wolfenstein 3D: a level-by-level breakdown
(note: due to the extreme simplicity of wolfenstein’s design ethos, i will be forgoing screenshots, with a few exceptions. you’ve seen one wolf3d screenshot, you’ve seen them all. if you would like to see the game in action, i recommend this LP.)
EPISODE ONE: ESCAPE FROM WOLFENSTEIN
the iconic shareware episode, and the only one available for free -- thus often the only one many people played. like many others, i'd only ever played the shareware episode, but it's still just as captivating as it once was all those years ago. in terms of design aesthetic, wolfenstein 3D may be somewhat primitive and abstract by today's standards, though it's worth mentioning that there are occasional attempts at realistic touches such as the dog kennel in E1L1. the basic premise is identical to that of the original classic: you've been taken captive in the dungeons of the nazi-occupied castle wolfenstein, and it's up to you to get out.
E1L1
the classic first level. we begin in medias res, with you already having been captured and now attempting your escape. there's a dead guard in front of you, and you're armed with a knife, and the guard's luger, 8 rounds in the magazine, and a pumping soundtrack to get you primed for nazi murder. a somewhat linear affair save for a quick side trip into the kennels. savvy players who know their secrets can find the elevator to the secret level behind not one, but two secrets at the very end of the map.
E1 SECRET
if you're brave enough to try this secret level, the difficulty takes a major leap upwards as MP40-toting SS guards join the regular grunts in defending this huge maze, which seems like an underground cave system, perhaps beneath the bottom levels of the castle proper. creepy music serenades you as you navigate the tunnels, and it seems like every corridor has at least one secret to be found. cool fakeout ambush if you choose the wrong exit door at the end.
E1L2
whether or not you did the secret level, SS goons are here as well. not the biggest maze in the world, but a huge chunk of it is entirely optional. aside from a big kitchen area, kennels and a prison there's a pair of big torture chambers too, full of the skeletons adrian carmack drew to get a rise out of the suits at formgen who were nervous about the violence.
E1L3
another maze of torture rooms, prison cells and officer's quarters. an optional series of boxy rooms is largely featureless but if you know where to look you can find a secret treasure vault.
E1L4
while mostly still a fairly featureless series of rooms, this does feature a few points of interest, for example the wood-carved swastika that dominates a room on the southern end of the map, as well as one of the rare secrets that actually gives itself away by the puddle of water before it, suggesting a leak of some kind.
E1L5
the heat turns up quite a bit for this one, with enemies around every corner, especially on higher difficulties. you'll have more than one chance to just unload with the chaingun until everyone's dead. it also features an enormous secret area -- probably the biggest in the episode -- that's full of treasure, ammo -- and guards.
E1L6
not the longest or most complex level, but there's plenty of nazis to murder in this nearly entirely red-brick complex of mostly straight hallways and round rooms. you'll have to go one way for the key, then another for the exit. a cute little barracks with plenty of treasure is the standout landmark here. watch out for the SS ambush right by the exit.
E1L7
one of the few levels in this episode we can conclusively attribute to one of the designers, tom hall in this case, thanks to a comment he'd made that was published in the hint manual. in it he describes the central landmark of the map, a long hallway lined with gaps in the walls, the gaps filled with impassable columns. behind them are large rooms filled with guards, and traversing the hallway is basically a gauntlet as a small army of troops fire upon you from behind the columns. reaching them is a matter of following the hallways around to the rooms they're in, but once they're alert they'll start spreading out, making tracking them down difficult. it's a cool idea and an early example of the kind of creative level design that we would later see in doom.
E1L8
another all-brick affair, save for a little bit of wood paneling and a grey stone barracks area in the northwest corner. a very short level all told, surprisingly light on resistance for so late in the episode. features the first appearance of what i've in recent years taken to calling the "trash eagle."
E1L9
the end of the episode is just as iconic as its beginning, a massive entrance hall devoid of enemies... save one. hans grosse, an enormous teutonic bastard in full body armor, greets you with a cursory "GUTEN TAG" before unloading on you with two chainguns. dealing with him requires ducking for cover when he's firing and dumping your ammo on him when he's not. after what seems like almost all of your ammo he'll go down like a sack of hammers, giving you the key to the exit, and the iconic escape cutscene. if you need ammo or health, there's a secret along the western wall full of both.
an iconic episode, right up there with "knee deep in the dead" or "dimension of the doomed" in terms of its recognizability. sure, the texture usage is rather limited and the level design, cute attempts at imitating real-world spaces aside, is as abstract as any in those days, but for a lot of people, the first level alone could probably be done in their sleep. while there's only three kinds of enemies through the entire episode, they're often cleverly placed to keep you on your toes. this is just a taste of what's to come.
