Return to Castle Wolfenstein Ships

Screaming Lunatic writes "Woohoo, Return to Castle Wolfenstein has finally shipped. Check this story out at Yahoo. You should be able to buy it at the regular gaming shops. I highly recommend buying it rather than hacking it, as noted in Graeme Devines .plan file." CD: I am seriously flashing back to the Apple II game with a similar name, hope this doesn't suck like daikatana.

Comments

I don't envy the developers

[rcs1000]

It must be really hard producing a sequel of such a classic game after such a long period. They will be judged against people's rose tinted rememberances of the original Wolfenstein 3D. And no matter how good it is, people will say 'Ahhh I enjoyed the original more.'

It's also hard, because the FPS genre is not new anymore. Can RTCW be a better game than Deus Ex or Counterstike? Maybe. But whatever it is it will be hard for it to be revolutionary.

That said, I'm sure I'll buy it as soon as it hits the shops. Just as soon as I finish Civ 3 that is!

*r

Re:I don't envy the developers

[Nailer]

They will be judged against people's rose tinted rememberances of the original Wolfenstein 3D. And no matter how good it is, people will say 'Ahhh I enjoyed the original more.'

Are you sure? From the trailer and the multiplayer preview it looks awesome - check the realistic explosion on the building, the physics of the soldiers flying in with parachutes, and, or course, the flamethrower, which I think I'll probably remeber as much as the first time I heard `meinleiven' (or whatever) come out of the shiny new SoundBlaster 2.0

It will also be one of the first single player focused 3D shooters to be released on the Linux platform for ages (depending on whether or not Heavy Metal FAKK 2 makes its way to the shelves quicker or not). Rune and Heretic were third person, and Q3 and UT were multiplayer focused. This has me salivating for a good single player FPS - they're a lot more atmospheric than multi or third person games.

And of course, the obligatory reminder that you all should buy it from Tux Games (for all you Yanks), Everything Linux or wherever else will ship with the Linux binaries to show your support for your OS of choice ...

mini review... minimal requirements...overall feel

[Cosmic Cow]

For those of you who are wondering the minimal requirements, it works fine here on both my Tiger K7 and my trusty old BP6 with 366Mhz celeron and geforce2MX 400, I can play at 1024x768 with compressed textures, high details, but I've putted the display to 16bits (anyways, it's not like you'd notice a big difference from 16 to 32 in a fast-paced game). It's smooth, it rocks...

Of course if you're planning on joining a 40 people server you might want a bigger cpu than a Celeron 366mhz :) but for single player and 10-20 people it works okay... worse case scenario, you reduce the resolution from a notch.

As for the graphics, it's about like Q3A (same engine) but there are a lot of visible changes, one that you will notice right away is the details on the characters, and also all the motion, probably John will step in and talk about some of the aspects of the design, it looks like motion capture applied to the characters. The graphics aren't a big step up like from quake 1 to quake 3, but the overall mood and gameplay is really good. When I first played the demo, I thought that game would really suck because of the respawn time and the choice of weapons, but when you get to know it and get a well-balanced team that knows how to play, the level, and use special habilities like medic, or engineers defusing,etc.. it's really starting to get addictive. So to anyone who didn't like the test, do like I did, play it a bit more, and if you like the quake style and the RTS style, wolf is a good balance of both.

The single player is good, when I read the interviews, I was expecting a "max payne"-like story line in between each level, it's not as good, but the mood is really there and the levels are really nice. Like I said, it's not a Revolution, but it's an evolution. It's worth to buy if you're into that kind of games.

Hope this is useful to anyone out there :)

Re:It's been out since yesterday but...

[alen]

Try Ebay. Within a month you can get most games for much less than retail.

Re:Flame throwers, right on.

[Anonymous Coward]

What about... RISE OF THE TRIADS!?!?!!!?

As far as I know, there were more different ways to incinerate your enimies than any other FPS out there :)

Hehe.. does anybody remember the bounce pads? 'Hand of god'? ''shrooms mode'?!?!?!?!
click here for a review

At the time, was there anything even remotely as funny?

Re:Wolf3d =^)

[neafevoc]

I actually picked it up yesterday right before class.

