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Wolfenstein - Great game little use of GPU

Posted by Jon Peddie on September 4th 2009 | Comments Closed
Categories: Software Review
Tags: gpu 3d games fps activision

Activision has recently released a remake of the classic FPS Wolfenstein, and all I can say is thank you Activision. However, the GPU folks may not be quite as thankful. When I heard it was coming out I expected it to be in stereovision and have killer physics, after all this is 2009. The physics are good, damn good, but not accelerated by the GPU, and alas there’s no stereo. No doubt Nvidia will do a driver tweak and correct that but a natively developed game in stereo is just so much better.

There are three elements I look for in a FPS:

1. Shooting action and opportunities to use a sniper rifle. A sniper rife with a silencer is even better.
2. A powerful game engine with total collision detection (no enemy’s arms or legs sticking through walls), smart AI (no predictability), and clever challenges, and realistic movement of people, arms legs, and use of gravity.
3. Images and models. I want an open world and when inside I want a complex world.

I could add a fourth, and that would be to maintain some the familiar themes or the storyline, but not at the expense of creativity and new content – that’s a tricky and challenging balance between developers, publishers, and players.

Wolfenstein popularized the first-person shooter and I’m going to assume anyone reading this knows the game and has probably played it, or at least some of it.
The original theme is simple; the Nazi’s are developing some occult monster soldiers which are quasi zombies. The hero, William B.J. Blazkowicz, known to his friends as “BJ,” has to find the places where the experiments are being done and destroy the apparatus and as many of the soldiers, scientists, and zombies as possible. There are also rewards (gold mostly) that allow you buy upgrades for your weapons.

He's baaack...

In the new version of Wolfenstein, B.J. Blazkowicz is back, referred to by the Nazis and to one or two of the friendlies as “the American.” After the intro cinematic you begin his quest on a train ride to meet the Kreisau Circle, a German resistance group - they and the Nazis are expecting you.

Of course the game looks a lot different from the popular 2001 RTCW version, but not quite as good as some other games like Stalker or FEAR II.

There are some destructible elements but not too many and no physical skills other than jumping, crouching, and ladder climbing, none of the rappelling or pipe climbing found in the Splinter Cell series.

History of Wolfenstein

Castle Wolfenstein, the first in the genre, is a 2D bird’s-eye view stealth-based game released in 1981 by Muse Software for the Apple II and later ported to DOS.

The first-person shooter, titled Wolfenstein 3D, was originally released for DOS on May 1992 by ID Software, and a sequel, only for the PC in 1992, called Spear of Destiny.

The most significant sequel was Return to Castle Wolfenstein RTCW) released in the Fall of 2001 powered by the famous Quake III engine.

The game looks good, and is quickly familiar. The feel of the game is obviously different and that’s largely due to the id Tech 4 game engine with its GPU effects in unified lighting and shadowing. Water effects and zappy stuff like blue haze and plasma lightening lines are terrific.

The engine supports the MegaTexture technology, added as a means for expansive outdoor scenes, and there is a really nice romp in the fields and at a farm in the story that allowed me to employ my superior sniping skills.

The game was developed by Raven software (the game developer started by brothers Brian and Steve Raffel in 1997, and subsequently acquired by Activision) and Activision is publishing and promoting it.

The game play is good, most of the AI is challenging. There aren't enough taunts or challenge lines so they get repeated too often ("Vots ze matter American, are you afraid?") This was a problem in FEAR as well. Bioshock had a very large repertory and in fact they are even available on some sites for downloads to use as sounds on the desktop.

The models and textures are really nice, and the cavern area which is a five story super structure is tremendous, once again I’m reminded of FEAR II and also to Crysis, at least in some cases.

Aiming and effectiveness of weapons is sometimes annoying, especially on long shots and when the enemy is partially obscured, so the engine could use a little tweaking or the resolution of the model increased. I don’t know if that’s possible dynamically because it’s not necessary everywhere all the time and increasing the resolution can get expensive in terms of real time game play.

And then there’s the magic stuff. Due to some special crystals time seems to bend, gravity shifts and Nazi soldiers float up into the air, giving you the option of shooting them – you don’t float as much as they do. In the very beginning of the game you found some of these crystals and they can be employed to allow you to see special holes in walls, and later in the game to become bullet proof for a while, and see in the dark; it adds a new dimension to the game play and is fun to explore with. Without being too much of a spoiler I can say the game has hours of entertainment (five missions, five or more parts to each), nice to great vistas, and although primarily linear you can do a lot of wandering around in the city, the fields, hospital, and caverns.

What do we think?

This is a great remake of a great series. It’s an excellent FPS with a well known, albeit simple story line, good to great graphics, lots of action, no sex, a little gore, and a few surprises.

I highly recommend it and expect it will have some interesting squeals. Nvidia is working with ID now to upgrade the game to Stereo and maybe drop some Physx stuff into it too.

Epilog

You can see a trailer here.

There’s a nice play run that will give you a feel for the game and the imagery. And here is a snip of one of the missions.