Nazi Business

The original Wolfenstein 3D thrilled gamers with its first-person shooting action when it was released on PCs many, many years ago. Now, after the occasional and sometimes patchy follow-up, Wolfenstein is set to return big time with an all-new game developed by respected gamesmith Raven Software in collaboration with Wolfenstein's original creator id Software.

The game takes place during the Second World War, but anyone hoping for a history lesson with their gaming is barking up the wrong tree. This is WWII with a surreal twist.

Nazi masterplan

The location for this somewhat bizarre story is a fictional town called Isenstadt. The basic gist is that the Nazis have found an ancient mystical object called Black Sun and are in the process of trying to unlock its power in order to further Hitler's insane plans.

This, of course, cannot be tolerated and it's up to the player - assuming the role of American soldier BJ Blazkowicz - to keep Black Sun out of the hands of Hitler's army.

This would be fairly straightforward but for the fact that you have a substantial number of Nazi combatants (both natural and supernatural) ranged against you. Fortunately BJ is not alone and has a local resistance group called the Kreisau Circle to help him battle the Nazis' occult forces.

As BJ makes his way through Isenstadt he can utilise the Kreisau's safe houses in order to receive information and to top up on ammunition.

Freedom Fighter

Despite the fact that Kreisau troops will fight alongside you during missions, there are no squad commands to be issued so Wolfenstein plays very much like a regular first-person shooter. BJ does, however, have a certain amount of freedom when it comes to his approach to combat. Often there will be more than one way to skin a Nazi cat, as it were, and while our hero gets on with his part, so the Kreisau troops will get on with theirs.

The weaponry, to begin with, is pretty straightforward too, with tommy guns and flamethrowers playing an important role in the action. But things get more interesting when, thanks to the power of Black Sun, BJ gains the ability to travel between the real world and The Veil. The Veil is a sort of alternate version of reality. Much of the world is the same, but there are important differences. Some of the locations are changed subtly when BJ enters The Veil, enabling him to reach places that are inaccessible in the real world. The Veil also brings with it its own set of supernatural creatures and, thankfully, additional powers for the player to utilise.

As BJ progresses he can use additional abilities courtesy of Black Sun's power. As well as slipping in and out of The Veil, our hero will also be able to take advantage of increased speed, the ability to see enemies more clearly and a special power called Mire that slows down time - but only for the bad guys.

Everyone's invited

No first-person shooter would be complete without a decent multiplayer mode and Wolfenstein comes up trumps in this department. It's a team-based system in the Enemy Territory: Quake Wars mould. Each player gets to choose a side (either the resistance or Axis) and then decide upon a character class from a choice of three: Soldier, Medic or Engineer. The cool part is that each character class has its own unique set of Veil abilities (although for obvious reasons, Mire isn't included in multiplayer).

Wolfenstein should be just the ticket for those wanting a weird and wonderful twist on the WWII first-person shooter genre.

GAME's Verdict

• Great looks.
• Surreal story.
• Multiplayer mode.

• Not terribly authentic. Historians avoid.
• Good and solid as FPS's go, but not terribly innovative.
  

Review by: Simon 'Bratwurst' Kirrane
Version Tested: Xbox 360
Review Published: 21.08.09