Return To Castle Wolfenstein

Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Developer(s)	id Software Gray Matter Interactive Nerve Software
Publisher(s)	Activision (Windows, Xbox) Aspyr Media, Inc. (Mac OS) Virgin Interactive (Linux, Playstation 2) Activision Blizzard/Valve Corporation (Steam)
Engine	id Tech 3
Version	1.32 (Single Player), 1.41b (Multi Player)
Platform(s)	PC (Linux, Windows, Mac OS X), PlayStation 2, Xbox
Release date	: November 19, 2001 March 16, 2002, April, 2002 May 6, 2003 May 27, 2003 2007 (Steam (content delivery))
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: M OFLC: MA15+
Media	CD-ROM
System requirements	3-D Hardware Accelerator w/ 16mb vRAM and full OpenGL support 400 MHz AMD or Intel Processor Windows 95OSR2/98/98SE/ME/NT4.0/2000/XP Operating System 128mb RAM 16-bit Video mode 800mb Hard Drive space plus 300mb for the Swap File DirectX 8.0a (included) DirectX 3.0 Compatible Sound Card Quad Speed CD-ROM
Input methods	Keyboard, Mouse, Gamepad

Return to Castle Wolfenstein is a first person shooter computer game published by Activision and originally released on November 19, 2001 for Windows. The single player game was developed by Gray Matter Interactive and Nerve Software developed its multiplayer mode. Id Software, the creators of the original game entitled Wolfenstein 3D, oversaw the development of the game and were credited as executive producers. The multiplayer side, developed by Nerve Software eventually became the most popular part of the game, and it was the grandfather of many features that online multiplayer FPSs have today. Splash Damage, an independently-owned game developer in London, England, and one of the leading Shooter developers in Europe, created some of the maps for the GOTY edition.

Overview

Return to Castle Wolfenstein is a sequel to the early, seminal first-person shooter, Wolfenstein 3D. However, with the advances in graphics technology and gameplay design since the original game, without the name and the occasional in-game references, it might be unrecognizable as a part of the series.

It features a story-based single player campaign (taking up many of the themes from the original game), as well as a team-based networked multiplayer version which features different character classes that must work together in order to win. This is similar to the concept of team fortress, although there are only four classes - lieutenant, medic, engineer, and soldier - the soldier can be one of several subclasses depending upon the special/heavy weapon that he selects. Some unique weapons not found in other WWII-themed first-person shooters include the airstrike beacon. The multiplayer demo included a beachhead assault map similar to the opening of the movie Saving Private Ryan.

The game is partially based on the 1968 movie Where Eagles Dare, where an U.S. Army Brigadier is captured and taken prisoner to the Schloß Adler, a fortress high in the Alps above the town of Werfen, only reachable by cable car, and the headquarters of the German Secret Service in southern Bavaria. The supernatural element is based on Castle Wewelsburg, a 17th century castle occupied by the Germans under Heinrich Himmler's control, and used for occult rituals and practices.

Unlike in the original Wolfenstein 3D, only a handful of the single player missions in Return to Castle Wolfenstein take place in the infamous castle/prison. The single player game takes place in Nazi-occupied Europe during 1943 and revolves around U.S. Army Ranger B.J. Blazkowicz, who, along with another agent (Agent One - referred to in passing in the PC versions, and seen in the Xbox, PS2, and Mac OS X versions), is sent to investigate rumors surrounding one of Heinrich Himmler's personal projects, the SS Paranormal Division. The agents are, however, captured before completing their mission and are imprisoned in Castle Wolfenstein.

Taking the role of Blazkowicz, the player must escape the castle and continue investigating the activities of the SS Paranormal Division, which include research on resurrecting corpses, biotechnology, and secret weapons. During the game the player will face numerous foes, including Waffen SS soldiers, elite Fallschirmjäger (paratroopers), legions of undead creatures, and horrific Übersoldaten (supersoldiers) formed from a hideous blend of surgery and chemical engineering conducted by Wilhelm "Deathshead" Strasse. The end boss is an undead Saxon warrior-prince named Heinrich I.

