Wolfenstein (2009 video game)

Wolfenstein
Developer(s)	Raven Software id Software Pi Studios Endrant Studios
Publisher(s)	Activision
Composer(s)	Bill Brown
Series	Wolfenstein
Engine	id Tech 4 (heavily modified)
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Release	NA: August 18, 2009 AU: August 19, 2009 EU: August 21, 2009
Genre(s)	First-person shooter Sci-Fi
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Wolfenstein is a science fiction first-person shooter video game co-developed by Raven Software, id Software, Pi Studios and Endrant Studios and published by Activision. It is the sequel to Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and uses the id Tech 4 engine. The game was first revealed in 2004 during an interview with id Software's Todd Hollenshead on TechTV and released in North America on August 18, Australia on August 19 and Europe on August 21, in 2009.

Gameplay

Wolfenstein is a story driven First Person Shooter. The story is told through cutscenes, scripted events, telegraph messages, and intelligence that the player finds scattered throughout the game. The game involves the main character, B.J Blazkowicz, going to a fictional German town called Isenstadt, which serves as "hub" for the player throughout the game. Isenstadt is where the player can get missions from two different groups, or upgrade their weapons and powers at the Black Market.

There are three different groups in Isenstadt. The first is the Kreisau Circle, a group of resistance fighters led by Caroline Becker. Their mission is to end Nazi rule of Isenstadt, where their oppressive nature leads to civilians mostly staying indoors because of the fear of being shot. Another faction is the Golden Dawn. They are a group of scholars led by Dr. Alexandrov. They specialize in the occult and are the people who teach Blazkowicz about the Black Sun, and how to use the Veil. The third group is the Black Market. The Black Market is run by brothers Stephan and Anton Kriege. At the Black Market, the player can buy upgrades for the player's various weapons and Veil powers.

There are a total of eight weapons, five real-life weapons and three supernatural weapons. Real-life weapons include the MP40, the Kar98k, the MP43, the Panzerschreck, and the Flammenwerfer. Supernatural Weapons include the Particle Cannon, the Tesla Gun, and the Leichenfaust 44. A mounted MG42 can be found throughout the game, and each one can be mounted by the player.

Aside from the weapons, the player also finds a medallion called the "Thule Medallion". With it, the player can get many abilities. The abilities are Veil Sight (the ability to see secrets, and, once upgraded, through walls), Mire (the ability to slow down time), Shield (the ability to throw up a shield that blocks, and, once upgraded, bounce back bullets), and Empower (the ability to significantly increase the damage of the player's weapons).

Every time the player activates the Medallion, the player enters a dimension called the "Veil", which is a barrier between this dimension and the fictional "Black Sun" dimension, the power source the Nazis want to master. Inside the Veil, the player can see specialized enemies called "Geists". Geists can be destroyed, and destroying them releases an energy burst which can kill or stun nearby enemies. Geists are usually passive, but if the player kills a Geist, other Geists can become angry and attack the player in a suicidal explosion.

Enemies range from common German army soldiers who possess no supernatural abilities to specialized soldiers who have supernatural abilities that fit their use (for instance, the Assassin can become invisible). The enemies attack with either supernatural energy, weapons that can be picked up after death, or melee attacks. The "Scribe" can throw up a shield for himself or other Nazi soldiers.

There are various collectibles throughout the game. The collectible items are Gold, Intelligence, and Tomes of Power. Gold is changed into American dollars and is used as currency to buy various upgrades from the Black Market. Intelligence provides some background information about the story, and is used to unlock some of the upgrades for weapons. Tomes of Power are used like Intelligence, but instead of being used to unlock upgrades for weapons, they are used to upgrade the Veil Powers.

Multiplayer

Although the single-player and multiplayer versions of Wolfenstein are based on id Tech 4, both versions of the game use heavily modified versions of the engine. The player can select from three classes: Soldier, Medic, and Engineer. Each class has a certain role to fill, such as the medic being able to heal allies. Each class also has their own veil powers to help their role. All weapons are available from the start, with only upgrades needing to be unlocked. The game contains three multiplayer modes: Team Deathmatch, Objective, and Stopwatch. Team Deathmatch finds players fighting to gain a certain number of kills, Objective finds them trying to defend and attack targets, and in Stopwatch players must complete objectives in a set period of time.

On the day of Wolfenstein's release, the first PC patch was released to address several issues with the online multiplayer component. The multiplayer development studio, Endrant Studios, soon laid off some of its workforce after the completion of the development of Wolfenstein's multiplayer.

Synopsis

Setting

The story is set in the fictional town of Isenstadt, where the Nazis have taken over due to the fact that the city is the place that contains the crystals necessary to access the "Black Sun". The city serves as a hub for the player, where the player returns to after every mission. In the hub, the player can free roam, finding collectibles and occasionally running into Nazi soldiers on patrol, which the player can either avoid, or attack. Other places include a Hospital, a Farm (which covers up for an underground base), a Church, the SS Headquarters, a Dig Site, a Paranormal Base, a General's home, an Airfield and a large Zeppelin.

