Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory

Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory is a free-to-play first-person shooter created by id Software and Activision. While originally meant to be a standalone game with single player, the project never got off the ground; this has led to the multiplayer version to be released as freeware. The source code of the game is also available to assist the modding community, and currently it has several mods and a dedicated following.

Players can either play as Germany or as the Americans in six default maps, although thanks to the modding community there are now literally hundreds of playable maps. Being unable to document all of them, this guide will cover the six default maps and assume the player is playing on an otherwise unmodded server - several servers have varying differences. Some add tracers, while others can allow double-jumps.

The six default maps covered in two campaigns. The maps are Gold Rush, Siwa Oasis, Seawall Battery, Rail Gun, Wurzburg Radar, and Fuel Dump. Each map has the Allies attempting to accomplish a certain objective, and the Axis must hold the Allies off for a set amount of time (the only exception is Rail Gun, where the roles are reversed).

In all but the LMS mode, dead players respawn all at the same time, every X seconds. In the default maps - assuming that the server settings aren't changing it - Allies spawn every 20 seconds and the Axis every 30 seconds, the only exception being Rail Gun where both have a 20 second spawn. With default settings, you can see the spawn timer in the right side of the screen. Experienced players should watch the timer all the time - dying to a 1 second spawn practically means losing your position (and a life, if the server has the rarely used Limited Lives feature enabled) and resetting your health and ammo, while a 30 second spawn can be deadly if there are only a few players. A good tactic is to find out the spawn time of your enemy, for example looking at the mission timer, and time your attacks so that every dead opponent will have to wait a full time spawn.

One feature that Wolfenstein has that several others lack is an experience system - players can select from a list a series of classes. As the player gains experience (see the classes info for more detail), the player can gain several advantages, such as landmine detection and akimbo pistols. Most servers have an XP reset that keeps the player from reaching a dead end.