To make the game eligible for sale in Germany, the developers removed the Nazi swastika in Return to Castle Wolfenstein. In its stead, the German forces' logo is a creative logo that is combined from a stylized double-headed eagle (reminiscent to the eagle that was the national insignia of Nazi Germany), the Quake III Arena logo (a game previously developed by id Software and whose graphics engine that Return to Castle Wolfenstein' is based upon)and a "W" (standing for Wolfenstein). Every direct reference to the "Third Reich" was removed; thus, in that edition, the player is not battling Nazis, but a secret sect called the "Wolves" led by Heinrich Höller, whose name is a pun of the original character Himmler (Himmler roughly translates as "Heavener", Höller as "Heller").

Technical implementation

The game is powered by a heavily-modified version of id Tech 3. The Return to Castle Wolfenstein engine was subsequently used as the foundation for Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory (Splash Damage/Activision), "Trinity" (Gray Matter Interactive/Activision) (shown at E3 in 2004, but cancelled shortly after) and Call of Duty (Infinity Ward/Activision).

• Mission 0: Prologue (console version only): This series of missions shows what B.J. and Agent One did prior to their capture. While fighting Erwin Rommel's forces in North Africa, B.J. suddenly finds himself assigned to a secret mission in the town of Ras El-Hadid in Egypt. Accompanied by Agent One, he makes his way through the town and infiltrates a secret archaeological dig site where Helga Von Bulow and her SS Paranormal Division are attempting to acquire a pair of ancient magical tablets from a cursed tomb. After fighting his way through both Nazis and undead, B.J. makes it through the tomb but ultimately fails to capture Helga. He and Agent One pursue her in a stolen Ju-52 transport, only to be shot down near Castle Wolfenstein, where they are captured.
• Mission 1: Ominous Rumors: While investigating the activities of the SS Paranormal Division in Germany, B.J. Blazkowicz and Agent One are captured by the Nazis. Agent One dies while being interrogated by a Nazi torturer, but B.J. manages to kill the soldier guarding his cell and escapes Castle Wolfenstein's dungeons. Armed only with a Luger and a knife, he has to find a way out of the castle, fighting through platoons of guards, and ultimately using a tram car to leave the area and meet up with a member of the German resistance in a nearby village.
• Mission 2: Dark Secret: The SS Paranormal Division under Oberführer Helga von Bulow has been excavating the catacombs and crypts of an ancient church within the village. Their sloppy precautions have led to the awakening of hordes of undead creatures, including zombies and skeletal Saxon knights. B.J. descends into the crypts where he finds isolated German soldiers fighting the undead for their lives. Blazkowicz himself destroys many of these creatures and eventually arrives at the ancient church which the locals call the "Defiled Church". Nazi scientist, Professor Zemph, is conducting an experiment on the corpse of a Dark Knight. Blazkowicz fights Helga's personal "Elite Guard", made up of female soldiers, and finally encounters a hideous beast which has killed Helga (Zemph was executed for trying to back out on the plot). Notes the player can acquire in the game state clearly that the monster's name is The Olaric, contrary to what many players believe (if players proceed to the mausoleum where the Dagger of Warding was housed, they would find Helga in pieces).
• Mission 3: Weapons of Vengeance: One of Germany's leading scientific researchers and Head of the SS "Special Projects Division", Wilhelm Strasse, (known as "Deathshead"), has prepared to launch an attack on London using a V-2 rocket fitted with an experimental germ warhead from his base near Katamarunde in the Baltics. Blazkowicz is parachuted some distance from the missile base and smuggles himself into the base in a supply truck. Inside the base, Blazkowicz destroys the V-2 rocket on its launchpad and fights his way out of the facility towards an airbase filled with experimental jet aircraft. After fighting his way through the airbase, he commandeers a "Kobra" rocket-plane (Based on the Bachem Ba 349 Natter) and flies to safety in Malta.
• Mission 4: Deadly Designs: Eager to know more about Deathshead and his secret projects, the OSA sends Blazkowicz to the bombed city of Kugelstadt, where he is assisted by members of the German resistance in breaking in to a ruined factory. There he discovers the blueprints for the Reich's latest weapon, an extremely high-tech small arm called a "Venom Gun", capable of inflicting appalling casualties on Allied forces. Blazkowicz eventually breaks into Deathshead's underground research complex, the Secret Weapons Facility (SWF). There he encounters horrific creatures (pictured above), malformed and twisted through surgery and mechanical implants, which were created as test subjects for the Venom gun's firing rate. The creatures had just become self-aware, and were killing all humans in sight. Blazkowicz sees Deathshead escape the SWF by U-Boat, and learns of its destination by interrogating a captured German officer. He is later extracted by unknown means.
• Mission 5: Deathshead's Playground: Blazkowicz is parachuted into Norway, close to the revealed location of Deathshead's mysterious "X-Labs". After breaking into the X-Labs, he sees several of the twisted creatures (deemed "Lopers") he encountered in Kugelstadt released from their cages and immediately turn on the laboratory's staff. The lopers infiltrate the facility, killing its staff and attacking Blazkowicz. Fighting his way through the facility, Blazkowicz retrieves Deathshead's journals and confronts several prototype Ãœbersoldaten, towering monstrosities coated in armor, powered by hydraulic legs, and carrying powerful fixed weapons. Finally, he confronts and destroys one of Deathshead's ultimate Ãœbersoldaten and kills the researchers who had developed it. Deathshead himself escapes in a rocket-plane and Blazkowicz is again extracted by unknown means.
• Mission 6: Return Engagement: After studying the documents captured by Blazkowicz, the OSA has become aware of a scheme codenamed "Operation: Resurrection", a plan to resurrect the corpse of Heinrich I. Despite the skepticism of senior Allied commanders, the OSA parachutes Blazkowicz into the Harz mountains of Germany, close to Castle Wolfenstein itself. He arrives at the village of Paderborn and, after assassinating several senior officers of the SS Paranormal Division including Major Hochstedder, General Von Stuff, Colonel (Oberst) Strache, General Burkhalter and General Haupman, fights his way into Chateau Schufstaffel, where he encounters members of the Elite Guard including the main leader General Von Shurber. Blazkowicz then fights his way through the grounds of the chateau, facing opposition from members of the Elite Guard and two of Deathshead's Ãœbersoldaten. Having destroyed the mechanical soldiers, Blazkowicz enters an excavation site near Castle Wolfenstein.
• Mission 7: Operation Resurrection: Inside the excavation site, Blazkowicz fights Nazi guards and prototype übersoldaten, and makes his way to a boarded-up entrance to Castle Wolfenstein's crypts. There, he finds that the castle has become infested by undead creatures, which are attacking the castle's desperate garrison. After fighting his way through the castle, Blazkowicz arrives at the site of a dark ceremony to resurrect Heinrich I. At the ceremony, SS Psychic Marianna Blavatsky conjures up dark spirits, which transform three Ãœbersoldaten into Dark Knights, Heinrich's lieutenants. She ultimately raises Heinrich I, who "thanks" her by stealing her soul and turning her into his undead slave. In a climactic battle, Blazkowicz destroys the three Dark Knights and Heinrich I as SS chief Heinrich Himmler watches in horror from afar.

