Return to Castle Wolfenstein (2001) (VG)

Director:

Drew Markham

Writers:

John Carmack (story)
Steve Goldberg (writer)

Release Date:

November 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

You play a World War II American intelligence agent who must stop various Nazi special weapons projects predominately involving the occult.

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Occult | American | Germany | First Person Shooter

Cast

Tony Jay	...	The Director (voice)
James Alcroft	...	Jack (voice)
Neil Ross	...	Higgs / Nazi Soldier #2 (voice)
Jonathan David Cook	...	Heinrich (voice) (as Jonathan Cook)
Charles Napier	...	Murphy (voice)
B.J. Ward	...	Nazi Cmdr. Helga Von Bulow / Nazi Woman #1 (voice)
Drew Markham	...	Nazi Soldier #1 (voice)
Peter Renaday	...	Monk (voice) (as Pete Renaday)
Jim Ward	...	Nazi Soldier #3 (voice)
Gaille Heideman	...	Nazi Woman #2 (voice)
Cam Clarke	...	Nazi Soldier #4 (voice)
Matthew Kaminsky	...	Lt. B.J. Blazkowicz (PS2 version) (voice)
Jim Piddock	...	Agent One (PS2 version) (voice)
Brian Mysliwy	...	Army Major / Egyptian #1 / Prologue German #1 (PS2 version) (voice)
Brian George	...	Egyptian #2 / Prologue German #2 (PS2 version) (voice)

Also Known As:

Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Operation Resurrection (USA)
Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War (USA)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Germany:(Banned) (uncensored version) | Germany:16 (modified version) | UK:15 | Australia:MA

Company:

Activision

Trivia:

In the Balkans rocket base, pasted on the door of a badly scorched airplane hangar at the airfield, there is a note warning air crews about cooking coffee in the fuel destillers, as this can cause explosions. The note is written by a major Vorsichtig, german for "Careful".

Movie Connections:

Remade as Return to Castle Wolfenstein (2010)

Soundtrack:

Die Fahne Hoch

A bit of a missed opportunity

This game has picked up loads of awards for it's graphics recently, and it's not hard to see why. Even on a medium-spec PC, it looks pretty amazing, with excellent lighting effects, decent character animation and impressive level design (my favourite being the secret Nazi airbase). But where id have pulled out all the stops for the visuals, it seems that they gave the writing team a day off for this game. I gave up caring about the plot after first running into the zombies (which were v.cool), as it wandered between Indiana Jones-esque fantasy, with eerie pagan rituals and undead hi-jinx, and more realistic Hidden & Dangerous style missions, such as capturing the experimental plane and picking your way through the rubble of a bombed out factory. In fact, I wish they'd have put more thought into the overall plot, as the fantasy elements of the game are rather weak and let the side down a little. Sure, the first time you bump into the Uber-Soldat's, you can't help jump in shock, and the excellent 'Lopers' add a real horror feeling to one of the missions, but they aren't used enough, and the level designers seem content to pop them in as mid-level bosses after their initial appearance. Then we go back to running around mansions, shooting plain old Nazi's. Why? Why not more freaky creatures? Why not a more involving plot? Castle Wolfenstein itself is little more than a bit part in this game. It's a shame to see such a well known license squandered on what is little more than an exercise in programming. The end of the game seems to tail off, with more and more empty levels dotted with the occasional enemy. And as for the final boss? Well, it's like id are stuck feet-first in 1994. I'm hoping some decent mission packs surface for RTCW, as the one-player game provides little sustenance for the likes of me. To be fair, I'm just disappointed that they didn't have Cyber-Hitler make a return! Oh, and the multiplayer game is fantastic. Simple as that. Taking part in a 32-a-side war with airstrikes, artillery barrages and flamethrowers. This IS war. Get it right next time id, and stop employing 6th formers to write your plots...