A decent shooter, but the online play is where it's at.

User Rating: 8.5 | Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War XBOX
In 1993 id Software released a genre defining game. This game was Wolfenstein 3D. Of course there was shooters here and there, but none of them were as great or as revolutionary as Wolfenstein 3D. A year later, id Software also released Doom, another cult classic game. Now, Ten years later, id software and Nerve Development have made a sequel to Wolfenstein 3D...Return To Castle Wolfenstein, and what a sequel! In Return To Castle Wolfenstein, you play a US Army Ranger named B.J. Blazcowitz, recruited by the Office Of Secret Actions to carry out missions of assassination , reconnaissance and just plain whooping the Germans' asses. The year is 1943, and the Germans’ head of the SS Paranormal Division, Heinrich Himmler, is conducting horrific experiments, archaeological digs and religious rituals. I would just like to point out now that in reality that the Germans during WWII were religious and supernatural fanatics, however a SS Paranormal Division was never made, so if you go into this game expecting a super realistic WWII shooter, you will be disappointed. Elements of this game are realistic, while others are fictional. Anyway, as B.J. Blazcowitz, you are sent in with British Operative 'Agent One' to investigate and find out just what the hell are the German's up to? Your campaign will take you all around the world and to different environments, from war torn cities, tombs and cemeteries, forests, Submarine pens, Castle Wolfenstein itself and many other places.

The graphics in Wolfenstein are pretty good. The landscapes and areas are well done. As you'd expect in a war torn city, there's rubble everywhere and in the forest its thick with lush green trees and bushes. Around the Castle and in Norway, it's snowing and there's snowflakes dropping from the sky. The Castle interior is well done with stone blocks and the red carpets, weapons storage etc looks good. There's a tram car from the castle down to the city (This game reminds me of a classic Richard Burton film called 'Where Eagles Dare', set in a similar setting. The castle part I mean).

The weapons in Wolfenstein are really cool. You get the basic pistols and a nice touch is that you get weapons from both sides, and for WWII buffs it might be interesting to compare firepower from each side (or maybe just me). The pistols are the German Luger and the American m1911 Colt .45. The submachine guns are the German MP40, the American Thompson and the English Silenced Sten (which overheats if fired for too long). A shotgun which was unavailable in the PC version. Sniper rifles include a Mauser rifle which can be fitted with a scope for sniping and a Snooper Rifle which has night vision and a silencer. A really neat weapon which you'll be using throughout the game is a FG42 Paratrooper rifle, which only holds twenty rounds, however it has is powerful and has a scope. The heavy weapons are a German Panzerfaust Rocket Launcher, a Venom Chain Gun and a flamethrower.

The sound in Wolfenstein is great and all the weapons look and sound authentic. Weapons fire, artillery and motor fire, explosions and an epic theme set the game perfectly. Did I mention the theme is epic?
The controls for this game are pretty simple FPS controls. Multiplayer. Return To Castle Wolfenstein has probably the best multiplayer experience ever. I mean it. Ever. The thing that makes Wolfenstein so engaging is the team work. Lone wolfing it in Wolfenstein works, but not recommended. There are four game modes, elimination, objective, stopwatch and checkpoint. Elimination is basic team deathmatch. Checkpoint is where your team goes around and tries to either have all the flags at the end of the match r capture them all during he game. Objective and stopwatch are where the meat's at. In an objective match, both teams set out to complete. Stopwatch is the same, except at the end of a match the players are swapped over to the other team. These objectives range from destroying Radar stations, running up a beach similar to Omaha and transmitting the war documents from inside the bunker, stealing the sacred artifacts from the Germans’ and destroying a V2 Rocket base. Of course there are many more levels, and I would be lying if I said I didn't like any of them. There are two teams. Allies and Germans‘. Character classes in Wolfenstein are a fantastic feature, and while not new, is greatly implemented in this game. The four character classes include Soldier, Medic, Engineer and Lieutenant. The Soldier is your basic killer. He can carry any weapon he wants, starts with the most health and ammo. The Engineer is the most important character because he has dynamite and pliers. These two tools are completely and utterly desirable in a match because to compete objectives you need to destroy obstacles in the way or a specific objective. The Pliers set the dynamite and repair gun emplacements. The Medic is also an important character. He revives fallen comrades and gives out health packs and will generally be your best friend. Imagine surviving a major firefight with barely any health left and one of your teams medics finds you and restores all your health. Also the medics health regenerates. The Lieutenant gives out ammunition packs and can call in airstrikes and artillery fire. He is the only person that uses binoculars in the multiplayer game. So each team needs each others classes to survive, and if your team works like a real squad, you will have a great time. Each team has its own uniform and weapons, though the soldier can wield any of the two handed weapons as the other team. Summary: Overall, Return To Castle Wolfenstein is a spectacular shooter whether you are playing online or offline. Go get it now.