Your Dad played this game #3: Operation Wolf

Your life playing video games, especially first-person shooters, isn’t complete if you haven’t played Operation Wolf.

What the hell is Operation Wolf? It’s a single player shooter arcade game made by Taito in 1987. Yes, the same Taito whose name and logo you see on some arcade games in, well, arcades.

I used to play this video game for close to 16 hours a day. I never got tired of it, despite several monotonous gameplay moments.

Here’s a quick description courtesy of wikipedia:

The object of the game is to rescue the five hostages in the concentration camp. The game is divided into six stages: Communication Setup, Jungle, Village, Powder Magazine, Concentration Camp, and Airport. Completing a stage advances a story. For example, upon completing the Jungle stage, an enemy leader is interrogated and the location of the enemy’s concentration camp is found. This was one of the first shooter games to feature a storyline, and it had some similarities to real special operations missions.

Like today’s generation of first-person shooters, the console of Operation Wolf includes a life bar and bullet count. The two main differences are 1) counters showing how many enemies are left and 2) a score count (it is, after all, an arcade game).

I didn’t play this game’s arcade version—much. A couple of times, for sure, but not, like, everyday. I played it a lot on the PC, though.

Another feature that set this video game apart from its generation was the endings. Yes, you read that right. Endings. Plural.

Here’s a rundown, again courtesy of wikipedia:

The game’s ending was determined by factors in the game, in which multiple endings were attained:

Exhaustion of health. Scene shows player collapsing. Text at bottom of screen reads, “You have sustained a lethal injury. Sorry, but you are finished here.”

Exhaustion of ammunition. Scene shows player in a prison cell. Text at bottom of screen says, “Since you have no ammunition left, you must join the hostages.”

Completing all six stages. The player meets the President of the United States and collects a large score bonus. The number of hostages rescued determines the President’s tone of voice and cash bonus awarded.

Do you think you’re ready for your daddy’s shooter game of choice? Good, let’s lock and load then.