Techtite's Macintosh Game Reviews!

"...an all-female 'Elite Guard' [jump] and dodge your attacks like Olympic Gymnasts. I fully recommend sneaking up to some of these guards at least once; they are way too well modeled (ahem) to go unnoticed."

---from the review

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Sidebar :

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"The little Details." ID software truly spiked the ball here, when making a graphic engine leaps and bounds superior to the original Wolf 3D game. Sheer curtains on the windows blow in the wind; every rug is intricately textured. Even the characters are well animated. In case you wondered --not that you'll get the chance often-- though the uber-female elite guards even have a little feminine "wiggle" to their walk, if you can sneak up to them long enough to notice. It's little touches like these that make the good games great.

Hidden secrets. Don't be afraid to look for some ingeniously hidden secrets. Here's a hint. Some secrets are rewarded, if you shoot and destroy portraits of Hitler. Not that you wouldn't have tried that for yourself.

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Need game hints?

You may wish to consider purchasing:

Return to Wolfenstein: Prima's Official Strategy Guide

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Feel free to contribute. As always, review submissions are accepted!

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ID Software has been asked to make a sequel to their Wolfenstein 3D for almost a decade by now. Why not? Wolf3D was not only a widely popular game classic: it made ID Software what it is today, and paved the road for years of First Person Shooters yet to come. Best of all, you were able to defeat armies of Nazis; what could be cooler? This was a game series that should've been resurrected in the days of the Doom game engine, the Quake game engine, or the Quake 2 game engine. Now, the nearly-flawless Quake III Arena engine offers us what we've waited years for...and if you ask me, it was more than worth the wait.

Multiplayer is based, as I implied, on the Quake III Arena Game engine, so you know it as to be good. So let's concentrate on reviewing the Single-Player game. The story involves the return of Army Ranger Blazkowicz, who (in the first game) bravely escaped a jail cell within Castle Wolfenstein. He then turned the tables on his captors, until even Hitler was defeated! This is a sequel set a few years later, when secret experiments are taking place in Wolfenstein, and they need someone to infiltrate the stronghold and investigate. The "Office of Secret Actions" has chosen the man who once escaped there for the job...i.e., you.

Of course, 3D, Quake-clone level maps are nothing like the Wolf3D realms of old. Gamers want alternate locations to explore. So, rest easy: you're not just plodding around in the halls of Wolfenstein alone. Later missions involve obtaining an experimental weapon, or sneaking aboard a truck into a secret base. There are some very challenging missions here --much more so than most FPS games of this type-- and some even require a bit of thought, not brute force. At least two missions are so secretive that allowing any Nazi soldier to activate an alarm automatically scrubs the mission. This is similar to one of the most gripping levels of No One Lives Forever, and like that level, is a major challenge, and a nice departure from the otherwise "shoot everything" formulae.

As for enemies, they are more than just Nazi soldiers. One of the first "bosses" is the head of some sort of Nazi Witches Coven, that is experimenting with resurrecting the undead for additional soldiers (!). This means two added enemies; some very powerful skeleton/undead warriors, and some even more challenging members of an all-female "Elite Guard," who jump and dodge your attacks like Olympic Gymnasts. I fully recommend sneaking up to some of these guards at least once; they are way too well modeled (ahem) to go unnoticed. Later --and you knew they had to be there somewhere-- there are a few cyborg super-soldiers to fight, which ID Software seems to add to all their games, even if the concept of robo-soldiers has to be dragged in, kicking and screaming. Cybernetic soldiers, in a 1940's wartime environment...?

Admittedly, such ingenuity in game levels must lead to more than a few holes in this story, though they actually add to the fun, not distract. For instance, when the OSA chief is informed that the Nazis are attempting to make soldiers that are half robots, he's surprisingly aware of robotics, for someone in the pre-computer age of the mid-1940's. Comparatively, the Nazis use technology that often looks like something from a James Bond film. There's also the little complication of the first game allowing you, in the final level, to defeat Hitler himself. So, who's the main bad guy, here? As the opening movie implies, the Nazis are attempting to resurrect some ancient overlord...apparently, to take his place. Whatever; it makes for a cool game experience, anyway.

This game is not just more lifelike than the prior game because of graphics. This is no mere "everyone's a bad guy---kill it!" affair. Barmaids and other innocent civilians are scattered about, and killing any of them leads to a mission scrubbed, and a deserved "game over." You're supposed to be helping innocent people from the bad guys, after all. This is a typical added challenge of the typical FPS these days, and it's an addition worth adding. Very rarely is everyone a "bad guy" no matter how hostile the terrain. It also enhances the challenge, which is always good.

The best traits of this game are the life-like characters. Again, this goes beyond mere high-res textures. Sneak up to a guard, for example (or use the rifle scope) and sneak a look at them smoking a cigarette, complete with smoke coming out their mouth, and ending with them dropping the cig and stepping it out with their foot. It's a simple animation (so simple, you may likely miss it), and yet it's effective in setting the mood. Likewise for the A.I., particularly if you throw a grenade. These guys aren't totally ignorant (well, aside from being Nazis, of course), and will run away from a grenade if they see it coming. Imagine my surprise when, with only grenades left to fight with, one of the female elite guards kicked the grenade back at my character! Talk about artificial sassiness.

Of course, few games are flawless...even this one. It's a shame that the folks that once paved the road for new game technology, now seem to be borrowing from other works. Even the hired voice actors are unmistakably from other games (particularly No One Lives Forever). However, these voices are just a small taste of how much this game feels like an imitation of other games you've played, only with better graphics. This is a far cry from the original Wolf3D, which paved the road for games of its type. In this sequel, they seem to be following in others' footsteps, instead. It's a shame that ID Software, which once was the teacher of what-to-do in gaming, has now become the student. The end result is my only gripe with the game; there is always that uncanny feeling you've played half these levels before, in other games. Be that as it may, those were game levels in some very good, award-winning games, so it's not like this is a "flaw." It's just a disappointment.

In the end, there is a lot to like about this game. You even get to play Quake III Arena type multiplayer games, in WW2 settings that allow you to fight against Nazis galore. That alone is cool. Aside from the feelings of "game cloning" mentioned above, I can't think of a better sequel to a classic game series, and an awesome upgrade to the Wolf3D world. Fans of that game should be very, very pleased.

---Techtite