Return To Castle Wolfenstein Review

For PC

By Contributing Writer Nate Pacyga

Rating: Good
   Re-vamping the first-person shooter formula that originated in the 
original Wolfenstein, Gray Matter stepped up to the plate using the tried 
and true Quake 3 engine.  The result is a solid FPS that hits all the marks 
but fails to bring many new elements to the FPS table.
   Hey, you know what's funny?  When a game developer tries really hard to 
pull off a sophisticated Tom Clancy-like plot.  Apparently, all you have to 
do is throw in a fat and powerful government official and a couple of 
delegating nimrods, and badda boom, you've got yourself a great plot.  It's 
a good thing the action in Wolfenstein kicks major plummer's crack, or else 
I might have left the room after the initial imitation of Clear and Present 
Danger.
   As you can probably tell from my previous statements, the story is not 
particularly compelling or entertaining.  After quickly losing interest in 
the long-winded cut scenes, I often found myself pondering what the story 
was all about and what they were trying to prove.  I have a premonition that 
you will feel the same about the lackluster story.
   At the beginning of the game, you're escaping from a prison cell and 
taking out a Nazi by pulling the ol' drop from the ceiling trick.  The real 
selling point in the single-player mode is that the game pulls off the 
stealthy bit rather well.  Get used to the sniper rifle, knife, and silenced
pistol, because going Solid Snake on those Nazis is the only way to go.  
Even more stealth is required to take out the occasional "super" Nazis, who 
can seemingly spot a fly on a cow's rear from a thousand yards away, without 
any optical assistance.  
   I must say that I am very disappointed with the "ferocious AI" that is 
advertised on the box.  Where was this ferocious AI when I commandeered a 
gun turret and proceeded to mow down soldiers in an orderly single-file line?
The guards do move out of the way of gunfire and grenades most of the time, 
but some of the guards must have numb bodies that can't feel bullets (either
that, or it's some kind of magical painless bullet).  When are FPS 
developers going to create realistic AI and stop repeating the same mistakes 
that their forefathers made?
   The multi-player is solid, but it fails to bring anything new to the 
table.  Medic, Engineer, Soldier... where have I seen these characters 
before?  That's right, in Team Fortress, and you have one weapon of your 
choice at every re-spawn just like in Counter-Strike.  The multi-player 
doesn't fail to get the job done, it just depends on whether or not you're 
willing to spend money on something that you've more or less played before.
It would have been great if they had thrown some vehicles into the mix, like
a tank or one of those old-school motorcycles from Indiana Jones and the 
Last Crusade.
   Even though the various roles in multi-player are essentially rip-offs, 
they do sport a few new characteristics.  The medic can administer a shot 
that will seamlessly revive a dead soldier where they have fallen, and the 
Engineer has the all-important ability of defusing and laying dynamite.  As 
in Team Fortress, a team is likely to be wasted in minutes if they stick to 
just one or two roles rather than finding a happy a medium.
   The objective/checkpoint system for multi-player gives me too much of a 
flashback to the assault missions in Unreal Tournament, which proves once 
again that you can only milk the FPS monkey in so many ways.  On the bright 
side, it's a refreshing change to kick butt with the Luger rather than being
limited to futuristic weapons that kill you before you have even re-spawned.  
   For the most part, playing Wolfenstein online was a smooth and enjoyable 
experience.  Of course, some servers do tend to experience latency, slowdown,
and general choppiness.  The interface for multi-player Wolfenstein could 
use a few extra features as well, such as being able to use a simple "Exit 
To Server List" button instead of being forced to tromp through the main 
menu repeatedly.  Also, why did I find it so hard to get a multi-player game
going?  Is it the funky set-up that Gray Matter put together, or do people 
just not like me?  (Don't answer that.)
   Head shots are something that I personally take pride in when I play a 
first-person shooter, so it brings a tear to my eye when I shoot a Nazi in 
the head and watch his little helment pop off like a bag of popcorn bursting.
The realistic death animations and soupy blood splatters are made all the 
more engrossing by the detailed environments and character models.  I do 
wish that the Axis and Allies were easier to tell apart in multi-player, as 
it can be a little difficult to tell the tinted tan Allies apart from the 
slightly darker-clothed Nazis.
   While you may recognize the occasional command of "Halt!" that is 
straight out of the 386 days, Gray Matter has upgraded most of the sound 
effects from the original Wolfenstein.  The bolt auction of a Mauser has a 
realistic lock and load sound effect, and even casual banter between guards 
can be hard down the hallways.  The music sets the tone for the entire game,
whether it's at the title screen or when you've been detected by guards.  
The mood of the experience is changed quickly and efficiently at the drop of
a few notes.
   Any game with gameplay, sound, and graphics that are this good can't be 
a stupid purchase, but Return to Castle Wolfenstein could have been a lot 
more innovative than it is.  If you need a new diversion from Counter Strike,
Team Fortress, and Unreal Tournament, then I whole-heartedly recommend that 
you plunk down the cash and buy this game.  Otherwise, you would be better 
off sticking with the free mods for the first-person shooters that you 
already own.

Send your thoughts on this review to nate@mastergamer.com

    
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