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Wolfenstein video game review
Classic FPS Wolfenstein returns with this fun, but ultimately flawed, supernatural World War II adventure.
Formats: PS3 (tested), Xbox 360, PC
Developer: Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Age Rating: BBFC 18
Released: Out Now
Score: 7/10
You can disintegrate zombie Nazis.
Im not talking about the supernatural Third Reich vanishing in a puff of smoke either. Im talking a particle cannon that lashes out thick, coiling snakes of green death, turning every unfortunate stormtrooper it touches into crumbly corn flakes, which wisp towards the sky, fluttering casually in the wind. One squad turned into mush, click in a new battery, "OK, whos next?"
At the risk of fulfilling a cliché about gamers and violence, Wolfenstein is a game that part-way makes up for its flaws -of which there are many- by allowing you to dispatch the occult Nazi forces in a large number of gruesome -and grimly satisfying- ways. A headshot from your enhanced Kar98 rifle will send the recipients helmet pirouetting upwards on a spluttering geyser of raspberry jam, for instance. Later on, youll wield the Tesla Gun, which fires crackling blue arcs of electricity. Your character, William BJ Blazkowicz can stash a flame-thrower and a Panzershreck in his slacks. And limbs have a habit of, well, falling off under duress.
So Wolfensteins a shooter video game set in World War II, but, as you may have guessed, its not your traditional Call of Duty slash Medal of Honour fare. Despite the name, its not a reboot of the classic FPS series, but a direct sequel to Return to Castle Wolfenstein. BJ is an American spy, who has joined a budding resistance against the Nazis in a German town called Isenstadt. The SS forces in the area are part of Hitlers Supernatural division, a creepy bunch of Germans with comedy accents prone to dabbling in the occult. Looks like the Nazis are building some kind of superweapon, which will open a portal to another dimension, which they will use to bring forth all manner of beasties, winning them the war once and for all. Or something.
I know, only in a video game, right? But all this hokum does have a point, its mere framing that means a particle cannon in World War II makes some kind of sense. Which means you can get down to the disintegrating. And lets face it, thats the kind of thing youre after if the name Wolfenstein piques your interest, not plot or characterisation. As a reference point, BJ is a gruff, plastic action figure with as much personality as an oak twig, but he sure knows how to handle a gun.
Its wilfully old-school, with corridor-blasting aplenty. Aiming is accurate and responsive, if a little slow on the console version. The guns feel meaty and substantial, classic WWII weaponry such as the rifle or MP40 roar with every shot fired, and the more exotic weapons give out delightful whirrs and buzzes before their Nazi-devouring, pyrotechnic light shows. Adding a little magic to BJs arsenal is the Thine Medallion, which allows you to pass into The Veil to hunt out secret doorways, boost the power of your guns, throw up a magical shield or, yes, slow down time. Passing over into the Veil washes the screen in a shimmery blue-green, which is, frankly, rather horrible. The magic powers dont exactly tick the box marked innovative (or even imaginative) but they give enough of a kink to the gameplay to keep the Nazi-blasting mixed up.
To be perfectly honest, theres nothing in Wolfenstein that looks likely to break any new ground. But its not trying to, relying on tried-and-tested FPS action and, generally speaking, its good, solid, messy fun. However, while that can gloss over a lot of things, Wolfenstein is prone to some very basic flaws. The enemy AI is so spectacularly stupid at times, its a wonder that some of the troopers ever made it out of Germany. Often youll find whole groups of Nazis just standing out in the open, firing wildly into your vague direction, forgetting to move when you drop a grenade at their feet. And when they do hunker down behind a wall, they like to tempt you with a Whack-a-Mole game, popping their head up from cover in the same place over and over. Bang, bang, raspberry jam.
They do occasionally run from cover to cover, but go over such a long route that youve already had their leg off by the time theyre halfway. After theyve blown themselves up with their own grenade, it is kind of amusing in a "Ha, ha, look at the silly Nazis" kind of way, but you wonder how this kind of stuff got into the final game. Oh, and I know that these lot have been dabbling into some weird supernatural stuff that may make them go a little ga-ga, but Ive caught the occasional SS-trained killer running on the spot, his nose pressed up to a rock. Glitchy too, then. Bang, bang, rasp... you get the idea.
