Customer Reviews

Return to Castle Wolfenstein

5 star:		(149)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

(...)

In any case, I can comment (objectively) on the game because I have played it and I can say without a doubt that it's worth buying. Some of us can remember back to the Wolfenstein 3D which later led to Doom which revolutionized the shareware concept and finally brought the PC to a viable gaming platform. Of course, some of us can remember all the way back to the original Castle Wolfenstein of the Apple IIc days, but lets not go there...

Anyways, gamers have waited long and hard for the chance to battle nazis once again and this game delivers. Castles are rendered in very nice detail on my Geforce, it almost starts to smell cold and musty in here (maybe that's me). The cutscenes are also well done and provide a nice prologue to each mission. The game's intro you'll probably only watch once or twice but it's one of the coolest ever! The music is very atmospheric and spooky, reminiscent of Quake. Whoever said the game crashes all the time must have a bad system or be using XP. Anyone who has "downgraded" to XP should've realized that nothing's gonna run on XP for a year (you think people would've learned after Windows 95.) In any case, I run the game on my non-XP system without problems.

Who cares about all that, right? It's the gameplay you want to hear about. Again, this game delivers. You start off as expected battling those evil nazi's as you escape Wolfenstein. From there the game gets progressively creepier as you dive deep into the catacombs and discover both you and the nazis are fighting off terrors even more disturbing. (...)Without spoiling too much, you find out the dead start coming to life and lemme tell ya, these buggers are tough to beat. Ammo starts becoming a serious issue. Not to mention some of the demons have shields that reflect the bullets back at you. Once you meet the fire demon - that alone is worth the price of admission.

Many of the zombies are just thick-skinned clods that are tough to kill, but don't think the enemies have bad AI. One of the head nazi's, Helga, is protected by an elite corp of women who can dodge, roll and even double team against you. Toss a grenade at em? They'll just kick it back at you (and they'll usually wait until just before it's ready to blow up too.) Very quick and very tough. Not to mention, the first time I snuck up behind one of Helga's elite guards, I had to stop and admire the "artwork".

Last but not least, the game borrows a page from the success of No One Lives Forever (another great game) by allowing the player to sneak up on the enemy and listen to their conversations. It's also interesting to run into the occasions the nazis are too busy battling demons to worry about attacking you. This is probably the first game that has made me jump since Doom came out. The surprise factor is used a little excessively in my opinion, but you'll definitely get a few scares.

Multiplayer is quick and responsive on a cable modem. I, of course, get pounded on mercilessly by the thousands of kids who are much better than I. The new interesting addition is the formation of team assaults where each member has a special ability (Lieutenants can call in airstrikes, medics can heal players, engineers can set dynamite, etc...). I find this difficult when joining existing games where I don't know any of the other members, but I figure people will soon be forming clans, similar to Mechwarrior, to exploit the advantages team based assaults can provide. No idea yet on invincibility hacks or other cheats, I get beat so bad it seems like they're all invincible to me.

So there you go. I was worried the emphasis would be on multiplayer and the single player game would be lacking, but that is not the case. If you are into multiplayer battles, then you probably already have a copy of this game by now.

Hope the review helped!

Just having clocked a few hours playing with the multiplayer beta demo, I'm very impressed with what Return to Castle Wolfenstein (RTCW) provides and has the potential to provide once it goes gold. The Quake III Arena graphics engine works beautifully to render gritty WWII battlegrounds, and the gameplay balances realism (limited ammo, sniper scope drift - very nice touch!, etc.) with playability (although compared to titles like Operation Flashpoint, RTCW is definitely an arcade-like experience). I suspect the final product will be a cross between Half-Life meets Medal of Honor in the single player mode, and Half-Life: Counter-Strike meets Medal of Honor in multiplayer. And then Medal of Honor: Allied Assult will come out and put the WWII shooter crown in question, but until then, RTCW has my vote. I'd suppose either RTCW or Allied Assault (or both!) would bundle nicely with the DVD set of 'Band of Brothers' for the flag-waving gamer in your family for Xmas! Lock and load!!!

