Wolfenstein

In honor of the release of Wolfenstein The New Order, and the fact that I started playing it last Saturday, I thought it could be fun to do a bit of a historical run down of the franchise.

It all started in 1981 with Castle Wolfenstein, released by Muse Software on Apple II, MS-DOS, Atari 400/800 and Commodore 64. This was a simple but clever game. Ancient 2D graphics (of course) by today's standards but it received a loyal following pretty quickly. And unlike the younger titles, it was more focused on stealth and evasion than combat.

In 1984 the sequel, Beyond Castle Wolfenstein was released. As any good sequel, it was more of the same, since that's what the public wanted. Like it's predecessor it focused on stealth and deception.

Then it was quiet for eight years. But in 1992, id Software's Wolfenstein 3D exploded onto the gaming world. It was neither the first 3D game or first person shooter (FPS) but it was the first game to bring these concepts together so successfully. And in doing so it became known as the father of the FPS.

Wolf3D was also the first time we were introduced to the hero of the series: William Joseph "B.J." Blazkowicz. The character in the first two games was never named, but it has always been assumed that it was B.J.

This is also where I got my first taste of Wolfenstein, and I've been hooked ever since. I played this game until my fingers ached, but I slaughtered my way through level after level of nazi carnage. This was also the game that introduced the concept of Nazis that were creating zombies and experimenting with future tech. After all, at the end of one level, you get to kill Hitler wearing a mecha-suit, wielding four chainguns.

In one year, id Software had sold more than 100.000 copies, which was unheard of at the time, since the whole thing started as shareware.

Fresh off of the success of Wolf 3D, id released a sequel, The Spear of Destiny the same year. Although sold separately, it was like Beyond Castle Wolfenstein, much the same as it's predecessor, in this case Wolfenstein3D.

Now we must leap forward nine years, to 2001 and the appearance of Returnto Castle Wolfenstein (RtCW). Unlike the difference between the two first games and Wolf3D, these nine years were full of exciting FPS releases. The Doom franchise, the Quake series and many many more. None the less, fans were ecstatic to have a new Wolfenstein game. I know I was. Like 3D, I played this game to pieces. The graphics were gorgeous for the time, the story was electrifying. It was simply a magnificent game.

In RtCW we meet Blazkowicz's nemesis Wilhelm "Deathshead" Strasse for the first time. A fanatical Nazi scientist he despises the supernatural and wants to beat the Allies with his monstrous inventions. RtCW had a great blend of super-science and the supernatural that blended together very well.

It didn't get a sequel as such although one was planned. Instead the multiplayer deathmatch Enemy Territory was released for free in 2003.

The Wolfenstein RPG was launched in 2008 for mobile platforms, but I can't comment on it as I haven't played it.

However in 2009, a game simply titled Wolfenstein slid onto the market. I have very mixed feelings for this game, for although the start was great, it became in my opinion rather tedious towards the end, and I never really finished it. But to be fair, the parts that were good, were incredibly good. The hospital level is one of my all time favorite spooky levels in any game.

The general Wolfenstein themes of Blazkowicz fighting a mix of super-science and supernatural Nazis continued, but despite this, the game wasn't a commercial success.

And now, in 2014, we have Wolfenstein The New Order. The supernatural is gone, an the super-science is ramped up. But as I'm sure you all know, the real kicker is that it's set in 1960 (the intro is in 1946) and the Nazis won the war an conquered the world.

Now, I've only played four hours, but I can honestly say this game is ridiculously good. The all the stuff you want from a modern game; graphics, sound etc., but it's the story that's so gripping. WTNO has more emotion running through it than most games, and certainly more than most shooters. And still it is just that. A great old school shooter.

I won't spoil anything, although I could even after only four hours. Suffice to say, I haven't been this impressed in a very long time.

That's all I have for you tonight. I have Nazi's to kill.

See ya next week.

Pacific Archery

Summer is around the corner, and that means blockbusters. In keeping with my general philosophy of “I'll watch it later” I watched Pacific Rim last night.

What can I say? A little over two hours went by just like that. I didn't look at the clock once. That said, it's not a very good movie.

Entertaining yes, but not good. The whole thing is an extraordinary effects extravaganza, and to it's credit, it doesn’t pretend otherwise. But when you have an actor like Idris Elba (Stringer Bell from The Wire) come off as wooden and dull, you know that dialog and personality was not high on Guillermo del Toro's list of priorities.

