New Wolfenstein "Not a WW2 Game"

John Funk

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Dec 20, 2005
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New Wolfenstein "Not a WW2 Game"



Despite how it may seem at first glimpse, the new Wolfenstein isn't just another paint-by-numbers World War II shooter - according to developers Raven Software, it isn't a WW2 game at all.

The "World War II FPS" is a category that is rather... over-saturated, shall we say? So it's quite understandable that Raven Software is trying to quell the notion that their upcoming entry in the Wolfenstein franchise is a WW2 shooter a la Band of Heroic Men in Company of Brothers Who Answer the Call of Duty of Our Fathers. Beyond that, though, Wolfenstein Creative Director Eric Biessman told VG247 [http://www.vg247.com/2009/04/06/raven-wolfenstein-is-not-a-wwii-game/] that not only is the game not another WW2 shooter, the Raven team doesn't consider it a WW2 title of any sort.

This isn't to say that the game isn't set during the events of World War II - it is. Nor does this mean special agent B.J. Blazkowicz won't be fighting Nazis - he will. Rather, Biessman says that Wolfenstein is not a WW2 game in the same way that Raiders of the Lost Ark isn't a WW2 film.

[blockquote]"When we started development of the game we asked ourselves, 'What if?' What if the Nazis had access to an unlimited power source? What if the Nazis could create beam weapons? What if the Nazis could create suits of powered armour? It was pretty cool to imagine the possibilities and see them come to life in Wolfenstein."[/blockquote]

While the immediate knee-jerk reaction is to dismiss Biessman's comments as standard studio posturing ... I have to admit, the guy has a point. After all, Dr. Jones does brawl and whip his way through villainous Nazis (at least in the good movies), and the films are filled with Third Reich symbols and imagery - but would anyone really refer to the Indiana Jones movies as WW2 films, lumping them in with Saving Private Ryan?

All right, Biessman. We'll take your word for it - for now.

The sequel to 2001's Return to Castle Wolfenstein is schedule to hit release sometime in Summer 2009 for PC, 360, and PS3.

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KDR_11k

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Feb 10, 2009
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CantFaketheFunk said:
"When we started development of the game we asked ourselves, 'What if?' What if the Nazis had access to an unlimited power source? What if the Nazis could create beam weapons? What if the Nazis could create suits of powered armour? It was pretty cool to imagine the possibilities and see them come to life in Wolfenstein."
they'd probably give some of that tech to the Japanese and Pearl Harbor wouldn't get attacked by airplanes, it would get attacked by a Gundam!
 

SharedProphet

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What he's saying is true, and the comparison to the Indiana Jones films is fitting. Problem is, the same analogy could be drawn for every game in the whole Wolfenstein franchise. Just makes me think it's going to be no different than the other ones.
 

oliveira8

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But the events in Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade happen before WW2....Of course it aint going to be a WW2 movie cause its not set during WW2...

(I think...)
 

Skeleon

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I saw the trailer and I agree. There seems to be a lot of sci-fi and mysticism involved, so the comparison to Indy is fitting. Haven't played the old ones, though, so I don't know about the way Wolfenstein developed @SharedProphet. Can you guys give me a few examples from the older games?
 

Baneat

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Oh yeah, I thought because of the MECHA-HITLER that it would be set in WW2, I forgot they hadn't created advanced robotics by that point,,, :{
 

Worr Monger

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I didn't realize that this needed clarification...

Wolfenstein has always involved my favorite aspect of WWII fiction (sort of).... Nazi science and occultism.

I love that Wolfenstein takes the Nazi's interest into the occult and exaggerates upon it... but the crazy thing is that such subject matter is not all THAT far from the truth when it came to their interests in the occult.

Now if we had to storm beaches or take a ruined city with a squad of guys, you could call it a WWII game, but anyone who has ever played any Wolfenstein game knows that never happens.

I hope Raven is able to make this Wolfenstein just as good.. if not better.. than RTCW.
 

Syphonz

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Since when should I have classified Wolfenstein as a WWII game? I kinda threw that classification out when Zombies were firing shotguns embedded in their chests by doing a disco dance stance.
 

new_age_reject

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Dec 28, 2008
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So basically it's a WW2 game with energy weapons and suits of armour... I thought all Wolfenstein games all (minus ET and the original) follow the same Nazis + zombies/ advanced weaponry/ zombies with advanced weaponry set.
 