EPISODE TWO: OPERATION EISENFAUST
after the limited offering of the shareware episode, the full game promises a bigger experience, with more textures, more enemies, more music, more of everything that made wolf3D so great. the level design gets more complex as now you'll often have to find two keys instead of just one. now that you're free from wolfenstein, it's time to resume your mission, infiltrating castle hollehammer where the evil dr. schabbs' laboratory is supposed to be, and find out what he's been doing in there. episode two thus starts off by introducing you to the mutant, a reanimated soldier carrying cleavers in both hands and a gun in his chest. absolutely silent, he's an inhumanly fast shot and if you're not careful he'll get the drop on you, ending your mission prematurely.
E2L1
the origins of the horror theme that has been a part of the franchise all these years starts here with another level by tom hall, as you infiltrate the castle via some kind of sewer entrance. the first few rooms are empty, and you think maybe you've gotten in unnoticed... but open the wrong door and say hello to your first mutant. how well you do in this level depends on whether you find the MP40 and ammo cache across from the entrance -- or the hidden chaingun. nice touch with the starry background on the wall behind you at the start -- it gives a sense that this isn't just another bunch of random abstract hallways, but a real place with a real outside world. it's not fooling anyone, obviously, but it's a good touch of realism in a time when "realism" consisted of a square room with a table sprite in the middle.
E2 SECRET
a very tiny level with a few mutants... or is it? push in the right place and the level opens up significantly, with a boatload of treasure to be found. the mutants didn't bother waiting for you and have killed some of their nazi handlers, as the corpses on the floor indicate.
E2L2
after a brief portion in the sewers, you find the exit -- marked by warning signs, presumably to keep people out of the sewers where the mutants'll get 'em. it's sealed off too, requiring you to push a wall to get out. the rest of the level is a fairly bog-standard level with three quarters of a swastika being the only distinguishing feature. i think tom hall did this one as he comments on being able to see out a window early on.
E2L3
it's not the sewers, but you wouldn't know it for all the slimy wall textures. the opening section is simple enough, but the level likes to play around with secrets. an entire secret area is visible beyond rows of columns, but to get there you have to take the long way around. there's more secret areas within the first one, each one getting better and better, until finally culminating in a mess of SS. and if that's not bad enough, the silver key is guarded by mutants, lying in wait. tom, you're an asshole.
E2L4
not a complex level from tom here, split mostly into two sections with a third, circular room in the middle. a lot of doors open immediately into dead ends; others have mutants behind them. a holding area for mutants quickly turns into a shitshow when killing the lone guard alerts the monsters hiding in their cells and they come out for blood.
E2L5
well, it's a nazi castle, i suppose it makes sense to have a level shaped like a swastika. each "arm" of the swastika is done up in a different theme, from the slimy rock walls we've seen a lot of this episode, to a red brick stronghold of sorts, to blue stone dungeon, to wood-paneling. you can basically skip most of this episode by going to three rooms max, but you miss out on a lot of nazi murder and items to find.
E2L6
opening up in a cave-like area very similar to the secret level from the first episode, only this one is full of mutants. the big maze in the southeast can be navigated by following the bloodstains -- a neat touch that seems like something tom hall would do. the elevator doors at the end present an interesting dillemma -- which one is the exit, and which one is the mutant ambush?
E2L7
an odd level. it's just a few rooms and the exit elevator... unless you find the secret that opens up the entire rest of the map. it's still not the biggest map you'll ever play, but it's a respectable 5 minutes or so of nazi slaughter... until you get to the mutant cave in the southwest corner, where the nazis have already been slaughtered.
E2L8
another odd level, this one is infamous for being half made up of a large maze of 2x2 rooms and pushwalls. push your way through and you can find 1-ups, hans grosse clones (or maybe they're his brothers), treasure, or a sign saying CALL APOGEE, SAY AARDWOLF. this sign was part of a contest, if you did what it instructed you would win a prize. however, thanks to cheat and mapping programs the sign was found almost immediately, and the contest was canceled. in some later versions, the sign is replaced by a 1-up and some garbage. the rest of the map isn't as memorable, though it does have a nice little barracks in the southeast.