The guy at Software Etc was still unpacking the boxes.

I'll confess, I never bought a single PC game in my life. And after playing the tests, I was already sold. (I remember playing Wolf3D, becoming unbelievably sick not more than 10 minutes.)

I had a shoddy G400 Marvel (for games? yeah right.) I went out and bought an MX400 card just for Wolf. (But I wish I had some kind of GF3... 'cause the game is simply stunning.)

So the game itself. The single player and multi-player are literally two different games. If you've played the test, and though mp_beach was huge... yeah right. I think that's the smallest map in the game.

I'm finishing up mission 2 for the single player mode. I don't know what to compare it against since I haven't played the likes of Half-Life or any other story based FPS.

I think it's too awesome though.

Sorry for being vague... but those who have played other FPS and RtCW... could you enlighten me if this 1 player story mode is ground breaking?

Seems like it to me. (Oh, I have played GoldenEye and Perfect Dark on console... but I can't compare it... since the control on the computer is so much easier.)

On CD keys, etc.

[Alpha State]

I can't be the only one here who uses cracks of my favourite games (that I've already bought) just to avoid having to swap CDs all the time. In fact I have a laptop without CD drive and this is the only way I can run games on it.

The CD-key is similarly annoying. I can see the point if they are going to check for online gaming, but why do they insist on needing it for single player games? (I rarely game online at all) Even for online gaming, they can only block 2 people trying to connect to the same gameserver with the same key - they could do this just by storing a serial number that the game uses on each CD, avoiding the silly mistake-prone key typing.

I can't understand why they keep using these methods of "copy protection", when they obviously don't work and the games sell huge amounts (the good ones anyway).

(BTW, I'm sure the game is great, I can't wait to relive the glory days of SS impersonating and grenade throwing I used to have in school.)

Re:On CD keys, etc.

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't need the CD to play single player or multiplayer on a LAN. You need the CD key to install the game and to play online.

Re:On CD keys, etc.

[loosenut]

The CD-key is similarly annoying. I can see the point if they are going to check for online gaming, but why do they insist on needing it for single player games? (I rarely game online at all) Even for online gaming, they can only block 2 people trying to connect to the same gameserver with the same key - they could do this just by storing a serial number that the game uses on each CD, avoiding the silly mistake-prone key typing.

Once the game is installed, it shouldn't bother you. It's a single, one-time key entry, and any mistakes you make typing it in will be picked up immediately. It also seems lot easier to have a CD-key than it is to produce serial numbers for CDs. I could be wrong, but I thought they were all exact copies. Otherwise CDDB would be ineffective, wouldn't it?

It is also a very effective form of copy protection. Normally, I wouldn't have a problem letting friends copy my game. But, now, if they want a copy, they need a key. They could either randomly generate one with a keygen (and risk screwing someone else over) or use mine, in which case we wouldn't be able to play together, or even on different servers at the same time. The readme says that the keys are checked with a master server.

And that's what makes it such great copy protection. You don't need the CD once the game is installed, and you can copy it easily enough. But you won't risk losing functionality!

Allow me to post a portion of the readme:

Some Common Sense About Your CD Key: It's important to remember
that your CD Key is unique. No other copy of the game will have
that key code. You need to treat that code as something valuable -
protecting it from loss or theft. Without it, you cannot
reinstall the game, or play on-line. You may not be able to
replace the key without some difficulty and expense. Think carefully
about allowing someone to borrow your CD Key. The Return to Castle
Wolfenstein Multiplayer Master Server will not allow duplicate
keys on-line at the same time. Don't be fooled by claims about CD
Key generators. Not only do they not work, but many "create"
additional CD Keys by stealing and transmitting the keys of gamers
who try to make new keys.

[pirate voice] I'm sooooooo scaaaaarred!

Little old Ladies

[Alien54]

I can remember in a retail store from a long time ago a little old lady who was addicted to Wolfenstein. She loved it, and apparently was quite good at it.

This would be at least one of several classic scenes for a movie someday. The grandma teaching kids how to play doom. or is the local champion, or something. classic

Re:Interview with kevin Cloud @ homeland.com

[GISboy]

Excellent linkage, dude.

