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.

Doom and Gloom

In the past few weeks, I've talked about The Elder Scrolls Online. Unfortunately I've come to the decision that I won't be playing it after all.

First off, some of the info I got from the official ESO site has proven to be somewhat erroneous. The classes are far more restrictive than I was led to believe, as an example.

There are some other reasons why I won't be playing this as well, most of which are tiny, like the banking system, but the main issues are:

1. You only get one quickbar, and it's five boxes wide! In other words, you can have five measly abilities available at any time. I had hoped this was due to beta issues, but the Devs have openly stated that they want you to have to think about your set up for each fight. Regular mobs aren't of course a problem, but to have to go into the skill page and reset and fiddle all the time, is in my opinion a deal breaker. At level 8, this was already a hassle.
2. ESO doesn't really feel like a “proper” Elder Scrolls game to me. Perhaps I'm making too big a deal of this, but I felt less like a hero the further I played.

I had such high hopes for this game, and I so want to like it, but I can't. Maybe in the future, we'll see.

In other game news, Wolfenstein The New Order has been pushed back a bit, but it seems to be out in May this year. And following on this is a new Doom game as well! Here's hoping it's better than Doom 4, which I didn't even get close to finishing.

I also took a look at the upcoming Age of Wonders III, and it made me very sad indeed. I've loved this series since AoW I, back in 2000, but I won't be touching this game with a 20' pole. Not only do I find the graphics muddled and badly disproportionate, but they've eliminated all my favorite races. Gone are the Frostlings, Tigrans, Undead and Dark Elves.

I get the Dark Elves though, since they and the Wood Elves have re-merged into the High Elves. Fine.

But the Tigrans “just left”, the Frostlings “were wiped out” and the Undead...are now just some cursed Archons that anyone can get. Either they didn't want to bother with these races, or they are looking to sell DLC, take your pick.

I spent the better part of a day researching this game, and I don't know what the Devs are thinking. In any case, this is not a game for me. I'm sticking to Age of Wonders 2: Shadow Magic.

I could go on, but I'm not going to bother you with my vitriol.

But to end on a positive note, I started playing Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, and it is amazing! Truly awesome, if you liked AC 2 get this!

That's all for me this gloomy week!

Father of the Wolf

Today's post is somewhat unusual in that it will cover three different subjects that I usually keep separate, but please bear with me.

You see, last week I started reading Fatherland by Robert Harris. Then I had to stop reading it, because it kept me awake when I should have been sleeping. But I finished it over the weekend, and damn, it's good!

In a nutshell, it's an alternative history novel, where Nazi Germany won the war, but what the book is about is not what makes it so good. In a sense it's a fairly “common” detective story, and if you're familiar with certain happenings in Germany during the war, the big secret isn't all that dramatic. Rather it's Harris use of language and his skill in creating tense moments that really makes the book in my opinion.

His knowledge of the Nazi plans for the rebuilding of Germania had they won, also serves him well in creating a Nazi society set in the 1960's. Though with the exception of certain technologies such as TV and helicopters, the story might almost be set in the 40's.

If you're interested in this sort of thing, you really ought to read this book.

However, in 1994, HBO made Fatherland into a movie with the same name starring Rutger Hauer and Miranda Richardson. Do yourself a favor and stay far away from this anemic and rather dull film. It has nothing on the book, as is the usually the case. It's hurried, boring and somehow manages to miss everything that makes the novel so exciting. A real disappointment.

Finally, I thought I'd go off on a slight tangent with the subject matter.

Later on this year (Q4) we'll be getting a brand new Wolfenstein game!

This really made my eyes light up, since I've been a huge fan ever since Wolfenstein 3D came out in 1992. I played the demo over and over again, eventually (many years later) playing through most of the rest of the game. The only reason I didn't finish it was because my eyes had gotten used to more modern graphics. I even manged to get my time speed running through the first level down to 21 seconds. Good times!

Then Return to Castle Wolfenstein popped up in 2001, and I played it to death. Where Eagles Dare is one of my favorite war movies, and parts of RtCW captures that feel so incredibly well. The rest is a grim struggle against undead Teutonic monsters and members of the occult branch of the SS. Great game!

In 2009 we got Wolfenstein, and this game I didn't finish, mostly due to the content in the final part. Up to a point, it's a really cool game, enough of the old and plenty of new things to keep us old Wolfers happy, but then it basically turns into a long series of Boss Fights, which I really could do without.

So why do I bring up the new Wolfenstein: The New Order here? Well, because it's set in an alternative history, in the 1960's and guess what? That's right boys and girls, the Nazis won the war. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. But I have to say I feel bad for good old Blazkowicz. All these games, countless Nazis dead at his hands, and they win? Was Blazkowicz the only one doing any fighting? Did all the other Allies just sit around? I guess we'll find out.

I for one eagerly await this game!