TsunamiWombat

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KDR_11k said:
CantFaketheFunk said:
"When we started development of the game we asked ourselves, 'What if?' What if the Nazis had access to an unlimited power source? What if the Nazis could create beam weapons? What if the Nazis could create suits of powered armour? It was pretty cool to imagine the possibilities and see them come to life in Wolfenstein."
they'd probably give some of that tech to the Japanese and Pearl Harbor wouldn't get attacked by airplanes, it would get attacked by a Gundam!
Sorry but your post made me laught. It reminded me of Gundam Wing... IT'S A GUNDAM!

...[/youtube]
 

runedeadthA

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Hitler clones in power suits!!! Can I get a hell yeah?!?
It's always entertaining to shoot Nazi's.
 

hagaya

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I honestly thought it was a WW2 shooter, Mecha-Hitler, Superpowers, Zombies, Lasers: Stuff that was in WW2. /sarcasm
 

keyper159

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TsunamiWombat said:
KDR_11k said:
CantFaketheFunk said:
"When we started development of the game we asked ourselves, 'What if?' What if the Nazis had access to an unlimited power source? What if the Nazis could create beam weapons? What if the Nazis could create suits of powered armour? It was pretty cool to imagine the possibilities and see them come to life in Wolfenstein."
they'd probably give some of that tech to the Japanese and Pearl Harbor wouldn't get attacked by airplanes, it would get attacked by a Gundam!
Sorry but your post made me laught. It reminded me of Gundam Wing... IT'S A GUNDAM!

...[/youtube]
Thanks for that video. The word Gundam no longer means anything to me.
 

ZiggyApplepie

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Mar 4, 2009
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oliveira8 said:
But the events in Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade happen before WW2....Of course it aint going to be a WW2 movie cause its not set during WW2...

(I think...)
Correct, they were set before the war, in the 30's.
 

oliveira8

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Feb 2, 2009
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ZiggyApplepie said:
oliveira8 said:
But the events in Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade happen before WW2....Of course it aint going to be a WW2 movie cause its not set during WW2...

(I think...)
Correct, they were set before the war, in the 30's.
Yeah I was right! Ah so suck on that Indiana Jones and Wolfenstein comparison!!
 

AceDiamond

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Wait.

Wolfenstein 3D had hitler in a suit of powered armor with quad chainguns, among other things (mutants with guns in their chests, for example)

Return to Castle Wolfenstein had tesla-based monstrosities and zombies.

How is a Wolfenstein game's major setpieces having nothing to do with history news?
 

Devilpapaya

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Apr 3, 2009
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oliveira8 said:
ZiggyApplepie said:
oliveira8 said:
But the events in Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade happen before WW2....Of course it aint going to be a WW2 movie cause its not set during WW2...

(I think...)
Correct, they were set before the war, in the 30's.

Yeah I was right! Ah so suck on that Indiana Jones and Wolfenstein comparison!!
Even so, I don't think we should be so quick to dismiss the game. I've played the first two, and they don't really feel like WW2 games. I think they just use Nazis because
they're a great thing to shoot at without causing anyone to be offended. By the same rule you can make them into secret devil worshipers tapping into the power of the undead, etc. without anyone so much as coughing. Your character isn't a gung-ho American impaling each Nazi corpse with a miniature American flag (in fact, I don't believe he's ever given a nationality that I can remember.
 

oliveira8

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Feb 2, 2009
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Devilpapaya said:
oliveira8 said:
ZiggyApplepie said:
oliveira8 said:
But the events in Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade happen before WW2....Of course it aint going to be a WW2 movie cause its not set during WW2...

(I think...)
Correct, they were set before the war, in the 30's.

Yeah I was right! Ah so suck on that Indiana Jones and Wolfenstein comparison!!
Even so, I don't think we should be so quick to dismiss the game. I've played the first two, and they don't really feel like WW2 games. I think they just use Nazis because
they're a great thing to shoot at without causing anyone to be offended. By the same rule you can make them into secret devil worshipers tapping into the power of the undead, etc. without anyone so much as coughing. Your character isn't a gung-ho American impaling each Nazi corpse with a miniature American flag (in fact, I don't believe he's ever given a nationality that I can remember.
Not saying anything bad about Wolfenstein. But I think that the series has passed its time. Lets hope that this new Wolfenstein doesnt go the way Doom 3 went.
 

Sewblon

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Nov 5, 2008
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This idea does seem much more interesting than an other "realistic" shooter. I put realistic in quotes because 1 man doing all the work in a war and having a mutant healing factor is not realistic.