Return to Castle Wolfenstein

The Good
What's so good about this game is the thought and dedication Gray Matter and id Software have put into its design. They've preserved all the elements that made the original Wolfenstein 3D fun, and managed to include all the technological and gameplay advances that occured since the release of the original Wolfenstein 3D a decade ago.

Just in ways of technology, the game's brilliant. With a decent video card (Nvidia Geforce level or higher) the game never looks less than beautiful. id Software's Quake III Arena engine allows the player to explore everything from dark, murky crypts and catacombs to large outdoor areas - and the detail in geometry, textures and characters is amazing at times.

But this isn't just a technology showcase like (according to some) Quake III Arena was. The gameplay pretty much sticks to the classic 3D shooter formula pioneered by the original, though it's full of surprises and great moments. You'll sprint trough the shady streets of a German village leveled by Allied bombardments, supported by artillery fire. You'll have intense dogfights with Nazi troops in dungeons, forests, tunnels and villages - all realised with very convincing realism and great atmosphere.

And that's just the single player game. Multiplayer games are great too, with an Axis and Allied team battling each other in brilliantly balanced maps - some new, some modified single player maps.

In short, the game's great. It's not an earth-shaking masterpiece like Doom or Half-Life, yet it accomplishes its mission : to be a near-perfect 3D shooter for new and old Wolfestein fans alike. Killing Nazis was never this much fun.

The Bad
RTCW actually avoids the usual pitfalls of 3D shooters - repetitive switch-flicking puzzles, predictable AI and unimaginative weapons. So in short, I can't really think of anything bad :)

The Bottom Line
Pick it up. Now. I'm not kidding, y'know.

NOW.

The Good
Nice graphics for 2001, and had a huge fan-base that provided much for players of this game who had the internet.

The single player part of this game is highly appealing, and realistic. It sticks to the war, yet adds much to it, such as chemical warfare, robotic warfare and biological warfare. You have to beat all three from the beginning of the game to the half-way point. Battling all of this is very nice, but nothing beats fighting the human opponents, and they turn up frequently throughout this game. You fight in a large variety of locations, all of which are visually appealing, and realistic to the era of this game.

For me, the huge gem of this game is the multiplayer. It is probably the most imaginative arrangement I've ever experienced, and is a welcomed change from deathmatch games. It is all enough to keep you hooked for hours!

The Bad
I feel that it would've been better if we stuck to the rules of war and did not have huge electric-prong weapons, or massive chain guns, but still, it's only a game. Admittingly, I cannot think of much which is poor in this game.

The Bottom Line
I recommend this game fully. It is worthy of the Wolfenstein title, and I also strongly recommend the original game to be played first.

The Good
RTCW is one of the most beautifullest (most beautiful, for you grammar freaks) games I have ever played. The textures are almost as good as Max Payne's! Also, some parts are extremely scary, such as the zombie crypts. Many monsters made me want to run away from that part of the level and not turn back. I remember opening a door in a lab and seeing this HUGE robotic thing clumbering towards me...THE GROUND EVEN SHOOK!! That really freaked me out! The multiplayer is frickin' awesome, especially that new Trench Toast level. The environments are very well designed.

The Bad
The game is somewhat linear. Also, some enemies are very hard. Finally, it gets really repetative after you down the same enemy for the 1000-th time. There are no captions and you can't pause the cutscenes. And finally, as usual with most Quake 3 engine games, you can't use the mouse's side buttons. Oh, yes, and another gripe: the end boss is WAY too easy. I mean, c'mon, all he does is slash at you with his sword and summon zombies! A guy a whole army can't defeat, a guy who was put down by only a powerful spell...just died because of my minigun. Guess he, um, lost all of his strength over the ages! Finally, where are the cries of "Mein liben!"?? The Nazis speak English!! UGH!! Wolfenstein 3D was funny BECAUSE OF THE NAZI SCREAMS!! I LEARNED SOME GERMAN FROM WOLFENSTEIN 3D!! All I learned from RTCW was how to speak English with a funny accent.

The Bottom Line
A really fun and exciting FPS that might as well be the Action GOTY!