Genre:FPS
Developer:Grey Matter Studios
Publisher:Activision
# of Players:1
Memory:
ERSB: M for Mature
Released On:
Also On:Xbox
Features: Killing abnormal creations, AND Nazis, OooOooOo.
Website:w00t
Introduction:
Wolfenstein has been the kind of product that has surpassed the mere confines of being a simple software title; it has become the cultural icon for the V gaming community and the signification for the beginning of many gamer’s lives as gamers. Wolfenstein started about a certain buzz and shockwave within this industry that seemed to awaken the gaming senses, and non-gaming senses of people everywhere, upon its grainy, 3D debut. That’s why the tickling wave of excitement that seems to shoot through your spine whenever the newest, next generation installment of Wolfenstein is justified and more often than not, much appreciated.
Wolfenstein 3D debuted as a PC title when it was released, and had everyone with a computer strong enough to run the title’s grainy and pixilated graphics, running through hallways killing nazis and other wild creations just as beautiful, with handguns, machine guns, or melee weapons in an effort to survive the title’s surreal toughness. (Although players were able to choose their difficulty at the beginning of each new game.) The end result ultimately would unearth an uncharted demographic of gamers who were left mindless slaves to their PC in the wake of Wolfenstein.
Now, so many years after the initial release of the PC bombshell that turned men’s minds into mush, comes yet again, on most next generation consoles. (Gamecube doesn’t get one, hence, MOST.) Released under the Xbox as Wolfenstein: Tides of War, and soon after, being released for the Playstation 2 as Wolfenstein: Operation Resurrection, the two are basically the same, the main difference? The Xbox version has online play, which can give the title a detrimental factor in gameplay. So we take a stab at Operation Resurrection, so that we might inform all of our beautiful readers of its greatness, or its possible extreme suck-e-ness. They say things change with time; let’s hope Wolfenstein keeps the things that made the gamers cultural clout sore.
Nazis anyone?
Presentation:
Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Operation Resurrection packages itself neatly enough with its extremely simple presentation. Most of the game’s cut scenes are done well, being wonderfully animated, graphically detailing, and for the most part to the point. The game’s interfaces are pretty much the same way, pretty clean cut, and to the point, basically, simple. The left hand bottom corner of the player’s
"Most of the game’s cut scenes are done well, being wonderfully animated, graphically detailing..."
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screen shows the player’s health, and any secondary items that the user might see fit to keep track of. While the bottom right hand corner depicts how much ammo the player may have at his disposal. To the very edge of the left hand screen, players will be able to scroll through a list of weapons in their possession. The list of weapons will only fade in or out when, or while scrolling.
Besides the titles in game interface, RtCW:OR presents its user with clean, clear, and easy navigated menus. The ability to pick up the controller, and know which menu option does what, is ever present here. The same can be said about the games immersion factor. There is almost never a time, when the user isn’t reminded of the game, be it through the decorative content of the game’s menus, which hint toward a suddel gothic-esq feel, or through the load times, which showcase our main man in equally faded glory stances, or the tons of references the title will make toward itself.
All and all, RtCW:OP knows how to appeal to the gamer. Everything here is laid out in a fashion, so that the user can easily understand the happenings between the game and the gamer. The ability to keep the gamers attention while playing with ole Wolfie is also a great trait to have, especially during those down times (load times and such) when most lazy devs treat their own going fans to a blank black screen.
Graphics/Visuals:
Because so many of today’s gamer’s are mere “casual” gamer’s by trade, they often identify a good game by one major trait; Graphics. That’s why it pains me to say, that Operation Resurrection lays claim to merely “decent” visuals.
That’s not to say, however, that the visuals presented in RtCW are bad, because that would be far from the truth. The Graphics are
"Operation Resurrection lays claim to merely “decent” visuals. "
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more than enough to break sub par level, and are little less than totally engrossing. Activision has done a great job at presenting players with an environment and atmosphere that is both immersive and enthralling. Oddly lit Catacombs and Leary shades of concrete grey seem to follow the player, whenever the occasional, and rare out door mission aren’t around.
One of the aspects of Operation Resurrection that I enjoyed, was the animation of the characters during the cut scenes, granted, outside of the game’s cut scenes, players aren’t going to see too much of main character BJ out of his first person view, but so what? It still deserves credit damn it. However, one of the things that simply erks the crap out of me, is how choppy BJ’s leg looks when he’s kicking. (Along with running and gunning, players are allowed to kick monsters on the fly, while holding their weapon, buwha)!
