of you younger gamers out there, but Wolfenstein has always had a place in my heart. Wolfenstein 3D revolutionized the FPS genre, and while Wolfenstein doesn't have as much of an impact on the video game industry as Wolfenstein 3D did, it is certainly a fun filled game.

The game is a sequel to Return to Castle Wolfenstein, which was released for the PS2, PC, and XBOX in 2001, and stars William “BJ” Blackowitz, who was the protagonist in the previous Wolfenstein games. While Wolfenstein departs from many of the nostalgic elements that RTCW had, it keeps the main tradition of Wolfenstein alive: Supernatural Nazis are trying to take over the world.

The game takes place in 1943 Isenstadt, a fictional town that the Nazi's have moved into due to the town's position with the Black Sun, a dark energy that the Nazi's are trying to harness. It's a free roam town that (unless in a mission) you can explore on your own. Outside of the games main missions, several side missions are available that are started by roaming around town, meeting random NPC's from either the Kreisau Circle (the local German resistance) or the Golden Dawn (A Soviet resistance group that specializes in knowledge of the occult).

While the game borrows the main story elements from previous Wolfensteins, it feels like an all new game. The newest addition is the Veil, something you get midway into the second mission. The Veil is a separate plane that on this Earth, meaning that even though you are in a separate dimension, you can still manipulate, and above all: kill, anything not in the Veil. Going into the Veil has it's advantages, it makes it easier to see in the dark, it makes you faster, and it gives you the ability to see certain things you wouldn't be able to while not in the Veil.

The Veil also has separate powers: Mire, Shield, and Empower. Mire slows down time and with enough upgrades, can deal quite a bit of damage when activated. While in this glorified bullet time, Blackowitz is able to dodge bullets and mortars as well as pick off enemies easier, as they are slower. Shield does just what the name implies, shields Blackowitz from danger. While it's very helpful in some situations, I rarely used it because it would drain the Veil so quickly (which could've been part of the game, as being able to use the shield all the time would basically be God mode). Empower affects your weapon instead of your body. While using empower, Blackowitz deals out quad damage from his weapons, and is able to shoot through shields.

While having the Veil power certainly helps Blackowitz, he is not the only one who can use it. The Nazi's, who have been using it for quite some time now, have the ability to counteract Blackowitz by not only entering the Veil themselves, but by employing Veil Inhibitors around various locations. The Veil Inhibitors not only disable the use of the Veil by Blackowitz, but turn the screen into black and white, which, at least on my TV, makes it that much harder to kill the enemy.

The single player component is the meat and potatoes of the game. While it's a somewhat drawn out campaign, it's not too long and it's not too short. The campaign starts off with a very James Bond like pre-title sequence that shows just how awesome Blackowitz is. From there, he gets orders to go into Isenstadt, and the game starts off as before Blackowitz even gets off the train. While he doesn't ever step foot near Castle Wolfenstein, there are certainly plenty of Nazi's to kill. He eventually works himself to a large Zeppelin that the Nazi's have set up in town, and drives the Nazi's out of Isenstadt, even meeting up with his old buddy Dethshead from RTCW.

The multiplayer, while fun, is decidedly much less well made than the single player. While players of main stream shooters may see nothing wrong with it, players of RTCW will be very disappointed to see this step back (read: Giant humongous leap) in the multiplayer quality. The maps seem to be rushed ports of single player maps, and the classes leave much to be desired. Instead of the 5 classes that ET:RTCW had, Wolfenstein sheds 2 and only has 3, the Medic, the Engineer, and the Soldier. Each have their ups and downs but generally all feel the same. The ranking system is gone as well, although you can purchase weapon and Veil upgrades with gold gained through play.

All in all, Wolfenstein is a very fun, if not nostalgic, single player game that although ditches many of it's predecessors qualities, is still a solid game. Don't buy it for the multiplayer aspect however, as that area of the game leaves much to be desired. It is out for PS3, 360, and PC