Return to Castle Wolfenstein Game Help

Return to Castle Wolfenstein is a first-person shooter video game published by Activision and originally released on November 19, 2001 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Linux, MorphOS, AROS and Macintosh. The single player game was developed by Gray Matter Interactive and Nerve Software developed its multiplayer mode. id Software, the creators of Wolfenstein 3D, oversaw the development and were credited as executive producers. The multiplayer side eventually became the most popular part of the game, and was influential in the genre. Splash Damage, an independently owned game developer in London, created some of the maps for the Game of the Year edition. Splash Damage also developed a downloadable multi-player only sequel called Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, which is one of the most popular free downloadable games on the internet.[1] A further sequel, titled Wolfenstein, was released on August 18, 2009.


Synopsis:

Return to Castle Wolfenstein (RTCW) is a reboot of the early first-person shooter Wolfenstein 3D. It includes a story-based single player campaign (which uses certain themes from the original game), as well as a team-based networked multiplayer mode.

In the campaign, Allied agents from the fictional "Office of Secret Actions" (OSA) are sent to investigate rumors surrounding one of Heinrich Himmler's personal projects, the SS Paranormal Division (also see Ahnenerbe). The agents are, however, captured before completing their mission and are imprisoned in Castle Wolfenstein. Taking the role of Blazkowicz, the player must escape the castle and continue investigating the activities of the SS Paranormal Division, which include research on resurrecting corpses, biotechnology, and secret weapons. During the game the player battles Waffen SS soldiers, elite Fallschirmjäger (paratroopers) known as Black Guards, undead creatures, and Übersoldaten (supersoldiers) formed from a blend of surgery and chemical engineering conducted by Wilhelm "Deathshead" Strasse. The end boss is an undead Saxon warrior-prince named Heinrich I.

The cable car in the castle is based on the 1968 movie Where Eagles Dare, where a U.S. Army Brigadier General is captured and taken prisoner to the Schloß Adler, a fortress high in the Alps above the town of Werfen, only reachable by cable car, and the headquarters of the German Secret Service in southern Bavaria.[2][3] The supernatural element is based on the story of Castle Wewelsburg, a 17th-century castle occupied by the Germans under Heinrich Himmler's control, and used for occult rituals and practices.

In the German version of the game, it avoids making direct reference to Nazi Party and the "Third Reich", in order to comply with strict laws in Germany. The player is not battling Nazis but a secret sect called the "Wolves" led by Heinrich Höller, whose name is a pun of the original character Himmler (Himmler roughly translates as "Heavener", Höller as "Heller"). The Nazi swastika is also not present, the German forces use a Wolfenstein logo which is a combination of a stylized double-headed eagle prominent in most Nazi symbolism, a "W" (standing for Wolfenstein), and the Quake III: Team Arena "QIII" logo (the game engine and network code that RTCW is based upon). The "W" eagle logo is prominently seen on the cover art for the American version (above).

Music pieces such as Moonlight sonata and Für Elise are used in the single player campaign.

The team-based networked multiplayer features different character classes that must work together in order to win. There are four classes — lieutenant, medic, engineer, and soldier — the soldier can be one of several subclasses depending upon the special/heavy weapon that he selects. The multiplayer demo includes a beachhead assault map similar to Omaha Beach.
Story

While investigating the activities of the SS Paranormal Division in Germany, B.J. Blazkowicz and Agent One are captured by the Nazis. Agent One dies during interrogation, but B.J. manages to escape Castle Wolfenstein's dungeon. He then fights his way out of the castle, using a tram car to leave the area and meet up with a member of the German resistance in a nearby village.

The SS Paranormal Division, under Oberführer Helga von Bulow, has been excavating the catacombs and crypts of an ancient church within the village. The Division's sloppy precautions have led to the awakening of hordes of undead creatures, including Saxon knights, and the entrance must be sealed off, leaving many soldiers trapped inside the catacombs. B.J. descends regardless and fights both Nazis and undead until he arrives at the ancient house of worship, the Defiled Church, where Nazi scientist Professor Zemph is conducting a 'life essence extraction' on the corpse of a Dark Knight. Shortly before B.J.'s arrival, Zemph tries to talk the impatient Helga von Bulow out of retrieving an ancient Thulian artifact, the "Dagger of Warding", but she shoots him and proceeds. This awakens a monster, Olaric, which kills her as well. Blazkowicz defeats Olaric, then is airlifted out with Zemph's notes and the dagger.

