Quake meets Raiders of the Lost Ark (Return To Castle Wolfenstein (PC))

Member Name: Burning_Darkness

Product:	Return To Castle Wolfenstein (PC)
Date:	27/06/09 (11 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Varied levels, good graphics, great atmosphere, simple, fun gameplay

Disadvantages: Not very original

Almost a decade after the release of the original Wolfenstein 3D, ID software finally got around to making a sequel to their classic nazi-themed first person shooter. Repising the role of US Marine BJ Blaskowitz, the player is sent on a series of varied Special missions through wartorn Europe on quest to take down the SS Paranormal Division and thus tear out the heart of the Third Reich in the process.

The plot revolves around an ancient, evil Germanic Warrior Prince named Heinrich I, raised by Hitler's occult-dabbling henchman Heinrich Himmler, in a bid to secure victory for the armies of the Third Reich. In addition to this, nazi scientists have been busy creating all kinds of deadly abominations, chief amongst these being Übersoldaten (supersoldiers)- mechaniacally and biologically engineered, heavily armed giants that look like a cross between ancient teutonic knights and robocop. It falls to Blaskowitz to take down these assorted abominations, along with Wermacht troops, Waffen SS paratroopers, gasmasked, trenchcoated flamethrower soldiers, elite vulcan cannon troops and lithe, lether clad, female SS Assassins.

The graphics still look great today, considering that the game is 8 years old, and the missions are varied and interesting, ranging between battling with Wermacht troops in a wartorn European village and an old castle, infiltrating secret nazi laboratories, fighting your way through a German submarine base and, in one delighful Indiana Jones inspired level, doing battle in ancient, long-sealed catacombs with undead sword-wielding pagan warriors.

The weapons are great too, incuding a colt 45, luger, Tommy gun, Schmeisser, german plunger bombs, and a ridiculously fast prototype Vulcan Cannon, all of which are fun to use. Stationary machine gun posts can be used as well, and one particulary enjoyable scene gives you the opportunity to gun down a whole troop of Nazis as they march towards your position in blissful ignorance.

Its odd then, given its hugely entertaining mix of Nazi occultism, supernatural horror and all out ultra-violence that the whole affair left me feeling strangely nonplussed at the time. I think this was perhaps because although 'Return to Castle Wolfenstein' ticks all the right boxes for a first person shooter, it doesnt really offer anything new to the genre, and the gamplay, whilst fun, has a certain seen-it-all-before feel to it that detracts from the experience a little. Whilst good fun, there's nothing in the game that will blow you away, or cause you to say "Wow, I haven't seen THAT before!". This is true of the multiplayer mode too, which is fun but fails to move beyond the Quake series in terms of scope. Perhaps if the developers had widened their remit a little, and been a bit more experimental, 'Return to Castle Wolfenstein' would have turned out to be an all-time classic rather than an enjoyable but also rather unremarkable shooter.

Summary: Summary- Good fun, but not all that it could have been.