Well what can I say. A game that defined a generation of first person shooters. The impact is still felt 17 years later as the story continues with the sequels for PC and consoles.
Besides a great story-line that appeals to most young people, this game has a multi-player module that was very innovative and unique for the time.
This is the best game in the Wolfenstein series. Great gameplay, great levels, nice plot including mix of warfare and occultism. New Wolf games are good, but RTCW was the best, and still is. Must have!
Return to Castle Wolfenstein has a good enough story, good shooting mechanics with a decent variety of weapons, and nicely paced gameplay. The game really rewards you for thinking about how you will deal with each time you encounter enemies. Don't get me wrong, it may not be one of the most strategic shooters out there, but it strikes a nice balance between letting you be slow and methodical while also rewarding mechanical skill. The game has a few stealthy sections that keep it from getting too monotonous as well. It's definitely one of my favorite shooters overall.
In short:
The Bad:
- The stamina bar does not belong in this game, throw it away. For example, the final boss very much needs you to sprint like a madman at all times to avoid a very annoying, blinding homing attack. You're better off bunnyhopping.
- Underutilized item system. I got a portable healing item. Once. And it's underpowered and it blinds you when used. Also it was a secret.
- Stubborn, unstaggerable, inconsistent, etc, enemies. Soldiers eating miniguns to the face without flinching, sometimes shooting you with seemingly perfect accuracy while sprinting at you, those electric enemies that throw themselves at you and kill you within seconds, that can also hurt you through ceilings. The tesla super soldier boss. The bosses generally aren't very good. I guess the last boss is the best one, but even that is ruined by the stupid stamina system.
- All of the mandatory stealth parts. Stealth should always be optional in a Wolfenstein game. This series is about kicking down doors and making nazis eat shit in the loudest and most lead filled way possible. Not about tiptoeing around and making sure the enemy doesn't spot the tip of your shoe from 2 miles away.
- Once again, GoG are too lazy to change 2 lines of code to allow modern resolutions to be selectable. Oh well, at least the game ran fine otherwise. Also the mouse aiming/sensitivity just feels off in general.
- USELESS TREASURE THAT HAS NO PRACTICAL USE. Just for the shits and giggles and completion I guess. It would have been cool if getting a certain number of treasure upgraded your max health/armor/ammo capacity, etc. Also, armor pickups are insultingly rare a lot of the time.
- And a bunch of other stuff I can't think of.
The Good:
+ Schut nazis.
+ Game still looks decent for it's age.
+ Occasional humor
Verdict: Just play The New Order or the original. Or at the very least mod this to the point where it fixes all the stupid frustrating bullshit, unpolish, unbalance, and other jank.
Return To Castle Wolfenstein isn't a game that gets talked about much whenever the series is brought up in conversation, which is a damn shame. It's a great realization of the series unshackled from the limitations of Wolfenstein 3D.
One of the game's best strengths is its variety of missions. The campaign has BJ running the gauntlet of everything from ancient ruins filled with undead horrors, to science labs full of horrific experiments and even a V2 rocket base. On top of that, the game is built on the Q3 engine, which lends the movement and shooting mechanics a smooth, responsive feel on top of German soldiers that can be surprisingly tough to fight, with special mention going to the German paratroopers whose FG42s will make mincemeat out of you in the latter half of the campaign.
It's a classic that's well worth experiencing, rivaled only by Wolfenstein: The New Order.