Product Description

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8148 in Video Games
• Brand: ACTIVISION
• Model: 30006
• Released on: 2001-11-26
• ESRB Rating: Mature
• Platforms: Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 95
• Format: CD-ROM

Amazon.com Review
It's been nearly 10 years since Wolfenstein 3D forever popularized the first-person shooter, and at long last everyone's favorite Nazi killer, B.J. Blazkowicz, is back in Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Set during World War II, Return to Castle Wolfenstein finds the Nazis dabbling in the black arts in an effort to create an army of supersoldiers. Naturally, Blazkowicz is the only thing standing in the Nazis' way, so he's set behind enemy lines in an effort to end the madness.

On the surface, the single-player game seems like pure gold--after all, everyone loves killing Nazis. But the story jumps all over the place, the enemy AI is less than impressive, and most gamers will be able to finish the game in a mere 10 to 15 hours. The single-player game falls short of the standards set by titles such as Half-Life and No One Lives Forever.

In fact, the best thing about Return to Castle Wolfenstein is its team-based multiplayer mode. Each multiplayer adventure features Axis vs. Allies, and both sides offer four character classes: engineer (removes obstacles), medic (heals and revives teammates), lieutenant (calls in air strikes and replenishes ammo), and soldier (only class able to use sniper rifles, flamethrowers, and other unusual weapons). The game includes only eight multiplayer maps, but they are all perfectly designed, and in order to be successful teams have to work together. The result is a great gaming experience that fans of Counter-Strike or the Day of Defeat mode for Half-Life will really appreciate.

Graphically, Return to Castle Wolfenstein looks amazing. It uses the powerful Quake III engine to great effect, and the character models, explosions, and lighting effects are all perfectly done. Alas, pretty graphics and a great multiplayer game don't quite make up for an exceptionally average single-player experience. --William Harms

Pros:

• Amazing graphics
• Great level design (including secret passages)
• Awesome multiplayer mode

• Lackluster AI
• Single-player game is very short

Customer Reviews

Worth the (expensive) price - single or multiplayer
(...)

In any case, I can comment (objectively) on the game because I have played it and I can say without a doubt that it's worth buying. Some of us can remember back to the Wolfenstein 3D which later led to Doom which revolutionized the shareware concept and finally brought the PC to a viable gaming platform. Of course, some of us can remember all the way back to the original Castle Wolfenstein of the Apple IIc days, but lets not go there...

Anyways, gamers have waited long and hard for the chance to battle nazis once again and this game delivers. Castles are rendered in very nice detail on my Geforce, it almost starts to smell cold and musty in here (maybe that's me). The cutscenes are also well done and provide a nice prologue to each mission. The game's intro you'll probably only watch once or twice but it's one of the coolest ever! The music is very atmospheric and spooky, reminiscent of Quake. Whoever said the game crashes all the time must have a bad system or be using XP. Anyone who has "downgraded" to XP should've realized that nothing's gonna run on XP for a year (you think people would've learned after Windows 95.) In any case, I run the game on my non-XP system without problems.

Who cares about all that, right? It's the gameplay you want to hear about. Again, this game delivers. You start off as expected battling those evil nazi's as you escape Wolfenstein. From there the game gets progressively creepier as you dive deep into the catacombs and discover both you and the nazis are fighting off terrors even more disturbing. (...)Without spoiling too much, you find out the dead start coming to life and lemme tell ya, these buggers are tough to beat. Ammo starts becoming a serious issue. Not to mention some of the demons have shields that reflect the bullets back at you. Once you meet the fire demon - that alone is worth the price of admission.

Many of the zombies are just thick-skinned clods that are tough to kill, but don't think the enemies have bad AI. One of the head nazi's, Helga, is protected by an elite corp of women who can dodge, roll and even double team against you. Toss a grenade at em? They'll just kick it back at you (and they'll usually wait until just before it's ready to blow up too.) Very quick and very tough. Not to mention, the first time I snuck up behind one of Helga's elite guards, I had to stop and admire the "artwork".

Last but not least, the game borrows a page from the success of No One Lives Forever (another great game) by allowing the player to sneak up on the enemy and listen to their conversations. It's also interesting to run into the occasions the nazis are too busy battling demons to worry about attacking you. This is probably the first game that has made me jump since Doom came out. The surprise factor is used a little excessively in my opinion, but you'll definitely get a few scares.

Multiplayer is quick and responsive on a cable modem. I, of course, get pounded on mercilessly by the thousands of kids who are much better than I. The new interesting addition is the formation of team assaults where each member has a special ability (Lieutenants can call in airstrikes, medics can heal players, engineers can set dynamite, etc...). I find this difficult when joining existing games where I don't know any of the other members, but I figure people will soon be forming clans, similar to Mechwarrior, to exploit the advantages team based assaults can provide. No idea yet on invincibility hacks or other cheats, I get beat so bad it seems like they're all invincible to me.

So there you go. I was worried the emphasis would be on multiplayer and the single player game would be lacking, but that is not the case. If you are into multiplayer battles, then you probably already have a copy of this game by now.

Hope the review helped!

Amazing, even from a beta demo!
Just having clocked a few hours playing with the multiplayer beta demo, I'm very impressed with what Return to Castle Wolfenstein (RTCW) provides and has the potential to provide once it goes gold. The Quake III Arena graphics engine works beautifully to render gritty WWII battlegrounds, and the gameplay balances realism (limited ammo, sniper scope drift - very nice touch!, etc.) with playability (although compared to titles like Operation Flashpoint, RTCW is definitely an arcade-like experience). I suspect the final product will be a cross between Half-Life meets Medal of Honor in the single player mode, and Half-Life: Counter-Strike meets Medal of Honor in multiplayer. And then Medal of Honor: Allied Assult will come out and put the WWII shooter crown in question, but until then, RTCW has my vote. I'd suppose either RTCW or Allied Assault (or both!) would bundle nicely with the DVD set of 'Band of Brothers' for the flag-waving gamer in your family for Xmas! Lock and load!!!

The Perfect Game
Yep, I remeber playing Wolfenstein 3D on the old 100 and something computer with my old video and sound card. I still play it, but obivisouly on a faster computer. I downloaded the multiplayer demo thinking to be a tiny bit impresed. I rarely play demos and never get impressed by them. But, then I played Return To Castle Wolfenstein and saw the perfect game. The Flamethrower visual effect is perfect and looks so realistic. All of my friends love this game and this has become the first game I have become addicted to since Soul Calibur came out and then it was Super Mario Bros. I reccomend this is game to everyone and don't listen to the people that say that it sucks without gore. Metal Gear Solid did not gore and it is one of the greatest games of all time. It is not gore that makes any game, it is the gameplay and graphics.