Beyond Castle Wolfenstein

Like its predecessor, Beyond Castle Wolfenstein is a combination action and adventure game. It is set in World War II during Adolf Hitler's rule as Chancellor of Germany. The objective of the game is to traverse all the levels of the secret Berlin bunker where the Führer is holding secret meetings with his senior staff. The player must retrieve a bomb that the operatives have placed inside the bunker and place it outside the door of the room where Hitler is holding his meeting, a scenario bearing a passing resemblance to the July 20 plot.

Released: 1 June 1984
Platforms: Apple II Atari 8-bit Commodore 64 MS-DOS
Genres: Action-adventure Adventure Shooter Stealth World War II
Developers: Muse Software
Publishers: Muse Software
Series: Wolfenstein
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric
Themes: Action Fantasy Historical Stealth
Country: United States
Languages: English
Entry: #2 in Wolfenstein
Time to beat: 5hwith extras

About

Beyond Castle Wolfenstein is a 1984 action-adventure game developed and published by Muse Software. A direct sequel to Castle Wolfenstein, it is the second game in the Wolfenstein series. Castle Wolfenstein was written solely by Silas Warner for the Apple II, 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.

›Story

You're practically a secret weapon since you escaped torture in Castle Wolfenstein. Nobody gets past Nazi guards better than you. That's why your commanders have a favor to ask: deliver a "package" to the Fuehrer. The Underground has smuggled a bomb into a closet inside the Fuehrer's Berlin Bunker.

Now it's up to you to move it to a secret conference room, set the timer... and escape. And that won't be easy. The bunker is crawling with elite stormtroopers.

Any one of them will trip the alarm at the least suspicion of trouble. But you're not worried. You're ready for whatever it takes to win this war. You're ready to go Beyond Castle Wolfenstein.

Keywords

world war ii - ww2
murder
sequel
villain
nazis
fascism

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Like its predecessor, Beyond Castle Wolfenstein is a combination action and adventure game with stealth elements set in Nazi Germany during World War II. The objective is to traverse the levels of the secret Berlin bunker where Adolf Hitler 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, paddles, or the keyboard, although the keyboard is the only option that allows for all commands.

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.