Review: Wolfenstein

Wolfenstein is the sequel to Return to Castle Wolfenstein (a re-envisioning of the seminal Wolfenstein 3D from 1992, a game that arguably started the FPS genre) which was released way back in 2001. It has taken a long time for id to sort out a worthy sequel and they handed the reins over to the very capable Raven software for this instalment.

I have to admit that when I viewed the first screenshots for this game my heart sank a little. It looked like a simple port from console to PC, albeit better looking than the norm. Playing the first few minutes of the game my worst fears were realised-it certainly did look to be that way-but after some uninspiring looking cut-scenes the game took a surprising turn. Gone were the simple linear corridors of old to be replaced by a city district. After a slow start to ease you into the game you are given a chunk of a Nazi occupied fictional city called Isenstadt to roam around in.

Two groups of people are fighting the Nazi forces in the city. The Kreisau Circle-a band of resistance fighters led by a female protagonist called Caroline Becker-and the Golden Dawn. The latter are a more scholarly lot, needing a brute like yourself (B.J. Blazkowicz, American spy for hire) to help them out of sticky situations. The side missions add some nice depth to the game world, earning you gold for weapons upgrades purchased on the black market. It eventually all ties in with the main story - all about the Nazi regime trying to harness the power of the Black Sun which is in another dimension behind The Veil, a strange blue-hued land with large floating ticks and walls that can be walked through where they were solid in the real world.

It's all nonsense of course but it is a great excuse for beating seven shades of crap out of the Nazi soldiers. And what a nice selection you get. Every so often another foe is added to the mix, each with different strengths and weaknesses. The acrobatic female Nazis are a joy to behold, jumping about like Ninjas with their bosoms bursting out of a leather body suit, shouting abuse at you. In fact all of the enemy throw insults your way throughout the game, trying to rub you up the wrong way so you come out of hiding after a well timed retreat. Even when reloading your weapons they shout, "attack, he's reloading" to one another.

The Tech

The sound throughout is exceptionally done. The positional audio of the explosions and gun fire had the perfect amount of bass on my system to cause vibrations all around the room without distorting the chatter between soldiers and freedom fighters-all of which could be placed from their sound. The background music is also perfectly suited to the setting and changes tempo to fit with your battles, only to fade away again, letting you know that the danger has passed for the moment. The voice acting is top notch throughout the whole campaign, with some great accents.

The graphics, whilst not having the most detailed of textures, are very well put together and have bucket loads of variety. The city of Isenstadt has been brought to life with numerous tiny details that help with the immersion. Old leaky pipes leave trails of rusty water and steam encroaches on the edge of your screen with added water droplets running down your monitor when near boilers or burst steam pipes. Rubble and garbage of all types litters any available nooks and crannies. The whole look of Wolfenstein is one of gritty, desperate times; as indeed war is.

Wolfenstein plays like a FPS with a bit of depth because of the weapon upgrades. Not a lot but enough to make it more interesting and fun to play. Raven has taken ideas from many other great games (the large armoured Nazi is a definite Big Daddy contender) and has used them well in inventive ways to keep things flowing and prevent you from ever getting bored. You will have to change tactics on the fly as you traverse the brilliantly designed levels within the city when you come upon the different adversaries strewn throughout the game areas.

For this you need your weapons, Veil powers and the aforementioned upgrades you can buy only from the black market. Choose wisely at the beginning because a good upgrade makes one hell of a difference in a fight. All of the upgrades work well and give you the needed power in the coming battles-sometimes a little too much. The Veil powers are pretty much like augmentations. They can shield you, slow down time, allow you to walk through certain walls and even shoot through barriers and walls later on in the game. Usually powers added to FPS games are little more than gimmicks but in Wolfenstein I found myself using all of them at some point which shows that a lot of thought has gone into both the weapons and the game design.

Excellent Win7 Performance

The individual levels (apart from the city itself) come in the form of buildings or areas you have to find using the easy to use compass at the top of your screen. Traversing the city becomes easier as you get to know the streets, alleyways and unlocked buildings, each full of hidden secrets. Gold allows you to buy more upgrades or ammunition but you can also try to find all of the Power Tomes (old books of power apparently) and pieces of Intel in each area. The more you find-the more upgrades are unlocked. It all adds to the replayability and had me hunting high and low. Every mission level has its own distinct look and design so you never feel like you are repeating the same level over and over again.

The physics engine has been used to create some great action pieces (with lots of breakable scenery), not all of which are activated by you just approaching an area but need you to do something and therefore feel a part of the amazing show. The lighting is supremely well used making the most simple of areas much more dramatic. It's something we see in most games now but Raven have made the most of the technology at hand, with short loading times too between the large, detailed levels.

The eight multiplayer maps are also well designed with three modes of play; the usual deathmatch mode and two assault modes. They all play well, are fun and will while away a few hours. As you can tell, it's the single player campaign that hooked me and as a side note to techheads like myself, I was running this game on Windows 7 RC 64bit with fantastic frame rates and not one crash or bug throughout the entire game. Well done Raven.

Wolfenstein is not going to set the world on fire with anything new but what it has done is reaffirm my faith in the fact that old ideas can still be brought up to speed and used to create a fun experience that is well worth the money spent on it. This is the one time when first impressions did not last. The FPS is not dead. Long live the FPS.