Characters

• Agent B.J Blazkowicz: The main protagonist in the game. He has high respect among the three groups due to his fighting abilities, and his previous achievements (during the events of Return to Castle Wolfenstein).

• Caroline Becker: The leader of the Kreisau Circle. She is distrusting of Blazkowicz at first, but learns to trust him after his missions manage to inspire civilians to fight back at the Nazis, increasing recruitment for the Kreisau Circle. She is killed at the Castle level by Hans Grosse.

• Erik Engle: Caroline Becker's second in command. He is a lighthearted fellow and very trusting of Blazkowicz. He takes over as the leader of the Kreisau Circle after Caroline Becker is killed.

• Sergei Kovlov: A young Russian scholar who is a part of the Golden Dawn. He introduces Blazkowicz to the Veil and the Black Sun, teaches him how to use the Thule Medallion and provides useful information about the supernatural enemies.

• Dr. Alexandrov: The leader of the Golden Dawn. He gives Blazkowicz many of the missions, but is later revealed as a turncoat who brought the Golden Dawn for the purpose of translating manuscripts for the Nazis. He is betrayed by the Nazis and shot dead by Hans Grosse.

• Stephan and Anton Kreige: They are brothers who run the Black Market. Although they only care about money in the beginning of the game, Stephan starts to break down towards the end, and starts caring about people outside of business. Anton is very disapproving of that fact. It is later revealed that Anton Kreige is one of the moles (the other being Dr. Alexandrov), and is then shot dead (offscreen) by Stephan.

• General Victor Zetta: The Nazi SS General who brought the SS Paranormal division and the German Army to Isenstadt in the first place and is a a high ranking member of the SS Paranormal Division. He appears as an overweight Nazi General, who is obsessed over the Black Sun. He is killed by the player after he is revealed to be a slug-like monster in the Veil.

• General Wilhelm "Deathshead" Strasse: The Nazi SS General who serves as Zetta's replacement after he dies and is also the head of the SS Special Projects Division. Deathshead is eager for revenge following the events of Return to Castle Wolfenstein where Blazkowitz ruined his Ubersoldat (Super Soldier) project. He is the driving force behind the creation of the Nazi super weapons, and plans on winning the war with Black Sun powered weaponry. It seems after the events of Return to Castle Wolfenstein he was promoted to Obergruppenfuhrer (General) because he was a Oberfuhrer (Senior Colonel) in Return to Castle Wolfenstein.

• Hans Grosse: A muscular Nazi engineer who serves as Deathshead's second in command. He is a strong and incredibly well built man, having to have been able to take several punches from a civilian in a bar fight and take him out in one punch. He is the one who kills Caroline Becker, and serves as the game's final boss, where he dons on a mecha suit and wields dual chainguns (recreating his appearence in Wolfenstein 3D) and another Thule Medallion with the same powers as Blazkowicz's.

Plot

The story is set some time in 1943 after the failure of Operation Resurrection and project Ubersoldat B.J Blazkowicz has been sent by the OSA to sabotage a Nazi Kriegsmarine warship planning to fire on London. As he fights the Nazis, he comes across a medallion. The medallion ends up saving his life when it puts up a shield in front of him and manages to protect him from a hail of Nazi bullets. While he managed to fly away to safety and blow up the Nazi warship, he is very interested in the medallion. During a meeting in the OSA headquarters, he learns that the medallion needs crystals called Nachtsonne, found only in Isenstadt, to utilise its full power and that the leader of the excavation is a Nazi general named General Zetta. Blazkowicz is sent to Isenstadt undercover. However, it turns out that when he got there, a mysterious informant had told the Nazis he would be there, effectively blowing his cover. He meets up with agents from the Kreisau Circle, and with them, he battles through the train station and makes it to Isenstadt.

In Isenstadt, he meets the Black Market Brothers, Stephan and Anton Kriege. They run the Black Market, the place where Blazkowicz can upgrade all of his weapons and powers with gold that he earns from missions, or finds scattered throughout the game. He also meets the leader of the Kreisau Circle, a former schoolteacher named Caroline Becker. Becker sends Blazkowicz onto a mission into the digsite, where he finds a young Russian named Sergei Kovlov. He also finds an exact copy of the medallion that he found on the Nazi warship, which Kovlov calls the Thule Medallion. Kovlov introduces Blazkowicz to the Golden Dawn, a group of scholars who specialize in the occult, led by Dr. Alexandrov. He also shows Blazkowicz how to use the Thule Medallion. With a crystal that Kovlov gives to him, he is able to enter the Veil, a barrier between his dimension, and a dimension known as the Black Sun. Using the Veil, he manages to escape. As B.J completes more missions, he gains new weapons and new powers for his Thule Medallion. Ultimately, he manages to kill General Zetta, who turns out to be a monster when Blazkowicz looks at him through the Veil. The Black Market, the Kreisau Circle, and the Golden Dawn all move out to a new location in Isensadt afterwards.

