A World War II shooter with a twist, Wolfenstein is a unique, first person shooter, but falls short of character.
The story of Wolfenstein takes place in 1943 and follows special agent B.J. Blaskowicz who joins an underground resistance group intent on stopping the Nazi war machine taking a grip over mainland Europe. Fans of RTCW will be aware that the storyline in Wolfenstein doesn't follow the standard first person shooter blue print, but instead follows a supernatural theme, which sees the Nazis attempting to harness a supernatural power, known as the Black Sun, in order to secure and maintain their dominance over Europe. Your task is simply, to stop them before it's too late. The German town of Isenstadt acts as a free roaming hub from where you can pick up missions from resistance leaders and side objectives from other targets. There's no real surprises that, just like its predecessor, the main bulk of the gameplay involves killing waves of re spawning enemies. As well as having access to a range of familiar World War II weaponry, such as an MP40 SMG, you can also utilize occult weaponry, such as the particle cannon which fires a twisted lazer beam that disintegrates enemies on impact. New to the franchise is Blazkowicz's ability to shift between the real world and an alternate dimension, called the Veil. Here, he wears an amulet that holds special powers allowing you to use supernatural abilities such as improved sight so that you can find objects or spot snipers from a distance. Other unlockable veil powers include slow motion, an impenetrable shield, and bullets that cause more damage than normal. Veil powers are only available for a certain time, when they run out you need to find re charging points to power up the amulet. Aside from killing the bad guys, you can also search through abandoned buildings on the hunt for intelligence documents, books and gold that you can use to upgrade your weapons. Outside of the main storyline there's the multiplayer mode to get stuck into too. Wolfenstein 3D was praised for its innovative approach to the genre, but does Wolfenstein do the legacy justice?
Wolfenstein is a throwback to the days of Return to Castle Wolfenstein. By that I mean that the core gameplay and design has hardly changed at all. If you enjoyed blowing Nazis to pieces back then, chances are that you'll have a relatively good time playing this latest iteration. The gameplay has an old school, arcade paced feel to it and the option of being able to sprint gives it that bit of extra zip. There's a decent array of beefy weaponry on offer too and each one feels unique to shoot and handles well: burning enemies to death with the flamethrower is particularly good fun. The standard first person shooter gameplay is made more exciting by the addition of the three sci - fi weapons and some enjoyable veil powers. Combining veil powers is a particular highlight, for example, I enjoyed charging full pelt at a group of Nazis with our shield switch on and my bullets at full damage. I could easily penetrate their shields without the fear of getting hit ourselves. There's plenty of variety to be had out of switching weapons and utilising the upgrades. Indeed, the upgrades that you can buy for the standard weapons and veil powers, which include scopes, bayonets and grenade launchers, add a extra dimension to the run and gun gameplay and give you more than enough reason to go hunting for gold. Enemy AI is impressive and theres a nice range of enemies and supernatural monsters to hunt down, from heavy troopers to Elite Guards to Assassins. There is also some over the top, grotesque and amusing limb breaking fatalities to enjoy. Collecting items, such as magical books, intelligence and gold has been an enjoyable feature of past Wolfenstein games and it's just as much fun here, plus it gives the game added replay value. Furthermore, earning gold feels worthwhile because there are some excellent upgrades to buy that do improve the overall experience. Though Wolfenstein starts off slowly and unimpressively, the gameplay builds in momentum and challenge as you unlock more powers and gain more wealth. Despite Wolfenstein being a fairly run of the mill shooter in terms of mechanics and game design, like Return to Castle Wolfenstein, there's something intensely satisfying about killing Nazis.
Visually, Wolfenstein is hit and miss. The cut scenes look good, but generally the locations lack the polish of other top tier titles. The filter effect in particular, used when activating Veil Sight renders everything in a crude green/blue colour, which is particularly off putting. Wolfenstein at no point tries to innovate. Instead, it uses the existing gameplay and design template that made the series a success in the first place and then adds features that have been borrowed from other games. The veil powers are a welcome inclusion, but the new open world hub area where you pick up missions is a half hearted effort. The town of Isenstadt is an extremely bland and barren environment so it becomes a real chore having to move from 'A' to 'B' visiting NPCs and fighting roaming Nazi thugs along the way. The area is also quite small and can be explored relatively quickly, so there's no real point going back and forward to this hub. Sure you can pick and choose the missions you want to do, but the poorly designed town doesn't disguise the fact that the main missions are stiflingly linear. Wolfenstein's single player campaign gets the basics right and does get more compelling and immersive the further you progress. Indeed, Wofenstein fans will find some solace by the fact that, in many ways, it stays true to its predecessor and captures that fun run and gun element. In truth though, there are too many other shooters out there that have done it better. Wolfenstein is a bog standard, slightly above average first person shooter that ultimately fails to live up its glittering legacy.
---------------------------------------
The Good: Impressive AI, Fun weapons and levels, great kills, some gory action, good gameplay.
The Bad: Dissapointing graphics, short single player campaign, ugly textures, basic level design.