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 | Monk

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:

The five people chosen for assassination in one mission are names of Germans in the TV show, "Hogan's Heroes".

Movie Connections:

Features Where Eagles Dare (1968)

Soundtrack:

Fuer Elise

It's baack...

Return to Castle Wolfenstein is a well-executed update to id's Wolfenstein 3d from 1991. While the storyline is original (though it obviously rips from Raiders of the Lost Ark), there are a few technical issues that my anal-retentive brain just can't leave alone. Fortunately, I won't go into them here.

Once again placing the player into the well-worn boots of BJ Blazkowicz, the game starts you off just as the original did; you were captured and tossed into the dungeon of Castle Wolfenstein, and you just killed your guard. The start even looks about the same; You're looking at the door to your cell, the body of your guard in front of you. However, the original started you with his gun and 8 rounds. Here, you start with your knife (which looks like a Fairbairn-Sykes model), but you don't have to go very far for your first pistol (it's in the doorframe).

As the game travels through the Balkans, occupied Norway, and, of course, Germany itself, you almost feel like those are your hands holding that "borrowed" MP40. In one mission where you must escort a "liberated" Panzer through a town, you feel as though you're walking through a bombed-out city; piles of rubble line the roads, buildings look unsteady, and many of the NPC's you encounter have bandages applied.

My main gripe is that the members of the Wehrmacht you encounter speak in accented English. Sometimes, they'll say something in German (like when they're muttering to themselves, or when it'd be very easy to figure out what they mean), but when it's a miniature cutscene (the second and third people encountered on the Norway mission come readily to mind), the conversation is mostly in English.