Shortly after the move, it turns out that Caroline Becker has been captured and is being held in a nearby castle. Blazkowicz helps the Kreisau Circle stage a rescue mission. When he finds Becker, it turns out that Wilhelm "Deathshead" Strasse is Zetta's replacement, and is dying for revenge after the events of Return to Castle Wolfenstein. During a struggle, Caroline is killed by Hans Grosse, Deathsheads's second in command.

After Blazkowicz returns to Isenstadt, it turns out that Anton Kriege revealed himself as the mole, and Stephan ends up shooting him dead. Finally, Blazkowicz sneaks onboard a Zepplin after he finds out that a Nazi super weapon, powered by Black Sun energy, is getting ready to fire from it. On it, he finds out that Dr. Alexandrov is the mole, and he worked with Anton Kriege to tell the Nazis about him at the train station, and where they could capture Caroline Becker. Dr. Alexandrov is betrayed by Deathshead, and is shot dead by Hans Grosse. The two proceed to go into the Black Sun and prepare the weapon. Blazkowicz jumps in after them, and it turns out that Deathshead expected him coming, and took "certain precautions". It is revealed that Hans Grosse has donned a mech suit outfitted with two chainguns (recreating his earlier self from Wolfenstein 3D), and a Thule Medallion indentical to Blazkowicz's. Blazkowicz successfully kills Hans Grosse by jamming the Nachtsonne crystals from his medallion into Hans's, and crashes the Zepplin, effectively destroying all ways of accessing the Black Sun. Due to this, his Thule Medallion is rendered useless as well. Isenstadt is free from Nazi rule, and the Kreisau Circle has take over. Blazkowicz hopes that Deathshead was killed when the Zepplin crashed, but he has a feeling that he will see him again. Later, it turns out that Deathshead indeed survived, and is climbing out of rubble, then screaming into the air.

Development

Wolfenstein uses an improved version of id Software's id Tech 4 video game engine, the technology behind Doom 3 and Quake 4. The game was developed by Raven Software for Windows, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. The modifications to the game engine include depth of field effects, soft shadowing, post-processing effects, Havok physics, as well as the addition of a supernatural realm, called The Veil. While in The Veil the player has access to certain special abilities, such as the power to slow down time, to get around obstacles that exist in the real world, or even to be able to defeat enemies that have an otherwise impenetrable shield (similar to "Spirit Walk" from the previous id Tech 4 title Prey) The multiplayer part of Wolfenstein was developed by Endrant Studios. Wolfenstein is notable as being the only recent id Software game not planned to have a Linux port, with the person in charge of Linux ports at id Timothee Besset commenting that "It is unlikely the new Wolfenstein title is going to get a native Linux release. None of it was done in house, and I had no involvement in the project."

Marketing

Raven Software designer Manveer Heir claims that he will personally reimburse anyone who purchases Wolfenstein provided it outsells Madden NFL 10 in August. He also states that while he will base sales on NPD Group figures, he will reimburse anyone who purchases the game worldwide. Heir laid out two conditions which must be met in order to qualify for the rebate: buyers must provide a sales receipt showing the purchase was made in August, and they must have a Twitter account which has been made a follower of Heir's account.

Four promotional video-comics each about 3 minutes long were released. Each of them was based on a particular installment in the Wolfenstein series and served as a nostalgic reminder. The first one recreates Wolfenstein 3D's escape from Wolfenstein, Hans Grosse killing and final battle with Adolf Hitler. The second recreates Wolfenstein 3D's prequel game, Spear of Destiny's final battle and shows B.J. fighting cybernetic Death Knight and later Angel of Death for the Spear itself. The third comic is based on Return to Castle Wolfenstein and recreates battle with Olaric, the destruction of an experimental plane and later the final battle against Heinrich I. The fourth comic is based on the Wolfenstein's own cinematic introduction and shows B.J. infiltrating Nazi battleship and stealing Thule medalion.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
Metacritic	78/100 (PC) 77/100 (PS3) 79/100 (360)

Review scores

Publication	Score
GameSpot	7.5
GameSpy
GamesRadar+	8/10
GameTrailers	6.8/10
GameZone	8.5/10
IGN	7.3
Giant Bomb
Smartyweb!	83/100

Upon release, Wolfenstein received a generally favorable reception from critics, with many praising the game's premise and single player while others complained about its disappointing multiplayer component and performance, compared to the innovation its predecessor brought in Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Reviewers such as Gamespot praised the single player campaign for the science-fiction elements and use of futuristic weapons such as the particle cannon. However Gamespot criticised the game for sudden drops in framerate when the veil is activated, which is a hindrance to the fast-paced style of gameplay.

Despite generally complimentary reviews, Wolfenstein has shown poor business in the first month of release for a title of its pedigree. It sold around 17,000 units in the PC version and 106,000 units overall, according to Gamespot.

External links

• Official website