Do you have what it takes to get a review published right here on Kotaku? Justin does, as he battles through Raven’s seriously authentic WWII shooter.
Yes, that’s right, we’re now publishing reader reviews here on Kotaku. This is your chance to deliver sensible game purchasing advice to the rest of the Kotaku community.
And thanks to the very kind chaps at Madman Entertainment, purveyor of all kinds of cool, indie and esoteric film, the best reader review we publish each month will win a prize pack containing ten of the latest Madman DVD releases.
This review was submitted by Justin Robson. If you’ve played Wolfenstein, or just want to ask Justin more about it, leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Wolfenstein (PC, PS3, 360)
Wolfenstein, an attempt at reviving a classic…
Loved
Traditional Run and Gun: Wolfenstein isn’t overly deep or complex, but for old school FPS junkies it does some justice to the series. It might be nostalgia talking, but the id gameplay, although admittedly dated, has been preserved. Old school Nazi shootin’ hasn’t been fun for a long time, but Wolf has made it work yet again.
Godlike New Weapons: While incredibly overpowered, the big guns provide some of the most satisfying aspects of the game. The delicious “pop” when you fry baddies with Mr. Tesla, the fire hose effect of the particle cannon, and the feeling of chasing ants with a magnifying glass that comes with the flamethrower…limited ammo keeps these implements of death balanced, but good god, they are fun to use.
Hated
Linear Gameplay: Raven made a downright annoying, and ultimately useless attempt at non-linearity by using the hub city. It only makes the game seem more linear, as respawning foes and boring backtracking split up the gameplay and feel like cheap padding to stretch the game out, and also like a waste of recourses that could have been used actually making the levels.
None of the Classic Weapons: The staple guns of Wolf 3D and Return are goneski. The knife, the luger and the chaingun that defined the series previously, are replaced with a generic selection of TWO same-old machine guns, a rifle, and not much else…
Lame Powers/Upgrades: Your “powers” feel tacked on, and there isn’t much incentive to actually use them unless you need to (and there are a lot of tedious instances where you do.) This, coupled with the boring search for gold and weapon add-ons that don’t really make a difference…both just feel like they were put in there for the sake of having something else to add to the list of features on the box.
All in all, the revival of Wolfenstein is a fun, but essentially flawed experience. Only fans of the series are likely to tolerate it, while newcomers might want to give it a miss, or at best a rent.
Reviewed by: Justin Robson
You can have your Reader Review published on Kotaku. Send your review to us at the usual address. Make sure it’s written in the same format as above and in under 300 words — yes, we’ve upped the word limit. We’ll publish the best ones we get and the best of the month will win a Madman DVD prize pack.
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