Return to Castle Wolfenstein: busting Nazis like it’s 2001

Last Updated on May 19, 2024

Released back in 2001, Return To Castle Wolfenstein was the first sequel to Wolfenstein 3D. Produced by id Software, it retells the Wolfenstein story with a Medal of Honor-style first person viewpoint.

Dropping the player into a World War II Nazi Germany stalag, Return To Castle Wolfenstein is a blast. The game demands combat and tactical elements to achieve the objective. Namely, preventing the fearsome German legend Heinrich I being reborn and unleashed upon Allied forces.

They used dark forces

It’s a hokey mix of Dennis Wheatley-style occultism and Nazi machinations, and it works perfectly. The plot of the single player missions takes you across 7 missions. You play as heroic U.S. Army Ranger William “B.J.” Blazkowic. (He is to Nazis what Duke Nukem is to aliens.) You must travel in and out of the eponymous Castle Wolfenstein in order to complete objectives. These include retrieving various files and artefacts, stealing prototype rocket planes, and more.

Return To Castle Wolfenstein is both a sequel and a revision to Id Software’s previous Wolfenstein 3D in 1992. You can still play that game; thanks to a modder, a 30th anniversary Wolfenstein 3D launched in 2022.

(Wolfenstein 3D was inspired by Muse Software’s 1981 title Castle Wolfenstein and 1984 sequel Beyond Castle Wolfenstein. These were available on the popular 8 bit platforms of the time.) So popular was Wolfenstein 3D that it refused to go away. It appeared as a secret level in Id Software’s Doom II: Hell on Earth in 1994. The game of course later returned as Wolfenstein: The New Order in 2014.

The game begins with the player guiding William “B.J.” Blazkowic out of the interrogation dungeon of Castle Wolfenstein, dispatching several guards on the way and meeting up with a local resistance operative. The following levels pit the player against various demons, undead creatures, and more. We’re talking genetically and chemically enhanced Nazi Supersoldiers, Waffen SS and other agents and failed creations of the SS Paranormal Division.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein’s real Nazi

This is a fictional Nazi operation under the stewardship of a real Nazi, Heinrich Himmler (who also makes an appearance in the game). Levels are each prologued by some well-written dialogues between the burly head of the OSA (Office of Secret Actions) and his chief of staff to outline Blazkowic’s mission, neatly setting the scene for each stage of the game.

Utilising typical keyboard and mouse control, a collectionk of 16 excellent weapons are at your disposal. These include a flame thrower and the two super weapons that occur later in the game, the Venom Minigun and the Tesla cannon. (This in particular is potent in its dispatch of enemy operatives and demonic soldiers.)

Return To Castle Wolfenstein treads a fine line between all out action and all out horror. The gaming environment itself is well realised, with character and scenery graphics that still standout today as effective. The game runs on a modified version of the Quake III: Team Arena engine which incidentally was later used for another World War II game, Call of Duty.

Still available for purchase (£3.99 on Steam), Return To Castle Wolfenstein also features a multiplayer mode. This allows designation of four classes — lieutenant, medic, engineer, and soldier – who as a team can battle as Aliied or Axis forces in a variety of scenarios timed and objective based scenarios. “Wolf” is still played in some corners of the internet, and with a further sequel currently in development looks set to reclaim a lot of online players desperate for it unique mix of Nazi Occultism.

In the meantime Return To Castle Wolfenstein has been available in budget ranges since 2004, and is a fast-paced, frenetic shooter that no FPS fan should miss.

CONTROLS, MOVEMENT, CONFIGURABLE

RECEPTION ON RELEASE

Wolfenstein Community:

http://www.planetwolfenstein.com/

Screenshots from Wolfenstein (2009)

http://www.eprison.de/screen/7426