Return to Castle Wolfenstein has been eagerly awaited by the majority of gaming fans hoping that the new incarnation would be every bit as good as the original Wolfenstein was back when it was released as shareware May 1992. Wolfenstein was the game that bought shareware into the mainstream and offered never before seen style of gaming which has resulted in numerous sequels and games. One of the games that came from that success was Quake, so its funny that ten years on, Wolfenstein would be using the Quake III engine. Return to Castle Wolfenstein is the latest incarnation of the franchise that started the 3D gaming revolution. The game is a first-person shooter, built upon the powerful QUAKE III Arena™ engine, with focus on fast-past action, and journeys into the darkest realms of the Nazi war machine.

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The game is set in the year is 1944. You as the player assume the role of B.J. Blazkowicz, an American agent, tasked with single handily stopping secret Nazi research projects that threaten to turn the tide of the war. As one man against the Third Reich, the player is tasked with overcoming overwhelming odds, beating back masses of soldiers, and blazing through hordes of zombies. The game will feature some of the scariest, most shocking enemies ever seen, including: Nazi soldiers, Nazi officers, Genetic Mutants, and the zombies.

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Throughout the game, there are numerous bosses, NPC's, and friendly characters-all of whom advance the narrative, as well as provide heart-stopping action. Bosses have been neglected in my opinion in the majority of first person games, but Return to Castle Wolfenstein once again brings in the big bad ass boss at the end of each main mission.

Gameplay

Just like the original Wolfenstein 3D and so many of the first person games to date, the main goal is to shoot the crap out the enemy. Unlike the original there are times when you have to be careful in who you shoot, because throughout the game you can encounter "friendlies" which are there to help, and shooting them would end the mission. The player's mission objectives are given through a variety of means, but come primarily from the voice of the Director, a mysterious, senior British official, with whom B. J. communicates over a two-way field radio. Each mission is split into varied objectives and sub missions which ultimately come together to complete the mission. Sub missions are loaded throughout the game which at times can be a pain, because when you are in full swing of the mission it draws you away from the game and makes you remember you are just sitting in front of a computer screen.

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The game can be quite challenging at times even on the easiest difficulty levels. This makes for a game that kept be hooked for weeks of game play. Yes I died a lot, and yes I'm usually very good at these types of games, so you can expect you might be using the save game function quite a bit. This means that the game is well worth the money, you get hours of fun, and its difficulty is just right so you don't get bored with dying, but you keep playing for the challenge. As a first person shooter all the usual great weapons are here to blast your way through enemy soldiers and creatures. A few examples of the firepower that each player will have available are: an MP-40 machine gun, grenades, and a flame-thrower. It's nice to see real world weapons for a change in a game; far too many opt for the more poncy feeling futuristic weapons. The weapons in this game really pack a punch; the grenades are especially fun to use in a room full of bad guys.

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As well as blasting the bad guys, there are various buttons and levers to press which can form parts of puzzles and secret rooms which adds a depth and importance to some of your missions. Treasure can be collected along the way as in the original Wolfenstein, but its not as freely available as in the original, you have to hunt in secret areas for it in most of the missions.

Graphics

Each location in the game has been created with unmatched detail and realism. Players will battle through: Castle Wolfenstein, the Village below the Castle, Crypts and Catacombs, secret Nazi military installations, and secret Nazi research labs. Founded upon the revolutionary QUAKE III Arena technology, the game features unparalleled texture graphics, fogging, artificial intelligence, special effects, animated shaders, reflection mapping, and dynamic lighting. It just goes to show how good the Quake 3 engine really is, so many games today a re still being built on it. Many texture maps in the game are created from actual digital photographs of walls, stone, brick, terrain, and wood found on location in France and Germany. Much of the castle architecture is taken from actual floor plans of European castles. Out of all the missions the first one has to be the best. Escaping from the castle is fantastically fun, resulting in shooting your way around the castle before descending on a cable car, which reminds me of a Clint Eastwood film, Where Eagles Dare.

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The visuals are superb, every location just looks right, as though it should be in the game, and each and every building seems to have a purpose, and not there just for display. The graphics are such good quality that the in game cut scenes all use the engine, so not only does the game look good, the cut scenes also look like they are part of the game, and not an after thought

Sound

Sound once again is fantastic from the simplistic crunch of stones under your boots, to the ear blistering machine gun blasts. Every sound is clear and its volume adjusted depending upon how close you are to the object making the sound.
You can here background noises, like trucks, and enemy fire and they really do sound like there are coming from a distance. This is not only pleasing to here, but helpful in the game as you can ready yourself for what is coming at you. For example in one of the missions your are outside on a platform, and you hear parachutes opening, which signals you to look up and see that enemy paratroopers are heading straight for you.

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Sound also benefits the enemy because if you are heard guard come running out of doors to find and kill you. This was a feature that was so good in the original Wolfenstein as was lost in Quake.

Overall

It's hard to fault the game at all. The missions are fantastic; the game play is the best I've played for a long time with real weapons, great enemies, and superb sound.

The developers have done a great job in living up to the Originals good name in developing such a brilliant piece of first person gaming, which is also good online. This is the guru of first person shooters and the king of all games at the moment.