Yep, I remeber playing Wolfenstein 3D on the old 100 and something computer with my old video and sound card. I still play it, but obivisouly on a faster computer. I downloaded the multiplayer demo thinking to be a tiny bit impresed. I rarely play demos and never get impressed by them. But, then I played Return To Castle Wolfenstein and saw the perfect game. The Flamethrower visual effect is perfect and looks so realistic. All of my friends love this game and this has become the first game I have become addicted to since Soul Calibur came out and then it was Super Mario Bros. I reccomend this is game to everyone and don't listen to the people that say that it sucks without gore. Metal Gear Solid did not gore and it is one of the greatest games of all time. It is not gore that makes any game, it is the gameplay and graphics.

The wait is finally over with. I've waited years to buy "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" because I've heard and read so much about it. I bought the "Return To Castle Wolfenstein Collecters Tin Edition" the day after Thanksgiving. Was it worth it to wait so long and to dish out so much money for the game? You bet it was. It was well worth it. If you go out and buy just one computer game this year, go out and buy "Return To Castle Wolfenstein". I've played a lot of different computer games over the years and this one is the very best computer games I've ever played. The graphics alone are the best I have ever seen in a computer game. And the sounds and music throughout the game are unbelieveable. I have never heard such realistic weapons sounds before like I have in this game. When I fired a rifle, it sounds just like a real rifle should. And you should see the characters and creatures throughout the game. This game has got one of the best AI's I've seen in a game. It is so cool is to see the German guards act like real people. They even question their orders by the German High Command. There is one scene in the game where one of the German soldiers is guarding a wine cellar in a village and this German soldier is completely drunk and he is staggering around trying to sing to the German National Anthem while it is playing over the radio. It was simply hilarious to see something like that in a war like setting. In another scene you can hear a German guard coughing like crazy because it is so cold outside where he is stationed at. The area where that German guard is stationed is covered with snow and the sky is filled with dark clouds rolling across the sky. You start to feel sorry for that poor German guard and you want to tell him to go somewhere warm to get rid of that nasty cough. You start to believe your in a real World War II setting that how real everything looks and feels. And it so cool to see German soldiers and zombies fighting each other while you you just sit back and watch the battle. A lot of people don't realize that the German High Command was really into the occult during World War II and the Germans did try different experiments with the occult during the war. The team who put this game together has done a great job of studying the war. Bravo on making such a fine game.

This is an amazing game. The graphics are very nice. The textures on the buildings are nothing short from stunning. The actual gameplay is fast and furious (Kind of like quake 3, because it's by I.D. too). The use of scary sounds definitily makes the Wolfenstein atmosphere feel creepy. The levels inside the crypts are terrifying, I even jumped a few times. It may not be as scary as Undying, but it defintely gives you some chills. The story is great and developes throughout the game, sucking you in. Really this game is not that short compared to other FPS's and the fact it has a very good multiplayer means it has tons of replay value. Overall its a great game, that no action fan should miss.

This game is a collaboration of quite a few studios, and it does not dissapoint.

The gameplay is superb in all areas. Its an interesting fusion of tradional, stomach-turning Quake-style action with engaging story elements reminiscent of games like Dues Ex. The many cutscenes found throughout the game are blended seamlessly with actual gameplay, making for a great interactive experience.

But make no mistake - the core of the game is still action and before the adventure comes to an end, you'll have plowed through countless Nazi soldiers and many other horrific monstrosities. Even the most seasoned FPS gamers should find themselves challenged, especially on the highest difficulty level.

The graphics are, of course, fantastic. Whether its the breath-taking landscapes or lush textures, the attetion to detail certainly shows, and leaves the gamer feeling right at home in the world of Wolfenstein. As it goes with all id products, you are given a great deal of customization, allowing gamers on low-end systems to maintain playable framerates. The music is also impressive, starting up at key moments to add intesity, though never too distracting.

Multiplayer is VERY fun! Teams are composed of four different classes - soldiers, lieutenants, engineers, and medics. All serve an important function in completing the objectives of a given map. The maps themselves have a variety of different objectives, ranging from capturing artifacts/intellegence, to blowing up a communications radar. Holds up well to the current competition - the Day of Defeat Halflife mod. However, RTCW seems to promote more of a cohesive team element with the class dependency. Even those of you with, erm...."sub-par"...FPS skills can still contribute greatly as a support player.

