Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that can help answer the question.
Query: Who created the game Return to Castle Wolfenstein?
The Wolfenstein series of video games started with the 1981 stealth-adventure video game Castle Wolfenstein. It was developed by American programmer Silas Warner, a pioneer in the early eras of video gaming, especially the stealth genre. It was published by his (then) company M.U.S.E. Inc. (Muse Software). The player controls an unnamed American prisoner of war as he steals war files containing information about secret German war plans while avoiding or sometimes killing guards, and tries to escape the fortified Nazi stronghold Castle Wolfenstein, set during World War II. The game is often credited as one of the first video games of the stealth genre, since it focuses more on avoiding or disarming enemies, and killing them is considered a last resort.[2]
Ten more titles, Beyond Castle Wolfenstein, Wolfenstein 3D, Wolfenstein 3D: The Spear of Destiny, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, Wolfenstein RPG, Wolfenstein, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Wolfenstein: The Old Blood and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus have been published as games of the Wolfenstein series since the release of Castle Wolfenstein in 1981 by M.U.S.E. Inc.
"Castle Wolfenstein" inspired the game "Wolfenstein 3D" and its prequel "Spear of Destiny" by id Software, which were both released in 1992 and helped popularize the first-person shooter genre. Id went on to release "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" in 2001, "" in 2003, "Wolfenstein" in 2009. "", using the Id game engine id Tech 5, but developed and published by MachineGames and Bethesda Softworks, respectively, was released in 2014.
"PC Gamer US" awarded "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" its 2001 "Best Multiplayer Game" prize. The editors wrote, "No other FPS rewards this level of teamplay, sports this kind of graphics, or is this blissfully free of cheaters."
Silas Warner was inspired to create "Castle Wolfenstein" after seeing the video game "Berzerk" at an arcade, and then watching the 1961 film adaptation of "The Guns of Navarone" on television a few weeks later.
"Return to Castle Wolfenstein" is a reboot of the early first-person shooter "Wolfenstein 3D". It includes a story-based single player campaign (which uses certain themes from the original game), as well as a team-based networked multiplayer mode.
Return to Castle Wolfenstein is a first-person shooter video game published by Activision, released on November 19, 2001 for Microsoft Windows and subsequently for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Linux and Macintosh. The game serves as both a remake and a reboot to the "Wolfenstein" series. It was developed by Gray Matter Interactive and Nerve Software developed its multiplayer mode. id Software, the creators of "Wolfenstein 3D", oversaw the development and were credited as executive producers. The multiplayer side eventually became the most popular part of the game, and was influential in the genre. Splash Damage created some of the maps for the Game of the Year edition. A sequel, titled "Wolfenstein", was released on August 18, 2009.
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory is a free and open-source multiplayer first-person shooter video game set during World War II. It was originally planned to be released as a commercial expansion pack to "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" and later as a standalone game. However, due to problems with the single-player aspect, the multiplayer portion was released on 29 May 2003 as a freeware standalone game. In January 2004, the source code for the game logic (not the game engine) was released to the benefit of its modding community.
"Castle Wolfenstein" became so popular that by 1984 at least one commercial game trainer for a video game was created for it. Muse released a sequel, "Beyond Castle Wolfenstein", which is similar in gameplay and appearance. The objective is to assassinate Adolf Hitler with a bomb hidden in a briefcase, similar to the 20 July plot as part of Operation Valkyrie implemented by Claus von Stauffenberg.
A 1991 "Computer Gaming World" survey of strategy and war games gave "Castle Wolfenstein" one and a half stars out of five. However, in 1996, the magazine named "Castle Wolfenstein" the 116th best game ever.
Although id Software did not develop another "Wolfenstein" game, as their development focus shifted to "Doom" shortly after release, and has never returned to the series, multiple "Wolfenstein" titles have been produced by other companies, sometimes using game engines developed by id. The first of these newer "Wolfenstein" games was "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" in 2001, a reboot of the series, and the latest is the 2017 "".
"Castle Wolfenstein", originally available in 1981, employed stealth elements as a focus of the gameplay. Players were charged with traversing the levels of "Castle Wolfenstein", stealing secret plans and escaping. Players could acquire uniforms to disguise themselves and walk by guards undetected. "Beyond Castle Wolfenstein", released in 1984, included some additions to its predecessor, such as a dagger for close-range kills and a greater emphasis on disguising in enemy uniform. id Software's updated 1992 remake "Wolfenstein 3D" was originally going to feature some of the original's stealth gameplay, such as body hiding, but this was cut to make the game faster paced. As a result of these changes, "Wolfenstein" would instead pave the way for later 3D action games, specifically first-person shooters.
There are many different releases of "Return to Castle Wolfenstein". The original release, version 1.0, came in a game box featuring a book-like flap. A Collector's Edition, packaged in a metal case, was released at the same time. The contents of the Collector's Edition changed depending on when it was purchased and could include a poster and fabric patch, a poster and a bonus CD, or just the bonus CD. The Game of the Year Edition (2002 - v.1.33) came with the original "Wolfenstein 3D", game demos, and seven new multiplayer maps (Trenchtoast, Tram Siege, Ice, Chateau, Keep, The Damned, and Rocket.) The Platinum Edition (2004 - v.1.41) included "", a stand-alone multiplayer expansion, and "Wolfenstein 3D". "Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War" also came with the original "Wolfenstein 3D" as an unlockable after beating the campaign, and included some enhancements like surround sound.
