The town of Isenstadt, Germany was the site of a Nazi supernatural research project during the height of World War II. The United States Office of Secret Actions sent in a single agent to help thwart their plans and liberate the city, organizing with a local German resistance group alongside a group of occult followers and arms dealers. The rest is, as they say, history. But if this "history" sounds suspect, it's because the tale is contained within the classic gaming universe of Wolfenstein, the simple title for the new game from The single-player version of the game is enjoyable pulp storytelling, taking some cues from Raiders of the Lost Ark, with Nazis seeking supernatural powers. Much of the story thereafter plays out from a first-person perspective, as citizens detail exposition, while Blazkowicz overhears enemy conversations, and as plot elements unfold in the action. Voice acting is pure Grade-B camp, from the bad German accents to B.J.'s tough talk when confronted by his adversaries. Online multiplayer is present too, developed seperately by the upstart British firm Raven, the region's most well known and respected studio has had an exclusive arrangement with mega-publisher Activision since 1997. During that time, it released the million selling hits X-Men Legends, Star Wars Jedi Knight, and Soldier of Fortune. Its game version of Wolverine, released in May, elevated mere movie merchandise into a great superhero brawler. It's disappointing that Wolfenstein doesn't match those efforts. Don't get me wrong, theres some very enjoyable moments in the game, and the action rarely disappoints. However, there are not enough "wow" moments to suggest this is a series that paved the way for Doom, Halo, and Call of Duty. Wolfenstein seems content to mimic rather than bust the genre it created, though there's nothing wrong with that for a summer game. As an end-of-summer game with Halo and Call of Duty sequels on the horizon, though, it falls short. Barely a week after releasing the game in late August, Raven laid off dozens of employees from its 180-person staff. This came at a time when the studio has been enjoying a higher profile thanks to its string of new releases. Wolfenstein lead designer Manveer Heir offered to reimburse anybody who purchased the game at full price if its August sales surpassed Madden NFL 2010, the annual update to the best-selling football game series. This was not to be, as early sales figures for the title were lower than expected, just exceeding the 100,000 mark. Raven studio head Brian Raffel did not respond to requests for comment, and the company only issued a official statement as the layoffs news hit gaming blogs: "With the recent completion of both Wolverine, based on the summer blockbuster movie, and Wolfenstein, the next chapter of the famed franchise, Raven Software is slightly reducing its workforce to better reflect the studio's upcoming slate." Video game developers commonly balloon staff during the production of new titles, and then skim down post-release if another project isn't waiting in the wings. Along with the poor sales, it seems that with two of the three titles Raven had in production over the last couple of years now on the market, the company simply had more staff than needed, and is readjusting to develop new games at a slower pace. Meanwhile, id has ended its publishing deal with Activision, so Raven sadly won't have a second shot at Wolfenstein. Instead, the developer is looking to boost its fortunes with its next major property, the time-manipulation shooter named Singularity. Originally slated for a fall release, the title's release date was bumped to early 2010 to avoid competing with the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 due out in November. Activision is in the midst of marketing Singluarity, via gameplay videos and similar leaks as well as via a
Raven falls short with "Wolfenstein", follows layoffs with high hopes for "Singularity"
