All things Wolfenstein

[Alex79]

Definitely want to play this but I've got so many to get through at the moment I'll pick it up for a tenner in a couple of months or so. I must admit I wasn't really fussed until Chet was talking about it on the C&J podcast this week. Mind you RTCW was one of my favourite FPSs at the time.

[dezm0nd]

Just finished it for the second time whilst hoovering up collectibles I missed. A lot quicker when you skip cut scenes and bomb through it but still completely satisfactory.

[FatsoJetson]

I played through the second

Spoiler: show

prison bit

last night. It felt like a return to Butcher Bay in all the right ways. This game has a great sense of pacing. It's so refreshing for a first-person shooter to use shooty bits sparingly, and to focus on exploration and immersion.

[ratsoalbion]

In our next issue Tony and I will be talking to Andi Hamilton of Midnight Resistance about the earliest games in the Castle Wolfenstein series.

I would be surprised if many of you have played the original 8-bit (for Apple II, ported to MS DOS, Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit), but if you have and have something to say about them then so much the better.

We're certainly interested in your memories and opinions of id Software's Wolfenstein 3D if nothing else.

The titles we'll be covering in this, the first of several Wolfenstein podcasts will be as follows:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Wolfenstein (1981)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_Castle_Wolfenstein (1984)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfenstein_3D (1992)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spear_of_D ... ideo_game) (1992)

[Flabyo]

I remember very clearly the first time I played Wolfenstien 3D.

I was 15 years old, and taking part in my first week of 'work experience' from school (for those outside the UK, this is where they put teenagers into a real work environment for a week, ostensibly to show them a bit of how the world works, but really it's to try and terrify them into staying in school rather than leave early).

The company I'd been placed with was an IT training firm. Their day to day work involved running courses on how to use Windows 3.1, Excel, Word etc... At one point I remember installing Windows on a new machine from a mountain of floppy discs (this being way before the days of the CD-ROM).

Anyway, I got chatting with one of the younger guys working there, and discovered a mutual love of video games. He said he had something cool on his work machine that I should have a go on at lunch.

That would be Wolfenstien 3D. I'd never seen anything like it before (I owned a C64 at this point) and I was instantly hooked.

I've never actually played it to any great extent though. By the time I owned an actual PC we were well into Quake 3 territory. (I went from the C64 to the Amiga, and those who know that machine know that while it got some Doom clones late on, it's hardware was never able to handle it with the same flair as the PC)

[Alex79]

Never played any of the early games, although they look interesting and I'll certainly be trying to fit some in before the podcast. I'll definitely have something to add for the RtCW podcast, should it happen.

[Catatonic Nali]

I first played Wolfenstein 3D on the Xbox 360 earlier this year. Despite having spent a lot of the 90s playing the landslide of these "new" FPS games I somehow skipped past the game that kicked it all off. That was probably because Doom had been released and to be brutally honest, although not at all disparaging, Wolfenstein 3D feels like an early concept for Doom. After all, Doom came along a mere 18 months later and the improvements are frankly astounding. But I'll save that line of thought for the (bloody well better be) inevitable Doom shows.
I was rather surprised to find that Wolfenstein 3D holds up amazingly well 22 years after its initial release and I think this is due to its simplicity. Sure there are only a handful of enemy types and 4 different weapons but by not having all the bells and whistles of more modern FPS games it leaves less aspects to go sour with age. It achieves exactly what it sets out to do: let you massacre your way through half of the 3rd Reich feeling like an absolute badass. My only real gripes about the game are that the music is fairly dull (although that can be rectified by someone playing Hotline Miami on the couch next to you) and the fact that there is no in game compass or map. No wonder the bloody Nazi soldiers are just jogging on the spot until you turn up, bastards would get lost if they moved around! This is incredibly frustrating at the best of times, even more so during episode 6 where each floor is about 4 times bigger than any from the previous 5 episodes.
I would heartily recommend playing Wolfenstein 3D and if any of the issues or shortcomings with the game bother you go play Doom instead because it addresses pretty much all of them. All in all it's an excellent keystone for the FPS genre and was the start of something great.

