The Return to Castle Wolfenstein that I am talking about today was a reboot/reimagining of the original PC classic. The PC version was released in 2001, but it would also make its way to the PlayStation 2 and original Xbox about two years later. It in many ways was the last of a dying breed when it came to first-person shooters.
How to Download Return to Castle Wolfenstein
To download the game from Steam or GOG, click on the Download button below this review. Check out also other Wolfenstein games that we have reviewed: Wolfenstein: The New Order (2014), Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (2015), Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (2017), and Wolftenstein: Youngblood (2019)
The Game Review
The story on offer here is not as cinematic as the more modern games in the series, but it gets the job done. Once again, you are playing as the one-man army, the badass that is B.J. Blazkowicz is out to stop the Nazi threat. The Nazis as you know are up to some really weird stuff!
What I liked about the story that Return to Castle Wolfenstein told was that it smashed together a bunch of genres. You have the war element, but there is also horror and sci-fi as well and it all fits together perfectly. The game has a ton of personality and while it is far more linear than the modern games, it makes up for it with diversity.
The different levels that you will be playing in all feel different. You can be taking down Nazi soldiers in a remote village one mission and then dealing with zombies and monsters in a creepy underground crypt the next! It is great stuff and it keeps the game moving at a quick pace and prevents you from getting bored.
The modern Wolfenstein games are truly cinematic wonders. That is not so much the case here, you have cut scenes and voice acting. However, it does not go into as much depth as modern shooters do. Still, there was more than enough here to get me invested and want to know exactly what was going on.
The gameplay of Return to Castle Wolfenstein is one that feels rather “old-school” in its design. There is no regenerating health, you have to get health packs, there is no quick respawns and the game is hard as nails, sometimes to the point where it can feel a bit unfair. The enemy AI in this game is either dumb as a post or has some kind of supernatural ability to hit you no matter where you are.
As a result, if you are only experienced with more modern shooters, you may not be into how difficult this game can be. I though, like it. It is a very challenging experience, but it is also a rewarding one. Once you do finally get past a bit you have died a million times in, you feel like a true badass.
There is a great selection of guns for you to make use of. One thing that I liked was how they have some realistic guns. However, as the Nazis are up to some weird stuff, you also have access to some really cool sci-fi based weapons which are powerful and a lot of fun to use on the enemies.
There was also a fun multiplayer scene here as well. Granted I have not played this in years, but it was fun. You have different multiplayer modes, but they are more objective-based than most other first-person shooters. As well as killing the enemies, you also have to work towards an objective, be it destroying something or defending something.
I know that it will not be to everyone’s taste, but I still enjoy Return to Castle Wolfenstein. It was a solid reboot and a great reimaging of a classic game. I do feel it is worth going back and playing today so you can see just how far the series has come. Not only that, once you get used to how hard it is, but this is also a very fun shooter.