E2L9
another boss arena, the laboratory of the evil dr. schabbs. metal walls and warning signs tell you this is a high-tech place (well, for the 1940s anyway) and every room is quite large. other than schabbs, mutants are the only other occupants, coming at you in a wave before the mad doctor himself attacks, throwing hypodermic needles full of his monster serum at you. if you die to schabb's flying needles, instead of the usual beat-up face, BJ's skin turns white, just like one of the mutants. killing schabbs triggers an instant replay of his death animation, which is funny.
final thoughts:
the second episode turns up the heat significantly. the mutants prove themselves to be a serious threat, their silence and frightening firing speed making them incredibly dangerous. the horror theme is pretty strong at multiple points in the episode, which is impressive given how primitive the game is compared to even doom. clever use of enemy corpse sprites and blood-spattered textures offer some interesting environmental storytelling. schabbs himself embodies the worst aspects of the nazi regime, that of mad science and human experimentation -- so of course taking him down is satisfying, despite how easy he is. (letting his mutants do the work for him -- so typical!)
EPISODE THREE: DIE, FUHRER, DIE!
the third episode, and technically the final one of the early version of the game until the nocturnal missions were added. as the name suggests, your mission is to kill hitler. who doesn't wanna kill hitler? well, nazis probably. but fuck 'em. anyway rather than crumbling old castles, dank dungeons and evil labs, episode three is set in a massive bunker beneath the reichstag, akin to the plot of "beyond castle wolfenstein." don't expect adolf to calmly let you bomb his conference room this time, though...
E3L1
the entrance to hitler's bunker is a small set of rooms that offers light resistance -- a few guards and SS, plus the very first officer in the game, who moves fast and fires faster. he's not as much of a threat as the mutant, but he's still quick on the draw. poke around a bit and you'll find the secret dungeon complete with machine gun for the taking. the music is a bit of fun, a very simple tune that has a morse code message playing in the background:
TO BIG BAD WOLF
DE LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD
ELIMINATE HITLER
IMPERATIVE COMPLETE MISSION WITHIN 24 HOURS
OUT
E3L2
this is the first level that we can be pretty sure is john romero's if his commentary in the hint guide is anything to go by. it's a relatively tiny level, split off into two parts, with the exit very close to the start position but locked off. the key is in the southern area of the map, but the northern portion doesn't offer much and is completely optional -- a deliberate fakeout on romero's part.
E3L3
another short map by romero, this one opens with three doors to choose from. two eventually lead to the same place, while the third takes you to one of the keys you'll need. the other key is guarded in the northern part of the map. similar to romero's tendency to stick an enemy in the exit room in doom, an officer greets you on your way to the elevator.
E3L4
romero's short-form maps continue here (i wonder if these maps were made early in the game's development?) it also continues the trend of most of the episode 3 maps being largely white stone walls with the occasional brick, dungeon or wood to break up the monotony. finding the key isn't enough -- the door opens to a wall that turns out to be pushable.
E3L5
another short-and-sweet level, this one centering the action mostly around a red brick complex inside a large grey stone room. though this one does feature a long, twisty passage that ends in little more than a medkit and an SS goon.
E3L6
tom hall brings his personal brand of weirdness to episode three with this level that opens with a locked door immediately to your left. going forward is a repeat of his old favorite trick of putting enemies and items behind barriers where they can shoot you but you can't reach them, not without a little secret-searching anyway. there's also the enormous maze of reinforced steel to the north which offers little in the way of resistance but is incredibly confusing without a map. there's also another key that can be gotten on the sly by going around and entering the closet it's in via a pushwall in back.
E3L7
jesus christ, tom. "abstract" is the theme for this level, a mess of curving hallways, rooms in the shape of tom hall and john romero's initials, a secret that's easy to break before you even find it, a ludicrously large, featureless secret maze, and *another* secret at the end of said maze. the final secret is worth it though, as it takes you to the secret level...
E3 SECRET
it's pacman. in first person. with some nazis thrown in. that is literally the entirety of the level. avoid the ghosts, get the treasure, find the exit. it's honestly an adorable tribute to such a classic game from a game that has since become nearly as much of a classic itself.
E3L8
the final level before hitler, and the nazis throw everything they've got to stop you. tom hall starts this level by putting you in an empty room; only pushing the right wall will take you into a large, swastika-shaped corridor. SS and officers are everywhere; side rooms will have enemies coming at you from all sides, and they've put up barricades that you'll have to work your way around. and just when you think you've cracked it, and you're at the end, you open the elevator door and there's an officer right there waiting for you -- which doesn't happen often.
