Slow start

At the beginning of the 80s they were still being shot at, today they are promoted to the German parliament by 20% of voters: Nazis. More than almost any other series, the Wolfenstein-series stands under the slender and catchy Antifa motto “Kill Nazis”. This began in 1981 in the visually poorly aged Castle Wolfenstein by Muse Software for the Apple II and ended most recently in the semi-good Wolfenstein: Youngblood by MachineGames from 2019.

As a result, the story is wrapped up quickly - it is a shooter after all: we play the one-man army William “B.J.” Blazkowicz, who has to prevent the world domination of the notorious nationalists. The end. If you still want to take a more in-depth look, you can read my opinion on first game of the reboot, Wolfenstein: The New Order (2014), in the accompanying game review.

Meanwhile, I'd like to talk about the music of the Wolfenstein games ... except that there wasn't any in the first two 2D games. That's why this review is about the soundtrack of 1992's Wolfenstein 3D and its expansion , which are generally regarded as the forefathers of the 3D shooter. For the DOS-Version, which I am referring to in this review, the soundtrack was composed by Robert 'Bobby' Prince. Prince worked primarily as a composer and sound designer for id Software and 3D Realms in the 1990s and was therefore also responsible for the music of other classics such as Doom (1993) and Duke Nukem 3D (1996).

As someone who was only born two months after the release of Wolfenstein 3D - and because the Wolfenstein-games were indexed in Germany due to their swastika symbolism - I naturally had no contact with the pixel milestones. Accordingly, it is difficult for me to get anything out of the droning of the 27 tracks on the Gamerip. The MIDI aesthetics alone immediately give me Transport Tycoon- and Monkey Island-vibes, which somehow doesn't really fit in with the shooter genre for me. What's more, the tracks are usually only a minute long, but repeat themselves several times in that time - a sign of the times, no doubt.

However, the criticism is completely misplaced in view of Prince's pioneering musical work, as the American showed a year later in Doom, that he could compose catchy soundtracks that still work today. However, the music from the first 3DWolfenstein does not achieve this cult status. It is too generic and irrelevant for that.

The composer does manage a nice best-of medley of American battle hymns such as Yankee Doodle, The Star-Spangled Banner and Dixieland with The March to War; and Enemy Around the Corner sounds a bit like witching hour, but as an outsider you will look in vain for highlights. Fans from back then can certainly enjoy this or the Rework Midi Soundtrack released in 2019, but I'll stick with Doom in the meantime.