Major antagonists

Wilhelm Strasse

Oberführer Wilhelm Strasse or Deathshead is a gifted researcher who heads the SS Special Projects Division

Strasse's brainchild is the Übersoldaten project, an attempt to produce the ultimate soldier using cybernetics and bioengineering. His first attempts were the Lopers but they became self-aware and killed any human they saw. Not discouraged, Deathshead created the Super Soldiers, towering cyborg soldiers that were heavily armed and armored. He posted the prototypes in certain areas of the X-Labs and at the dig site near Castle Wolfenstein. Deathshead's non-prototypes were made Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler's Death Knights by the sorceress Blavatsky.

Unlike the other SS antagonists, Deathshead does not believe in the occult and prefers to arm the Nazi war machine using advanced technology. Heinrich Himmler asks him to join the resurrection ceremony for Heinrich I but Strasse declines to attend due to his disbelief in the occult. After the protagonist destroys one of his Ãœbersoldat warriors, he escapes in a rocket plane and goes into hiding, not to be seen again for the rest of the game. Strasse earned his nickname from his skull-like visage, which has a scar running across it. (The nickname also may be a reference to the 3rd SS Division Totenkopf symbol used by Himmler). Strasse also shows a grudging respect to Blazkowicz after he successfully defeated the Ãœbersoldat: this is shown in a letter to Himmler that warns Himmler not to underestimate the agent.

Ãœbersoldat

The Ãœbersoldat is Wilhelm "Deathshead" Strasse's greatest creation. It is a brutish cyborg with technological and cybernetic enhancements. The most powerful is encountered in the X-Labs facility, where Strasse's research takes place. This Ãœbersoldat was equipped with a Tesla gun and Gatling gun combination, making it exceptionally deadly. Two more Ãœbersoldaten are encountered near Heinrich I's resurrection ceremony. These two have less firepower however as they had only one weapon each, the Tesla gun and Gatling gun respectively.

