Wolfenstein 3D Run, gun and hunt secrets

The loop is simple and it never slows down: kill everything, find the keys, reach the elevator. You start each episode with a knife and a pistol, and work your way up to a machine pistol and a machine gun, all sharing one ammo pool, so every shot counts. Enemies hear your gunfire and come running, which turns a quiet corridor into a firefight in seconds. Guards shout when they spot you, SS troops hit harder, and the mutants from Operation Eisenfaust are fast and ugly. One mistake can cost you a life, and the game is genuinely difficult. It rewards speed, not caution: you do not sneak through Castle Wolfenstein, you blast through it.

Every level hides rooms behind walls that slide open when you push them, stuffed with ammo, health, treasure and sometimes whole extra floors. Finding them is a highlight, and the score screen at the end rewards you for it, along with killing everyone and beating the clock. The soundtrack carries the whole run along, and the enemies' shouted lines have stuck in players' heads for thirty years. When the six episodes are done, the included prequel Spear of Destiny sends you into Castle Nuremberg to steal back a relic the Nazis believe makes its bearer unbeatable. The game is also moddable, so there is plenty to play beyond the original campaigns.