Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War (Xbox Classics)

Graphics are average-to-good: better than Medal of Honour (what isn't?) but not a patch on Halo or Splinter Cell. Sound is good - the echoing crack of rifle fire in the open is particular evocative. AI is variable. Enemies don't just pile round the corner into your fire, but neither do they dive for cover when you blow the head off their nearby mate. Perhaps most irritatingly, the bad guys spot you instantly if you pop your head above a rock half-a-mile away and raise the alarm.

As for the weapons, there's a strange inconsistency about them. The silenced Sten, for instance, uses the same ammo as the Germany MP40, but the Sten is far more deadly - although its usefulness is tempered by its ability to only fire in short bursts (something to do with the silencer overheating apparently). Then there's the Thompson submachinegun. I found it a good option for gunning down groups of Germans, but as there is never any additional ammo for it lying about the playing area, you rapidly use up what you start a level with and then it becomes redundant. Realistic, perhaps, but it made the weapon a bit pointless. Weapons such as rocket launchers, strange lightning guns and a natty gattling gun are introduced as the game progresses, but as is so often the case, sitting back with your trusty sniper rifle proves to be the most effective tactic.

However, despite these grumbles, I ended up liking the game. It's no Deus Ex or even Medal of Honour for that matter, but as the game progressed, it started showing enough imagination and inventiveness to win me over. There's something eerie about the mixture of World War 2 grime and the supernatural shenanigans and there is plenty of use of large exterior playing areas, which are refreshing after the dull corridors and passages of the earlier levels. Admittedly, it steals from a lot of other games: the black-clad female elite guards and stumbling zombies are lifted right out of Half-Life, but that's not such a bad thing.

When I began playing R.T.W.C. I was wondering if I could be bothered to finish it, but by the end I was hoping that each new level wouldn't be the last.


If you have Xbox live...get this game!!!!   July 28, 2004
Mr Darren Thiel
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

As a stand alone FPS this game is not bad at all, not bad graphics, very good gameplay and enough weapons to keep most people happy.

However, what makes this game is the Xbox live addition. A whole new game is opened where you get to be 4 different classes of person all with attributes for excellent teamplay. Engineer for blowing things up, Medics for health and resurrecting fallen comrades, Soldiers for killing and Lieutenants for calling airstrikes and providing ammo. The gameplay is never ending, fighting online with up to 15 other people is great fun in various scenarios. The other benefit of Xbox live is the headset, you can communicate with your team mates to plan attacks and talk about virtually anything.

So if shooting and killing things is your thing and you have XBox live (and with broadband getting cheaper by the day there's no reason not to!!!) I strongly recommended getting this game and I look forward to meeting you on the battlefield!!!!


Disappointing   March 16, 2004
3 out of 10 found this review helpful

I was also disappointed with the firearms aspect of this game.
You have to hit the bad guys a dozen times before they die even with the more deadlier weapons. After a while this gets tiresome as you can never kill a bad guy without him getting a few shots into you first.


Don't do it man!   January 22, 2004
3 out of 8 found this review helpful

This game is a first-person shooter and the main focus of a first person shooter is the Firearms, but Wolfenstein forgets this little matter, the game pays no attention to weapon deatail or the relistic performances of the weapons. For example you can be armed with dual Colt M1911A1 pistols be 3 feet away from the enermy and miss every shot, your pistols will shoot the dangerous looking air leaving the Geman soldier to kill you while you reload your weopons. In later levels the German soldiers refuse to die, they won't even take the impack of the bullet, i once shot a paratrooper in THE HEAD! with a pump-action shotgun at piont blank range and he just looked at me and empted the magazine of his FG42 rifle into my person.
among other things the Sterling Sub-machine gun overheats in about 3 shot leaving a nice 10-20 second delay while you dogde bullets waiting for it to cool down. but to make up for all these mistakes Wolfenstein includes some very stupid future-type weapons like a stocked gattling gun and a stocked taser longarm which still don't do any damage. and if you think non-dying German soldier are bad you have to fight Zombies and Armoured Cyborgs i know the game isn't ment to follow the time-line of WWII, but come on! i say unless you have buckets of cash to spend on anger management classes don't buy this game.