Wolfenstein
Preview
Wolfenstein returns
by Howie Howard
previewed on PC
A game within a game
I really like the option that allows you to take different paths in completing missions. As an example, let’s say that you need to take out a machine gun nest. As in other games of this type generally the only available option is the direct frontal assault. In the new Wolfenstein you can go beyond the tried and true. You may decide to circle around from behind and try to surprise the enemy by sneaking up on them. There may also be a secret door that gives access to a hidden tunnel leading directly into the nest.
Wolfenstein can actually be called a game within a game. I say this because there’s an alternate dimension called the Veil that runs parallel to the normal dimension. You have the ability to enter the parallel dimension and this is where the game really gets exciting. The Nazis were the first to discover the Veil and its powerful energy source the Black Sun. The Veil is a world that is inhabited by strange creatures that don’t exist in the normal realm. It is a dark world that comes tinted in an evil looking dark green. The Black Sun is leaking and pools of pure energy litter the landscape. Giant blue insects called Geists collect the energy like bees collecting pollen. When the Geist are filled with energy you can shoot them igniting the volatile energy contained within them, thus killing any nearby enemies.
Veil weapons
The game takes place in a fictional German city named Isenstadt. "BJ" and the good guys are allied with a group called the Kreisau Circle. This group of German aristocrats is planning the future of Germany after the fall of Hitler and the Third Reich. Unlike the previous two installments of Wolfenstein where our hero was required to destroy the entire Nazi war machine all by himself, in the new game, "BJ" has plenty of help. The artificial intelligence is actually very good and the computer controlled combatants know when to duck and when not to charge head long in to a certain death.
While operating in the normal dimension, the combatants use normal World War II type weapons such as machine guns, flame throwers and various rifles and pistols. When you enter the Veil "BJ" can start using his Veil super powers. There are slots for four Veil super powers and our hero starts out with a power called Mire that allows him to slow down the passage of time. He also has enhanced abilities that allow him to move faster and to see enemy soldiers more clearly and can see secret paths that lead in to the Veil.
Nazis in the Veil also have super powers. These are incomprehensible to our hero when he first enters this parallel dimension. One of "BJ’s" first encounters is with a Nazi super soldier wearing a Black Sun powered suit of armor while wielding a particle cannon. There are many other enemy types that need killing and of course the inhabitants of the Veil themselves do not like the intrusion in to their realm and need to be dispatched as well.
I want!
All I can say about this new Wolfenstein is that it is about time that the legions of Wolfenstein fans were rewarded with a new game. Seven years is much too long to wait for this second sequel. There have been many look-a-like and 'wannabe' Wolfensteins throughout the years but there is really only one true Wolfenstein game: we want to go out and destroy marauding hoards of evil Nazi troopers and their hideously ugly looking super demons. Enjoy, I will!
