Negative Gamer Review: Wolfenstein (PS3)

The great grandaddy of First Person Shooters has arrived.  Filled with more World War II-fueled racism that the gaming industry loves, the current generation iteration of this most revered franchise delivers some solid single player experiences.  However, outsourcing the multiplayer does not serve the game’s overall experience well.  The question stands, does a decent overall experience and some nostalgic nods equal a win for Raven Software, id, and Activision?

Wolfenstein’s block-headed hero, B.J. Blaskowisz returns for another kick at the Nazi can.  He’s a bit gabbier than he’s been before, with not-so-clever monologues framing the various chapters of the game throughout.  In one of the obvious nods to nostalgia, his facial features have changed very little from the original B.J. that used to stare back at us from our PC screens and get progressively beaten up as he lost health.   While we don’t get to see his face become bloodied as we did in the earlier versions, the familiar face is a nice touch.  While the health packs are no longer a consideration, there are plenty of secrets to find and upgrades to earn for weapons and powers as you move through the single player campaign killing Nazis and genetically enhanced opponents.  Another nod to nostalgia is the completion report you receive after each mission telling you what percentage of secrets you missed.  Here’s a pro-tip, those ‘œtomes’ are kinda important.

Seriously, You Named Your Hero B.J. ?

While my overall impression of Wolfenstein is, for lack of a less offensive word, positive; the developers added an overworld that B.J. moves through to connect with different factions and to take on missions that is quite annoying.  While there are tomes, loot, and intelligence items to collect throughout all levels, there are also items to collect in the overworld.  Clearly id wanted the player to explore and to be able to experience something beyond the standard FPS linear experience.  The reality of this though, is pretty disappointing.  In a game that provides enough exposition combined with a reasonably compelling back-story that one might be interested in searching out story pieces and intelligence, the A.I. interference in the overworld makes this just a chore.  Getting killed during a mission due to a challenge that is part of the game is one thing; having to fight one’s way through the overworld to simply explore, needs something more than this game provides.  And what is the overall benefit to exploring?

Early in the game, B.J. discovers a medallion that grants him magical powers that thrust him into ‘œThe Veil’ an alternative reality that grants superhuman abilities.  The problem is Veil mode drastically takes away from the graphics of the game, which is irritating as you need to spend a fair amount of time in Veil to find secrets, use powers, and to advance.  While in Veil the visuals take on the general appearance on a blue picture negative.  Furthermore, there are a fair number of trophies/achievements that are reliant on the amount of time you spend in Veil.  The question arises, why do we have to take a graphical loss to use this vital game mechanic?  Speaking of irritating…

Let The Suckage Begin.

As I mentioned above, Raven’s input on this game apparently ended with the single-player game.  The multiplayer, is a completely different beast altogether that we can thank Endrant Studios for.  The smooth character movement and rewarding gameplay that is part of the campaign goes right out of the window with online matches.  Firstly, I think that while this is a decent looking game overall, the graphical drop in online matches makes no sense to someone who plays other popular games online that look far superior.  Secondly, I have had very few issues with lag in the last two weeks with my connection for CoD4, Burnout Paradise, and the MAG beta, but in Wolfenstein matches this is a serious concern that at the time of this writing had not been patched.  Finally, the trophies and achievements for multiplayer matches are a significant percentage of all available, clearly id wanted this game to have a significant online experience.  So what went wrong?

It’s hard to pick one aspect of online play to give the biggest kick in the nuts.  Raven and Endrant Studios were not on the same page and seem to not have consulted at all.  The art style is different, the movement is choppy, and the maps are so uninspired as to be the definition of half-hearted.  In what is typical of the entire online experience, the load screen for MP matches where you can filter what type of games you are searching for, Team Deathmatch, Deathmatch etc, has an alert overlay that isn’t formatted to be consistent with the spacing of the other text.  It’s a minor annoyance but shows how little effort went into polishing the online product.  Basically most people should give the online a skip, it’s one of the more poorly done things I’ve played in quite a while.

There’s A Ringing In My Ear

While preparing this review one thing that I normally comment on or consider struck me in the face…or rather the ear.  The music in this game is almost completely irrelevant.  I find it hard to believe that a game that spent some time on the writing and developing a consistent art style for the campaign almost completely ignored the importance of a score to punctuate plot elements.  Furthermore, the final boss battle and challenges, smack so much of the final challenges in Hell, of Doom 3, that it is beyond homage, and becomes weakly derivative.  It’s not that the final battles are poorly done; I actually enjoyed them a fair bit.  But I really fucking enjoyed Doom 3 as well.  My issue is with the atmosphere and how the challenges are structured.  Change a few colours and lighting around, swap out the dungeon crawling of Doom 3, and the similarities to an id fan are pretty glaring.

A Few Other Points Worth Mentioning:

• The game mechanics involving the Veil and the overworld could clearly have been better applied, but are not game breakers.
• As for the competitive multiplayer element; seriously, just give it a pass, and try to forget about the trophies/achievements you’ll never acquire as a result.  It’s just not worth it.

Wolfenstein is definitely a fine addition to this franchise. There’s good value and a decent amount of replay incentive with the light rpg elements of the single player campaign. Fans of this series should not miss this one, and newcomers should not judge the game purely by its multiplayer.

You should play this game if…

… you are interested in a simplistic FPS with a decent story.

Final Score
A respectable, if only slightly flawed addition to a revered franchise that delivers a fair amount of fun.

(What does this score mean?)

Notes: Finally, I have to share something that amused the shit out of me; the developers accurately recreated the grunts that B.J. lets out when he takes hits from the original game perfectly.  Those that played the original, compulsively pressing every fucking red brick wall looking for secrets will know what I’m talking about.