RETURN TO CASTLE WOLFENSTEIN

Interview with id

Zee game of zee year, mayhaps?

By WILL BARKER & MARTIN KINGSLEY

In the nine years between drinks for special agent B. J. Blazkowicz, a lot has happened. Besides the plethora of gaming sites crumbling under the hesitant IT dollar (we sell illegal firearms to stay in business) the FPS genre has grown to become extremely popular and, with that, extremely competitive.

These days, you need not just a stunning visual presence, a good plot and solid AI, but you need a fully-fledged multiplayer aspect, you need dedicated online code and, most importantly, you need a user friendly game.

The staffers at id recognised this from the outset and instead of trying to achieve this goal on their lonesome, they enlisted the help of others. Grey Matter is comprised of many ex-Redneck Rampage and Kingpin coders and so were given the task of developing the single-player experience.

Nerve Software worked on the multiplayer aspect and seeing how id used two different teams to code the two different aspects of the game, it would only be fair for us to do the same. As such, Martin will be looking at the online/multiplayer side of things and I will attempt to explore the single-player campaign.

Singleplayer: You're on your own, soldier.

As B. J. Blazkowicz, you are tasked with one primary assignment - to stop Heinrich Himmlers sinister operations involving the occult and genetic mutation.

The single-player game is entertainment plus, and I can happily say that I'm very much looking forward to Grey Matter's next digital outing. Perhaps one of the coolest facets of the game is the way in which it a story is told and the atmosphere it creates around the various locales.

Sure, you get nice cut-scenes, complete with some impressive cinematography and smooth animation, but it's the little details that ultimately add up to create one killer diversion.

For those around the GameBlitz office who came in contact with Wolf, the first area to be lauded was always the audio. Perhaps this was because I had it turned up to ear-drum lacerating levels, I'm not sure….

The speech sampling is of an incredibly high quality and, while it seems strange that the Nazis would speak in English, the effect is pleasing. Oftentimes you'll be ready to open a door, or spring around a corner, only to stop and listen to what the guards are talking about. They'll detail horrific stories of what happened in the crypts, other times they'll even help further the plot, plus they'll even chat about killing "…zee American".

Towards the end of the second chapter, after defeating a mini-boss in the crypts, you'll have to tackle a forest level with your main ally that of stealth. During this mission the old wartime tunes work excellently - think The Great Escape. Moreover, the ambient effects behind the background music, such as crickets chirping and birds singing, make the whole scene very believable.

The background music is rather backgroundy, but works well at getting the adrenal glands pulsating. When an event is about to happen, or you're pinned down by gunfire, the music changes to suit the scene, getting louder and more ominous, increasing fear levels in the player.

The game has been brought to life with some well thought-out level design, providing variety not yet seen in an id-sanctioned game. You'll traverse dense forests, fear abandoned churches, sneak into R&D laboratories and search villages for extra weaponary. And you will, of course, get to escape from castle Wolfenstein. On the whole, level design is never dull and the crypts, with their Indian Jones style traps and triggers, are particularly cool. It's almost as if every single level offers something new that makes you go, "Wow, I'm glad I wear adult nappies."

The visualisation of the Wolfenstein universe has been done with style, a bit of forethought and plenty of tomato sauce. Yup, those Nazis were bleeders. Using skeletally animated, motion captured models, the 3D world is made all the more realistic by those who occupy it.

It's particularly cool to watch soldiers go about their business, walking with casual strides, a bounce in their step, only to spot B. J. Blazkowicz. The way they stiffen to attention, with the realisation they are screwed, is eerily realistic.

As far as gameplay goes, disappointment is highly unlikely. The mixture of gameplay styles, from all out trigger happiness to ultra-stealth, help give the title a lease of life seen in very few shooters, one of them Half-Life. There's also a nice mixture of puzzles, but they aren't the annoying/nonsensical/f#$%ed up ones gamers are normally faced with.

A lot of game time will be spent exploring and mowing down Nazis with wild abandon and thankfully there are almost no control issues to speak of. I had hoped to be able to choose a custom crosshair, but it's no big deal.

As the game progresses, the enemies get tougher and smarter. Despite this, they're still no match for a good human brain (for now…). The AI is solid, providing a good workout for most gamers as enemies will back off, take cover and often wait for you to make the next move. Sounds like the perfect date!

At the same token, different enemies have different tactics. The undead freaks are good are full frontal melee attacks and Helga von Bulow's sexy elite guard are both quick, agile and very dangerous. Did I mention sexy?

I could go on for eons about how well put together this game is. There's no discernable bugs, the story is involving, the graphics/texture maps/locations are great, the story with its X-Files inspired 'board room' committee works well and the end bosses are surprisingly hideous.

There's nothing principally wrong with the single player aspect of Wolf, perhaps only the fact that it will eventually end. This is the reason I game - to participate in such experiences as this. Why watch a movie when you can be part of a compelling and utterly engrossing game?

Wolfenstein is more than the sum of its parts - there's no single outstanding feature, instead the game comes together to form a very pleasing story-driven action title. Perhaps it's also the nostalgia that comes with such a benchmark game that makes it so much fun. Whatever it is, Return to Castle Wolfenstein is a very fine game, more than worthy of the id namesake.

Multiplayer: Okay men, on my signal!

Wolfenstein multiplayer is a team-based affair. You join a server, choose to join either the Axis or the Allies, and pick your class (Soldier, Medic, Engineer or Lieutenant). The Soldier is allowed to choose any weapon, but has no special items or abilities, the Medic has the ability to heal people (obviously) and the Engineer is equipped with dynamite for destroying particular objectives and also has the capability to repair gun outposts. Last but not least is the Lieutenant, who is the only class capable of calling in artillery or air strikes and can also generate ammo packs for the other members of his team, however his choice of weaponry is limited.

The multiplayer side of Wolfenstein was written by a separate company from Grey Matter, namely Nerve Software, which was formed by the union of former id Software and Rogue Entertainment people. Anyway, the mutliplayer aspect is tightly written, with no visible bugs or flaws that I could see.

The quality of the maps provided with the game is exceptional, with great design and structure and excellent texture work. The way in which many levels have objectives is almost a great idea. Most of the levels have been influenced in some way by classic war movies and/or famous battles, such as the Normandy beach landing, or the village battle in Saving Private Ryan. The Quake III engine that powers the game is partially responsible for this quality, but the rest of the credit deserves to go to the mappers themselves.

There is no lack of servers to play on, with 130 odd servers currently up and, while there is currently no official Australian servers, pings are decent, usually from the low 150's to the high 300's. So far, I have not encountered any cheaters, hackers or team-killers at all and that is a good sign.

And of course then there are the weapons: You are given the choice of two types of machinegun, a minigun, a flame-thrower, a sniper rifle or a rocket launcher. The flame-thrower is an excellent weapon, allowing for major mayhem and carnage, while the sniper rifle endows the user with the ability to become a deadly long-range killer.

Wolf multiplayer is a seriously addictive pasttime. The team-based battles work really well and it's good to see that they didn't go for straight up DM or CTF. All things considered, this is a very fine multiplayer game, which any serious player should not hesitate to own.

ORIGINALITY 85%
SOUND/GRAPHICS 90%
PLAYABILITY 90%
ADDICTION 95%
ENJOYMENT 90%