With Wolfenstein as the brand name right on the box, it’s hard to tell if this is a reboot or a relaunch of the series. In essence you could claim it as a spiritual sequel to Return to Castle Wolfenstein even though it has its own complete story with new characters and all. There are one or two characters that might pop up giving you the hint that its apart of the same continuity as Castle, but in all Wolfenstein still stands on its own two feet.

Wolfenstein puts you in the character of super spy BJ Blazkowicz and has you blowing away Nazi’s left and right in the 15 levels you’ll be encountering. You’ll be uncovering secrets and find out what the Nazi’s are up too with all the black magic research, other dimensions and other imperious plots you may come across. As soon as you are dropped into the action you meet up with two contacts like the local Resistance led by Caroline Becker and another group which you discover later in the game called The Golden Dawn. The Golden Dawn deals with the occult supernatural that is referenced as the Black Sun. If discovered, the Nazis’ could easily control the entire world if they wanted all from another dimension.

To start, Wolfenstein decides right away that it wants to be an open world game. So, you start off in a hub center with the opportunity to travel around the German city of Isenstadt. Isenstadt itself is broken up into a few areas from the parts of Midtown to the final area of Downtown later in the game. During these few sections your mission objectives will help you move through the story and discover new areas to explore. As you make your way through the city you can find black market locations that will help you upgrade your weapons as long as you have the required amount of gold on you. In multiplayer you’ll become more powerful as you play and unlock even more options.

Combat in Wolfenstein isn’t particularly deep considering it’s in a market saturated with first person shooters left and right. What may seem like open world design isn’t and you pay for that by having to repeatedly fight through Nazi squad groups just to get to another part of the map. The upgrades unfortunately are restricted to the point that you have to complete certain missions to even purchase the upgrade. The game itself in general contains a check list of features that you’ll find in other modern shooters but nothing that really makes it stand out in the crowd. In the end, Wolfenstein manages to just slip by under the radar.

Wolfenstein's controls are fluid and thankfully balanced when the frame rate wants to work with you. Though you’ll find that the game will take its time in order to pick up the pace and keep you interested. The weapons themselves are forced to start out weak giving you the hint that you’ll need to purchase the upgrades as you progress later in the game. Because the game is based in the World War 2 era, the sci-fi related weapons like the particle cannon keeps the game from getting too stale. There are enemies with supernatural powers mixed in with the standard soldier to keep you on your feet. When you get deeper in the game you’ll uncover the powers of the Veil. These powers range from earning a shield, to slowing down time…etc and are upgradable as well. The game in the long run isn’t too hard even on normal difficulty still though you will get caught off guard by a few random grenades thrown your way. You will be introduced to tougher enemies along the way like a disappearing assassin as well as a few large scale boss fights that’ll showcase your progress.

The game has multiplayer that combines typical deathmatch and team deathmatch variant types with objective based matches. Online offers you the chance to grow your characters and become stronger as you can upgrade your options and deal more firepower. Watch out; however, as your opponents will be doing the same so don’t be surprised if you find yourself losing a few matches before giving up completely. The multiplayer isn’t too forgiving so play at your own risk.

Powered by what we now know as Doom 3 technology, Wolfenstein doesn’t exactly spread itself out in many areas. At times though its art direction does hit a peak in diversity thanks to the other worldly dimensions. Outside of that however the graphics in all are starting to feel dated. There is everything from eerie lighting and gory death animations but that’s about as far as it goes. The action itself feels a little out of place at times. Online the game’s graphics receive a noticeable downgrade but that’s not surprising when you realize the multiplayer was made by a completely different developer, Endrant Studios. The orchestra and average voice acting add to the atmosphere of the game that is equivalent to any modern shooter out there.

It’s hard to pin point what exactly could be the games strengths. Fans of the series will certainly find some way to attach themselves too it and keep the multiplayer going. However, its biggest problem is that it’s in a market that as I mentioned before is already saturated with many first person shooters. What Wolfenstein does have going for it is its atmosphere and sci-fi touch that you don’t normally see, at least recently. With the hero BJ Blazkowicz on hand you at least have some sort of familiarity. If anything the game can be completed in around 8-9 hours depending on your experience and desire to explore. In the end, BJ Blazkowicz just ends up being a run of the mill hero that you’ll find in any other modern shooter that just gives us another reason to kill some Nazi’s.

Take Wolfenstein in small doses, modern shooters out there hold a bit of a brighter candle then Wolfenstein. If anything the multiplayer will more then likely is the one target that keeps the game running. Despite that though Wolfenstein ends up being a dated first person shooter that does nothing to change or re-invent the genre. In the long run you, you’ll be kidding yourself if you purchase the game at full price point of $59.99. The will more then likely find itself in the bargain bin a few months down the road.