Wolfenstein has a new, or at least, relaunched multiplayer mode thanks to id Software and Bethesda, which have introduced official servers for the Return to Castle Wolfenstein spin-off Enemy Territory, the online FPS that was added to Steam back in April.
Wolfenstein players have managed to keep Enemy Territory alive over the past 19 years thanks to community servers and mods, which have introduced a variety of custom modes and rulesets to the multiplayer shooter, which launched in 2003 parallel to the landmark Return to Castle Wolfenstein. After porting the game to Steam, id Software and publisher Bethesda have now released dedicated, official servers for the FPS, which honour the original settings and rules, and allow players to experience the game as they may have almost two decades ago.
“We’re excited to announce that we’ve deployed official dedicated servers for Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory,” says id Software. “Though the community has hosted – and continues to host – servers with a variety of mods and custom maps that we highly recommend, we also understand that many players are looking for a more nostalgic experience.
“So, starting now, you’ll be able to find official servers running the vanilla Enemy Territory Campaign ruleset, with all six original maps and no mods! We’ve set up servers across multiple territories to better ensure players from around the world can play with relatively low ping.”
In the vanilla version of Enemy Territory, two teams of eight, with respawns enabled, battle it out using some of Return to Castle Wolfenstein’s iconic weapons, including the meaty-sounding Thompson and the mighty FG 42. The vanilla mode enables friendly fire by default and also removes all weapon restrictions. If you own Enemy Territory via Steam, or the Microsoft Store, where it has also just launched, look for servers titled “id Software Official Vanilla Server”. The supported regions include the US, EU, UK, and AU.
If you’re a real 90s shooter kind of person, you might want to take a look at some of the other PC classics that are still worth playing. We also have guides to the best multiplayer games and best FPS games on PC, which include one of Wolfenstein’s many distant cousins, Doom Eternal.