The Ãœbersoldaten are heavily-armored and can take a massive amount of damage, functioning as game bosses. Combined with their heavy armaments, this makes them very dangerous. In respect to the Ãœbersoldat cyborg units, Strasse quotes in the game, "Now we will see the superiority of the machine over flesh and blood."

Helga Von Bulow

Oberführer (Senior Colonel) Helga Von Bulow is a high ranking officer within the SS Paranormal Division and also founder of the order of the Eliteguards, the SS Paranormal Division's all-female security force. She is Blavatsky's pupil and is a firm believer in the occult. Although a capable leader, Helga tries too hard and makes rash decisions that jeopardize the safety of her troops. While the Elite Guards are loyal to her, the male soldiers under her command are skeptical of her choices. Helga and her colleague, Professor Zemph, located the Dagger of Warding in a mausoleum next to the Wulfburg Church. Helga eagerly desired it while Zemph warned her that taking it will unleash a dangerous evil on the world. Her mind made up Helga shoots Zemph, takes the dagger, and is immediately dismembered by the fearsome Olaric.

Olaric

The Olaric was a monster that inhabited the Wulfburg Church. It was large and bipedal and was covered from head to toe with the faces of tormented souls. The Olaric was released from limbo after Helga Von Bulow took the Dagger of Warding and its first act was to kill the Nazi commander. Before it could do anything else, the Olaric faced B.J. Blazkowicz and either attacked with its fists or by unleashing a deadly spirit attack. Ultimately, the Olaric was destroyed by Blazkowicz.

Heinrich I

Heinrich I was an evil warlord who launched a campaign of conquest in Medieval Europe. He had studied the black arts and used them to his advantage. In the intro movie, a noble wizard confronted Heinrich and magically sealed the tyrant in limbo. After many years, Heinrich was revived from his stasis by the sorceress Blavatsky who worshiped him as her master. As a reward, Heinrich turned her into a zombie slave. The protagonist, B.J. Blazkowicz, faced Heinrich in a fierce duel of sorcery and guns and defeated him once and for all. He is allegedly Heinrich I of Germany.

Heinrich Himmler

The only non-fictional character of this game, Himmler was claimed by various sources to have been interested in the occult. In the game, he appears in a short cameo in the last cutscene, watching BJ defeat and kill Heinrich I from a good distance. He expresses bitterness at the Ranger's victory and somberly walks away to give a report to Adolf Hitler.

Weapons

In the console (PS2, Xbox) version, the player starts out in Egypt, with a Colt .45 and a small amount of ammo. In the Egyptian missions, the player can acquire the Luger, MP-40, and a Mauser rifle. 9mm ammunition for the Luger and MP-40 is plentiful, but there is limited 7.92mm ammunition for the Mauser, and none (beyond the starting amount) for the Colt. Any weapons obtained during the Egyptian missions are forfeited when the player is imprisoned in the dungeons, and the game resumes as described in the next paragraph.

Upon starting the game in the PC version, the player's only weapon is a fighting knife (appears to be the model Camillus made for the USMC Raiders), though almost immediately he obtains a Luger from a fallen guard. He can also use a kick simultaneously with any weapon, though the kick does minimal damage and is primarily useful for bashing open doors or inflicting property damage.

The third weapon the player finds is an MP-40 German SMG, which uses the same 9 mm ammunition as the Luger. Shortly thereafter, the player also obtains a scope-less Mauser rifle, which has high damage and accuracy, but uses different 7.92 x 57 mm ammunition. A scoped Mauser is obtained later on.

In later levels the player receives a silenced Sten submachine gun, which uses the same ammunition as the MP-40 and Luger. He also receives a Thompson submachine gun and Colt .45 which are slightly more powerful than MP-40 and Luger, though with substantially rarer ammunition.

As the game progresses, the player also finds a flamethrower (though ammunition is somewhat rare), the Fallschirmjägergewehr Model 1942 (FG 42) paratrooper rifle (which uses the same ammunition as the Mauser), and two fictional weapons: a Tesla cannon and Venom Minigun. An experimental American silenced sniper rifle with infrared scope, called the Snooper Scope is also available. All use unique ammunition.

The player also uses several varieties of explosives throughout the game, which include the Panzerfaust, dynamite and the "pineapple" and "potato masher" hand grenades of the Allies and Axis, respectively.

