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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Remarkable. Absolutely remarkable., December 5, 2005
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
I've never had much use for WWII games. Call of Duty, Medal of Honor...they all looked the same to me. So when the word got out that Return to Castle Wolfenstein was making its big FPS return -- and that you'd be facing enemies other than Nazis only 20% of the time -- I wasn't impressed.
Well, who knew shooting down Nazi scum would be so much fun?
That's right, I finally figured out what all you WWII-ers have known all along; that until we get Imperial Stormtroopers to mow down, the Nazis will just have to do. And it's such a visceral rush, cutting down these goose-stepping murderous fanatics, that you won't really mind that other twenty percent of the time when you're not facing them. Oh sure, fighting the undead or '40s-era cyborgs each have their own challenges, but it's those Nazis most in the need of killin'.
The game's graphics are amazingly lifelike. Grey Matter -- the development studio -- reportedly took hundreds of research photographs while in Eastern Europe, and it shows. The textures are incredibly real, and the Nazi soldiers even have different types of uniforms and decorations; some of them are even wounded, with bloody bandages.
The sounds are so realistic, so layered, you'd think they were first recorded during WWII itself. Machine-gun fire, grenade explosions, the whoosh of flamethrowers...even the sound of eating food isn't just genuine, it evokes a reaction in you. Just listen to the sound of BJ eating a hot meal and tell me your own throat doesn't work on reflex.
But the story behind the game? Well, it's just outstanding.
In 1943, over a year before the Allies made the landing at Normandy Beach, there was a secret, joint-intelligence venture between the U.S. and Britain known as the OSA, or the Office of Secret Actions. Your character, U.S. Army Ranger Pvt. BJ Blazkowicz, is one of the OSA's operatives, who stumbles on a horrific plot being carried out by the SS Paranormal Division. They intend to use Nazi knowledge of the occult, robotics, and chemical warfare to spell ultimate doom for the Allies, and total victory for the Third Reich. I won't give away the whole plot, but let's just say that finding out how all these puzzle pieces fit together is just part of the fun.
Your objectives can vary wildly from one mission to another. For instance: In one, you must sneak into a secret Nazi installation without setting off any alarms. Once inside, you must scuttle a chemical warhead aimed at London and fight your way back out again. After that, you sabotage a Nazi radar installation, before finally reaching an airstrip and stealing an experimental rocket-plane. And that's all just in one mission out of the seven you'll be playing. Good times, folks. Other missions take place in such different locales as another occupied village in the dead of winter, dusty tombs infested with both Nazis and the undead alike, a half-demolished city that's just undergone 48 straight hours of Allied bombing, and a secret lab in the frozen wastelands of Norway.
While most of the weapons are, I'm sure, completely faithful recreations of what was being used by both sides at the time -- the MP40 and the Sten are two such examples -- the others are extrapolations of how such weapons could've been developed, like the Venom or the Tesla. Hell; this is also the first time I've ever played a game that gave me a CHOICE of sniper rifles. The Mauser, Snooper, and FG42 each have their own unique pros and cons that make them ideally suited to their roles.
One of the most compelling things about this game, though, is that it makes you wonder just HOW MUCH of all this was real? Was there really an OSA? Was there a real Kreisau Circle (the anti-Nazi German resistance in the game)? Did Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler -- both madmen, to be sure -- really look into such concepts as the occult or human experimentation as part of the war effort? Did the Reich really have an SS Paranormal Division? And did they really train women to be used as commandos?
Nevertheless, this game is worth it. It's fun, it's challenging, it makes you think, and it makes you feel so much better about yourself by putting hot lead into the most evil bunch of knuckle-dragging mass murderers this planet's come up with yet.
Now go give Jerry what-for!!
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
simply amazing, February 21, 2005
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
This game has some points that makes it superior to other PC first-person shooters.
The most amazing thing about the game is perhaps music surrounding. It is superb! The themes greatly
contribute to the atmosphere of the game.
The second point is a good storyline. Sometimes you get missions which could exist in reality. That's amazing, because
it makes you feel as if strange personages you read about in Nazi's memoirs came to life, and you may participate in real events!
The third amazing feature is graphics. The game is aesthetically beautiful, full of colourful landscapes and ancient castles.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Still brilliant despite its age..., February 6, 2006
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant game! Creepy, atmospheric and adventurous - most things lacking from modern games. The game may be an fps but it has loads of puzzles and plots and sub-plots to make it compelling - as well as infuriating. This is kind of Indiana Jones meets Painkiller (but without the repetitious gameplay).
Enemy Territory is the online game that comes with this version, though you can now download this game for free (legally! Try Gamershell). Even so it is still worth buying just for the `main event'. I got mine for nine pounds from Amazon uk a year ago - so you may get it cheaper from there.
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