[ratsoalbion]

Now, did any of you play Return to Castle Wolfenstein?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_to_ ... olfenstein



Or its related multiplayer sequel Enemy Territory:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfenstei ... _Territory

If so we'd really like you to tell us about your experiences before Monday evening (26th January)!

[Bakers_12]

I owned this game on the Xbox when it first came out and completed, now I have very few memories of the game. All I can think of is the Egypt opening , enemy flametougher looking very cool, the final boss looking good but being a odd fit for the game and the ending being a bit anticlimactic. Normally I would not post about a game that I have such vague recollections of but this game stands out to me as it came out at a time when a lot of games stuck with me and comes from a series that I normally really enjoy. I don't know if WW2 shooter fatigue had set in at this point or its lack of "story" made it fade so quick in my memory, I'm only glade that for me this is the only blip amongst the rest of the Wolfenstein games

[Alex79]

I absolutely loved Return To Castle Wolfenstein. It remains the only game in the series I've ever played, and although details have become rather hazy over the years I know I enjoyed it enough to rank amongst my favourite FPS games of all time. It came along at a time when I'd not really played many first person shooters, I don't think I owned a current gen console at this point and all my gaming was done on PC. I'd played Half Life and dabbled with Unreal a little but this was my real wake up call. For all its cleverness and impressive set pieces, Half Life never really grabbed me (sorry, I realise I do it a massive disservice) but this, for whatever reason, sucked me right in. I'm not someone who replays games - very rarely will that ever happen - so as I said before my recollection of the game is hazy (I just checked Wikipedia and had no idea it was so old!) but mixed in with a lot of vague, fuzzy memories are real vivid memories of sneaking across a big open space to take out enemy watch towers, Nazi occult wizardry, escaping from cells with nothing but a dagger and of course the flame thrower. The game was hugely fun from start to finish, but I'm under no illusion it probably hasn't stood the test of time so I've no plans to go back to it now. Return to Castle Wolfenstien isn't just a game for me, it represents a completely different time in my life and remains the game that really opened a whole genre to me.

I don't have a great deal to say about Enemy Territory, other than I was a very active member of the PC Gamer magazine forum at the time and I know a big group of guys used to play this loads. I played a few times, but it never really hooked me in. I was a huge Counterstrike and Day Of Defeat player around this time but for whatever reason Enemy Territory just didn't seem to click.

[Alex79]

Three word review - "Flame grilled Nazis".

[jbtheskater]

Strangely, The Return To Castle Wolfenstein (“Wolfenstein”) is one of those games which, once I stopped playing, I never went back to. I bought the original game in early 2002 and played a lot of it as I was snowed in at the time. Although I bought a digital copy on steam circa 2009, I have never installed it for fear that going back to it now would detract slightly from my fond memories.

I came to Wolfenstein after playing a lot of Delta Force, Rainbow Six and Team Fortress online. This was a bit of an impulse buy when I was in Game shortly after Christmas in 2002. I had read the coverage on IGN but didn’t think anything could unseat the games at the top of my list of online FPSs to play with friends. I was quite wrong. I can’t think of many better impulse buys since. I played this (and latterly Enemy Territory) almost to the complete exclusion of all other online FPS games until Battlefield 1942 was released and my subsequent addiction to all things Counter Strike.

In all honesty I remember very little from the single player component of the game (aside from the infrequent appearance of Himmler from time to time): the multiplayer was where I spent most of my time.

And what a multiplayer it was. It was exceptional. It was class based and it was fun. The voice chat commands were superbly implemented and the on-screen visuals which accompanied each cry of “medic” helped to create a brilliant team-based shooter. Voice chat at the time was never great so this system, fully integrated into the experience, was a master stroke from Nerve. Also, who can forget the endless cries of “Danke” over and over again when revived or resupplied!? This always seemed funny and never got tiring (possibly a sign of my immaturity at the time, who knows).

