Activision's release of Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War only makes sense. After all, Xbox is home to one of the greatest FPS' of all time in Halo and seems to be the haven for new and improved first-person shooters. But is Wolfenstein still fresh after nearly two years on the shelf? And is the addition of Xbox Live play and a few new single-player missions enough to make it worthy of 50 Susan B. Anthony's? For answers to these and many other interesting questions, read on. Features
You play OSA agent B.J. Blaskowics. The PC version of RTCW started you off waking up to find your partner, Agent One, dead on an operating table. But the Xbox version adds seven extra levels of prologue to this tale. You begin in Egypt. Fighting against Nazis in desert garb and some unruly zombies, gamers will finally learn how Blaskowics was drafted into the OSA and see his earliest meetings with Agent One. Beyond these prologue levels, which add about an extra 15-20% to the single-player game, the story remains the same as with the PC, though some new cut-scenes have been added. The story isn't the driving force of RTCW, but it gets the job done. It's not gripping like Halo, but at the same time it's never an annoyance. What's there is relatively minimal. All that really matters is that you're kicking Nazi (and undead Nazi) ass. The story is secondary. For those who really want to know a lot more, Nerve has strewn tons of notes and reports throughout the levels (particularly during the prologue) offering supplementary information somewhat akin to Splinter Cell. Gameplay Developed by Nerve Software, the same folks who made the multiplayer component of the PC version, Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War isn't the next Halo, but for Xbox it's the next best thing. Those aching for a good first-person online shooter need ache no more, RTCW delivers. RTCW isn't just a run and gun twitch shooter. Stealth plays a key role in the game and is not only an asset, but is sometimes a necessity. You can crouch, peer around corners, and knife unsuspecting Nazis in the back. For a stealth kill, enemies will drop extra goodies, but more than that, they won't have a chance to warn their Nazi comrades about your arrival. Be seen, shoot a machinegun, or generally make your presence known, and a Nazi is likely to raise an alarm or simply run and tell his buddies about the evil American prancing about the castle. As with the original Wolfenstein 3-D, Return features plenty of secret areas. Some are easy to find, others can be quite tricky to come by. For finding all secret areas in a level, you're rewarded extra armor, health, and ammo. Plus, you can tell all your friends you done good. Weapons include your standard FPS fare. The shotgun (not in the PC version) is back in BJ's hand where it belongs and you'll also have access to various machineguns, sniper rifles, double fisted pistols, and, of course, a flamethrower. Problem is, later in the game when you have a dozen different weapons it can be a hassle cycling through them. Going from a grenade to your favorite machinegun may take six clicks of the B button and waste vital seconds. If only Nerve had allowed gamers to hot-key gun selection. Of course, having all these guns means you'll be shooting lots of people. Wolf doesn't skimp on the A.I. Sure, some Nazis will stand out in the open to receive the pain, but often they will try and circle you, hide behind crates, back away when outgunned, and even run to tell others. The A.I. isn't perfect and perhaps isn't as intelligent as it could be, but it's more than the majority of FPS' out there. The only nagging problems with the gameplay, is that, while most levels are fairly linear, there are times where it's impossible to figure out where to go next. This is especially true of the new prologue levels, but is also a problem in a couple of the later PC-port levels. Along with a more coherent level structure (in certain areas), it would have been nice to see a greater variety in the undead and biogenetically engineered creatures. The single-player takes anywhere from 10-15 hours to get through, especially if you want to find the many secrets sprinkled throughout the game. The seven prologue levels added to the PC single-player mode add a good two hours to the game and serve as a nice intro to Wolfenstein. The length is enough that even those without Xbox Live will get plenty of use out of the game to make it a worthwhile buy. Heck, beat the game and you unlock the original Wolfenstein 3-D! Those people who have friends (feel free to skip this Bill Emery, no one likes you), you'll be able to play split-screen co-op through the entire campaign mode. The price on the framerate can be a bit drastic at times, but it's nice to be able to take on Nazis with your buddy. However, the stealth levels (where you must avoid being spotted) are quite tough when you have a partner dogging your tail. Xbox Live The lunchmeat to this delicious sandwich isn't the single-player, but is instead the awesome Xbox Live compatibility. Through Xbox Live, gamers will have the chance to play against up to 15 other knuckleheads online in several different modes of play. Split into two teams, on Nazis the other Allied soldiers, the two face off with the three best modes being Elimination (last man standing), Objective (one side has a goal, the other tries to stop them), and Stopwatch (teams compete for the best objective time). All the modes of play in the world still wouldn't have made for a unique Live experience, but then, RTCW has more than just some game modes to set it apart from other online Xbox titles. There are four classes players can choose from (soldier, lieutenant, engineer, and medic). Each class serves a specific role in the game and while each has a gun and can kill, your