One of Germany's leading scientific researchers and Head of the SS Special Projects Division, Wilhelm "Deathshead" Strasse, is preparing to launch an attack on London. He intends to use a V-2 rocket fitted with an experimental germ warhead, launching it from his base near Katamarunde in the Baltics. Blazkowicz is parachuted some distance from the missile base and smuggles himself in on a supply truck. Once inside, Blazkowicz destroys the V-2 on its launchpad and fights his way out of the facility towards an airbase filled with experimental jet aircraft. There, he commandeers a "Kobra" rocket-plane and flies to safety in Malta.

Eager to know more about Deathshead and his secret projects, the OSA sends Blazkowicz to the bombed city of Kugelstadt ('Bullet City'), where he is assisted by members of the German Kreisau Circle resistance group in breaking into a ruined factory and exfiltrating a defecting scientist. There he discovers the blueprints for the Reich's latest weapon, the Venom Gun, an electrically operated hand-held minigun. He also procures the weapon itself. Blazkowicz eventually breaks into Deathshead's underground research complex, the Secret Weapons Facility (SWF). There he encounters horrific creatures, malformed and twisted through surgery and mechanical implants. The creatures escape and go on a rampage. Blazkowicz sees Deathshead escape the SWF by U-Boat, and learns of his destination by interrogating a captured German officer.

Blazkowicz is then parachuted into Norway, close to Deathshead's mysterious X-Labs. After breaking into the facility, which has been overrun by the twisted creatures he encountered in Kugelstadt (dubbed 'Lopers'), Blazkowicz retrieves Deathshead's journal. He then confronts several prototype Übersoldaten, towering monstrosities coated in armor, powered by hydraulic legs and carrying powerful fixed weapons. Finally, he destroys one of Deathshead's completed Übersoldaten and kills the researchers who have developed it. Deathshead himself escapes in a Kobra rocket-plane and does not appear in the game again.

After studying the documents captured by Blazkowicz, the OSA has become aware of a scheme codenamed 'Operation: Resurrection', a plan to resurrect Heinrich I, a legendary and powerful Saxon warlock-king. Despite the skepticism of senior Allied commanders, the OSA parachutes Blazkowicz close to Castle Wolfenstein itself. He arrives at the town of Paderborn and, after assassinating all the senior officers of the SS Paranormal Division present there for the resurrection, fights his way through Chateau Schufstaffel and into the grounds beyond. After fighting two more Übersoldaten, Blazkowicz enters an excavation site near Castle Wolfenstein.

Inside the excavation site, Blazkowicz fights Nazi guards and prototype Übersoldaten, and makes his way to a boarded-up entrance to Castle Wolfenstein's crypts. There, he finds that the ruined part of the castle has become infested with undead creatures, which are attacking the castle's desperate garrison. After fighting his way through the castle, Blazkowicz arrives too late at the site of a dark ceremony to resurrect Heinrich I. At the ceremony, SS Psychic Marianna Blavatsky conjures up dark spirits, which transform three Übersoldaten into Dark Knights, Heinrich's lieutenants. She ultimately raises Heinrich I, who "thanks" her by turning her into his undead slave. In a climactic battle, Blazkowicz destroys the three Dark Knights and Heinrich I, as SS chief Heinrich Himmler watches in horror, remarking afterwards "This American... he has ruined everything".
Characters

Oberführer (Senior Colonel) Wilhelm Strasse or Deathshead is a gifted researcher who heads the SS Special Projects Division. He is the man behind both the Lopers, and the Super Soldiers, towering cyborg soldiers that were heavily armed and armored. He was also attempting to launch a V2 rocket on London with a chemical warhead. Unlike the other SS antagonists, Deathshead does not believe in the occult and would prefer to arm the Nazi war machine using advanced technology, but has been ordered to provide his creations to Operation Resurrection by Himmler himself. Himmler has also asked him to join the resurrection ceremony but Strasse declines due to his disbelief in the occult. Strasse continuously taunts Blazkowicz during his duel in the lab with an Übersoldat, commenting "Thus we will see the superiority of the machine over flesh and blood." After the protagonist wins the fight, Deathshead narrowly escapes in a rocket plane and goes into hiding, not to be seen again for the rest of the story. Deathshead returns as one of the main antagonists in the 2009 sequel Wolfenstein, where he has been promoted to Obergruppenführer (SS General).

Übersoldat is Wilhelm "Deathshead" Strasse's creation. It is a brutish cyborg with technological and cybernetic enhancements, armed with experimental weapons such as Tesla guns, Venom guns, and also Panzerfausts. The Übersoldaten are heavily armored and can take a massive amount of damage, functioning as game bosses.

Standartenführer (SS Colonel) Helga Von Bulow is a high-ranking officer within the SS Paranormal Division and also founder of the order of the Elite Guards, the SS Paranormal Division's all-female security force. She is Marianna Blavatsky's pupil and a firm believer in the occult. Although a capable leader, Helga tries too hard and makes rash decisions that jeopardize the safety of her troops. While the Elite Guards are loyal to her, the male soldiers under her command are skeptical of her choices. At Olarics tomb she kills Professor Zemp after he tries to stop her from taking the dagger. While doing this she accidentally awakens Olaric who brutally kills her too.

