''Beyond Castle Wolfenstein'' is a 1984

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

stealth game A stealth game is a type of video game in which the player primarily uses ''stealth'' to avoid or overcome opponents. Games in the video game genre, genre typically allow the player to remain undetected by hiding, sneaking, or using disguises. S ...

. A direct sequel to '' Castle Wolfenstein'', it is the second game in the '' Wolfenstein'' series, and the last installment to be released by original developer Muse Software before the name was revived for a

first-person shooter A first-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre, video game centered on gun fighting and other weapon-based combat seen from a First person (video games), first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action directly through t ...

in 1991. ''Castle Wolfenstein'' was written solely by Silas Warner for the

Apple II Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed ...

, while the sequel was developed simultaneously for the Apple II and Commodore 64 by Warner, Eric Ace, and Frank Svoboda III. It was quickly ported to the Atari 8-bit computers and MS-DOS.

Gameplay

Like its predecessor, ''Beyond Castle Wolfenstein'' is a combination action and

adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story, driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...

with stealth elements set in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

during

. The objective is to traverse the levels of the secret

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...

where

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

is holding meetings with his senior staff. The player must retrieve a bomb that operatives have hidden inside the bunker, place it outside the room where Hitler is holding a meeting, and escape before the bomb explodes. The game shows a top-down view of each room, though the characters are from a side view. The player explores the levels by sneaking by, impersonating, and sometimes killing opponents. The game is controlled via a

joystick A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Also known as the control column, it is the principal control devic ...

, paddles, or the keyboard, although the keyboard is the only option that allows for all commands. The play is similar to its predecessor, but with some updates. The guards use a pass system, in which the player is periodically summoned by guards and asked to show the correct pass (which varies by floor), or offer a bribe. If an incorrect pass is shown or the bribe is rejected due to the lack of money (for a total of two times), the guard will attempt to activate a bunker-wide alarm or kill the player. The bodies of dead guards can be dragged through the room to conceal them, block passages, or gain access to objects. The

grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...

s of the previous game have been replaced with a dagger which can silently kill guards. Upon successful completion of the game, the player is rewarded with a high resolution image of the bunker exploding with the player running away in the foreground.

Reception

Harvey Berstein of '' Antic'' wrote in 1985 of the Atari 8-bit version: "while there have been some minor improvements, the game play doesn't provide nearly as much depth as the documentation suggests." He criticized the game for having the same Apple II-like graphics as its predecessor and slow loading speed. He also pointed out, "Once you know which passes to use, you can breeze through the game", discouraging replay. In January 1985, ''Computer Entertainer'' rated the Atari 8-bit version 5½ out of 8 stars. A 1991 ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...

'' survey of strategy and war games gave it two stars out of five.

Reviews

* '' Ahoy!'' July 1984 * ''Atari Computer Enthusiasts'' March 1985 * ''Personal Software'' August 1984 * ''Softalk'' July 1984 * '' Video Game Update'' July 1984

References

External links

* * * * {{Muse Software 1984 video games Apple II games Atari 8-bit computer games Commercial video games with freely available source code Commodore 64 games Cultural depictions of Adolf Hitler Muse Software games Single-player video games Stealth video games Video games about Nazi Germany Video games developed in the United States Wolfenstein World War II video games