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Early Look At the New Wolfenstein Game

Posted by Soulskill on from the killing-nazis-is-a-now-national-pastime dept.

Attendees of this year's GDC were given an early look at Wolfenstein, the new shooter in development by id and Raven. We've previously discussed the "Veil" ability that protagonist BJ Blazkowicz uses to hide himself, and much of the coverage relates to how it affects gameplay. "Early on, Blazkowicz stumbles upon an experiment and manages to blow it up, releasing waves of ethereal blue material. The Veil seems to turn gravity on and off as Blazkowicz tries to escape the area, making for some very original gunplay. ... The folks on hand told me that the Veil would be incorporated into game's multiplayer, but wouldn't go into details." A trailer for the game is available at Joystiq, and they had this to say: "Wolfenstein's look and gameplay is dated — and not in a retro chic way. Without the Veil, the game could be mistaken for a last-gen title, so the game's success rests on how compelling this feature will be throughout an entire playthrough."

4 of 88 comments (clear)

  1. marketing gimmick by romit_icarus · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Pluck an epic game from the past, slap on a 'feature' = cheap marketing and product development = low-risk/decent return game product.

  2. Uh, graphics are surfing the uncanny valley anyway by Walkingshark · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Graphics in these games are already getting into the uncanny valley, getting further into it doesn't make for a better game. I'd rather have higher framerates during busy action sequences (like in Left4Dead) than have a slightly more realistic pimple on BJ's nose or whatever. If the gameplay is fun (TF2, Quakewars) the graphics don't have to be super awesome.

    Hell, probably one of my favorite mindless action games of all time is Gain Ground for the Sega Genesis, and the graphics on that are... not so good (by today's standards of course). In fact, while looking for that link I found out that you can play this game on Wii's virtual console. Neat.

    --
    The world you experience is only a close approximation of reality.
  3. I don't give a damn by DesScorp · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I don't care how "dated" the graphics look... if its anything like Return to Castle Wolfenstein (or Enemy Territory, which is still my primary game), then I'll snatch it up as soon as it's available.

    --
    Life is hard, and the world is cruel
  4. Have yesterday's titles taught you nothing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Gameplay over graphics, no exceptions.