Wolfenstein feels like a game that Raven Software was trying to breathe some fresh air into the franchise by taking inspiration from other shooters popular shooters at the time. But in doing so, the Wolfenstein fails to stand out, let alone stand aside with its contemporaries.
Wolfenstein has the player controlling B.J. Blazkowicz as he aids a resistance group in the fictional German town of Isenstadt. From the start of the game, Blazkowicz obtains a mysterious medallion from Nazis soldier that grants him up to four powers that aid him in combat various ways.
The medallion that B.J. gets to use throughout the game grants the player powers that can be activated using the D-Pad on the controller, giving the player a way to augment their way of shooting Nazis. Powers range from giving the player to move faster and see enemies in the environment, to creating a shield to absorb damage and increase damage output from their own weapons.
However, while the powers are invaluable to help you in a tough fight, the pool of Veil Energy is pretty small, even when fully upgrading the pool to maximum, which I found out that always depleted while in the middle of a firefight.
Also, I found the powers to not be particularly fun or interesting to use. The powers barely feel like they’re tied into the design of the game and the levels; they feel more of an afterthought during the development. Sure, you’ll have specific parts of the level where a power will allow you to pass through a wall, but they’re not integrated into the level in way that allowed me to bypass enemy encounters or setup clever ambushes. The Veil mechanic feels underdeveloped and underutilised, leading me to believe that the mechanic was more of an afterthought during the game’s design.
I appreciated the more open level hub design that the game opted go with for this iteration of Wolfenstein. While the levels themselves are in their own self-contained instance, the player, as B.J., has to walk on foot to get to those instances. Along the way, the player can ambush, or be ambushed, by Nazis soldiers, as well as collect treasures and visit the shop for supplies. However, having to do some extra leg work before being able to continue the story levels does get a bit annoying after a time. The enemy encounters in the hub are randomised, so there were a couple of occasions where I would stumble upon a couple of tough super Nazi soldiers that would tax at my resources.
Unfortunately, Wolfenstein is a game that was largely forgotten about for a reason; it came out at a time when there were plenty of better shooters with light RPG mechanics. While the game certainly isn’t bad, you’ve already played this time of game several times already. As Wolfenstein isn’t available on digital stores, nor backwards compatible on modern consoles, I would not recommend tracking down a copy to experience the game for yourself.
Wolfenstein has the player controlling B.J. Blazkowicz as he aids a resistance group in the fictional German town of Isenstadt. From the start of the game, Blazkowicz obtains a mysterious medallion from Nazis soldier that grants him up to four powers that aid him in combat various ways.
The medallion that B.J. gets to use throughout the game grants the player powers that can be activated using the D-Pad on the controller, giving the player a way to augment their way of shooting Nazis. Powers range from giving the player to move faster and see enemies in the environment, to creating a shield to absorb damage and increase damage output from their own weapons.
However, while the powers are invaluable to help you in a tough fight, the pool of Veil Energy is pretty small, even when fully upgrading the pool to maximum, which I found out that always depleted while in the middle of a firefight.
Also, I found the powers to not be particularly fun or interesting to use. The powers barely feel like they’re tied into the design of the game and the levels; they feel more of an afterthought during the development. Sure, you’ll have specific parts of the level where a power will allow you to pass through a wall, but they’re not integrated into the level in way that allowed me to bypass enemy encounters or setup clever ambushes. The Veil mechanic feels underdeveloped and underutilised, leading me to believe that the mechanic was more of an afterthought during the game’s design.
I appreciated the more open level hub design that the game opted go with for this iteration of Wolfenstein. While the levels themselves are in their own self-contained instance, the player, as B.J., has to walk on foot to get to those instances. Along the way, the player can ambush, or be ambushed, by Nazis soldiers, as well as collect treasures and visit the shop for supplies. However, having to do some extra leg work before being able to continue the story levels does get a bit annoying after a time. The enemy encounters in the hub are randomised, so there were a couple of occasions where I would stumble upon a couple of tough super Nazi soldiers that would tax at my resources.
Unfortunately, Wolfenstein is a game that was largely forgotten about for a reason; it came out at a time when there were plenty of better shooters with light RPG mechanics. While the game certainly isn’t bad, you’ve already played this time of game several times already. As Wolfenstein isn’t available on digital stores, nor backwards compatible on modern consoles, I would not recommend tracking down a copy to experience the game for yourself.