It's not painfully bad, but I couldn't have cared less about any of the characters. It's giant monsters vs. giant mechs all the way. And if that's OK with you, Pacific Rim is indeed a movie worth watching.

Of course, if you are really into these kinds of movies, you have probably seen it already.

Moving on from multimillion dollar special effects and no writing, we have the TV show Archer. This is one of those shows people can't stop talking about, and that always makes me apprehensive. I don't know why, but the more something gets hyped, the less I want to watch it.

But I'm ecstatic that I gave Archer a chance.

What we have here is an adult cartoon. Very Adult in fact, even though they self censor actual nudity and bad language.

Imagine if you will James Bond, but more arrogant, crueler, crasser and a lot more politically incorrect. Oh, and add mommy issues, that's Sterling Mallory Archer in a nutshell.

The rest is secret spy stuff and hilarity.

I laugh when I watch this, and not just a “Hah” once in a while. The writing is brilliant at times, and it never gets dull. The creators truly have a great sense of balance and timing.

Well worth it. It really is.

Well that's all tonight. We've been hit by a heat wave after a very chilly and wet spring, and my brain is a bit melty...

See you next week!

Man at Arms

A great fantasy hero or villain is defined by several different factors, but in most cases one of the key elements is the hero/villains weapon of choice.

As gamers we're used to wielding a plethora of dramatic and often rather impossible weapons. But as cool as they are, they're just not feasible. Or are they? Actually...

Last week, my wife stumbled upon a YouTube series called Man At Arms. It follows the creation process of a black/weapon/armor/jewelery smith with over 30 years experience in making cool weapons for movies like Pirates of the Caribbean amongst others.

I found it fascinating to see these weapons come to life. Weapons like Sepiroth's 7'+ katana, He-Man's Sword of Power, the Hidden Blade from Assassin's Creed and many many more.

So if you love fantasy weapons or just like to see a master craftsman in action, check out the Man At Arms video list.

That's it for this week. A short post I know, but my new PC is up and running and I'm eager to play. (Besides, I have a pizza waiting for me).

Until next week!

How's that not true?

OK, tonight we're talking pop culture, so we'll start with a pop quiz.

Now don't think about the answer, just go with the first one that pops into your head. Oh, and you don't need to write this down. Here we go:

Which creature loves cheese?

Which creature loves carrots?

Which creature loves doughnuts?

If you answered mice, rabbits and cops you're perfectly normal, but pretty wrong. And I'll tell you why.

Pop culture is to blame. You see you're used to these stereotypes because they've bombarded us for years on TV and in films. But where and when did they appear?

Well, the mice is the oldest and comes from the time before refrigerators. In those days people used to hang food to keep it from spoiling, but unlike bread and meat, you can't hang a piece of cheese. You have to put it in the larder. So when hungry Mr. Mouse comes looking for a morsel, he's actually a bit disappointed to only find cheese. But he'll eat it just the same. And what are people supposed to think when they time after time catch Mr. Mouse eating their cheese? Why that mice loves cheese, of course! But if you really want to make the little fellow happy, let him at your seed and grain supply, then he'll never leave.

Next, is the doughnut conundrum. Back before the 1950's, police officers used to walk their beat, or patrol area. This of course kept them in relatively good shape, but more importantly it kept them awake. But in the 50's when they started to get cruisers, and drove everywhere, they faced the very real problem of staying up all through their shift. And to make matters worse, the only places that were open all night back then, were the doughnut shops. (it took all night to get the next days supply ready). So when enough people walked by doughnut shops filled with nothing but cops (getting fatter) the cliché was born. In reality it seems cops eat no more doughnuts than any other group.

Finally, we have the carrot and the rabbit. To begin with, I should point out that rabbits do eat carrots, but that it's bad for them. Way to much starch you see. But the culprit behind this myth is none other than Bugs Bunny in A wild Hare (1940)

And the creators stole that gag from the 1934 Clark Gable movie It happened one night. Apparently people got the reference back then, but most of us haven't seen it today. We pretty much all know the “Eeeh, What's up doc?” line though. Just goes to show, you never know what you can trust. Certainly not rabbits...

Until next week, I'll leave you with a carrot munching Clarke Gable. Enjoy!