The decision to include quasi-open-world sections is questionable at the very least. The labyrinthine town of Isenstadt serves as your base, where you can meet with the resistance, take on side-missions and buy upgrades for your weapons. The missions themselves, meanwhile, take place in areas outside of the town map and are completely linear. At first, travelling back to Isenstadt can be a neat respite after all the Nazi slaughtering of the missions. But eventually the enemy becomes wise to your game, and start piling the streets with troops. Making it back to the resistance base can then become a slog, battling through the same identikit streets just to have to battle your way back out again to get to the next mission. An attempt to change the pace, maybe, but it tends to come across as padding and with the enemies spawning at random, the difficulty curve can be all over the shop.
The missions do have the odd stroke of excellence, however. An early romp through a train station is brilliantly entertaining, allowing you to blast magical barrels, which sends debris and enemies floating into the air, allowing you to pick them off as they paddle frantically in mid-air. Its an idea which unfortunately only reoccurs sporadically throughout the adventure. Later on theres a terrifically atmospheric enemy reveal as you fight through a demented hospital wing. The enemy in question is the invisible assassin (who is basically Kroenen from Hellboy, just made of squishier stuff) and his manic giggle perforates the halls as he goes around murdering innocent staff, unfortunately caught up in the carnage.
On a technical level, then, Wolfenstein is a game that swings wildly in quality on an almost minute-by-minute basis, and a rather vanilla multiplayer offering doesnt do much to quicken the pulse. The visuals, too, vary from gorgeous vistas and imaginative design to boxy corridors, steel grating and wooden crates. Through it all, however, the hardy, satisfying combat and dedication to good old-fashioned gunplay and little else means that Wolfenstein is nothing if not entertaining. Frankly, by the time the big guns start rolling around for Christmas, Wolfenstein will likely be a game forgotten. But FPS nuts needing a fix before the Modern Warfares of this world come barrelling into the shops could do a lot worse than this gleefully silly, old-school blast.
Wolfenstein video game review - Telegraph
Classic FPS Wolfenstein returns with this fun, but ultimately flawed, supernatural World War II adventure.
Formats: PS3 (tested), Xbox 360, PC
Developer: Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Age Rating: BBFC 18
Released: Out Now
Score: 7/10
You can disintegrate zombie Nazis.
Im not talking about the supernatural Third Reich vanishing in a puff of smoke either. Im talking a particle cannon that lashes out thick, coiling snakes of green death, turning every unfortunate stormtrooper it touches into crumbly corn flakes, which wisp towards the sky, fluttering casually in the wind. One squad turned into mush, click in a new battery, "OK, whos next?"
At the risk of fulfilling a cliché about gamers and violence, Wolfenstein is a game that part-way makes up for its flaws -of which there are many- by allowing you to dispatch the occult Nazi forces in a large number of gruesome -and grimly satisfying- ways. A headshot from your enhanced Kar98 rifle will send the recipients helmet pirouetting upwards on a spluttering geyser of raspberry jam, for instance. Later on, youll wield the Tesla Gun, which fires crackling blue arcs of electricity. Your character, William BJ Blazkowicz can stash a flame-thrower and a Panzershreck in his slacks. And limbs have a habit of, well, falling off under duress.
So Wolfensteins a shooter video game set in World War II, but, as you may have guessed, its not your traditional Call of Duty slash Medal of Honour fare. Despite the name, its not a reboot of the classic FPS series, but a direct sequel to Return to Castle Wolfenstein. BJ is an American spy, who has joined a budding resistance against the Nazis in a German town called Isenstadt. The SS forces in the area are part of Hitlers Supernatural division, a creepy bunch of Germans with comedy accents prone to dabbling in the occult. Looks like the Nazis are building some kind of superweapon, which will open a portal to another dimension, which they will use to bring forth all manner of beasties, winning them the war once and for all. Or something.
I know, only in a video game, right? But all this hokum does have a point, its mere framing that means a particle cannon in World War II makes some kind of sense. Which means you can get down to the disintegrating. And lets face it, thats the kind of thing youre after if the name Wolfenstein piques your interest, not plot or characterisation. As a reference point, BJ is a gruff, plastic action figure with as much personality as an oak twig, but he sure knows how to handle a gun.
