PC GameSource Blog

The new self-titled shooter in the Wolfenstein franchise, developed cooperatively between Raven Software (single player) and Endrant Studios (multiplayer), has been received fairly well by the press. Many enjoy its sounds, animations, and presentation, while criticizing other aspects. This First Look will focus on my impressions of the game and my thoughts on these aspects.

First and foremost, any and all issues aside, I am truly enjoying the single-player game–it brings up many fond memories of the first Soldier of Fortune game (also by Raven), and it has almost everything I truly enjoy in an action shooter–good pacing, gripping action, great-sounding weapons, excellent gore, a weapon upgrade system.

The pacing was spot-on–the missions are almost non-stop action and/or suspense, depending on your objective. You never really feel lost or frustrated, and the adrenaline usually doesn’t stop until the mission is over. In-between missions you have as much time as you need to explore the city of Eisenstadt, interact with the members of the safehouses, deal in black market weapon upgrades, and more.

This brings me to further discussion about the hub city of Eisenstadt. You are not always just thrust from one mission to the next–often you first return to the city of Eisenstadt, which is essentially a very basic open world where you can choose your next objective, you can choose how to get where you’re going, and you encounter random battles that vary depending on how far into the game you are. Strangely, this is one of the most highly-criticized elements of the game. I, however, find this to be one of the most appealing parts of the game–it keeps the action fresh by giving you a chance to breathe and prepare before each mission, changing your weapon upgrades, speaking to others about your mission, and more.

The presentation of the game is also top-notch. I find myself pushing further forward if for no other reason than to run into the next firefight and satisfyingly slaughter the next group of Nazis (‘et al). The animation and artwork is great, and again really reminds me of the classic SoF violence. You can blow off limbs, causing enemies to hop around on one leg or writhe in pain or any number of other interesting animations. Eisenstadt and your missions all seem authentic enough for this style of game (how much time do you really spend admiring the scenery in a game like this?). My main gripe in this area is that the cutscenes seem somewhat low-quality, especially when playing the game in high resolution on a widescreen monitor–the game looks far better than the cutscenes on my rig. But that’s better than having it the other way around, so I can’t complain too much.

While this is only a partial review based on my initial impressions, PC GameSource should have the full scoop as soon as I finish the game, experience more of the multiplayer, and collect my opinions.

As always, feel free to post your own comments and opinions about the game here, and let me know what your experiences were, or if this First Look helped you.

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