah i tmight of been that. Was trying to remember that far back. I remember paying lots for a EGA card when I got Bard's Tale.

[nishioka]

08:33 PM on 05/10/2012

Played this in the school library in middle school - on a military base in Germany.

The librarian thought it was hilarious, but I'm not sure if she was just laughing at a video game with characters that cried "mein leben!", or enjoying the irony of American kids shooting computerized Nazis in Germany 50 years after World War II, or what.

[woody7]

11:33 AM on 05/11/2012

totally concurr

[Midnight Son]

03:53 PM on 05/11/2012

I had some hilarious hacks for it. One, entitled Operation Barneystein, replaced all the nazis images and sounds with Beavis and Butthead, with the final boss being the notorious purple dinosaur that tried to kill you with bad music. LOL!

[Midnight Son]

04:06 PM on 05/11/2012

Shoulda done a web search. This page has the DOS version of the hack I mentioned, in addition to a Mac version that the maintainer of the page made. Also, it's got all the old tools up one needs to make their own.

http://www.hiaaron.com/wolf3d/gutentag-content.html

[Mister President]

07:48 PM on 05/10/2012

Die Nazis die!

[MilesLong]

06:59 PM on 05/10/2012

How many sleepless nights?!! {chuckle}

Miles "Time Flies" Long

[ChimpsWithNukes]

06:44 PM on 05/10/2012

These stories make me feel old. I used to play the original Wolfenstein on the Apple II during computer class in high school.

[M A Ross]

01:22 AM on 05/12/2012

I'm old enough to remember the first Castle Wolfenstein for Apple ][e...

~ Halt! Alspise? Hile!