The Wolfenstein series holds an important place in history, having popularised the first person genre, and putting PC development powerhouse id Software on the map. It has been quiet on the Wolfenstein front since the release of the popular Return to Castle Wolfenstein and its free multiplayer expansion Enemy Territory, but now id, Raven Software and Activision are hoping to draw us all back in with the latest instalment in the series, simply entitled Wolfenstein.

Wolfenstein’s single player component puts you in the shoes of B.J. Blazkowicz, American super spy who is once again fighting occult-obsessed Nazis with a variety of crazy weaponry. After stopping the Ubersoldat program in Return to Castle Wolfenstein, B.J. is called into action again to shut down a new Nazi project which intends to harness the power of the Black Sun to provide a significant power boost to the forces of the Third Reich. Occultist Nazis with weird and wonderful weaponry has been the series’ bread and butter to this point, so the concept isn’t exactly fresh, but it is well executed once again.


B.J.’s latest adventure takes place in and around the town of Isenstadt, where a war is raging between the Nazis and a local resistance force. Players are quickly allied with the resistance and a group of occult researchers and have to carry out missions to assist each faction. That’s not to suggest that Wolfenstein takes on open world action – rather, Isenstadt forms a hub world, not unlike what Raven has done before with the Hexen games. Each mission takes place inside its own self-contained level which branches off the main town. There is plenty of reason to explore the main town though, since it holds a number of collectibles which can help boost the player’s offensive capabilities.

Much like the rest of its kin, Wolfenstein is a run and gun shooter. There is no need to worry about fancy cover systems or assigning orders – if it moves, kill it. B.J. has plenty of killing tools at his disposal - there is the usual selection of standardised Second World War-era weaponry like bolt action rifles, the MP-44 and the Panzershreck, but there’s also all sorts of experimental weapons that are far more fun to use. Torch your enemies with the flamethrower, shock them with a handheld Tesla cannon, or dissolve them with the particle cannon. Completing missions earns players upgrades for their weapons, which they can purchase with gold at the local black market. One needs to be careful in choosing which weapons they upgrade, as there’s not enough gold around to do fully upgrade each weapon and certain guns have access to more ammo than others.

If experimental weapons were not enough of an edge, B.J. also has some otherworldly powers at his disposal, thanks to a medal found early in the game. The medal allows B.J. to travel through the Veil, another dimension parallel to our own. The Veil lets players see enemies more easily, move faster, reveal enemy weak points and discover objects and doors invisible to the naked eye. More advanced Veil techniques include slowing down time, increased damage and a shield. Like weapons, Veil abilities can be upgraded at the black market, for instance your shield can gain the ability to repel bullets or dissolve enemies. Energy can be used up quickly, particularly when multiple powers are active, but refill points are quite liberally distributed around the level – to the point that running out is rarely of concern.


Level design is a point of contention in Wolfenstein. Some areas of the game are well executed, with impressive architecture and excellent enemy placement which makes for some intense firefights. Other parts of the game are plain old boring tunnels and streets with boring streams of enemies. Fortunately, it is one of those things that gets better as the game moves along and more versatile enemies are introduced, like the jetpack Nazis and particle cannon guys. Roaming around the hub level in particular becomes a bit of a chore after a couple of hours. There are a few impressive set pieces, and the boss encounters are reminiscent of a time in games where end-game antagonists actually mattered and required a full range of abilities to defeat. Wolfenstein’s single player campaign can be wrapped up in around six hours – double that if you want to find all of the collectibles.

The multiplayer side of Wolfenstein (handled separately by new developer Endrant Studios) is frankly, rather disappointing. That’s not to suggest that it is bad, but one has to consider the pedigree of its predecessors. Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Enemy Territory pioneered a number of multiplayer features which have now become standard in the genre, but all Wolfenstein does is merely reproduce these, rather than trying to carve out some new things of its own. It retains the class-based structure of its predecessors, though the classes are reduced to soldier, medic and engineer. Upgrades can be obtained by increasing one’s level through good performance, though each class’s weapons are available from the outset. Veil powers also come into consideration during play, and relate to each class.

Eight maps are available in the base release with three game modes; Team Deathmatch (same as ever), Objective (attack/defend) and Stopwatch (accomplish objectives, team with fastest time wins). The checkpoint mode from the previous two games does not return, unfortunately. The maps offer a variety of locations, like a bombed out hospital and a German radar installation, and all are actually quite well designed.


As far as the console versions go, Wolfenstein’s multiplayer suffers from a ridiculous level of lag. The game is barely playable online at the current time; it’s jumpy, jittery and unstable. The best players can hope to do is get a few local players together and hope that the performance is better, but the majority of the player base is in the US. This level of online performance really is not acceptable in a modern day release – one would hope that Activision gets its act together and commissions a patch as soon as possible.

A heavily modified version of idtech4 is powering the Wolfenstein experience. The engine is certainly starting to show its age, but of greater concern is the fact that it still runs woefully on the consoles. Wolfenstein chugs along at 30 frames per second, with the very occasional hiccup. Character models are rather blocky and lacking key details offered by more modern engines. Fortunately, Wolfenstein’s special effects save the day – the particle cannon stream and its human dissolving effect look fantastic, as do the Veil effects.

Wolfenstein is a competent and often-times exciting first person shooter, but lacks that layer of polish which separates a good game from a great one. It is built on dated technology, and the multiplayer, while genuinely fun, fails to perform at a level adequate for a retail product. The game shows moments of brilliance – there are some excellent boss fights, the Veil stuff is good and the experimental weapons are awesome, but it is counteracted by some occasional dull level design and technical incompetence. Wolfenstein is worth seeking out for a couple of days’ play, but it’s unlikely to keep players hanging around for much longer than that.