Several weapons have alternate modes of fire, which are activated by a key press. The Luger's alternate mode is a silencer (found on an early level), the Colt's alternate is dual-wielded Colts, and both the rifles have an adjustable telescopic zoom as their alternate modes (neither scoped rifle has a visible crosshair in normal fire mode).

The Sten and Venom guns share a drawback: they overheat. The spread of bullets will increase as the Sten is fired (even though it is the most accurate of the SMGs), seen also as an enlarging aiming circle. While it is fired, a bar appears on screen which indicates the relative temperature of the weapon. Upon reaching a specific threshold, the weapon ceases firing until the bar has completely disappeared, indicating that the weapon has sufficiently cooled.

It is possible to pick up and drop chairs in the single-player portion of the game but only if the player has a single-handed weapon active, such as one pistol, a grenade or the knife.

Multiplayer

Wolf MP is an objective gamemode, in which both the Axis and Allies have a series of objectives to complete to win the round, with one team's objectives normally preventing the other team from completing their objectives. There are primary and secondary objectives. Primary objectives have to be achieved to win the round, where secondary objectives don't necessarily need to be achieved, but can aid in certain ways in completing primary objectives. Primary objectives include blowing something up, or escaping with the documents, and secondary objectives include capturing flag/spawn points.

As far as the classes are concerned, medics can leave medic packs to heal comrades, but can run out of ammunition quickly. Lieutenants can provide packs of ammo, as well as calling for air strikes, but need a medic to stay alive. Engineers are able to blow up walls using dynamite. Lastly, ordinary soldiers can choose between four different heavy weapons.

On a side note, despite advocacy on the part of some of the player base, a few weapons were left out of Wolf MP, most notably the Tesla Gun and the FG-42 Paratrooper rifle.

All multiplayer modes can be manipulated through the console, and TWL / CAL leagues were prominent in the early 2000s.

Wolf MP

Stock, or "Vanilla" Wolf, calls for one round of offense and defense per team, per map. Each team gets a certain amount of time to complete the map's objectives. A few maps are dual-objective, and instead of time being the variable, whoever completed the given task first, wins.

Wolf SW

Wolf SW (Stopwatch) was the main competitive game type for RtCW, each team would attack twice and defend twice on a map - where team A would attack and set a time or not set a time, known as a 'Full Hold', then team B would attack and have to beat that time to score a point. If they did not beat the time then team A were awarded the point, the only other outcome was if neither team set a time, known as a 'Double Full Hold', neither team scored a point. Games were played over 2 maps and each map would be played ABBA, so each team got to go first at setting a time on each map.

Wolf CP

Wolf CP is a checkpoint mode, the objective is to take control of the flags that are in various locations around the map, the first team to control all these flags simultaneously will win the round.

Maps

Stocks

• Beach
• Sub
• Castle
• Base
• Village
• Assault
• Destruction
• Depot

Game Of The Year add-on maps

• Rocket
• Ice
• Tram
• Keep
• Chateau
• Dam
• Trenchtoast

With the original release of the game, 8 stock maps were offered. "Beach" was the map designated for the demo, and was officially the 'first' multiplayer map. The Allies must infiltrate an Axis base, steal documents, and transmit them via radio. "Sub" pitted the Axis against the Allies in defending a huge docked submarine. Many of the maps were based on the single player game's venues, using many of the same situations. "Castle" was one such map wherein the Axis must defend a coffin that holds a sacred obliesk. The Allies must destroy the coffin, steal the obliesk, and take it to a waiting truck. Also, "Village" was drawn from a single player level, wherein the Axis must defend a crypt that holds gold. The Allies must steal the gold and take it to a waiting truck. In "Base" the Axis defend two radars, which can only be destroyed by an engineer's dynamite. This map was strong in using all of the classes in the game. "Destruction" was the only stock Capture-The-Flag map, where 6 flags must be captured and held simultaneously to win. "Assault", a sniper-happy map, meant the Allies must defend a large radio-dish tower, with the Axis attacking either underground or top-shelf. The largest of the stock maps also was the only dual-objective map, "Depot"; where both teams must complete the same task - destroy the other's objective.

