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Wolfenstein
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| Price: | $39.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details |
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Product Description
Classic Wolfenstein multiplayer with an occult twist reminiscent of the heart-pounding and award winning class and objective based multiplayer of Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Amazing enemies the Nazis throw at you next as they bring their dark fantasies to life. Epic combat moments that unfold in movie-like action sequences as you fight to prevent the Nazis from unleashing the power of the Black Sun, a war-ending weapon of supernatural mass destruction. Unique environments overlapping this world and the Veil, a world between our reality and the occult underworld that offers you combat advantages but also new supernatural threats. The ability to battle with a diverse collection supernatural 'Veil Powers,' as well as Allied and Axis conventional weapons, all up-gradable via an in-game black market.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #1758 in Video Games
- Brand: ACTIVISION
- Model: 29913
- Released on: 2009-08-18
- ESRB Rating: Mature
- Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows XP
- Format: DVD-ROM
- Dimensions: .20 pounds
Features
- Classic Wolfenstein multiplayer with an occult twist reminiscent of the heart-pounding and award winning class and objective based multiplayer of Return to Castle Wolfenstein.
- Amazing enemies the Nazis throw at you next as they bring their dark fantasies to life.
- Epic combat moments that unfold in movie-like action sequences as you fight to prevent the Nazis from unleashing the power of the Black Sun, a war-ending weapon of supernatural mass destruction.
- Unique environments overlapping this world and the Veil, a world between our reality and the occult underworld that offers you combat advantages but also new supernatural threats.
- The ability to battle with a diverse collection supernatural 'Veil Powers,' as well as Allied and Axis conventional weapons, all upgradable via an in-game black market.
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Product Description
Wolfenstein is a supernatural/science fiction first-person shooter, based on the video game series developed by Id Software that has been a favorite of 2D and 3D gamers across multiple game iterations and platforms since the early 1980s. In this new take, players battle the Nazi's dark obsession with the occult through epic action and harrowing shooter combat. Filled with ferocious enemies, movie-quality action scenes, unique gameplay environments, an impressive array of weapons and compelling multiplayer gameplay options, it is truly a fitting new chapter in the history of this classic gaming franchise.
The storyline of Wolfenstein picks up where the events of Return to Castle Wolfenstein left off. You play B.J. Blazkowicz, a highly decorated member of the Office of Secret Actions (OSA). You are sent on a special mission into the heart of the Third Reich to investigate evidence of the Nazi's possession of a new and mysterious power. But while behind enemy lines, you discover they have done much more than develop a new weapon. The Nazis are attempting to harness the supernatural power of an enormous energy source called 'Black Sun' which resides in a parallel dimension called 'The Veil.' Their goal is to use what they find to create supernatural weapons and soldiers of war-ending magnitude. Yours is to stop that from happening by any mean necessary. Gameplay Even though the game obviously features loads of Nazi enemies, Wolfenstein is not so much a World War II game, as a game centered around "dark science" and "Supernatural Science fiction." In it players move between the the parallel dimension of the Veil and that of our own as they command an enormous arsenal of conventional weapons or unleash the Nazi's own dark powers and perverted science against them with supernatural weapons and Veil-enhanced firepower. One of the major strengths of Wolfenstein is that it allows you to choose the way you want to play. Although as in previous games in the series B.J. Is a one man wrecking crew, he also works with a local resistance group. This means that players have the choice to follow the standard missions as they are revealed, take on requests from the resistance to explore the gameplay area and investigate the Nazi experiments, or to tackle the whole endeavor in multiplayer mode. Veil Power A huge part of Wolfenstein's sci-fi identification comes via gameplay that relies on the accumulation and use of a number of 'Veil Powers'. These powers though supernatural in origin, are used in large part by B.J. To magnify the effectiveness of his conventional weaponry and tactics. A sampling of these powers include: 'Mire,' which allows you to slow down time around B.J. So that he can take out enemies and obstructions such as machine gun nests, without the risk of taking severe damage; 'Veil Sight,' a sort of supernatural night vision that helps you see enemies in the dark; and 'Veil Shield,' which absorbs bullet fire and can be used as a battering ram in some circumstances. As with all the weapons in the game, all Veil Powers can be upgraded and indeed must be in some cases to proceed through the game. A notable caveat that comes along with the mastery of Veil Powers is that they do not necessarily guarantee overall success. As the game proceeds, the Nazis become aware of B.J. And his understanding and use of these powers and in response distribute 'Veil Inhibitors,' devices that negate the use of these Veil-powered abilities within range of them. This opens up a puzzle-solving aspect within Wolfenstein that require players to explore the environments around them to find the inhibitors and destroy them in order to proceed. Key Features
Wolfenstein features a wide array of Allied, Axis and supernatural Nazi weapons. All of these can be upgraded using treasure in the form of gold, military intelligence and mystical tomes found throughout the game via the in-game black market. This escalation of firepower is important in order to match the growing power of mini-bosses and bosses faced with each successive game level. System Requirements:
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Customer Reviews
Short, Lacks Polish, Multiplayer is Bad
I have loved the Wolfenstein series since I first played the original back in 1992. The new game, Wolfenstein, is a standout amongst other great titles in that it lacks polish, has below-average graphics, and a multiplayer mode that feels more like Goldeneye than Enemy Territory.
