Wolfenstein

The Wolfenstein series follows American soldier William Joseph "B.J." Blazkowicz and his fight against supernatural Nazi forces; it depicts an alternate version of World War II where the Nazi war machine continues unheeded after the assassination of Adolf Hitler. Castle Wolfenstein was released in 1981 on the Apple II and later ported to DOS, Atari 400, Atari 800 and Commodore 64 developed and published by Muse Software. The sequel, Beyond Castle Wolfenstein, in 1984 on the Apple II and later ported to he Commodore 64 and DOS.

In 1992, id Software purchased the rights to the series and released Wolfenstein 3D, published by Apogee Software. id re-invented the series by changing it from an action stealth game into a first person shooter. id also brought the game into the 3D generation. Wolfenstein 3D help popularize the first person shooter genre on the PC and was regarded as one of the greatest games of all time. Wolfenstein 3D was released on MS-DOS, and later ported to Windows, Mac, Apple II GS, Acorn Archimedes, SNES and was later ported to the Jaguar, Game Boy Advance, 3DO and Xbox Live Marketplace. The sequel, Spear of Destiny, was released later that year on Windows and was published by FormGen Corporation instead of Apogee Software.

The next installment in the series was released 9 years later with Return to Castle Wolfenstein in 2001. Return to Castle Wolfenstein was released on Windows and later ported to Linux, Mac, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The game's single player was developed by Gray Matter Interactive and the multiplayer side was developed by Nerve Software. The entire development was overseen by id Software to make sure the Wolfenstein spirit was kept in tact. The game was published by Activision. In 2003, Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory was released on Windows for a free download over the internet. The game was developed by Splash Damage, who had developed some downloadable maps for Return to Castle Wolfenstein and published by Activision.

A new Wolfenstein title, called simply Wolfenstein was developed from Raven Software and was released on August 18, 2009. The game used id Tech 4 and was published by Activision. Followed by Wolfenstein: The New Order published by Bethesda and made by MachineGames as a sequel to the previous Wolfenstein.

MachineGames series (2014 - present)

In 2010, id Software commissioned Swedish developer MachineGames to create a new game in the Wolfenstein series. The New Order is a reboot which follows an alternate history in which the Nazis won World War II, and subsequently took over Europe and America. The main antagonist is Wilhelm Strasse (or Deathshead), an intelligent yet maniacal scientist who invents mechanical robots to fight against the Allied forces.

After B.J. Blazkowicz fails to eliminate Deathshead in his compound in 1946, he is forced to sacrifice one of his squad members and suffers a traumatic head injury while trying to escape death. Sometime later, B.J. washes up on a beach and is rescued by a Polish family. For the next 14 years, B.J. is nursed and looked after by Anya Oliwa at her family's mental hospital which is frequently targeted by the Nazis for the use of "subhumans" in Deathshead's experiments.

By 1960, B.J. wakes from his comatose state when the Nazis arrive to kill all the remaining hosptial patients and saves Anya from SS officer Fredrich Keller. The pair arrive at Anya's grandparent's home in rural Poland, who explain to B.J. that the Third Reich won World War II in 1948 when they launched an atomic bomb over Manhattan and that the resistance movement had been inactive in the years following. Keller informs B.J. during interrogation that the remaining resistance fighters were detained at Eisenwald Prison in Berlin. After killing all the Nazis at a checkpoint inspection and taking a train into Berlin, B.J. and Anya arrive into the city and B.J. quickly makes his way on top of a prison transport vehicle which is headed for Eisenwald. When B.J. arrives to rescue the resistance fighters, he rejoins with Ferugs / Wyatt who tells B.J. of an underground movement in the heart of Berlin consisting of remnants of the Kreisau Circle.