E3L9
this is it: the final battle with hitler! aesthetically it's not terribly different from the rest of the episode, but it does introduce us to one of the best fakeouts in a video game. all that buildup and when we finally do meet hitler, he's dressed in robes and shooting fireballs at you -- could it be that the old monster is a magician? well, he's playing a trick on you alright: it's a mannequin with a flamethrower, and when shot down you can hear hitler's evil laugh in the distance. hitler himself is a fairly straightforward boss fight, first in a war mech, and then when that's destroyed he comes after you himself with a pair of chainguns. his death animation is even better than the one at the end of bionic commando.
final thoughts:
for the third episode of the original trilogy, design-wise it's a bit disappointing. the texture use is quite monotonous, the levels are pretty short and simple. alone or in small groups, the officer isn't nearly as menacing an enemy as the mutant, which is absent from this episode. the pac-man secret level is an amusing diversion at least. the real value in this episode is the battle against hitler -- that death animation is a treat.
EPISODE FOUR: A DARK SECRET
after the initial success of wolfenstein 3D, apogee software founder scott miller convinced id software to make another trilogy of episodes after finding out that a new level could be cranked out at a rate of one per day. smirkingly titled "the nocturnal missions," this prequel trilogy involves a plot to wage chemical warfare on the allies, and so episode four opens with BJ infiltrating a chemical weapons research facility. we can expect the usual castley goodness as envisioned mostly by tom hall, which promises a slightly more visually interesting experience than hitler's bunker.
E4L1
tom's crafted a cute little castle entrance with a big foyer and dining hall, and a little cavern of sorts in the southwest corner leading to the exit. not the most heartpounding of levels, but at this early stage you'll be ill-equipped to deal with the amount of SS and officers thrown at you, especially on higher difficulties. thus it's an early hint as to the focus on increased difficulty for the nocturnal missions.
E4L2
another tom hall joint, this one has a strong castle design, being ringed on all sides by a single long hallway with a number of rooms in the center. popping off a firearm here will alert enemies on the other side of the map, making exploration dangerous as you're likely to be snuck up on.
E4L3
the level starts off with a huge offering of health and ammo. normally when seeing a smorgasboard like this, it raises one's hackles as it signifies the arrival of a boss enemy. however, none is to be found -- but there *are* a big gaggle of enemies further down the corridor, up to 23 at once. it's quite the impressive ambush.
E4 SECRET
sure, you *could* try to fight your way through the whopping seventy-five officers (on all difficulties!) who staff this level. the secret ammo stash at the start is the only thing that would make it even possible. but it's clear stealth was in mind when this puzzle map was designed, the idea being going behind the officers' backs. the official hint guide says that if you follow the path it designated you won't be seen, but this is unfortunately untrue as three will spot you either way, forcing you to hurry.
E4L4
tom gives us a relatively small level that, aside from a cave maze on the eastern side, also features an "art gallery" full of admiring officers. it's like the secret level in miniature, much more manageable with up to 14 officers waiting to run in front of your chaingun. there's also the choice between a secret room full of health, or a secret room full of ammo, and which one you get is dependant on which way you push a wall.
E4L5
tom hall has crafted a large cavern system that seems to be filled with officers. there's also a moment where a horde of guard dogs come at you en masse, and if you're not careful they can catch you in a pincer movement. there's multiple elevators as well, but all but one are inaccessible.
E4L6
tom hall's predilection for mimicking real-world spaces in doom (as in episode two of that game as well as parts of doom 2) can be seen in wolfenstein 3D as well. this level's example of that is the multiple elevators from the previous stage can be seen here too. but perhaps the standout feature of this level is the strange series of thin hallways behind a long row of doors, most of them containing officers and items. it's a good example of the abstract weirdness that has long been a staple of early FPS level design.
E4L7
fairly standard level. a long central hallway divides the east and west sides; it's filled with enemies, and tom hall has exploited the enemy behavior of being able to open locked doors to create an opportunity for players to get through without needing the key -- though if it closes behind them, there's no turning back.
E4L8
another tom hall joint, this one has a lot of tricky encounters that make the standard guards actually dangerous for once. it's the same trick as the dogs in E4L6 -- a big winding maze that makes it easy for the enemy to get behind you. there's a similar area full of officers where it's possible to sneak past some of them -- or bypass them entirely, if you find the right secret.