With the release of the Game Of The Year edition, 7 new maps were offered. "Ice" pitted the Axis attacking a stronghold, with the Allies defending documents that the Axis are to steal and transmit via radio. "Chateau" - a popular map - had the Allies attacking a large house. The Axis must defend the documents held in a pit in the middle of the house and prevent the Allies from taking them to a radio to be transmitted. The largest GOTY map was "Tram" which was based directly from one of the initial levels of the single player game. The Allies must march up the hill, steal documents in the castle, and take them to be transmitted, with literally every hallway being taken from the original SP map. "Keep", based on F. Paul Wilson's story "The Keep", stages the Axis defending an obliesk held inside a castle turrent. The Allies must steal it and take it to a waiting truck. Another map where engineers are essential is "Dam", where the Allies attack a hydro-dam, and must destroy the main generator. "Rocket", again based on a single player level, had the Axis defending a key that enabled the rocket situated in the middle of the map, to fire. If the Allies succeeding in bringing it to the control room, the rocket was fired. Finally, "Trenchtoast" - unofficially the least-popular GOTY map, was another capture-the-flag offering. All of the GOTY maps were fast-paced and easy to learn.

In all, the maps offered for the game were well-designed and stood the test of repeated playings. Like most multiplayer games, custom maps were offered from various map-makers. Return To Castle Wolfenstein, designed for its 2001 release, was built to allow for 'dial-up' downloading of custom maps from whichever server the player was connected to. Unfortunately, the 13 kbps maximum speed allowed, meant that a 10 MB map simply took too long to download, and only 'hardcore' players were willing to search out the maps via third parties to play them.

Versions and Mods

There are many different versions of "Wolf". The original release, version 1.0, came in a game box featuring a book-like flap. The Game of the Year Edition (2002 - v.1.3) came with the original Wolfenstein 3D, game demos, and several new multiplayer maps (including "Ice", "Tram", "Keep" and "Trenchtoast"). The Collector's Edition (2003 - v.1.33) came a in metal case and was packaged with promotional materials, including a poster and fabric patch. The Platinum Edition (2004 - v.1.41) included Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, a stand-alone expansion, and Wolfenstein 3D.

Throughout the evolution of the multiplayer game, various modifications and custom scripts were written for it, allowing for true, console in-game changes. "Degeneration", "shrubmod" and "banimod" were popular modifications, and custom maps were still being released 5 years after its inception. Initially, the multiplayer was criticized for heavy defensive weaponry, and one-sided maps. However, it was quickly determined by clans that the proper usage of the various classes of character dictated victory. Medics could revive a fallen comrade (before he was "gibbed", or made un-revivable), and engineers could set dynamite to blow up objectives. Still, the game was essentially a submachine gun war, with 90% of the players possessing either an MP-40 or a Thompson; almost equal in ability.

One trend that emerged among more 'elite' RTCW players based in the USA was that of "One Life To Live" games, in which there was no respawn (or very limited respawns). The players literally only have their initial spawn, and if killed, were out for the game. These types of games managed to demonstrate a more tactical style of gameplay that better showcased the strengths of each player class. While never officially emerging as the most popular type of Wolf MP, these limited spawn servers were almost always consistently filled with a dedicated player base.

The most competitive mod for RtCW though was OSP which was used in all the major LAN (Local Area Network events) around the world. From Quakecon to the more recent and most likely the last RtCW LAN, CPC2, all used OSP as the competition's mod, mainly due to the control given to teams and admins during the games play - it also removed less competitive variants that other mods included like the poison needle, damaging someone when landing on them and custom modifications that were normally found on most servers with a different mod. OSP is considered a more realistic and at the same time simple mod that lets players get straight into the game and improve their aim and tactical approach which in turn leads to higher competition between teams.

Ports

The game was released for the Linux and Macintosh platforms in 2002. In 2003, the game was ported to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox video game consoles and subtitled as Operation Resurrection and Tides of War, respectively. Both console versions include a series of prequel single player missions where the main character, BJ Blazkowicz and his partner Agent One operate in Nazi-occupied Egypt / North Africa. The PS2 version has a New Bonus Feature where you can purchase items by finding secrets at the end of each level. In the Xbox version a Secret Bonus is awarded after every level when all the secret areas for that level have been found. It also has a New Shotgun weapon found in Single player as well as the Soldier and Engineer for Multiplayer games. New Special equipment - Holy Cross, EMP Device, and X-Shield. New Enemies - Occult Priest and X-Shepard. And the original Wolf 3D. The two player co-op mode is exclusive to Xbox and allows the second player to play as Agent One. The Xbox version has the addition of online play via Xbox Live and link play. It also has downloadable content. Xbox has also released a Platinum Hits edition of the game. The Playstation 2 version lacks any online play whatsoever.

