Return to Castle Wolfenstein (PC) > Reviews (17)

Return to Castle Wolfenstein

3d hardware Accelerator with 16Mb VRAM with full OpenGL support
Pentium 3 400 MHz processor or Athlon processor
English version of Windows 95/98/ME/NT4.0/2000/xp
128 Mb of Ram
16-bit high colour video mode
800 Mb of uncompressed hard disk space for game files plus 300 Mb for Windows swap file
A 100% Windows 95/98/Me/Nt4.0/2000/Xp compatible computer system including compatible 32-bit drivers for CD-ROM drive, video card, sound card and input card
DirectX 8.0a
100% DirectX 3.0 or higher compatible
Sound card and drivers
100% Microsoft compatible mouse/keyboard and drivers
Quad-speed CD-ROM drive

Multiplayer requirements

Internet TCP/IP and LAN play supported
Internet play requires a 100% Windows 95/98/ME/NT 4.0/2000/XP
56.6 Kbps modemRTCW is a first person shoot-them-up with the player battling the Nazis in an attempt to stop Heinrich Himmler and his minions from using their research into the supernatural and paranormal to win the War, ranging from zombies and ghosts, to hideous and utterly diabolical abominations from the research labs and of course, Nazi soldiers!

The game is in many ways like its predecessor, there are hidden treasure and artifacts to found which are scattered around the various levels, and the AI of the enemies is remarkable, kicking away grenades or indeed lobbing them back at you, and the AI is fully changeable dependent upon the difficulty setting and believe me you will notice a big difference, the enemy will make greater use of their armour and indeed with cover, crouching behind tables, walls etc. There is a wide selection of weapons, all original weapons from WW2, including Luger Pistol, a Sten machine gun, Panzer bazookas, flamethrowers, stick grenades etc and this helps to add to the authenticity of the game. The graphics are nothing short of astounding, the German uniforms are replicated to minute detail, with the helmets and lapels carefully detailed.

One criticism of the game is that it is very short, I completed in a rather paltry 7 and a half hours on the hard setting which was a bit of a let down. In addition there are some levels where you cannot be seen as this will result in the failure of the mission, and this rather than providing a challenge is actually just a pain in the arse and spoils the overall enjoyment of the game which is fast-paced and action-packed. However, the game does seem to have pretensions of being a well-thought and "intelligent" shooter, this is not the case. The levels in the game although change from Castle, to war-torn village to a medieval crypt etc they all have the same basic theme, that is, to blast your way from Point A to Point B, which is nothing more than a door which you have to walk through and that is the level complete. Though there is secrets to be found this seems to serve no real purpose other than to flesh out the game, although sometimes they may provide some ammo, generally the treasure is simply gold or artifacts which don't do anything, the player is not awarded secret footage or any other such extras. That said, the cut scenes in the game are very well-done, with good characterization and some excellent voice acting and-Watch out for the bosses! These guys are scary, and provide a big challenge.

In all, a semi-decent shooting game that is a thoroughly enjoyable albeit brain dead and clichéd title, and which should be really bought second-hand rather than anything else.