Does it count as having played Wolf3D if I played Laz Rojas's WolfenDoom recreation? I hope so, because I suffered through enough tries on Hitler's boss fight that I'd rather not have that experience disqualified. Whatever way to play it you choose though, only do one episode per sitting, or you'll really feel the repetition in the flat halls, key hunting, and count-on-one-hand enemy variety of Castle Wolfenstein. The game is largely a bit too bare-bones and rudimentary for my tastes (I'm much more of a Classic Doom man as my cutoff point for enjoying FPS history) but it was still a charmingly simple journey, and it's worth seeing where an unimpeachable genre began. Oh and killing Hitler. Killing Hitler feels worth it.

my disillusionment with the military leaving my body as i boot up this game:

Having now played through a second time (as well as all of Bungie's follow-ups in the series,) I am happy to give CE the close re-evaluation it deserves. Verdict: "It's pretty good actually."

It wasn't until Halo 2 that I was able to meet these games on their own terms. My first playthrough of CE had me seeing it more for its influences than for its own identity. Glad to have that changed for me, I can see what so many players saw in it over 20 years ago.

But it still has those copy-and-paste rooms, the occasional segment you will hit your head against repeatedly, unfairly placed Grunts with fuel rod cannons, Flood with rocket launchers, and a dinky melee with no range that's very difficult to return to after the sequels gave it such a buff. So it ain't all starry eyes from me.

The great president JFK was about to be assasinated, and he was asked:

"but who would win, him or you?"

JFK answered: If he shot the bullet, he might cause me a little trouble

"but would you lose?"

then, proudly, JFK announced: Nah, i´d win