Graphics:
The graphics seems like an enchancement to the 2001 Return to Castle Wolfenstein release as opposed to a generational improvement one might expect from the seven plus years since the last episode was released. Uniforms and clothing move awkwardly on the models and faces appear to have 2-3 expressions per model. Anti-aliasing seems to be unavailable from the options menu and the graphical presentation suffers for it. Finally, the cutscenes are presented in a surprisingly low quality mode. In RTCW cutscenes were rendered in the resolution setting of the game mode. Mysteriously, Wolfenstein seems to step down your quality settings by a large degree to present the cutscenes.
Having recently played through Doom 3 again, I would give that title the edge on graphical presentation. One positive note is the quality of the effect as you slip in and out of "the veil."
Overall: 4/10 - Below Average for bad cutscenes, lack of AA, lack of improvement
Audio:
The 5.1 and 7.1 modes are great. Sound effect quality is lacking. Guns have a "far away" and a "next to your head" sound, with not much in between. There are not many sound effects for ricochets, stuff hitting different surfaces, etc. While not wholly terrible, it lacks the polish of titles with great sound like Far Cry 2 or Fallout 3.
Overall: 7/10 - Slightly above average for quality of 5.1/7.1
Gameplay:
This is a major sticking point with me. In RTCW and Enemy Territory, the character seemed to move fluidly around the environment. Wolfenstein has the same FPS feel as the previous titles, but the character transitions between weapons, jumps, crouches, etc in a more awkward manner. If you wish to test this, try running and then shooting. It feels as if your character runs into a wall and a bullet suddently flies out.
Overall: 6/10 - Serviceable gameplay, but nothing exceptional
Multiplayer:
Wow, this was the worst disappointment. If you played Enemy Territory from RTCW you know what good multiplayer is. Multiplayer mode in Wolfenstein is BAD. If you played Goldeneye in 1995 then you have played Wolfenstein multiplayer. You pick a gun, pick a class (that barely seems to matter), then you go to a tiny map where people with life bars over their head are shooting you while permastrafing. There is very little strategy, the graphical presentation is laggy (even with 100fps and 40ms ping), and the maps are basically big squares with objectives in the middle. A big step backwards with absolutely no improvements since WolfET came out 7 years ago.
Overall: 1/10 - I gave it one point because it worked. Other than that I wont even load the multplayer mode again
Fun:
The single player mode is somewhat entertaining because they continue along the lines of Return to Castle Wolfenstein (RTCW). Story elements are presented much in the same manner to RTCW, cutscenes interspersed during and in between core missions. The voice acting is good, but the story is nearly identical to RTCW. After 4 hours of gameplay you are likely to have completed nearly half the game. (there is a convenient slider bar to notify you of this every time you check your inventory). The multiplayer mode is so awful that there is limited replayability. The entire thing feels like a bad console port.
Overall: 5/10 for good story, good voice acting, but the rest is humdrum.
FINAL SCORE: 4.6/10
I do not recommend this game and actually feel somewhat cheated given that I pre-paid $50 for this three months ago. Is a 8-10 hour single player campaign and 12 poorly designed multiplayer maps worth 50$?
More fun the more you play
I have to add this review as my original review was not as flattering and i have changed my mind (or lost it?)
But seriously the more i play Wolfy, the more i like it. The initial 10% of the game
is awkward until you are able to purchase some weapon upgrades which relieves
their clumsiness. The plot is fun and the gameplay is fun. there is no platforming or
puzzle solving but searching for gold and intel is pretty much as good.
Not having played any of the previous Wolfs I had no expecatations and found
the game a fun single player first person shooter, if you are looking for more than that
well YMMV!
I dinged one star off because 1) the save files can not be backed up or moved and
2) the game has crashed on me several times (but i never lost any progress or goodies).
It was fun
This is not a great game. It is a good game, and it is certainly fun, and has a few moments of awesomeness. It stays true to its Wolfenstein roots, so if you're a fan of the rest of the games, you'll enjoy this game. If you've never played a Wolfenstein game, you should definitely pick this up! Halo isn't out, and are you really going to play Madden (I didn't think so, sports games suck), so this is a perfect filler game.
