What does the third Reich, the occult and B.J. Blazkowicz have in common? Wolfenstein is the original First Person Shooter that has once again hit the PC. Set in Nazi Occupied France in the fictitious town of Isenstadt, Blazkowicz battles the Nazi's with some quite peculiar allies and very strange enemies.
Heinrich Himmler's SS troops are planning to create super soldiers using occult technology called the Black Sun. In the opening scenes Blazkowicz finds a peculiar medallion that allows him to see into another dimension called "The Veil". This allows him to see things that the ordinary eye cannot such as pathways that would not be accessible to the common man. Throughout the game more powers are obtained and used at the most crucial moments.
The game has a totally different feel from the original you might have played over 17 years ago. You walk around a main open world map most of the game you can find the occasional Nazi squad or French Resistance hideout where you can purchase upgrades to your weapons. You access missions by speaking to various people then finding a building or getting on the back of a truck.
"The Veil" view is the most notable feature of the game, as mentioned above, it allows you to see another dimension where hidden doors and passageways guide you through the level, or later, slow down time to take evasive action from a machine gun nest. The world turns a bluish greenish colour and you have a limited time to achieve what you need before your medallion runs out of power and needs to be replenished.
Select from three classes, Soldier, Medic or Engineer and receive certain powers to help yourself and your allies (such as the medic's healing abilities). Selecting from three game modes, Team Deathmatch, Objective, and Stopwatch. Deathmatch is an all out kill fest, Objective is attacking the enemies’ targets while defending your own and Stopwatch is a time limited mission.
The Graphics uses ID Software's id Tech 4 engine. The graphics at times have a medal of honor feel about it, controlling at first seemed a bit clumsy but you can quickly adapt. Body's react well when littered with bullets, a flame thrower pointed in the direction of 3 or 4 Nazi's left a charred pile of black corpses with the odd bit of red blood standing out on the charcoal. The sound is fitting to the environments, as sound usually is, a machine gun sounds like a machine gun, a pistol sounds like a pistol. The only area that needed improvement was the acting, mainly just the bad accents. I cannot seem to figure why a German, who is in France, would be yelling at me in English.
The game was enjoyable for the most part. Not entirely addictive but enjoyable. Defiantly different, at times listening to people talk was a bit boring when all that is needed is a bit of action. It's just the wrong type of game for that. There is a fairly good story if you interested, the problem is that it wasn't delivered the best may imaginable. Various pieces of intelligence and the odd one sided dialogue. A nice try but there is defiantly room for improvement if there is ever a next time.
Subscribe to this comment's feed