E4L9
the boss level is a cruel twist on the usual method. all the health and ammo are behind locked doors in the boss room; the keys are guarded by a single grunt who will alert a small army of SS and officers in the next room. however, the final boss, otto giftmacher, is not a threat at all, firing a slow-moving missile that's easily dodged. if you came in already loaded for bear you don't even need to deal with his goons.
final thoughts:
episode four is a good display of tom hall's somewhat mean-spirited level design, and i say that in a good way. it's clear he took the opportunity to up the difficulty for the expansion, and that includes throwing in officers by the boatload. in general, though, the level design has started to become increasingly abstract. otherwise, a good start for the nocturnal missions.
EPISODE FIVE: TRAIL OF THE MADMAN
the fifth episode introduces us to castle erlagen (though the hint guide seems to think that was the site of episode four -- maybe both are true) as we hunt for the plans to the nazis' chemical warfare campaign. most of these levels are from romero, who has a somewhat tighter, more abstract design ethos to tom hall's more freewheeling, quasi-realistic style -- something that would be evident later in doom as well.
E5L1
the dungeons of castle erlagen start you off light, mostly guards and a few SS. john romero has crafted a relatively short level, the majority of the action being in a series of rooms off a long hallway that separates the bottom half of the map from a few large rooms connected by narrow tunnels. the final room is a very romero-esque ambush.
E5L2
romero has a penchant for a very sectional level design and we can see an example of it here, where you're dropped in the middle of the map and it's split across four areas in four directions, forcing you to explore until you find the key and the exit. he's also put in a devious deathtrap to the west -- a gauntlet of SS guards for a handful of treasure that honestly is not worth it, which may be the point.
E5L3
another short and sweet romero level -- but heavily guarded. the exit is right behind the entrance, and a number of goons stand watch. if you're low on ammo, you may be running into problems -- but romero has thoughtfully made the secrets extremely obvious, and both will give you everything you could ever want.
E5L4
similar to E5L2, only incredibly symmetrical, this is a wheel-and-spoke design that plops you in the center and it's up to you to clear out a series of nine rooms connected by hallways. as is becoming a pattern, the path is filled with enemies, so it's up to you to be quick on the draw to mow them down the moment the door opens.
E5L5
romero's hub-style design again, only a bit more freewheeling. notable encounters include the "art gallery" in the southeast corner full of dogs, and a similar mini-maze in the northwest occupied by SS and officers. romero has a talent for making maps that seem larger than they really are. the secret exit, however, is well-hidden.
E5 SECRET
more hub-style design, though with an evil twist. other than a few central rooms the entirety of the map is made up of long narrow corridors with nazis on patrol. this leads to a tense few minutes as you navigate these tunnels always knowing that if an enemy comes around the corner, you won't have any cover.
E5L6
a rare attempt from romero to make something that feels like a real-world space, the core of this map is a complex of rooms surrounded by a large cavern that encircles three-quarters of the map. the complex itself isn't particularly unusual or, well, complex, though interestingly one of the three doors leading to the room that itself leads to the exit is of a different lock from the others. you still need the silver key, though.
E5L7
back to the hub design. the enemy count is climbing ever higher, romero throws goons at you every step of the way. a major encounter is in the northwestern room where a row of doors all lead to the same room, with a swarm of officers and SS goons hiding just behind to come at you in a wave. the final room is an ornate hallway lined with SS guards, giving a sense that we're getting ever closer to our goal.
E5L8
the penultimate level of episode five is a quick-and-dirty map that splits off into three zones. the biggest heat of the level is probably in the southwest, a maze of corridors full of bad guys that can and will wind up wandering behind you unless you're careful. and when you get through that mess, there's an ambush in the key room. interestingly, you can see the exit door at the very beginning -- but it's behind a barricade, requiring you to find the key to get to the other side.
E5L9
the boss arena is pretty straightforward -- a huge room divided in three by rows of walls. gretel grosse, sister of hans, is your target for this mission, and she behaves exactly the same as hans. taking her out is a snap, but you'd better stock up before opening the door she guards, as the command room that's your final goal is filled with nazi goons. cute re-use of the "yeah!" animation.
final thoughts:
episode five is romero at his best. it's a fast-paced little jaunt that offers plenty of nazis to mow down by the boatload, giving a hint of what doom would be like. though he overuses the hub-style level design, it at least gives a little bit of structure to an otherwise freewheeling, abstract mapping style.
