Wolfenstein Review

What's Hot:
Aside from a few graphical hitches the single player campaign looks great and runs almost flawlessly.
A nice tight control scheme is always welcome. Wolfenstein controls a lot like a Call Of Duty title.
A good variety of weapons, all with their own unique look and feel.
Quite a lengthy campaign, especially for a first person shooter.
Special power you unlock through story progression help break up the monotony of traditional shooters.
All weapons and powers are fully upgradeable.
There is a ton of hidden items and collectibles throughout the campaign, including gold needed to upgrade weapons, giving you ample reason to replay missions.
Almost every mission is started from various points in a central town, which provides an interesting take on the story progression.
Before finishing the game you will be able to replay previous missions to clean up hidden items ans such.
Multiplayer launches with eight maps, all of which offer something unique from the others.
Money you earn in multiplayer can be used to upgrade weapons, giving you incentive to continue playing



What's Not:
Voice acting is not very good.
The story is pretty standard fare, with only a few (predictable) plot twists thrown in.
Levels do start to feel similar towards the end of the campaign.
On the lower difficulties enemy AI is almost laughable.
Multiplayer only offers three game modes, two of which are almost identical.
No party system makes playing with friends difficult. Private matches are available, but no XP will be gained from them.
The graphics in multiplayer are a big downgrade from the single player.
While you might have fun for a while, the multiplayer doesn't offer anything special that would keep you coming back.




The Verdict - Buy:
Even though the multiplayer is nothing short of generic, the single player campaign makes up for the online shortcomings. The campaign in Wolfenstein is quite lengthy. I tried to rush through my first playthrough and I clocked in at around nine hours. You've got quite a few weapons, all of which you can fully upgrade to make them even stronger. Each weapon has it's only unique feel, giving you plenty of options when you need to clear a room full of Nazi's. Wolfenstein looks great as well. If you're squeamish this probably isn't the game for you, it's extremely gory. It's not uncommon to see an enemy grab his neck as blood gushes out like a geyser. Almost everything in the single player campaign is top notch. If you're in to collecting things, there's going to be a lot of replay value for you.

Where this game falls short is in the multiplayer. It's quite sad as well considering Wolfenstein has been a series people have played for years, and it's been because of it's great multiplayer. The biggest hindrance is the lack of game modes. You've got three options to choose from; Team Deatchmatch, Stopwatch, and Objective. Team Deatchmatch is self explanatory, but the other two modes are a little confusing. In Objective you have a piece of intelligence, which you either need to attack or defend. In Stopwatch, you have a location in a base, which you either attack or defend. If they sound incredibly similar it's because they are. So much so that it is difficult to distinguish between the two. Graphically the multiplayer is a huge step down from the single player campaign. In fact it almost looks like you're playing a different game. If multiplayer has any redeeming qualities it's the class systems that allow you to decide how you want to play across the eight maps.

If you're only in it for the multiplayer, Wolfenstein is not the best choice. However, the single player is a whole lot of fun with a good length and plenty of reason to play through more than once. If you're looking for a good single player FPS, pick up Wolfenstein, you won't regret it. Just don't expect a lot from the multiplayer.

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