Sequels

Enemy Territory spinoff

A multiplayer-only spinoff of the series, Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, was originally planned as a full-fledged expansion pack for Return to Castle Wolfenstein developed by Splash Damage. The single player component of the game was never completed and thus was removed entirely. The developers at that point decided the multiplayer part would be released as a free, downloadable standalone game. Enemy Territory is a team-based networked multiplayer game which involves completing objectives through team-work and by using different character classes; They are:

• Soldier (whose main ability is Heavy Weapon Machinery)
• Medic (whose main ability is being able to revive and heal teammates)
• Engineer (whose main ability is to build and repair machines and structures)
• Field Ops (whose main ability is being able to supply teammates with ammo and call air strikes)
• Covert Ops (whose main ability is being able to steal enemies clothes and go into disguise and also use sniper weapons)

In 2005, id Software and Splash Damage announced a follow-up to Enemy Territory entitled Enemy Territory: Quake Wars using the id Tech 4 engine. This new game features similar large-scale gameplay but instead of taking place in the Wolfenstein universe it is a prequel to Quake II and Quake 4.

Film

A Return to Castle Wolfenstein film was announced in 2002 with Rob Cohen of xXx attached to direct. Little information has been available since, however, with the exception of a July 20, 2005 IGN interview. The interview discussed the Return to Castle Wolfenstein film with id employees. In the interview, Todd Hollenshead indicated that the movie was in the works, though still in the early stages.

On August 3, 2007, GameSpot reported that Variety confirmed Return to Castle Wolfenstein and that the writer/producer team that was involved with Silent Hill will be involved with the Wolfenstein project. The movie will be written and directed by Roger Avary and Samuel Hadida is the producer.

Controversy

In March 2008, the United States Department of State published a report to Congress, 'Contemporary Global Anti-Semitism', that incorrectly described Return to Castle Wolfenstein as an 'anti-Semitic video game'.

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• At one point a letter to a Doctor Merkwurdigliebe can be seen. "Merkwurdigliebe" was the name of the character "Dr. Strangelove" before he became an American citizen. (Directly translated from German, strange = merkwürdig, love = Liebe).

• Two of the enemies killed in the course of the game, Major Hochstätter and General Burkhalter, are references to the '60s TV show Hogan's Heroes

• While the Wewelsburg was indeed a focal point of Nazi mysticism during the Third Reich, neither the castle in the game nor the nearby city of Paderborn bear any resemblance in setting or appearance to their real-life counterparts.

• Blavatsky, leader of female occultists in later levels, is based on the real Madame Blavatsky.

• Kuglestadt, the extensively bombed city in Mission 4, is a corruption of Kugelstadt, German for "Ball/Bullet City". This is likely motivated by the WWII history of the city of Schweinfurt, which was a center of ball bearing (German: Kugellager) production facilities and thus the target of massive bomb raids.

• The story is somewhat similar to F. Paul Wilson's "The Keep" which involves a German group occupying a castle only to be attacked by supernatural entities.

• According to the original Wolfenstein 3D Hint Book, Captain William Joseph Blazkowicz was born August 15, 1911 to Polish immigrants. He married after WWII to Julia Marie Peterson. Their son, Arthur Kenneth Blazkowicz became a television talk show host in Milwaukee and later changed his last name to Blaze. His son would be named William Blaze or Billy Blaze for short, the protagonist in an earlier Id Software title, Commander Keen.

Awards

• 2002 Game Developers Choice Awards- Nomination
  • "Excellence in Programming" category. 'Sherman Archibald, John Carmack, and Ryan Feltrin for graphics in "Return to Castle Wolfenstein"'

See also

• Nazi mysticism

References

• Interview with Todd Hollenshead from GameSpy
• "id's Next, On RTCW2" from Shacknews

External links

• Official Activision website
• Official id Software website
• Planet Wolfenstein
• RTCW at the Internet Movie Database
• Wolfstuff - Return to Castle Wolfenstein Community and Resource Site
• RTCW2-Prison.net - All about Wolfenstein
• Return to Castle Wolfenstein at MobyGames
• Operation Resurrection at MobyGames
• Tides of War at MobyGames