In a nutshell, Return to Castle Wolfenstein is a first person shooter set in a early 1940s Germany, where you are the lone soldier who goes on an adventure in castles, crypts and military bases to uncover the occult activities of Heinrich Himmler and his grotesque experiments in making super soldiers. The level design and the atmosphere of the game have a sort of Indiana Jones quality to them and feel real to the era. This game is a milestone in that it seems to capture reality like never before, from unit animations, to AI, to the graphics.

When I first started playing it, I noticed the single player missions were very detailed and story driven, allowing your character to listen in on mad scientists at work and do unique things like interact with allied computer controlled players who give you shelter and items. But when you look at the core of the game, in many ways it is Doom part 8. In other words, the game plays like most of the other first person shooters out there, except this one just looks very good.

I enjoyed the single player, but after a few sessions and a few attempts at trying to beat some more difficult baddies in the game, I seemed to lose interest. It wasn’t until months after I played the single player a bit I loaded the game up and tried the multi player option. I joined a server that had a lot of players on it and now I know why this game has won game of the year from other publications!

Multi player (MP): A gem in disguise. This game should be sold as a free online Internet game with some bonus single player missions. The MP game even looks a little different that the single player, the characters are a little less detailed and there doesn’t seem to be many environmental effects in the MP game, just a minute amount of fog on some boards. Now having said that the MP has a little less detail, let that not be a weakness, in fact the graphics are perhaps the best asset this game has to offer, next to rich gameplay.

Having played the MP part of the game for a couple months now I realize that there are stages of personal growth, skill and wonderment that have evolved as I played. When I first went online it was a chaotic environment, my adrenaline flowed from the sounds and drums of war and I seemed to die a lot without ever getting any of the bad guys. After a couple days I was starting to notice some of the finer points the game had to offer. When I would get killed in a game, sometimes my teammates would come and revive me using a medic, or if I were out of ammunition, a friendly Lieutenant would give me a couple clips of ammo to keep me going. Seeing this kind of teamwork encouraged me to try and play better, and more ‘team’ oriented. This game is not ‘everyman for them selves’, there is a goal for your team to accomplish and there are both offensive and defensive roles to be had. After logging in quite a few hours I realized there were a few maps I really enjoyed playing. There are many maps to pick from, but my personal favorites are Market_Garden, Depot and Tram. Market Garden seems to have everything I want. Open environments, places to hide, multiple paths, and a diverse environment. After you learn the map (and I mean learn it well), you can become somewhat godlike in your gameplay. My one on one skills seem to be lacking, but my tactics are superior. If I get in a close fire fight with an enemy, I seem to not be as accurate as my opponents, but some of the tactics I have developed have always had me taking out more enemies than they do to me. Adapting to what our conditions call for is the key to success. You are able to choose whatever type of soldier you want to be. Here is a breakdown of the basic troop types:

• Soldier: Can use unique weapons such as sniper rifles, flamethrowers, Vulcan cannons and PanzerFaust (rocket launcher).
• Medic: Can drop med packs to heal wounded and revive fallen comrades using short-range syringe. Carries standard machine gun.
• Lieutenant: Can drop ammo packs for all troop types, keeping your offense supplied. Can also call in air strikes and artillery strikes on dug in troops. Carries standard machine gun.
• Engineer: Is essential for victory on many boards. The engineers can detonate dynamite on enemy installations, set proximity mines and can defuse enemy explosives. Carries standard machine gun.

You’ll find enjoyment out of all the troop types, as each one plays a little bit differently. Playing as a sniper you’ll want to hide in the darkest corner, far away from the enemy, but somewhere in view so you can pick off your targets. All other soldier types are up front, especially with Vulcan cannons and flamethrowers. I personally seem to do best as a Lieutenant, helping my fellow soldiers and forcing the enemy to move by throwing air strike smoke signals into dug in areas.

With the cooperative gameplay, gorgeous maps and fast & addictive action this game has practically no flaws. Only gripe is that on occasion you’ll run across a player on your own team who plays like an 8 year old and gets kicks out of killing his own teammates. After several complaints the player is banished from the server, but nothing prevents them from joining the server again. The only other gripe is that some servers are laggy and can affect gameplay, but if you don’t mind playing on different maps, there are always an abundant number of servers with great ping times.

The bottom line is that while the single player part of Return to Castle Wolfenstein is a typical first person shooter with great graphics, you’ll find the multiplayer part is a highly addictive and remarkably fun mode that will easily keep you busy for months. I have not enjoyed first person shooting this much since the ol’ days of the First Person Shooter (FPS), when Doom and Quake were making their rounds. This game is exactly what was needed to renew my interest in the FPS genre. By adding the cooperative squads and soldier roles, this game will keep you sleep deprived for many months!

reviewed by Todd Alexander