Est. 1998
Playing Out of Control Gaming

Retro reviews, vintage hardware, classic PC builds, and modern ways to keep old games alive.

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Home Games Wolfenstein Wolfenstein 3D
Wolfenstein 3D
WolfensteinDOSWindows 95/98Shooter

Wolfenstein 3D

Developer: id Software · Published by Apogee Software · 1992
The 1992 first-person shooter that defined a genre and put id Software on the map.
FPSSharewareNazisSingle Player
Not yet reviewed
About This Game

Wolfenstein 3D is a first-person shooter developed by id Software and published by Apogee Software in 1992 for MS-DOS. Casting the player as an American prisoner of war attempting to escape a Nazi stronghold, it established the template for the genre with its fast-paced maze navigation, hidden secrets, and frantic gunplay. The shareware release of the first episode became a phenomenon, and the full game, along with the standalone prequel Spear of Destiny, cemented id Software as a defining force in early 1990s PC gaming. Over the years it was ported to numerous platforms, including the Super Nintendo, 3DO, Atari Jaguar, and Game Boy Advance, often with significant technical compromises due to the hardware limitations of the time.

Screenshots8 shots
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In the News3 mentions
Jun 192026
Bobby Prince, the Man Who Gave Doom Its Sound, Has Died at 81
Bobby Prince, the composer behind Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, and Duke Nukem 3D, has died at 81. His Doom score entered the Library of Congress just a month earlier.
Industry
Apr 131999
100,000 Units of Mortyr To Ship
Mortyr has received great retail acceptance and is expected to be one of the largest iMagic retail launches since Apache, and is expected to head to stores over 100,000 units to retail.
Release
Feb 231999
Mortyr to Be One of Interactive Magic’s Biggest Launches Ever
Mortyr to Be One of Interactive Magic's Biggest Launches Ever moves into players' hands through a shipment, demo, patch, beta, or gold master in February 1999.
Release
In Features & Editorial1 mentions
The Men Who Handed Me the Controller
Adam had three father figures, and every one of them put a console or a keyboard in his hands. One made him a Sega guy for life. One handed him the web software that built POCG. One bought him a PlayStation just so he could keep writing.
Jun 21, 2026
How to Play TodayYour options for running this game in 2026
Original Hardware
The DOS original shipped as shareware and full episodes. It runs on period DOS hardware.
Modern Re-release
Available digitally on Steam and in id collections, plus numerous official console ports over the years.
Emulation / Other Options
Runs in DOSBox, and source ports make it playable natively on modern systems.