Its wilfully old-school, with corridor-blasting aplenty. Aiming is accurate and responsive, if a little slow on the console version. The guns feel meaty and substantial, classic WWII weaponry such as the rifle or MP40 roar with every shot fired, and the more exotic weapons give out delightful whirrs and buzzes before their Nazi-devouring, pyrotechnic light shows. Adding a little magic to BJs arsenal is the Thine Medallion, which allows you to pass into The Veil to hunt out secret doorways, boost the power of your guns, throw up a magical shield or, yes, slow down time. Passing over into the Veil washes the screen in a shimmery blue-green, which is, frankly, rather horrible. The magic powers dont exactly tick the box marked innovative (or even imaginative) but they give enough of a kink to the gameplay to keep the Nazi-blasting mixed up.
To be perfectly honest, theres nothing in Wolfenstein that looks likely to break any new ground. But its not trying to, relying on tried-and-tested FPS action and, generally speaking, its good, solid, messy fun. However, while that can gloss over a lot of things, Wolfenstein is prone to some very basic flaws. The enemy AI is so spectacularly stupid at times, its a wonder that some of the troopers ever made it out of Germany. Often youll find whole groups of Nazis just standing out in the open, firing wildly into your vague direction, forgetting to move when you drop a grenade at their feet. And when they do hunker down behind a wall, they like to tempt you with a Whack-a-Mole game, popping their head up from cover in the same place over and over. Bang, bang, raspberry jam.
They do occasionally run from cover to cover, but go over such a long route that youve already had their leg off by the time theyre halfway. After theyve blown themselves up with their own grenade, it is kind of amusing in a "Ha, ha, look at the silly Nazis" kind of way, but you wonder how this kind of stuff got into the final game. Oh, and I know that these lot have been dabbling into some weird supernatural stuff that may make them go a little ga-ga, but Ive caught the occasional SS-trained killer running on the spot, his nose pressed up to a rock. Glitchy too, then. Bang, bang, rasp... you get the idea.
The decision to include quasi-open-world sections is questionable at the very least. The labyrinthine town of Isenstadt serves as your base, where you can meet with the resistance, take on side-missions and buy upgrades for your weapons. The missions themselves, meanwhile, take place in areas outside of the town map and are completely linear. At first, travelling back to Isenstadt can be a neat respite after all the Nazi slaughtering of the missions. But eventually the enemy becomes wise to your game, and start piling the streets with troops. Making it back to the resistance base can then become a slog, battling through the same identikit streets just to have to battle your way back out again to get to the next mission. An attempt to change the pace, maybe, but it tends to come across as padding and with the enemies spawning at random, the difficulty curve can be all over the shop.
The missions do have the odd stroke of excellence, however. An early romp through a train station is brilliantly entertaining, allowing you to blast magical barrels, which sends debris and enemies floating into the air, allowing you to pick them off as they paddle frantically in mid-air. Its an idea which unfortunately only reoccurs sporadically throughout the adventure. Later on theres a terrifically atmospheric enemy reveal as you fight through a demented hospital wing. The enemy in question is the invisible assassin (who is basically Kroenen from Hellboy, just made of squishier stuff) and his manic giggle perforates the halls as he goes around murdering innocent staff, unfortunately caught up in the carnage.
On a technical level, then, Wolfenstein is a game that swings wildly in quality on an almost minute-by-minute basis, and a rather vanilla multiplayer offering doesnt do much to quicken the pulse. The visuals, too, vary from gorgeous vistas and imaginative design to boxy corridors, steel grating and wooden crates. Through it all, however, the hardy, satisfying combat and dedication to good old-fashioned gunplay and little else means that Wolfenstein is nothing if not entertaining. Frankly, by the time the big guns start rolling around for Christmas, Wolfenstein will likely be a game forgotten. But FPS nuts needing a fix before the Modern Warfares of this world come barrelling into the shops could do a lot worse than this gleefully silly, old-school blast.
Wolfenstein video game review - Telegraph
Now that was the Tiem!! 
