Preview: Wolfenstein

Not much has changed since Raven Software and Activision first showed off Wolfenstein at New York City Comic Con a few months back. But allow me to recap…

Following the events of Return to Castle Wolfenstein, B.J. Blazkowicz is back, stumbling upon an amulet that appears to have special powers in the course of a mission. After analyzing the amulet, Blazkowicz and company come to find it’s powered by crystal found only in one part of the world, the fictional city of Istenstat, Germany. Keen on discovering what the Nazis are up to with said power, Blazkowicz investigates, and gets caught up in the twisted and dangerous world of the occult.

As usual. More after the jump

Wolfenstein (PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)
Developer: Raven Software
Publisher: Activision Blizzard
To be released: “When it’s done.”

In its latest demonstration of the game, Raven covered some familiar ground — much of it we had already seen at NY Comic Con in February. We saw B.J. — with his Kreisau Circle comrades in tow — infiltrating a Nazi-controlled train yard, and using explosives to “accidentally” release a mysterious substance and power called The Veil. 

Up until this point, Wolfenstein is a fairly straight forward first-person shooter, with B.J. gunning down nazis using all manner of traditional World War II weaponry. It’s at that early point in the game that The Veil is released that everything changes, introducing the series’ trademark supernatural element. 

Raven is really pushing that element in terms of gameplay this time around, giving B.J. full control over a number of Veil powers. We’d previously seen B.J. use one of his powers, The Mire, to slow down time to get a jump on some of the game’s trickier enemies. In one instance, the Mire was used to slow down and find weak spots on a particle-beam-wielding heavy trooper.

While much of the focus of Wolfenstein is going to be on fast-paced, run-and-gun action, Raven demonstrated another unique use of Veil powers — puzzle solving and trap evasion. Deep underground of an archeological dig site, B.J. used the Veil powers to reveal hidden paths like a passage where a wall appeared. In a series of narrow, winding corridors, the Mire was to slow down time, careful timing helping to avoid a trap of arrows being ejects from walls. The Veil power also was used to illuminate a safe path of travel; one wrong step would have resulted in B.J. being crushed by a falling stone pillar. 

Raven isn’t talking about the number Veil powers at B.J.’s disposal, it’s clear there will be a number of uses for each of them throughout the game’s single-player campaign. Additionally, finding hidden tomes throughout the game will allow you to upgrade the powers, something Raven says is “substantial” and could “dynamically change just about everything.” Add in the fact that you’ll be able to purchase and upgrade weapons from a Black Market faction by using gold and treasures you’ll uncover while playing, it looks like Raven’s trying to offer up some level of player customization.

Multiplayer is also in the cards, but they’re not ready to show their full hand just yet. We’re told that fans of Return to Castle Wolfenstein‘s multiplayer modes should be happy, and that it will include use of the Veil powers in some way. When asked about the the inclusion of a flamethrower, one of Return to Castle Wolfenstein’s most popular weapons, Raven wouldn’t confirm or deny. Considering the amount of combustible things we had seen in the game’s environments (red barrels… they explode!), we’d put our money that we’ll see at least one fire-based weapon in the game.

Wolfenstein is already looking polished; still, what we were shown was obviously nowhere near final. But of course, we asked about a release date. Without missing a beat we were told those three words that every impatient gamer dreads: “When it’s done.”