Return to Castle Wolfenstein

                  Reviewed by Nick Edmunds

Way back in 1992 John Carmack developed a smooth scrolling system
for the PC.  This system in turn allowed him, Tom Hall and John
Romero to create a new style of game, the first person shooter,
and began the rise of ID software.  Marketed as shareware,
Wolfenstein 3D (reviewed SynTax 38) was shortly followed by Spear
of Destiny, ID's first retail release.  These games led the way
for several Dooms, various Quakes and a shedful of clones, until
the present day where the first person shooter has become a genre
in its own right.

When I first played Wolfenstein 3D (on a 386SX notebook, now
deceased) I was impressed by the way it reported the conventional
memory available, and I spent much time on boot disks in an
attempt to minimise the number of TSRs loading at start-up.
Compare this with the RTCW minimum spec of a 16Mb graphics card
and you can see that gaming has changed somewhat in the last ten
years, but apart from this massive increase in power demand what
else is different in the world of Wolfenstein?

Set during WWII we again play agent B. J. Blazkowicz, for whom the
years have indeed been kind for he looks better than ever.  As the
game begins we find ourselves in a cell, standing over the body of
the recently deceased guard. Once out of the cell we discover the
tortured remains of our fellow agent, so it's down to us to shoot
our way out and save the day.  This might sound a little familiar,
but RTCW is much more than a remake of the original.  It has a
comprehensive plot with a mission-based story line and a hefty
slice of realism.

You may be aware that the Nazi top brass were a bit eccentric, but
what's really frightening is that RTCW isn't too far from the
truth.  The eerie architecture of medieval Germany blends well
with the Third Reich's obsession with the occult and genetic
experimentation, giving the whole thing a distinctly spooky edge.
Taking this to its natural conclusion, our story maintains that
Himmler believed himself to be the reincarnation of a 10th century
dark prince and is creating an unstoppable army of zombified
mechanical mutants (so much for racial purity).  Thus it becomes
the task of our man to single handedly slaughter most of the
German army along with anything the SS paranormal division can
conjure up.

Yet another outing for the Quake 3 engine shows ID exploiting the
enhanced terrain system to its full potential with much of the
action taking place outside the castle itself in large open areas
around tombs, churches, bombed out villages and airfields. Crypt
levels are particularly moody and atmospheric and have a definite
feel of Quake II about them, which ironically enough is apparently
John Carmack's favourite game.  Not only do the missions take us
to different locations with relevant environments, but they also
vary enough to provide some interesting gameplay.  For Blazkowicz
escorting a stolen Panzer through an occupied town, rescuing the
trapped scientist and stealthily assassinating a bunch of Nazi
generals is all in a day's work.  Some of these missions do
require an element of strategy, but there's little in the way of
puzzles other than finding secret areas and collecting treasures.

Another thing that struck me about Wolfenstein 3D was the enemy's
level of AI; it was years ahead of its time.  RTCW continues this
excellent tradition by using what appears to be the same AI system
as the original.  Allegedly guards run for cover, kick back
grenades and use shields defensively to ricochet your bullets back
at you, but they only do this if you let them.  The truth is the
master race mostly stands around like a bunch of wet sauerkraut,
although they do become harder at the higher skill level.  The
bosses are also a little disappointing, particularly the end of
game boss Heinrich 1st - not only is he a wuss, he's also a bit
unimaginative; where's the giant robot Hitler when you need him?
I was also a little disappointed that the previous Wolf games
weren't included on the CD and while there are many similarities
and references to them within RTCW, I was surprised that ID didn't
make more of the lineage, particularly with the ten years thing.

Previous incarnations aside RTCW, is an excellent game in its own
right, both atmospheric and action packed, but the most awaited
game sequel ever was always going to be a bit of an anticlimax.
While Wolf3D single-handedly changed the face of PC gaming RTCW
isn't groundbreaking in any way.  It has the feel of Half-life,
with missions similar to those in Project IGI, the WWII nostalgia
of Hidden and Dangerous and the now obligatory Multiplay option,
which may as well be a Counterstrike mod.  What I'm really getting
at is we've seen it all before.  But while there's nothing
particularly new or innovative about RTCW, that's not the issue
here as ID have managed to gel all these aspects together.  While
it's certainly much prettier than the original and has a much
better plot, RTCW hasn't really evolved from its roots, but rather
has become much better at being what it is: a cracking all round
shooter.







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