Return to Castle Wolfenstein (2001)

The long awaited follow up of Wolfenstein 3D did not disappoint. Return to Castle Wolfenstein was a great game with some amazing visuals at the time. It is fast paced, hard as ever, and a worthy installment.

In Return to castle Wolfenstein, the German SS “Paranormal” Division tries to dig up an ancient curse in Egypt to create an army of zombies to fill the ranks of the nazi’s (classic Wolfenstein). They eventually dig up an “Dark Night”, and with him, the curse they were trying to release and control. This goes wrong of course, and the land is terrorized by zombies, demons and spirits.

The leader of the Paranormal Division is General Deathshead and you learn of his plans and whereabouts later in the game. You fight your way through a nazi research factory and discover some gruesome experiments from Deathshead. You eventually find the man himself, but he escapes via a U-boat. You track him down again, but this time, he throws one of his newest creations at you, the Über Soldat. You fight this abomination, only to see Deathshead flee in a Kobra rocket plane, disappearing for the rest of the game.

You eventually uncover the full plans of the Paranormal SS Division, which consists of resurrecting Heinrich I, a powerful Saxon Warlock King (it keeps getting better and better) from 943 AD. You make your way to the excavation site near Castle Wolfenstein while fighting off hordes of nazi’s, demons and even more Über Soldaten. You blast your way through the site and ruins and eventually fight Heinrich I himself. After killing him, Heinrich Himler disappears in the distance, confirming that you officially screwed up every plan the Germans had for this project and that he needs to face the wrath of the Fuhrer himself. Glorious.

The introduction of Stealth in this game was a little unnecessary in my opinion. Especially since there are some missions that require it to even progress. I did not think that it added much to the game and it sometimes slowed the game to a halt.

The visuals are stunning in Return to Castle Wolfenstein. This game is from 2001/2002, but can be considered next gen for its time. Explosions, animations and gun impact look really good and I can only praise it.

In terms of sound, Return to Castle Wolfenstein is also a fine piece of work. Gunfire sounds excellent and the sounds and rattles that enemies make, really enhance the experience. Nothing to complain here.

Movement and controls are fluent, and like I said, make the game fast paced. In the multiplayer mode, this showed even better, making for a good online experience.

The only thing I found a little annoying about this game, is the sudden difficulty spike with the introduction of those weird UFO human hybrid abominations. These things shoot lightning, almost insta killing you and have a ton of health. Maybe I just need to git gut, but these bastards killed some of the fun I had with the game.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed Return to Castle Wolfenstein and I am amazed how well this game holds up today in terms of graphics and gameplay.

Definitely recommend this beauty.