EPISODE SIX: CONFRONTATION
the final episode of the game is a bit of a hodgepodge, featuring work from john romero, tom hall, and, surprisingly, robert prince, the man behind the music for most of apogee and id's output between 1991 and 1996, including, but not limited to: wolfenstein 3D (duh), rise of the triad, duke nukem II and 3D, and of course doom. the story goes, now that the allies know where the general behind the upcoming chemical warfare campaign is located, they send BJ into castle heidenheim. with three mappers contributing to this level we can expect a mixture of styles, and given that this is the very last episode of the game, resistance is likely to be fierce.
E6L1
jesus christ, tom. 95% of this map is extremely long hallways, lined with niches in which officers hide. it takes forever to advance and you're constantly getting caught on architecture. you start the episode with the exit right in front of you, and you have to make an insanely long detour just to get to it. awful map.
E6L2
robert prince makes his level design debut with this weird outing. it starts off similar to the previous level's endless hallways, but at least in this case gunfire will make most of the hiding enemies come after you. after that is a series of hallways that spiral in on themselves, at the center of which is the exit. it's like this episode was designed to annoy me.
E6L3
jesus christ, robert. it's a maze of swastikas. every room is a fucking swastika, and they interlink with each other. it's just... fucking madness. it blows my mind. this is what i'm talking about when it comes to how old FPS games seemed to just get by on pure abstraction. in that regard, duke nukem 3D should be considered a fucking revelation. this map is a pain to navigate too, though not as bad as the first two.
E6 SECRET
romero and hall both did this level. it's a very romero-style level at its core -- a central hub with four separate areas, each with a different theme. tackling more than one is optional, because at the end of each one is another grosse brother holding a key to the exit in the central room. to the east is a nightmare zone of a vine-choked maze -- visibility is borderline zero and it's full of mutants(!) and officers. a better bet would be the more straightforward boss arena to the west, though the mazes to the north and south aren't too bad. though, work your way too deep into the pushwall maze and you'll run into a familiar ghost, because this map wasn't gimmicky enough.
E6L4
though the hint guide doesn't say one way or another save for tom hall making a completely random e. e. cummings reference, this has hall's style all over it. It's mostly a series of random rooms connected via one hallway or tunnel or another. Compared to the rest of the episode so far, this level's banality is honestly a blessing.
E6L5
i'm pretty sure tom hall did this one as well. the big setpiece is a long, wide hallway with enemies hidden in the niches in the wall -- something i was tired of before the end of the first level. there's also a couple of nearly-identical shootouts in big rooms for possession of the keys. pretty basic level all told.
E6L6
yeah, i can tell this is a romero map, even without the hint guide telling me. it's got two of his most defining features in his nocturnal missions level design: absolute fucking chaos, and a tight level design with a core conceit. on its surface it resembles the spiral maze from robert prince's first level, but this is much bigger, and *much* more packed with enemies, all of whom come after you from the first shot fired. actually quite fun.
E6L7
tom and his fucking mazes strike again. after a rough initiation (more of the hallway/hidden enemies business) and a big central chamber with officers shooting at you from side rooms, you're treated to a nightmare world of endless mazes. if you're brave enough, you can even venture into a secret vine maze, which, while not as dangerous as the one in the secret level, is still plenty annoying and not really worth the hassle.
E6L8
it's hard to say whose level this is, but i'm going to guess it's romero's. it's two underground complexes split by a single long cave tunnel that curls around and between them in a backwards S fashion, which would suggest tom hall, but the abundance of enemies and the relatively compact room arrangement says john romero. whoever did it, this is a pretty linear affair -- first you clear out the northern complex, room by room, then grab the key. then you take out the southern complex and reach the exit. simple.
E6L9
the final boss of the nocturnal missions, and the nazis throw everything they've got at you. i'm reasonably certain this is a romero level, because the evil general is guarded by a baying horde of fascists who come at you from all directions. it's as if they looked at how sparsely populated the previous boss levels were and decided this deserved a bit more of a finale. it makes for some cool carnage, but you'll likely run into trouble unless you're secret-savvy.
final thoughts:
"mixed bag" is an understatement. this episode feels like where the dregs of the design team's ideas went. guest designer robert prince should have stuck to music. there are a few cool bits, but in general the sixth episode is a low note, and a bit of a disappointment after the ludicrously fun fifth episode.