It almost looks as if someone didn’t inserted enough frames for poor BJ’ kicking function
This is what happens when Sunlight hits handheld manager, Osei Tyson’s face.
Sound:
RtCW:OP plays everything by the rule of the silent mantra. Which, for the most part, works very well for OP. most of the time, during gameplay, gamers wont even notice the audio running in the background. That’s practically because the titles sound is played extremely faintly, while other aspects of the games sound play in the foreground.
The titles actually audio itself, can range from ether leeary, to suspenseful, to very upbeat. But for the most part, gamers wont notice the certain change in tempo until there are certain keynotes within the game are activated. Such as, if there’s going to be an obviously tough time just ahead of you, than the audio will switch from whatever it is playing faintly into the background, (or sometimes, not playing at all.) give it a volume shot in the arm, and make it much more dramatically, which goes to underline all the would be action happening on the screen.
The last thing about the sound that I found was absolutely funny was how the game pays reference to the original, by making certain sounds, such as grunts and moans sound delightfully from the Wolfenstein 3D original. Gamers will definitely recognize some of the sound effects played throughout Return to Castle Wolfenstein, without a doubt. Yet another way, of how the game pays homage to itself.
Controls:
Learning the controls of RtCW was a task that really had no endeavor. There was little to no complication to deal with whilst jumping directly into the game, however, there was an aspect of the control scheme that through me off for the first few stages of the game. But more on that later on in the review, for now lets talk about the great default controls configuration as is.
I’ve been noticing a lot lately that titles belonging to ether the Xbox or Playstation 2 system have been using a lot of goofy controls lately. (Need I mention Bloodrayne?) Who knows why, maybe it’s an individual companies way of calling attention away from another popular title in the same genre. Luckily, most gamers will notice the semi-familiar controls that come into play directly out of the box. The left thumbstick will control the up and down movement (as well as side to side) of the main character BJ. The right thumb stick while control the angel in which BJ looks. (Up, down, etc.) The usage of both of the thumb sticks could easily leave a player reminiscent of Halo.
The tricky part of the controls actually comes in the form of the games button usage. Like any title, there’s going to be the normal stumbling about, on the controller, trying to figure out which button does what. This is where the minimal learning curve comes in. It’ll take a couple of stages to get the hang of the actual buttons used in RtCW, (triangle zooms, circle scrolls backwards through your list of weapons, square scrolls forward through your list of weapons, and the X button serves as the action button, to which you’ll open doors, pull switches, and the like, with it.) but once learned, the basic button usage becomes almost instinctive.
Although practical, (the dominant buttons are already listed above.) there are the “advanced” buttons and features used in RtCW’s controls, that you’ll also need to learn and master if you want to beat the game. First, the games trigger buttons. RtCW makes sure to make certain use of all four of the Playstation’s trigger buttons by allowing the user to use them to crawl, fire, jump, and kick enemies. The usages of all of which that are listed are a necessity to the Wolftenstein gameplay. Following the advanced controls would be the use of the D pad in this game. While the up button on the D pad does nothing, the down button makes use of a “flip view” option, to which, the view spins in a 180 degree turn, faster than what the game would normally allow you to do by using the right thumb stick alone. The left button on the D pad allows the user to select certain secondary items picked up or earned along the way, while the right button on the D pad allows you to use them. Using the L3 button (clicking the left thumbstick, as it where a button) allows the player for center the view for times when thinks become hectic. Doing so for the R3 button manually reloads the weapon (if at all reloadable) your currently carrying.
Prehaps all that I have listed in an attempt to be as descriptive as possible, may seem like theres actually more to the control figuration than there really is. Rest assured, the controls scheme is nothing intimidating, and like mentioned before, should take little time to master. For most gamers, the controls should become instinctive pretty early in the game.
Gameplay:
You’ll find all your adventures therein Wolfenstein ether taking place within the infamous castle itself, or key areas that surround the plot of the game. Which is ultimately, to stop Hitler in whatever current endeavors he has planned. While granted the title may seem a bit “run and gunnish,” Return to Castle Wolfenstein offers its user more than enough in its seemingly linear, but solid gameplay.
