Return to Castle Wolfenstein

"They did it."

Wolfenstein 3D remains one of the most famous First Person Shooters in history. A combination between infamous histories of being banned in Germany, the violent gameplay and revolutionary graphics secured it as one of those noteworthy titles that will always be included in any list of important gaming events. Thus, as with Doom, it was bound to eventually get a sequel/remake, and the result was Return to Castle Wolfenstein, which is nothing like the original game. Better or worse, it's still a great FPS game and it does honor to the legacy.

Plot
During the heydays of World War II, The allies send in two of their best agents, B.J. Blazkowicz and Agent One to infiltrate Castle Wolfenstein. It turns out that the Germans have been experimenting with the supernatural, trying to create supersoldiers. Things go wrong during the agents mission, and both agents are captured. Blazkowicz however, doesn't go down without a fight, and manages to break out of his cell. It's now up to Blazkowicz to escape Castle Wolfenstein, find as much information and put a stop to the madness.

The story is told through well done cutscenes, and it's very atmospheric. While only a small part of the game actually takes place within the castle, it's all tied up together to make a thrilling tale. Bonus points for the amazing introscene which easily is one of the best intros ever.

Gameplay
Return to Castle Wolfenstein is essentially a very basic First-Person Shooter. Blazkowicz doesn't have any special ability, and the game doesn't stray away from the run and gun concept. There's little physics to speak of, but the game doesn't really need it. It uses the pure fun of fighting the enemy and monsters, combined with the atmosphere, lovely usage of graphics and story to spice things up in true ID flavor. The end result is a awesome looking, well played standard FPS game.

The game is split up in missions which span several areas, including the dreaded Castle Wolfenstein, a military base in a forest, a ruined city in Germany, a secret lab in Norway and other locations. Each location is then divided into several smaller levels, and despite the title you spend actually very little time in the castle itself. This is a shame, the castle had lots of potential for many great moments and levels, but it feels slightly underused. Not that the other levels are bad, but it moves away from what made Wolfenstein into Wolfenstein, namely...eh, Castle Wolfenstein. But the engine is capable of handling all sorts of environments well, and none of them look out of place. Still, the feeling of being trapped deep underground is quickly lost though, and this is probably what separates it the most from Wolfenstein 3D where you spent all your time underground. Now, the game would probably not be so incredibly exciting if it was underground all the time, but it's still a shame that the castle itself is underused.

In true traditions, the first weapon is the trusty knife, but you'll obtain a pistol right away. Later on, you'll find several real-life based weapons, including the MP-40 SMG, a Thompson SMG and other familiar weapons, but you'll also eventually come over flamethrowers, miniguns and even a Tesla Cannon! Several weapons have alternate firemodes, and some can overheat too, so there are plenty of things to consider.

During the course of the game you'll encounter lots of enemies, ranging from the common Soldiers, Acrobatic female soldiers, the dreaded undeads and even artificially created Supersoldiers. You'll require full usage of your arsenal in order to dispose of the freaks, as they tend to be quite competent. It's fun to fight the humans, as they shout out orders and run around, although you won't hear the classic phrases from the first game. And just as you think you got control, you'll encounter some pretty nasty bosses, which actually offer some challenge.

During one playthrough, I encountered an issue with the game that caused alot of frustrations. On a level, you have to sneak around without setting off the alarm. Thinking I did well, I played on and saved regularly. After taking out a few guards in a particular situations, I saved. Seconds later the alarm sounded, and the mission failed. To my frustration, I found out that my actions had triggered something that eventually triggered the alarm, but it took alot of time for it to happen, and once I had saved, it was too late to go back. I was forced to reload an old save several levels ago. While the game is fun enough to justify it, that was an unlucky event which was very annoying. A tip is to create at least one savefile at the beginning of each level to prevent such things from happening.

There's a highly fun multiplayer mode in Return to Castle Wolfenstein, more similar to the roles you play in Battlefield than in your typical FPS. You choose a type of class, you can be a Soldier, Medic, Lieutenant and Engineer, each with their own speciality and usage on the battlefield. Soldiers are just what they sound like, able to equip every weapon and primary used to fight directly others. The Lieutenant has some nice advantages as having endless ammo, being able to provide other players with it, and calling in airstrikes. The Medic who's role is pretty clear is to keep everyone alive and healthy, and while not as offensive as the others is a very important factor of a team. Then there's the Engineer, who's used for blowing up things, placing explosives and repairing things.

The Multiplayer maps are great fun, and offers unique objectives that requires team work and certain classes to complete, and once you're done with the Single player, it's easy to find yourself stuck with the Multiplayer for a long, long time.

Graphics
The game kicks off in best possible way. The introduction movie is still one of the most atmospheric so far, and almost looks like something out of Hellboy. Well rendered, it looks stunning. Too bad there's very little else that comes close to it though.

The rest of the game still looks very good, putting the Quake III engine to heavy use. Everything from characters, animations, effects, environments, lights and other objects look excellent with a style and flair that in some ways actually manage to keep the feel of the old game alive.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein looked gorgeous when it was released, and among other things, had some of the best fire effects ever. The flamethrower does look excellent, and looking at it now further states how amazing it was when it was released. Sure, today it can't hold a candle to games like Half Life 2, but at that time it was the best of the best.

Sound
It just have to be said. The intromusic is incredible. When you start this game, and the first thing you see is the ID logo in the rain and the thundering music starts, it's just out of this world. If I could be completely unserious about this review, I would give this game a 10 based on the intro. But, I'll try to stay within reasonable limits. The rest of the music is good too, with some parts shining, and other parts falling a bit flat. It's militaristic, lots of drums and short, melodic rhythms and it works great in the game. While the music fails to make the same impression as the intro and main menu throughout the game, it's still a prime example of how to implement music into the game.

There's some decent to good voiceacting in here. Blazkowicz of course, doesn't talk just like all other tough guys, but in this game, it feels right. He's a highly trained agent and soldier, not a wuss who's just seen blood for the first time. The other voicework is good enough not to take you out of the game, but there were times it felt a little flat and uninspired. For the most part though, it works, and that's all that matter to avoid pulling the score down.

The weapons sounds decently, and all the atmospheric sounds are in place, but it's nothing out of the ordinary. The weapons have a nice sound to them, but they still doesn't sound as powerful as you'd expect.

Conclusion
You just have to applaud ID Software. Despite having the odds against them, putting such a high profile name within gaming to the test as a sequel-remake, they did it and they came out with heads high. Return to Castle Wolfenstein is a high quality game with a fancy story, excellent presentation and production values, fun gameplay, great graphics, superb multiplayer and the best introduction movie since..well, it's that good.

ID has announced that there will be another Wolfenstein game, and if Return to Castle Wolfenstein is an indication of what to expect, we're in for a treat. This was easily one of the year's best FPS, and remains one of the great and memorable games since the Millennium.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/04/06