Wolfenstein

Nazis. Lots of Nazis. But is it any good?

You'll earn three special Veil powers as the game goes on, the ability to slow down time, produce a bullet-proof shield and add extra strength to your own weapons. These powers can also be upgraded and enhanced meaning that by the end of the game you'll be able to turn enemies into piles of ash and deflect bullets back at their senders. Your time in The Veil is limited by the amount of Veil power you're currently packing which in practice is a lot less of a pain than it could have been thanks to the plentiful recharge points littered around the levels.

It's a good job you're given access to these super powers early on as one thing Wolfenstein isn't is easy. You're blessed with the ever popular regenerating health which in theory means all battles should be winnable if you're patient enough. However, with enemy AI on the more simplistic end of the scale Wolfenstein often resorts to making things difficult by throwing ever growing numbers of enemies at you, something that makes getting the time and space to heal more of a challenge. The Veil powers do help though, the slow motion one especially can get you out of many a tricky spot, but there are still times when you can feel you're embroiled in a war of attrition rather than skill.

For all the brainless fun the game provides it's a shame to see some rather basic problems cropping up along the way too. I've mentioned already that the AI in general isn't the smartest but it's still disappointing to see enemies so unaware of the goings on around them. Shoot their close friend or throw a grenade at them and they rarely react as you'd expect, in fact unless they're actively shooting at you or being shot themselves they don't do a huge amount of anything much. The world of Wolfenstein is also home to the most irritating doors in all of gaming history (save perhaps the original Resident Evil), not only do you often open them up to find enemies hidden on the other side ready to pump you full of lead but they also have a nasty habit of closing of their own accord in your face a second of two after you've opened them. A real pain when you're trying to kill the aforementioned sneaky enemies.

The game engine that powers the whole thing is tidy enough and the world it pushes onto your retinas is well designed with plenty of incidental details to make it feel lived in. Character models however are a different kettle of Nazi fish, friends and enemies alike often appear more than a little simplistic in the with low poly counts all to obvious in the middle of the action. One thing they do do well however is die, their bodies reacting to your attacks in a pleasingly over the top way.

If there was one lasting legacy from Return to Castle Wolfenstein it was the fantastic multiplayer modes. While the world of online shooters has moved on ten-fold in the years since then, this new Wolfenstein is still able to hold its head up high. There are three basic modes, Team Deathmatch, Objective and Stopwatch. Team Deathmatch obviously speaks for itself which leaves Objective and Stopwatch to provide the more noteworthy fair. In these modes players are split into two teams taking on the role of either the resistance or the Nazis with the Nazis trying stop the resistance from performing certain objectives. The twist in Stopwatch is that players take turns on each team to see who can get the fastest objective completion times.

In all three modes there are three different classes players can chose to play as, soldier, medic and engineer, while and each class has its own Veil power to add to their arsenal too. Strangely these differ from the ones you'll be used to from the main campaign, soldiers get an explosive Veil strike, medics have the ability to heal anyone within range while engineers get a very handy dose of super speed.

Whichever mode you play the action is as slick and enjoyable as you'd expect. Once again there's little here that's not been done before, often with more polish if we're being fair, but get a few friends online and it's hard not to have a blast.

In conclusion this new Wolfenstein isn't going to win a single award for originality, Nazis, even super-powered ones, are hardly underused gaming bad guys after all. Instead its back to basics approach will provide a welcome shot in the arm for anyone yearning for a good old fashioned shooter. High def graphics aside this could almost be five or even ten years old in terms of game design but it matters not a jot because its also genuinely fun to play. I sort of wish I could score it higher than I have, it's been one of the more enjoyable games I've played lately, but push the score up much further and I'd be saying it's better than certain other, more inventive titles out there and that wouldn't really be fair. Rest assured though, if you're after an FPS that's more interested in putting a smile on your face than making you think then there's not much better on the shelves at the moment.

78%

By Paul Newcombe