Introduction

Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Id Software's long-awaited reboot of the Wolfenstein series, bowed in November 2001. It had a good singleplayer mode (before the term "campaign" took hold) but was well known for its multiplayer, which spawned the free Enemy Territory game. We're going to go on through a complete playthrough of the single player mode, complete with Nazis, the occult, and atomic supermen! RTCW kicked off the glut of World War 2 shooters, with Medal of Honor: Allied Assault and Call of Duty following on its heels. Where Wolfenstein differs is that it has always had a science fiction bent. The occult, supermachines, high technology and more play large factors in the plots, often based on crazed Nazi schemes.

But before we get on with that, let's take a quick stroll down memory lane with some context. Delicious context!

The Wolfenstein series had not seen an entrant since the "sequel" to the original Wolfenstein 3D (or expansion, as I'd put it), Spear of Destiny, which ran on the original Wolf3D engine. As most know, Wolfenstein 3D brought the concept of a first person shooter to light. The game is clunky and dated by today's standards, but it was a completely new kind of gameplay when it bowed. RTCW is an attempt to bring the same kind of scenario to a more modern FPS engine.

Wolfenstein 3D itself was a sequel/continuation of Silas Warner's Castle Wolfenstein game, a strange 2D stealth game on 8-bit home computers like the Apple II and Commodore 64. It was based on your attempts to escape from the titular Castle Wolfenstein. It saw a sequel of its own, Beyond Castle Wolfenstein, before languishing in obscurity.

Both of these things come together in Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Characters, scenarios, and concepts come together to form a strange and creepy atmosphere full of adrenaline. Since RTCW was based on the Quake 3 Team Arena engine, it's got a lot of turn of the century FPS tropes. You're still collecting health packs (and food), the AI can be a little dumb at times, and the graphics haven't aged all that well. Still, the core gameplay is quite fun with a variety of Nazi murder weapons at your disposal.

So who are we getting involved with in this game?

Characters

William "B.J" Blazkowicz

Agent Blazkowicz has starred in every Castle Wolfenstein game. He's a one man Nazi killing machine, sent in to often unwinnable situations and expected to achieve victory. B.J.'s got an axe to grind against the Nazis, given that he is the son of Polish immigrants to the United States. He's the main player character of the game, and is a silent protagonist.

Your nemesis? This motherfucker.



That's right - Heinrich Himmler. Himmler's strange fascination with the occult drives the entire plot. His machinations will yield some bizarre episodes. But let's not get TOO deep into that just yet.

His underlings are quite annoying. Like, say...



Wilhelm "Death's Head" Strasse. He does the dirty work for Himmler, cooking up strange and twisted experiments in his private laboratory, the X-Labs.



Helga von Bulow provides muscle to Death's Head's operation with her squad of Elite Guards. They're lean, mean, silenced machinegun toting death babes, and they make killing the good guys look good.

Of course, we'll run into some helpful friends, and we'll be monitored by Tony Jay's Band of Superfriends... or the OSA. I like my name, though. Yo-SA! You might recognize many of the voices used in the game. They actually shelled out for some real actors, which was unusual at this point for game voices.

A word of note - RTCW is full of secrets and hidden treasures. Unfortunately, I will probably be unable to find every single one. Even with having FAQs around, I have only given about one replay to the game recently, and it's still not enough to refresh my memory in most cases. I'll try to get as many secrets as possible, but since secrets only give you some gold/treasures or perhaps some extra ammo, missing one or two here or there will not affect the progress of the game. The game is linear and you cannot revisit any previous level.

With all that said, let's get to what you REALLY want.

Videos

Episode 1 - Stabbity	blip.tv
Episode 2 - Cheese and Wine	blip.tv
Episode 3 - Terror Tram	blip.tv
Episode 4 - Wolfburg	blip.tv
Episode 5 - Tales From the Crypt	blip.tv
Episode 6 - The Catacombs	blip.tv
Episode 7 - The Church	blip.tv
Episode 8 - Fumblestealth	blip.tv
Episode 9 - The Rocket Base	blip.tv
Episode 10 - Communique	blip.tv
Episode 11 - Planespotting	blip.tv
Episode 12 - BURNINATION	blip.tv
Episode 13 - Last Train to Wolfenstein	blip.tv
Episode 14 - The Secret Weapons Facility	blip.tv
Episode 15 - Ice Station Norway	blip.tv
Episode 16 - The X-Labs	blip.tv
Episode 17 - Das Ubersoldaten-inator!	blip.tv
Episode 18 - Dam It All!	blip.tv
Episode 19 - Sneaky Snakes	blip.tv
Episode 20 - Honky Chateau	blip.tv
Episode 21 - In Blackest Night	blip.tv
Episode 22 - The Dig Site	blip.tv
Episode 23 - Get Back, B.J.	blip.tv
Episode 24 - Oh, Heinrich!	blip.tv

Fan art and other goodies!



BJ by Tehzim



Return to Bionic Commando Wolfenstein by Silentbrains



B.J. Blazckowicz...



and his Caribbean cousin, both by Necroid.



Elite Guard, by Tehzim



lithuanian dad shows just how sweet that jumping is.

The Let's Play RTCW Drinking game!