Kevin Cloud pays hommage to Activision.

IMO, Activision has kicked ass since the Atari days; Atlantis and Subterranea (damn addictive game) up to and including MechWarrior (any version). (even that jungle/Indiana Jones type game...what was it? I forget)

Correct me if I am incorrect, but don't they work close with Interplay? I saw a mention of Descent and damn that brings back memories.

Descent was revolutionary, period.
Game play was fast and furious, the robot/monster AI was (and still is) fscking phenominal.
Don't take this wrong, but all DooM's monsters did was attack, attack, attack....Descent 1, and especially, D2...the would bait, stalk, gang up, retreat and hunt your ass down.

That was totally *mind blowing*! And the first one had in the FAQ, a section called DooM Recovery 101 because it was true 3d before/during the time of Quake's introduction.
(set me straight on a timeline, it is fuzzy after all these years)

Uhhh...ahem...sorry about that "rabid fan'ish" sounding diatribe...
What I am trying to nail down to a fine point is:
All of these games are/were revolutionay, in their own right.

Wolf was there "first" FPS wise, DooM made it "immersive" and Quake made it "inpressive" in several areas. But the one common thread was the "enemies" were not that bright.
What I am saying is if Activision had a hand in it, like I think they did with Descent, RTCW is almost going to be a guranteed winner.

Just my thoughts, opinions, experience and observations.

Cheers,

GISboy

Castle Wolfenstein - first impression

[diadem]

(cut and paste from my site)

Well I just got the game and let me say I am impressed. The graphics in the game are phenomenal - similar to the multiplayer test but with a lot more details. There are cobwebs on archways, skeletons bones littering the floors, and characters even blink when giving a speech talking. The nice thing is that game has little details that didn't have to be added, but were. The so far plot is interesting and easy to get into.

Gameplay is balanced and fun. It feels like a cross between Halflife and the Wolfenstein levels from Doom. I just started and have already observed a few interesting features.

I fought my way into a room with a wooden floor. Some of the floorboards were missing and you could see under you. Unfortunately, the nazis could also see up. They let loose and opened fire as wooden chips started flying. When they shot the right place, part of the floorboards just shattered! It seems like a small touch, but it was very impressive to look at. In my opinion its the small things that can help make the videogame.

So far, from my first impression the game gets an A+. A more detailed review will be given in about a week when I have played the game further.

Graeme Devine, Phoenix from the Ashes of Trilobyte

[Azerphale]

It's amazing to see that Graeme actually stuck with the game industry after such a catastrophe with the fall of the company that tamed the CD-ROM for gaming. See Haunted Glory [gamespot.com] for the misadventures (and silly pictures) of Mr. Devine at Trilobyte.

What I wish to know is what ever happened to Rob Landeros? Last thing I can find on him is quite depressing. [justadventure.com]

Here's to expecting more good things from Graeme,

-Rob

Joystick support hard to come by nowadays.

[TerraFORM]

Traditionally, id software has been the only major game manufacturer to contiually support joysticks in their games. However, I have heard in many newsgroups and posts that this is not the case with RTCW. I think that this is sad.

Surely, the VAST majority of gamers use the k/m combo. But I contend that it is a small matter to add (or continue) joystick support. I have always used a joystick in gaming (did the Atari 2600 have a k/m? No. It had a joystick). Notwithstanding the inherent ergonomic nightmare that using a k/m presents, the joystick I use (pantherXL) is superb--a trackball on the left for looking and aiming, and a joystick on the right for movement. 14 additional keys around the stick and trackball can be bound to what normal k/mers would use. I never even have to reach for the keyboard.

I guess I'm in the dwindling minority of gamers who still use the joystick. If id won't support us, I see a dark future ahead for joystick users.

Nazi killin! :-)

[jeff13]

The first computer I got had Rogue Spear. I think that's it, a Wolfenstien progenitor. 2D pixel Nazi shootin'!

Now, one night I downloaded that Wolfenstien demo, you know the one. It's been all over Gamespy. Well... I've been killin' Nazis for 2 hours every night on the same map! Did I mention on the same map?!?!!!

War is HELL. Let's go! Shnell shnell!!! Watch out for turkey dinners. :-D