by: Dameon White

September 03, 2009

It feels like only yesterday that Wolfenstein 3D arguably defined the first-person genre as we play it today. Giant level exploration with loads of firepower all aimed at Nazis pretty much laid the foundation for thousands of FPS games to come. Today, while these rather simplistic mechanics are still very much in place the genre has escalated to also feature emotional and Blockbuster caliber storylines, fully destructible environments, combat vehicles, realistic physics, and various other genre improving elements. Does Wolfenstein have what it takes to stand out from its vast sea of competition?

Wolfenstein starts off with a cinematic (no spoiler, don’t worry) very similar to what you’d expect in an Indiana Jones film. Needless to say, it’s got a little pizzazz. As B.J. Blazkowicz you’re essentially the Third Reich’s worst nightmare and officially the coolest S.O.B. to ever kill Nazis. As you’re doing what you do best – killin’ Natzi’s – you uncover this weird gem that harnesses the power of Black Sun Energy. It doesn’t take an Inglorious Basterd rocket scientist to figure out the story from here, as its all been done a million times before; save the world from the Nazis (again) and stop them from turning this strange power infused relic into a weapon of mass destruction. Needless to say, the story isn’t as deep as we might have hoped for, but then again this is a Wolfenstein game after all.

While the story lacks a little originality the game somewhat makes it for it by attempting to stray away its linear roots and offering the player a gameplay experience that doesn’t seem so scripted. Rather than blasting your way through progressing levels you’ll instead find that you have a central hub at the city of Isenstadt that grants you the ability to launch various. This means that after you complete a mission you can return to the city (your safe house of sorts) and jump to other areas of the game. Because the city is also a bit safer it means you also have a tad bit of freedom away from the chaos to just explore the locale.

Free roaming around Isenstadt is a neat feature, but we couldn’t help but feel a bit cheated in that the game’s attempt to not look entirely linear is more of a distraction than it is a reality. There isn’t too much to explore in Isenstadt and over the course of the standard-length game (8-10 hours for most gamers) you’ll find yourself running down the same alleyways over and over. As far as the NPC’s are concerned most you cannot actually engage with until you complete a prerequisite mission and are told to go speak with them. This part of the game could have been a lot better had it been implemented in an RPG manner. For its worth, though, exploration offers enough distraction to at least disguise the fact that overall this game is still very much a linear affaire.

If you’ve followed along with this particular Wolfenstein leading up to its release the aforementioned might not actually matter to you because what Wolfenstein is really about is Nazi killing combat and the developers Raven Software and Threewave Software don’t let you down. Standard era weapons are intact, tons of stuff blows up and you can upgrade the bejesus out of your arsenal using gold that you find as you progress through the game. Of course, there’s also the more extreme weapons such as particle beams that completely vaporize your enemies and shield penetrating weapons and more.