REVIEW: WOLFENSTEIN
Reviewed on Xbox 360. Also on PS3, PC. Developed by id, Raven, Endrant, Threewave Software. Published by Activision (ORLY?)
Wolfenstein is your virtual grandpa’s axe when it comes to the first person genre. A sequel of sorts for 2000′s well received Return to Castle Wolfenstein, the latest game is just Wolfenstein (“It’s pronounced WOLFENSTEEN!) and was released to consoles and PC’s in a wave of silent apathy. You’ll hear a lot of “I heard that was crap,” from people who haven’t played it but that’s par for the course. Look at the number of different developers and you’ll see why this game has a split personality. Firstly single player…
So you know it’s a WWII-set first person shooter, right? You still play as BJ Blaskowitz, an American agent behind enemy lines, kicking ass and taking names. In past games, the Nazi’s have been secretly developing supernatural and occult weapons. Here, the results of those experiments are walking around town in clear view, sipping cappuccinos in the sidewalk cafe’s. As well as the usual assortment of WWII-era weapons and a few SF additions, you also have four ‘Veil’ powers which grant you a shield, bullet-time, super powered bullets and the ability to see secret areas. Fortunately, the game doesn’t expect you to rely on either conventional weapons or Veil powers throughout, though it’s rare you will ever be far from a place to recharge your Veil power meter. Of course, that’s if you’re not in an area with a Veil Inhibitor active…
There is a somewhat ‘open world” vibe to the hub area, but one that hasn’t been fully developed so there is still some loading between areas of the city. There are also three factions of ‘resistance’ operatives where you can buy upgrades and be given missions (GTA-style). However, the town is almost completely devoid of life apart from resistance fighters and Nazi troops. On the up side, there’s an impressive amount of destructibility in the world. Not Red Faction: Guerrilla levels but enough to make things interesting. You can’t fight City Hall but you can blow the shit out of anything not nailed down.
It plays well. Very well. It’s a lot of fun to run and gun, use your veil powers and cause havoc in the heart of the Third Reich. The difficulty level is mostly well-balanced, apart from the odd checkpoint that’s just a little further away than would be ideal. The shooter part is quite solid, if slightly old-skool feeling but it’s the addition of the Veil powers that mixes things up a bit. Since the game is designed around you needing the powers to conquer certain areas, it fits in well.
I would call it surprise of the year, even more so than Red Faction: Guerrilla which at least had some marketing behind it. When Activision cock-blocks somethings- they go go all out. If you do manage to find Activision’s marketing for this title (at the bottom of locked filing cabinet in a disused lavatory with the a sign on the door saying “beware of the leopard”), expect about eight hours of single-player goodness unless you’re either expecting to hunt down the collectibles (which will take longer) or you have superhuman reflexes (in which case, why are you playing games when you could be out there saving lives? Haven’t you seen Heroes: Season One?).
You are able to upgrade your weapons and Veil powers with the money you collect during the game by adding better barrels, scopes, reducing recoil etc, but the game makes you choose by not making not possible to buy everything. The more SF weapons are particularly satisfying to use on some of the harder enemies but the Veil powers coupled with a standard assault rifle are not to be underestimated.
And then there’s the multiplayer- the videogaming equivalent of Back to the Future part 2: You’re looking at something that looks like an early XBox1 game but has one or two new things bolted on but ultimately is just a confusing dated mess. It has three modes but is worth avoiding altogether if you have any affinity for the original MP for RtCW or ET. It’s a pity because it could have been great but will cause so many older Wolfenstein fans to denounce the game as without any value. Multiplayer is without any value in this title.
The graphics and sound are a mixed mag. The graphics are eye-bleedingly bad in MP but in SP they vary between adequately nice and very nice. Some areas look a little plain while others are very ‘whoa.’ It’s not until you get the veil powers you realise why some environments don’t ‘pop.’ Activate the Veil and the visuals change quite markedly with different lighting effects, howling winds, floating spectral creatures called Geists and more- including lots of secret areas. The sound is mostly very good though there’s just something about the character speech of the resistance fighters that bothers me. They mostly have convincing German accents though the acting is a little too stilted- something you can get if you use actors rather than actors who do lots of video gaming voice-overs. Also, the lines repeat waaaaaaaaaay too much and much too soon.
Overall this is a solid title that should give you a fun single player experience with a dip your toe in MP experience (though I would just stick with BF1943 if you want WWII multiplayer). I do feel that there are some underused elements- such as the hub world which could have offered many more missions than the game ultimately did (I guess we’ll have to wait for Saboteur for an open-world WWII game). The game is generally quite polished and runs well on consoles. Wolfenstein doesn’t go on for two long nor does it feel insanely easy or too hard. Recommended
Controller1.com rating 2/3 (for singleplayer only. Multiplayer is shittier than a dirty nappy)