A multiplayer-only spinoff of the series, "Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory", was originally planned as a full-fledged expansion pack for "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" developed by Splash Damage. The single player component of the game was never completed and thus was removed entirely. The developers at that point decided the multiplayer part would be released as a free, downloadable standalone game. "Enemy Territory" is a team-based networked multiplayer game which involves completing objectives through teamwork using various character classes.
Beyond Castle Wolfenstein is a 1984 World War II stealth game. A direct sequel to "Castle Wolfenstein", it is the second game in the "Wolfenstein" series, and the last installment to be released by original developer Muse Software before the name was revived for a first person shooter in 1991. "Castle Wolfenstein" was written solely by Silas Warner for the Apple II, while the sequel was 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 family and MS-DOS.
"Return to Castle Wolfenstein" debuted at #3 on NPD Intelect's computer game sales chart for the November 18–24 period, at an average retail price of $57. It fell to position 7 in its second week. By the end of 2001, the game's domestic sales totaled 253,852 units, for revenues of $13.1 million.
"Return to Castle Wolfenstein" received favorable reviews from critics. At Metacritic, it scores 88/100 (based on 32 reviews), and on GameRankings it scores 86.75% (based on 50 reviews). "Eurogamer"'s Tom Bramwell called "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" "a worthy addition to the stable of id Software affiliated shoot 'em ups. The single player game is average to good and takes quite a while to finish, but the game really earns its salt by shipping with a first class multiplayer element."
Micro Users Software Exchange, Inc., doing business as Muse Software, was an American video game developer based in Baltimore, Maryland, focusing on the development of games for the first generation of home computers. The company began with developing games for Apple II, and later expanded to the Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit family, and MS-DOS. They are best known for creating the "Wolfenstein" series, having developed the first two installments: 1981's "Castle Wolfenstein" and its 1984 sequel, "Beyond Castle Wolfenstein". The series is now owned by id Software.
The first two games in the series, Castle Wolfenstein and Beyond Castle Wolfenstein, were stealth-based and featured a 2D top-down perspective. The third game in the franchise, Wolfenstein 3D, developed by id Software, introduced a first-person perspective with faster-paced action. Because of this, it is widely regarded to have helped popularize the first-person shooter genre. In 2001, the series was rebooted with Return to Castle Wolfenstein, developed by Gray Matter Interactive. It was followed in 2003 by Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, by Splash Damage. Raven Software's Wolfenstein followed in 2009. After ZeniMax Media acquired id Software, Swedish developer MachineGames released Wolfenstein: The New Order in 2014 and a standalone expansion Wolfenstein: The Old Blood in 2015. A direct sequel to The New Order entitled Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus was released on October 27, 2017.
The game is a loose remake of Return to Castle Wolfenstein, with heavy resemblances noticed within the storylines of the two games, as well as the existence of various characters as homages to the ones from the older title. Developed by MachineGames and published by Bethesda Softworks, the game serves as a stand-alone expansion pack to Wolfenstein: The New Order, and was released in 2015.
In March 2008, the United States Department of State published a report to Congress, "Contemporary Global Anti-Semitism", that described "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" as an "anti-Semitic video game" with no qualifications. The report picked up on an article originally written in 2002 by Jonathan Kay of the New York Times regarding the recent introduction of "Nazi protagonists" in the online gaming market (referring specifically to "Day of Defeat" and Wolfenstein). The article was published just 19 days before "" was released which shares many similar features, and Nazis as playable characters in multiplayer.
B.J. Blazkowicz entered the "Wolfenstein" series with "Wolfenstein 3D" in 1992. The motion comic series created to promote 2009's "Wolfenstein" claims a continuous (partially retconned) timeline with "Wolfenstein 3D", "Spear of Destiny", "Return to Castle Wolfenstein", and finally "Wolfenstein" (later continued in "", "" and "").
The company's breakout product was released on May 5, 1992: "Wolfenstein 3D", a first-person shooter (FPS) with smooth 3D graphics that were unprecedented in computer games, and with violent gameplay that many gamers found engaging. After essentially founding an entire genre with this game, id Software created "Doom", "", "Quake", "Quake II", "Quake III Arena", "Quake 4", and "Doom 3". Each of these first-person shooters featured progressively higher levels of graphical technology. "Wolfenstein 3D" spawned a prequel and a sequel: the prequel called "Spear of Destiny", and the second, "Return to Castle Wolfenstein", using the id Tech 3 engine. A third "Wolfenstein" sequel, simply titled "Wolfenstein", was released by Raven Software, using the id Tech 4 engine. Another sequel, named ""; was developed using the id Tech 5 engine and released by MachineGames in 2014, with it getting a prequel by the name of "" a year later; followed by a direct sequel titled "" in 2017.
In the German version of the game, it avoids making direct reference to Nazi Party and the "Third Reich", in order to comply with strict laws in Germany. The player is not battling Nazis but a secret sect called the "Wolves" led by Heinrich Höller, whose name is a pun of the original character Himmler (Himmler roughly translates as ""Heaven"er", Höller as ""Hell"er"). The Nazi swastika is also not present: the German forces use a Wolfenstein logo which is a combination of a stylized double-headed eagle prominent in most Nazi symbolism, a "W" (standing for Wolfenstein), and the "Quake III: Team Arena" "QIII" logo (the game engine and network code that "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" is based upon). The "W" eagle logo is prominently seen on the cover art for the American version.
A "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" film was announced in 2002 with Rob Cohen attached to direct. Little information has been available since, however, with the exception of a July 20, 2005 IGN interview. The interview discussed the "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" film with id employees. In the interview, Todd Hollenshead indicated that the movie was in the works, though still in the early stages.