Wolfenstein Review

26th Jul, 2022

After “Return to Castle Wolfenstein”, some thought the series couldn't be continued any better and should be left alone – but id Software, developers of the franchise, apparently believed otherwise and went ahead with the production of a sequel. When it came out, the general opinion of the previous games' fans was that the new Wolfenstein was a decent successor to RTCW, despite some of the more notable flaws in its gameplay.

Gameplay

Like in the previous games, you play the role of B.J. Blazkowicz, a soldier caught in a battle against the Nazis. The plot that drives the game is very intricate and deeply interwinding, in a slight departure from the previous games which focused more on the sheer gameplay and pushed the story to the back. This doesn't mean that the gameplay is lacking though – on the contrary, there's an impressive arsenal of weapons available to the player, some of which are based on real-life guns, and the enemy's AI has been upgraded.

A new major aspect of Wolfenstein's gameplay is the player's use of an ability called “Veil”, which allows them to travel to an alternate reality which is at times required to progress – for example, the player can use the Veil to pass obstacles that are normally impassable in the real world, as well as defeat enemies that are using some strong and near-unbreakable shields.

There's a well-developed multiplayer as well, and it should be noted that the engine version used in it has been slightly modified from the one in the singleplayer version. The gameplay is balanced, features enough gameplay modes to keep your interest active, and has a lively community.

Graphics and System Requirements

Based on the id Tech 4 engine, you'd expect Wolfenstein to look slightly outdated – but id have really outdone themselves in improving their engine, as it now produces noticeably sharper and smooth-looking graphics than previous games using that engine (like Prey). The annoying-looking plastic edges on rounded metallic objects are also gone, and the lighting looks very realistic and contributes to the immersion.

System requirements haven't changed much from the previous games based on that engine, and it still doesn't require a beast machine to run it well – you need a DX9-capable video card, a moderately good CPU and at least 1 gigabyte of RAM, and you should be good to go to explore the German catacombs or blast away with your friends online.

Other

The game's marketing went through a few hurdles – there was an interesting promotion going on, where one of the game's developers claimed that he would personally restore anyone's money for the purchase of the game, if it managed to outsell Madden NFL 10 in the first month of its release. Even though that plan failed, the game still recorded some notable sales compared to id's previous titles.

Conclusion

Wolfenstein seems to never get old for some reason – the premise behind the game is solid gold, and as long as id keep finding new ways to freshen up the gameplay, we sure don't mind seeing new games come out in the franchise.