How many times have we returned to this occult version of World War 2 now? Wolfenstein is the first next generation iteration of the aging, still popular zombie-Nazi killing franchise. It’s somewhat understandable then, that Raven was handed the franchise, and told to “update it.” They’ve worked with id before, and produced the middling Quake 4.
So it’s with trepidation that I approached Wolfenstein. They have, in their past, made some good, even great games set in other people’s IPs. Jedi Outcast and Elite Force are sterling examples solid design and great use of an IP. Wolfenstein may be a great use of the IP (although the original material is so vapid and thin, it doesn’t matter), but its execution as a game leaves much to be desired.
Wolfenstein tasks the series’ perpetual hero, BJ Blaskowicz, with killing a whole lot of Nazis, sometimes with the help of powerful occult artifacts. You’ll kill them in and around the highly generic European city of Eisenstadt. There, Nazis are up to many different kinds of no good. From super soldiers to “sexy” Paranormal female SS agents, to crawling monsters, it all makes the Lost Ark look a little underwhelming.
Unfortunately, underwhelming is the name of the game in the new Wolfenstein. From the get-go, things are a little disappointing. The id engine used in Wolfenstein is not particularly attractive. The game looks serviceable, but all of the enemies and locations look metallic and plastic (especially when they’re not supposed to), and the world is rather unresponsive and narrow-minded when it comes to action and destruction.
This lack of vision extends to multiple parts of the game. The level design is basic in the extreme. Every once in a while, you’ll come up against some vertical situations or far-off enemies, but most of the time, it’s Nazi see, Nazi shoot. This goes for the bosses too, who are so simple (and so annoying) that you’ll be tired of each one before you’ve had a chance to kill them. The game features a host of “special” enemies, from the aforementioned Nazi ladies (whose design really can’t earn enough censure), to annoying mage-Nazis.
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