Bottom line: this combines all the aspects of old school gaming with the great production values of current games, making for a thorougly enjoyable experience.

id demonstrates here that they're still very much in top form! kudos to everyone involved with the production.

My copy of Return to Castle Wolfenstein arrived and I voraciously attacked the packaging, as is my custom with anything that arrives from Amazon. I installed RTCW, which was a snap, and proceeded to play night and day for 3 full days until I beat this fantastic game. It was an experience, which is something that you will understand if you're a true gamer. If you're a new gamer, this game has the potential to give you your first true experience. I'm talking about games like Halflife, No One Lives Forever, or Deus Ex that you don't want to end. I didn't want RTCW to end. The graphics are phenomenal- that is, the landscapes and charcter design are of the highest order. The Quake 3 engine that everyone is talking about is truly worthy of its acclaim. Everything has texture, the enemy AI is realistic, and the in-game dialogue is believable. However, the graphics and gameplay aren't what make this game truly amazing. The story is what RTCW will be forever remembered for. You get to fight Nazis,(always a plus in gaming), but also uncover the secrets of the Third Reich's Paranormal Division. Needless to say, you're in for some creepy confrontations. This element of science fiction mixed with true WWII action is what I loved most about the game. If you have a decent computer, this game is quite worth it. (...) take it from me: I have a good computer which I've customized for gaming and it played like a dream. Even on a less-customized computer this game will run great. I'm giving you a gurantee on this one (...).

I suppose if there are two groups whom it's acceptable and almost encouraged to slaughter, it would be Nazis and zombies. It's the only time a defendant could be on the witness stand and confess to his own benefit "Your Honor, they were really asking for it." Which is what makes Return to Wolfenstein so much fun. It's a historically accurate gothic WWII supernatural FPS. One of those rare combinations you throw in a blender and it comes out all yummy.

I'll briefly echo all the other compliments here: nearly photo-realistic graphics; pinpoint control, targeting, and collision detection; silky smooth operation in XP. Voice acting is believable. Weapon and explosion sounds are appropriately metallic and jarring. And the undead are scary as hell. I've played many of the good survival horror franchises, and none except Silent Hill 1 freaked me out like the zombies in Wolfenstein. It was a rare stroke of genius to introduce the Nazi grunts as sympathic victims of the undead hordes, showing scenes of your enemy's enemies devouring them alive. This creates a real hesitation and apprehension about the player's role that exacerbates the fear. In other words: me scared, good job.

So, if it rocks so hard, why not five stars? Well, this little revelation hit me about halfway through the game: instead of being the best Castle Wolfenstein it could be, id decided to make a very good cross between Medal of Honor and Wolfenstein. Which is a very good thing, but remember what set the first Wolfensteins apart from the rest were the exploration and "secret area" goodies. RtW would have been great if every level had been more like Paderborn (the best stage of RtW): more dungeon crawling, deeper and more inventive secret areas. I'm imagining innovative and useable secret goodies that enhanced gameplay, hidden by new concepts of concealing secret doors. You know, play to your strengths rather than copy someone else.

As it is, Return to Wolfenstein is a fun, pretty, and often scary offbeat shooter that's just a hair below the best of the more traditional WWII FPS.

It doesn't take long for humans to become nostalgic about the good times in their lives. Likewise, it doesn't take long for a PC game to be considered a classic. Id Software and Apogee's *Wolfenstein 3D* became one of the most revered PC games in the last decade.

For the two or three readers who don't know, *Wolf* launched the first-person shooter game from a gimmick to a genre back in 1992. It offered what every person on Earth wanted to do: run around a maze with a Gatling gun and mow down hordes of Nazis. Nine years later, Gray Matter took this title off the mantle and carried it into the 21st Century. With id Software's blessing, *Return to Castle Wolfenstein* is a sports car of a game, and a complete remake of a classic.

Obviously, then, *RtCW* was hyped. For example, the December 2000 issue of Computer Gaming World offered an "Exclusive first-look at the hottest shooter since Half-Life". It continued with "two years and counting after Half-Life, and the single-player shooter bar is about to get raised again". The overall impression was that of a story-driven WWII adventure.

