Step into the shoes of American spy B.J.
Blazkowicz as you gun down relentless Nazi scum. B.J isn't
new to the whole Nazi killing game, some of his previous endeavors
include Spear of Destiny in 1993 and Return to Castle Wolfenstein:
Enemy Territory in 2001.
Wolfenstein takes place in the heart of Reich,
where experiments with a dark force known as the Black Sun threatens to
embolden the Nazis with unimaginable powers – much like the Nazis in
their quest for occult power in the movie Indiana Jones: Raiders of the
Lost Ark.
Set after the events of Tides of War and having
survived his mission in a castle that the centre of paranormal
activity, BJ is called into an Allied briefing room in England with the
Thule Medallion … an ancient relic that - during one mission - stopped
Nazi bullets with the wave of his hand.
It is in the briefing the BJ comes to understand that Hitler’s
fascination with the paranormal has the Fuhrer looking into his own
backyard - a small town called Isenstadt in Germany. There, you'll work
with the local resistance group and another faction to halt the
nefarious Nazi plot.
Right away you’ll notice that this isn’t a linear,
first-person shooter where you follow the story from mission to
mission.
The minute you open up your journal to look at the map of Isenstadt,
you will realise that you are free to roam the quiet streets to shop at
a Black Market dealer, explore streets and sewers for collectible items
and accept missions from members of a resistance group ready to kick
Hitler’s SS troops out of their town.
The major draw card for Wolfenstein (and what sets
it apart from the likes of Call Of Duty and Brothers In Arms: Hell
Highway) is the Black Sun powers that open up another dimension known
as "The Veil" – the medallion that you find early on in the
game gives you the ability to enter the Veil, which creates a glowing
hue over everything you see and increases your speed.
As you progress through the levels you find
crystals that power up your medallion harnessing the dark energy,
giving you the ability to slow time, a power shield and an
"empower" ability that makes your shots do more damage and cut through
enemy protection.
It's the use of the Veil powers that made me love Wolfenstein and using
all of your powers makes solving simple puzzles and combat much easier.
And of course, there are plenty of classic WWII
guns such as the MP43, single-shot rifle Kar 98, and an Ak-47 like
submachine gun. Later on in the game you come across more exotic and
out-of-the-ordinary weapons.
That includes basic real-world weapons, like a flamethrower and a
rocket launcher, but you'll also start finding things like the Tesla
Gun, which shoots electric bolts, or the particle cannon, which shoots
a stream of energy that disintegrates most of your targets. There are
eight weapons in total. Wolfenstein also has an upgrade system that
lets you put any gold you find through the levels into improving your
weapons and your Veil abilities.
A word to the wise, choose your upgrades carefully
because there isn't enough gold to upgrade every weapon.
I found the game to be a run and gun style, unlike
other shooters where you take cover and pick enemies off, you can
simply run through in a blood filled frenzy killing at will. And when I
say Blood filled I mean blood filled – when shooting enemies in the
face or neck they bleed out and make gargling nosies (pretty
cool and gross at the same time).
The single player campaign is relatively easy to
beat and will give you around six to eight hours - but that doesn't
matter when your having so much fun. There is also intel, gold and
tombs hidden throughout the game which will see you replaying through
missions to collect everything.
The single-player campaign is accompanied by a
team-based multiplayer component that lets players choose from three
different classes. The soldier is your basic fighter; he gets the
widest weapon selection and can throw satchel charges. The medic can
drop health packs and the engineer can drop ammo and construct or
repair turrets, which are features on some maps.
Each class also gets a Veil ability, but that has to be unlocked first.
For doing just about anything useful in a multiplayer match - even
shooting an enemy a few times - you'll earn cash. That cash is spent on
upgrades to your abilities and weapons.
You'll be able to play three different modes on
eight different maps: |
Team Deathmatch – everyone dies. Objective and Stopwatch are
assault-style modes where one team defends a set of objectives while
the attacking team constructs bridges, loads tank shells, or does
whatever the map requires to get at and retrieve a specific item.
They're as standard as they sound, but the quality of the maps
themselves is pretty high and the fun is endless.
I though the game worked fantastically well, the
map rendering was smooth, cut scenes where flawless and the sound and
voice acting was great.
Gameplay both online and off is solid enough to make Wolfenstein worth
checking out if you're a shooter fan looking for something new and a
little out of the ordinary. Wolfenstein is familiar enough in parts,
but at times it surprises you, well worth a look.
Game: Wolfenstein System: Xbox 360, Playstation 3
and PC
Players: 1-2 Online: Yes Developer: Activision
Distributor: Raven
Software
