Return to Castle Wolfenstein Hands-On

One of the most surprising games on the show floor was Activision's Return to Castle Wolfenstein. The game has apparently been in development for nearly a year by Gray Matter, the group of ex-Xatrix designers. The game is powered by id Software's Quake III engine, and to date, is the best adaptation of the technology we've seen.

Just like the original Wolfenstein, the game is set in Germany during World War II, and B.J. (your main character) finds himself in a jail cell yet again. Even though Activision claims that Return will have a humorous element into it, from what we saw, the game is as serious a game as any other first-person shooter. Nazi soldiers have hit-specific reactions and damage, and will recoil backwards if shot in the shoulder, while they'll double over if hit in the stomach. Apparently, the game has a very Indiana Jones-esque feel to it, because, just like the movies, the Nazis have been fiddling around with the occult in hopes of finding a secret weapon with which to win the war. The game opens up with a Nazi experiment gone wrong, and undead soldiers start attacking their Nazi creators and causing general havoc throughout the Wolfenstein castle.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein features a lot of the same weapons found in Wolfenstein and Spear of Destiny. Activision was showing off the M40 machine gun, the potato masher grenade, a German World War II pistol, and a flamethrower. Of course, BJ now can use his trusty boot as a melee weapon. In fact, in Return, players can kick and use a weapon at once. All said, the game had three somewhat complete levels, all of which looked very impressive. Throughout the three levels, players make their way from the cell to the castle's gondola controls while fighting the Germans and avoiding the undead creatures.

The game is still quite a way from completion, and in typical id Software fashion, the company isn't stating a release date for the game.