Title: Wolfenstein 2009
Release Date: Release Date: August 18, 2009 (Memphis, TN)
Platform(s): Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Publisher(s):Activision
Developer(s): Raven Software
id Software
Pi Studios
Endrant Studios
Genre(s): First-Person-Shooter

  It is a sad thing when the first thing I have to say in my first sentence about a game that I was waiting for for so long is that I am disappointed. I’m not horrendously disappointed, just…Uncomfortable with the new game. It carries in a few classic things from the classic, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, but not enough things.

  I’ll talk about the single player campaign first because that was the reason I bought the game. Let’s make it simple…

  What I expected:

1: Solid gameplay.
2: Interesting, dark, occult Nazi Germany storyline.
3: At least a few scary, cryptic levels.

  What I got:

1: Decent gameplay.
2: Somewhat interesting, more or less bland, generic storyline.
3: A couple of dark lighted levels, but nothing scary at all. Mostly bright levels.

  Gameplay was the only thing that didn’t really disappoint me here. It was a reactive, and fun to play first person shooter. I wasn’t too big on the upgrades system at first; but I got used to it over time and found them to be pretty cool. Only catch is that once you buy them and beat the game, they’re gone. No backwards playing allowed, kiddies!

  The AI was, of course, smart and tactical. It responded well to the environment and my shooting it in the face. It wasn’t the smartest of all AI, and sometimes it was kind of simple and easy to kill. That was only on a couple of occasions where it was REALLY easy though. Nazis are set to random spawn in the city streets, which can be fun if you just feel like killing some Nazi AI, but also frustrating if you end up going back and forth to places in the city when you run into the three scribes on accident at one time over and over.

  It is fun to shoot them though! They react to how and where you shot them very well, just like in F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin. (You should pick that up while you’re out getting this game. It’s a great shooter, review here: http://codeveggie.zn3twork.com/?p=63) They scream and roll around if they’re on fire, and hop on one leg if you shoot them in the thigh, etc. It’s mostly fun to shoot them in the neck though…

  Veil was a very, very odd addition to the game for me. I honestly didn’t enjoy it very much, and I really don’t have much to say about it. It was kind of cool to slow down time and all, but it wasn’t utilized in a good way. It just made the fights annoying and seemed like it was kind of ripping off F.E.A.R with the whole slowing down time thing.

  Gun play in the game was tight, and well aimed. I only had a few complaints. There was a lack of the FG42 from RTCW, which I loved, and the guns were a lot weaker in my opinion than what they should have been without upgrades. I think it’s a cool upgrade system and all; but I don’t like being forced to use it all the time with every gun. Granted, if I were a masochist, it is indeed possible to beat the game without any upgrades. …It wouldn’t be any fun though…

  RTCW had a cool story. I mean come on. Nazi Zombies (The first instance of them, from what I recall.), a darker, more twisted occult version of World War II, and a cool main hero that can kill just about anything. It wasn’t the deepest of storylines, but it was cool! This game was supposed to be a continuation of that, and I suppose that’s what it turned out to be, but…Man, it was just disappointing to me. It wasn’t nearly as mysterious and dark, or even as interesting. It just felt generic to me, like it was kind of rushed.

  The level designs are on about the same page, in my opinion. They’re beautiful, no doubt about that, but they just aren’t Wolfenstein to me. They feel more like a dark Call of Duty. (Especially with that little gold star on the annoying location indicator on your HUB that looks straight out of CoD 2 or something.)

  Since the multiplayer was designed by a different studio (from what I know), I’m going to go ahead and say that the graphics in the single player campaign are gorgeous. I mean, some textures are a little plain, but they are beautiful. Up to par to every other game of the genre in my opinion.

  Wolfenstein’s multiplayer is…Incomplete, from what I can tell. It looks just awful to me. It’s FUN, but the only reason it’s fun is because it’s funny and impossible to take it seriously. The weapons are about the same as the single player except the inclusion of a pistol, and you can only carry two. Upgrades are still there…They are also still just as necessary to enjoy the game. It’s not hard to obtain them, but God is it annoying it. Physics are just terrible, and there is also a lot of lag. It’s one of those games where it becomes hard to tell what you’re doing if you’re not paying close attention or if you’re not on a very high quality TV set. It was just almost entirely boring to me and I went back to playing Modern Warfare within an hour of it.

  With all due respect, this game is strictly okay. It’s a great single player experience for people that haven’t played RTCW, and even then it’s still fun. What I would suggest is allowing backwards playing though because that can make any game just that much more fun. I don’t see why they didn’t, but that’s just me. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the multiplayer. If you want a good multiplayer game, don’t pay sixty dollars for this. Go pay around forty and buy something like Modern Warfare.

Single Player Campaign: 8/10
Multiplayer: 5/10
Graphics: 9/10
Voice Aciting: 9.5/10
Overall Value: 8/10