team won't get very far without having a diverse group of individuals. There are no power-ups in multiplayer, no weapons laying around, no extra ammo, no health. But the medic can distribute health packs and give shots of adrenaline to revive fallen soldiers and the lieutenant can provide ammo and call in air strikes. The soldier has the most weapons to choose from and the engineer can repair destroyed gun turrets and set explosives (or defuse them). So unless you want to run around playing knife-fight since you've run out of ammo, someone will need to pay a lieutenant. And if you don't want to bleed everywhere, you'll need at least one medic on your squad. Now, you can have your team all done up and ready to go, but if your medic is running headlong into battle or ignoring cries for medical attention, then your team is still going to get dusted. And this is where RTCW sets itself apart from other Live games. You have got to use teamwork to win. This isn't like teamwork in MechAssault, where you merely yell for help or randomly decide to team up against a Ragnarok. This is true teamwork, where a medic lends rear support while the soldier keeps the area clear so the engineer has time to set up the explosives. Not only is Wolfenstein the most fun Xbox Live game, it also offers the most complete and intelligent Live interface. No longer will gamers be kicked to the curb after a game is over. Instead, gamers stay within the same group and can switch to another game mode and change game situations at any time. Find your friends, stay with them and play for three hours if you want. There are tons of options included as well -- Require even teams, make minor adjustments to how the games are played, switch classes, change teams, watch the game as a spectator, and more. This is hands down the best Xbox Live experience to date. What about single box multiplayer, yo? Xbox Live or System Link are the only ways to play multiplayer head-to-head with Wolfenstein. While it may at first seem like Nerve overlooked single box split-screen, that's not really the case. Wolf multiplayer is meant for at least six people. Trust me, we've played two-player head-to-head Wolf and it really sucks. It would have been nice if Nerve had included some special two or four-player split-screen head-to-head modes, but that wasn't there focus. Graphics Wolf looks good. While this isn't the best looking FPS on Xbox, there's plenty to admire here. Some of the textures and the great environmental lighting, particularly in the new prologue levels, will give you tingles. But there are other areas where the textures are blotchy up close. It's an unbalanced mix of amazing and weak textures. One level a wall looks great up close, the next it looks like someone accidentally put on the drunken PS2 goggles. Yowch. The water, which was implemented with a brand new technique Never developed, is about as good as has been seen on Xbox. Just sit back and watch the ripples cascade to shore. Only problem is that there's no splashing, so running around in the water doesn't offer any extra effects and will likely make you feel like a certain water-walking messiah. The explosions are good and the environmental fire effects look dazzling, but being set on fire looks horrendous as the flames overtake your view and make it impossible to see anything. Smoke and haze are solid and there's plenty of blood, blood, blood. Best of all, bodies remain throughout an entire level. So even if you waste two Nazis early on, you can backtrack ten minutes later and still find them lying around playing dead. The biggest drawback is the framerate. At times RTCW runs along at a smooth 30fps, but there are lots of moments where the framerate dips slightly. And, in some of the later outdoor levels, the framerate can actually dip a bit more severely. It doesn't get any better in the split-screen co-op (actually, it can get a bit worse). Oddly, there are very, very few framerate issues online, especially when playing on a dedicated server. For whatever reason, Wolf can handle the smaller online maps and crazed multiplayer mayhem over the single-player campaign. It's quite a noticeable difference. The only other complaint is an artistic one. There simply isn't enough variety in the enemies. Yes, Nazi's wear different uniforms depending on the environment and yeah, there are a few different types of undead and genetically engineered creatures, but there could have been more. The single-player game is just a bit too long to have so few variations on zombies and other mutations. A couple of extra types of baddies sprinkled in, with different forms of attacks, would have helped spice things up a bit more. Sound Wolfenstein is a treat for anyone with a 5.1 set-up. Though the subwoofer booms aren't as dramatic as they could be, the peripheral sounds are solid. Yeah, there are never any animals in the German forests, but surround sound gamers definitely benefit from hearing where enemies are. Line of sight can sometimes be too late, especially in multiplayer. Wolf has a good, if repetitive, score. There's no custom soundtracks, but then it would be a little weird having Jay-Z playing while trying to escape a Nazi castle in the middle of World War II. But the epic themes offer the proper mood and Nerve was smart enough to know when silence was necessary, so the score never overwhelms your stealthier moments. The sound effects are smart as well. You can hear the difference in shooting wood or stone. There's a ping as your bullet ricochets off a zombie's shield. Explosions sound ripe and powerful. The voice acting can be funny at times, but the cut-scene jabber is solid. The only oddity is how often Germans speak English. The only real negative here are the zombie noises, which are pretty standard and pretty dull. "Uhhhng." Really, you don't say? |