Each of the classes brought something interesting into the mix but I particularly enjoyed the role played by the medic. In games such as delta force, and rainbow six (which were my mainstays at the time) once you had been killed, you had been killed to death as it were. In Wolfenstein, the medic could bring you back. Amazing. Whether this had been done before I am not sure, but it was the first time I had encountered this mechanic in an online FPS and I loved it. A good medic could make all the difference. This has since been featured in some of the great multiplayer games since, the battlefield series and Left 4 Dead are two examples which spring to mind.

I had a great time with the Wolfenstein multiplayer. It had a good community and was a joy to play. People seemed to embrace the team based nature of the game and you could guarantee meeting people in a lobby or game who were fun to play with and who got right into the spirit of it. Those were the days.

[ratsoalbion]

The next stop on our tour of Wolfenstein is at Raven Software's 2009 game for 360, PS3 and PC.

Who played it? Who wants to talk about it?

Please wax lyrical about the game below for potential inclusion in the podcast.

[Bakers_12]

After the previous game in the franchise which I was not a big fan of I was in the mind set of once bitten twice shy. To me the game seamed to come out with little funfair and made me think I had the right idea about not getting the game.
As time went on I started to hear many positive reviews from word of mouth. David Turner’s on Joypod singing the prises of the games hub city, Charlie Brooker on Gameswipe saying the game is a lot of fun (also pointing out that the majority of the enemies in the game are rank and file German solders and not Nazis as most of the series). Finally a mate at work kept going on about how good it was, he ended up lending it to me.

So yes I wrong to discount the game. The game play is a lot of fun though a challenge in places. The setting of Isenstadt is brilliant as a hub with multiple routes though the war torn town. The story is week but can be forgiven as an excuse for the spectacle that is thorough up in the levels. I also thought the upgrade system was well done rewarding you for exploration yet not forcing you to do so.

I only went away with two negatives from the game. One being a few difficulty spikes where I was in big battles with very low ammunition and shielded tough enemies, including the final boss who I never managed to kill (though this could be because of the difficulty level that I was playing on.)

The second was the "mystic" powers that you receive in the game. Though very useful to use I felt that they where an odd fit in the game. I prefer Blazkowicz to be a supersolder, not a superhero that can run up walks and slow time.
I think this trope in games was being used in a lot of games at the time weather it worked within the games universe or not.

Overall I would recommend this game to anyone who has not played it, though its sequel has hit the top spot in the franchise so far.

[Bakers_12]

I picked Wolfenstein: the new order up about a month or two after its release, at almost half price in Game. I was a bit shocked at that price as all I had herd was prise on twitter, forums and podcasts. That prise was not wrongly placed.
On paper it’s just an old school shooter about shooting bad mans in heads. But by god Machine Games used some dame fine paper and ink on this shooter. Sneaking, shooting, stabbing all highly fun. Running around with two shotguns is a right hoot.

Talking of Pen and paper, the writing in this game is Amazing! I lot was said online about how good the story is. I personally think the story is not that good and it is just a good excuse for the action of the game. But what is very good is the characterization and dialog, did I say good it is at times amazing.
My highlights being Blazkowicz’s believable relationship with Anya, Fergus rant at BJ and the “bloke” apology after (“gum?”), J’s commentary on the pre war US social-political landscape and the inglorious bastadsesque card test by Frau Engel. What’s more there is there is two games worth of this sparkling work with the inclusion of two different time lines to play though.
Speaking of the timeline the setting of an alternate 60’s where the Nazis won the war breaths new live into the franchise. Giving this game new and interesting locations to visit that would not have been possible before.
I would highly recommend this game to any one and was almost my GOTY of 2014. Machine games gave us a Wolfenstein game that we would want and then added a lot of things we didn’t know we would want in it!
A dumb shooter with brains

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

When are you recording the New Order episode guys? Would love to put forward my thoughts but struggling for time! If you give me a deadline to hit though it might spur me into action!

[ratsoalbion]

Some time in early May.