Slap in the 9mm clip, pull the trigger, and shoot. That’s basically the name of the game here. Arrive at a new level, whip out the chrome and let whoever stands in your way from point A, to point B, have it. Like mentioned before, it all might seem a bit run and gun-ish, (but than again, don’t all FPS’s?) but RtCW mixes it up a little, by throwing in some mission based objectives before each new level begins. None of the objectives seem tough, as most of the
"Slap in the 9mm clip, pull the trigger, and shoot. That’s basically the name of the game here."
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objectives that need to be completed, are ones which can be taken care of en route to point B. (destroying radios, or “eliminating” certain things) Also, Wolfenstein rewards the player by allowing them to upgrade their status, upgrade such as allowing the player to increase how much damage he/she can take, how much ammo they can hold at one given time, or how much protected amour the player can wear, all are minor samples of upgrades offered, and go to make the game less linear in gameplay. The basis for such upgrades? The player has to find and uncover the many different secrets the title offers. Finding secret rooms, and treasures all afford the player a “point “to which they are able to use, to spend however the player wishes at the end of each level. Think of the spending system as a form of currency. If the player were to find three secrets in the game in total, than the player would be awarded three “points,” to which he can spend. However, upgrades usually cost anywhere from 5 to 10 points. So to buy anything worth having, the player will have to work hard at finding RtCW’s secrets.
Other than the fact that Wolfenstein uses an upgrade system in its gameplay, there really isn’t much more to it. Run through, kill whatever the hell is standing in your way, and complete the mission’s objectives before you go running for the exit. Which, upon finding, the game will let you know of certain stats, such as how many times you’ve tried to complete that certain stage, time spent on that certain stage, and how many of that level’s secrets you successfully uncovered. Don’t worry, if you didn’t find them all, the game allows you to go back, (not after you’ve fully completed the level, but right before you choose to leave the level, by continuing toward the exit.) and search for the rest of the games hidden secrets for as long as you like, for those of you who simply cannot stand to know that there’s something out there that you didn’t find.
In general, ultimately, Return to Castle Wolfenstein doesn’t bring anything new to the table. It doesn’t revolutionize the genre in any certain way, and for the most part, it doesn’t try to. RtCW doesn’t really make sure of any dorky gimmick factor (except for allowing players to throw chairs here and there.) to draw in crowds. Instead it takes proven aspects of other titles and builds upon the concept of that. Aspects such as being able to peek around the corner, or crawling quietly to an enemy for a fatal one hit kill. But all things about RtCW aren’t without original merit. The ability to mix it up with people/creatures (things?) by kicking at the target while shooting, was a feature that should have been thought of before. I loved that! It was one of those things that doesn’t have the common backing of dramatic lighting and bright colors to make the on watching populace “ohh” with curiosity, but it still is a kick ass feature, that has the same effect.
Technical adequacies and specific gameplay mechanics aside, through my personal experiences with Return to Castle Wolfenstein, have left me with the impression that Activision has done a lovely job, by taking an old school game, and supplying it with more substance. While as is, Operation Resurrection may not offer, some new, unheard of graphical capability, or gimmicky slow motion feature, but the title does well to give Wolfenstein backbone by invoking a deep story within the Castles legacy, all while never taking the game out of context from its mainstream brethren. The title even makes tones of references to the popular Wolfenstein 3D, everything from old methods of healing yourself (there are turkey dinners that you can eat to gain health) to the reappearances of certain key characters of the original. There is no doubt in my mind that gamers will be able to take with them, memorable experiences from the Return to Castle Wolfenstein, upon completing it.
Conclusion:
Normally, when reintroducing an old school figure that owns such mass popularity, there’s always something there in the final product that wasn’t in the original, be it through a water pack, a change in perspective, or the ability to slow motion kick off walls, all while doing triple axel flips and shooting hollow tipped bullets in every which direction. But Activision has gone far to make sure that Wolfenstein makes good strive to be itself through its latest incarnation. I can’t think of one time, where the game is taken out of context, not a one.
But simply put, there just may not be enough here, in the total package to appeal to a lot of gamers. Should Wolfenstein tried to have evolved more before resurfacing to the top? Admittedly, when written down in black and white, it might be easy to say that there just isn’t enough here for one to be entertained with. But that’s also a statement that couldn’t be further from the truth. While the titles actual “lookie what I can do” list might be a little low stacked, the game offers to its user a great gaming a experience. And in the end, it’s all about being able to have those wonderful gaming experiences.