Within the Walls

But *RTCW* isn't what it's cracked up to be. Computer Gaming World scooped a considerably more epic and intricate game than what actually shipped. CGW described, in step by step detail, a *Medal of Honor* style amphibious assault as the opening of the game. The player character was reported as taking an epic journey across Europe. CGW reported that friendly A.I. would fight alongside the player character, that bosses and enemies were vulnerable only at certain times with certain weapons, and that enemies would not spawn and would fight most intelligently, such as recognizing that your gun is bigger than their gun. Since CGW strongly implied these points to be expected in the final release, I foolishly lowered my guard and accepted the hype.

This was, after all, before anybody knew that id software would delay *RtCW's* release by a full year and have it redesigned. None of the attributes I cited above appeared in the released version of *Wolf*. Instead, *Medal of Honor: Allied Assault* would adopt the epic WWII mantle, while RtCW turned out to be another weekend shooter.

This should be no surprise, considering id software has always been about speed and violence. But I have to admit I'm getting tired of the current deluge of ten-hour titles, and id software's formula offers no respite. RtCW's story is pretty incidental for all of its cinematic air, as little more than shooting and explosions occur during play. Between levels, an orders update shuttles the player from one killing ground to the next. Most of the levels are your standard maze full o' monsters, only much simpler and easier than those found in previous id titles such as *Quake* and *Doom*. All enemies are vulnerable to guns and rocket launchers, and with no hit location, most levels are solved with your standard circle-strafe-and-a-machine-gun trick. Rarely will the player need more than a suppressed Sten gun and a Mauser K98, and rarely will the player need to do more than kill people and find the exit. Expository cut scenes stitch it all together.

Don't mistake me-all of this stuff is fun. I just don't like it when a game hyped as a *Half-Life* competitor turns out to be another run-and-gunner beat in two days. I especially don't like it when said game is an A-list title from A-list developers.

Return to Quake III

But let's give credit where credit is due. *Wolf* certainly competes with big-time shooters on the media front: this game looks and sounds great. The Quake III engine gets a work out with photo-realistic textures and lighting, while the snarls of zombies and undead warriors echo down stone corridors and into the marrow of the player's bones. And while circle-strafing is often the solution to beating enemies, their A.I is smart enough to take cover while reloading and to strafe-fire back at the player. I have to admit, from the flamethrower to the smoke to the late afternoon shadows, I find RtCW's effects gorgeous. Best of all, it runs smoothly even on my antiquated AMD 900 processor.

Finally, RtCW has a few nice features to liven up the play:

1.Ladders have cages to reduce those annoying "ladder deaths".
2.Helpful icons pop up to tell the player what to do, so he or she isn't banging away at every wall looking for secrets.
3.Venom soldiers are invulnerable to the weapons they carry, so don't get into a flamethrower fight with one.
4.The leaping Lopers charge no matter what players throw at them, though a Venom gun or a rocket launcher will make short work if the player is quick on the draw.
5.Humorous messages and orders litter the Wehrmacht bases and labs.
6.And, of course, plenty of Hitler portraits hang about for the players to vandalize.

In for the Kill

But make no mistake, this is an id software game; big on style and short on substance. If players want to kill a weekend chasing Nazis in a maze with a Gatling gun, *RtCW* is a good-looking, scary-sounding, smooth-running choice. If players want a little more meat on their first-person Nazi shooters, they need to boot up the *Medal of Honor* series.

Nope, in all the hype I was hoping for a game much more involved than it turned out, particularly since id and Gray Matter were remaking the granddaddy of first-person shooters. Still, Return to Castle Wolfenstein satisfies on other levels, and it will probably be as fondly remembered as its progenitor. It's no *Half-Life* killer, but it can kill some time while waiting for *Half-Life 2*.

I don't know what the guy with the 1 star is smoking, but this game is just awesome. When you have all the eye candy turned on, it's a visual treat. Details are amazing, from the air strikes, and the constant shaking of the ground because of them. (the flame thrower....fire is so real and beautiful). sort of like being thrown back in time.

If you like team based shooters, this is it. running around bunkers, defending, or storming enemy strong holds and it's all classic stuff (weapon wise of course). another thing, the objectives for each team are pretty clear and i think it helps the team based. i haven't played one game yet where it doesn't require team work to win. sure it's not quake 3 but hey it's using a more refined engine and who here has not heard of WWII.

try out the test release - demo. it will give you a feel for it, but when the final release is out....some of those maps are going to rock.