Fittingly enough, single player Wolfenstein is much like some of those old action movies set in World War II - fun while it lasts (which isn't too long), but in the end, largely forgettable. The occasional stealth mission brings the game down a notch too as it isn't particularly well implemented and just feels out of place - you'll often auto save only to hear the alarm a few seconds later (it starts out quiet), forcing a level restart.
Multiplayer is another matter entirely. It's a bit like the Assault mode from Unreal Tournament but has the added twist of different character classes. The Lieutenant can call in air strikes and hand out ammo and the Engineer can plant or disarm dynamite and fix damaged turret guns. The soldier gets to choose his main gun from a broader selection of weapons such as the Flame Thrower, Mauser Sniper Rifle, Venom Gatling Gun and Panzerfaust Rocket Launcher, and even if he picks a regular gun such as the Thompson he gets more ammo than the others. Finally the medic well, can you guess what he does? Aside from dishing out health packs he can revive wounded soldiers. When your health reaches zero in Wolfenstein multiplayer you're not dead and can be revived by a medic unless you get gibbed by an explosion. It's a very clever idea that works well in practice - rushing past heavy gunfire and reviving someone quickly so they can rejoin the battle is more fun than it might sound, it can easily turn the tide of a particular fire exchange. Many of the levels are based on the single player Wolfenstein levels though this again works better than expected, mainly because most of the time half of the multiplayer level is still built from scratch anyway. It's easy to jump straight into a game and play, though once clans spring up for Wolfenstein Multiplayer things should get particularly interesting as there is lots of potential for clever tactics and good team organisation here.
I feel like I've just reviewed two games here, though that's not surprising since multiplayer and single player were created by different companies. Wolfenstein is worth getting more for the multiplayer than the single player. Sure, the single player is a decent enough blast, but multiplayer offers so much more depth, variety and freshness that you'll soon forget your brief adventure as B.J. Blazkowicz.
The Verdict: If you enjoy class based multiplayer, go buy Return to Castle Wolfenstein without hesitation, now. Ditto if you want an entertaining single player blast that looks great but doesn't tax the brain cells too much or for too long. It's a shame it isn't really the undisputed game of the year like some were hoping though, just better than average, and then mainly due to the multiplayer.
By Pete Closs
Editor
[Return To Castle Wolfenstein was developed by Gray Matter and Nerve and published by Activision.]