[chase210]

Wolfenstein the new order is quite a difficult game for me to articulate about. I've always wanted to like it much more than I did. I like shooters, I like alternate history stuff, it seems like an easy sell. But although I've played through this twice now, its never clicked with me like I want it to. Maybe its the story that never grabbed me, since it bounces from perfectly silly to grim in a moment, or the fact its one of the games that gives me motion sickness. Or just the fact the weapons and gunplay just don't have the right feel for me at all. Something like dual-wielding, never had the feeling of heaviness I wanted,same with rifles and various weapons. And that last boss can fuck right off.

I don't hate this game, since I enjoyed it enough to play through it twice, but its not my kind of game really, and maybe I'll never get it. For one nice thing to say, thank god the developers decided to give us a proper single player experience with trying to stuff in multiplayer where it isn't needed.

[Lego Solo]

I picked this up pretty much when it was released, mainly due to the fact I wanted a new game to play on the Xbox One and that I fancied a straight forward shoot people in the face kinda game.

I got what I wanted. Loved it. The alternate history setting really clicked with me as I love the idea of seeing a world where the Germans won (obviously not in a "I wish that were the case" but a "how different the world would be" way) it painted a very sad and mundane picture of the world. Obviously it's way over the top but you could imagine how horrible it would have been if they did have that sort of control.

The shooting people in the face was also brilliantly achieved. Everything they gave you to do worked really well, the shooting, the stealth basically everything was executed wonderfully and I found it great fun. The story was good if not great but the general writing was superb, dialogue was good and funny at times. Far better than most shooters manage.

But alas I am still to finish this game. My save is currently at the last boss. I have spent hours trying to kill him and have yet to succeed. It probably doesn't help that I had it on the harder difficulties and because I believe there is an achievement attached to that, I will not lower the settings. So I am yet to see the credits roll. But one day, yes one day I will kill that bastard and bring an end to the reign of the Nazies...........one day!?

[DeadpoolNegative]

Wolfenstein: The New Order was one of the games I bought when I finally jumped into the new generation of consoles with an Xbox One. I hadn't played the series since Return to Castle Wolfenstein, but what attracted me to this project was the fact that Machine Games decided not to implement multiplayer. Sorry to sound like a single player snob, but so many first person shooters these days emphasize multiplayer, and while I do enjoy that, I enjoy a satisfying single player campaign more.

The New Order has all the hallmarks of what makes a good Wolfenstein game- Nazis to shoot, mystical elements, crazy sci-fi weapons, and good old BJ Blazkowicz, scowling his way through the adventure. What I didn't expect was an extraordinarily bleak story wrapped up in a classically over the top adventure. The writers at Machine Games put thought into what a Nazi occupied world would truly look like. Not just the struggles of the oppressed but the normalization of fascism. The resistance's token Nazi defector, for example, isn't a man wracked by guilt- he believed in the party and considered himself exempt from their rules... until he found out that wasn't the case. This is a game where the protagonist goes to the moon and wields giant laser weapons, but what I fixate on in my memories of it is overhearing two people discussing whether to turn in a neighbor because he's exhibiting unusual behavior. I also liked that the game provided a reason why the Nazis can build all those super fortresses so easily and quickly.

Again, this is one of the darkest games i have ever played, but I never felt worn out by the darkness on display, unlike other games that shall remain nameless. And it's not just because Brian Bloom's wry, witty performance as BJ adds the levity. The game portrays is cast- even Deathshead! with nuance. Anya's tale of her cousin is presented not in a shocking or lurid matter, but something simply that happened. Everything in the game feels like it's earned. BJ and the resistance's attempts to ram a spanner into the works of the Nazi machine is thrilling, but it may be a futile gesture. Perhaps to paraphrase Roger Ebert, the only happy ending to BJ Blazkowicz's story is that it is over.

All this would not matter one whit if the game were not fun to play, and it is- the controls are crisp, the visuals are fine (though marred by the fact that it's cross generation), the pacing isn't perfect but its still good. I really like the divergent timeline device- a way to make a second play through worthwhile. The boss fights are well done and really inspired me to think on my feet.

I was hoping for a good game with The New Order. It turned out to be great. But as much as I liked it, I find myself even more excited about what Machine Games will try next. It's a hell of a first effort, guys- here's to many more.

--Dan Coyle