SS High Priestess Oberführer Marianna Blavatsky is in charge of Operation Resurrection. She tutored Standartenführer Von Bulow in the ways of the occult. Little is mentioned of her until the OSA learns of the ceremony. She is first seen in the game conducting a ceremony near a chateau involving two Super Soldiers. At the finale, she transforms three Super Soldiers into Zombie Knights and uses them to revive Heinrich I. Blavatsky pledges her loyalty and servitude to Heinrich only for him to reward her by transforming her into a zombie slave. Blavatsky and the Death Knights end up being destroyed by Blazkowicz as he arrives to face Heinrich.

Olaric, the boss for the first set of missions, is the founder of the Dark Forge and involved in Thulian lore. Standartenführer Von Bulow finds Olaric's tomb and, despite Prof. Zemph's warnings about breaking the inner seal, she accidentally brings him back to life by taking his dagger. Olaric kills her shortly before Blazkowicz arrives on the scene.

Heinrich I was an evil warlord - allegedly Heinrich I of Germany - who launched a campaign of conquest in Medieval Europe. He had studied the black arts and used them to his advantage by raising the dead. In the intro movie, a wizard confronts Heinrich and magically seals the tyrant in limbo. 1000 years later the SS Paranormal Division discovers his tomb. The player's final task in the game is to stop the sorceress Blavatsky from reviving him, but this cannot be achieved. Instead, Heinrich must be defeated in the final boss battle.

Heinrich Himmler is one of the only non-fictional characters of this game and the main person behind Operation Resurrection. He appears in a short cameo in the last cutscene, watching B.J. defeat and kill Heinrich I from a good distance. He expresses surprise at the Agent's victory, saying: "This American...he has ruined everything!". An aide-de-camp then informs him he must return to Berlin.
Multiplayer

Wolfenstein MultiPlayer (MP) is an objective game mode, in which players are split into two teams - Axis and Allies. Each team has a set of objectives to complete, the Allies usually being to destroy some sort of Axis advantage, and the Axis objectives being to defend their object(s). These objectives are split into two categories, primary and secondary. Primary objectives are ones which must be completed for victory, generally stealing secret documents or destroying a radar array; however secondary objectives are ones which are optional - they do not have to be completed, but if they are they may aid the appropriate team, such as blowing out a door to allow access into a tunnel which shortens travel time or allows less-noticeable infiltration of the enemy base.

Each team has access to a slightly different set of weapons, matching those used by each side in World War II. Players can choose from four different classes: Soldier, Medic, Lieutenant and Engineer.

Each class specializes in a certain aspect of the game, and an effective team will balance players out using all four classes, such as a soldier for blasting through enemy defences, a medic for supporting the team and keeping them alive (Soldier making up for the lack of firepower with medics, medics making up for the lack of health), a Lieutenant to resupply teammates with ammo (especially soldiers) and engineers to complete the objective, having their way cleared by the soldier which is then supported by the Lieutenant.
Gameplay modes

There are three different modes of play in Wolf MP, each allowing for a different experience - general multiplayer deathmatch, stopwatch, and checkpoint. Stopwatch calls for the Allied side to complete a set of objectives within a predefined time limit. The opposing team then become the Allies and have to complete the objectives in a shorter time than the now Axis. Checkpoint gamemode is a mode in which teams capture flags. It may be more commonly known as Capture the Flag (CTF). Whichever team is first to control all the flags at once, wins.
Development

The game is powered by a heavily modified version of the Quake III: Team Arena engine. The Return to Castle Wolfenstein engine was subsequently used as the foundation for Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory (Splash Damage/Activision), "Trinity" (Gray Matter Interactive/Activision) (shown at E3 in 2004, but canceled shortly after) and Call of Duty (Infinity Ward/Activision).

There are many different releases of Return to Castle Wolfenstein. The original release, version 1.0, came in a game box featuring a book-like flap. A Collector's Edition, packaged in a metal case, was released at the same time. The contents of the Collector's Edition changed depending on when it was purchased and could include a poster and fabric patch, a poster and a bonus CD, or just the bonus CD. The Game of the Year Edition (2002 - v.1.33) came with the original Wolfenstein 3D, game demos, and seven new multiplayer maps (Trenchtoast, Tram Siege, Ice, Chateau, Keep, The Damned, and Rocket.) The Platinum Edition (2004 - v.1.41) included Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, a stand-alone multiplayer expansion, and Wolfenstein 3D. Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War also came with the original Wolfenstein 3D as an unlockable after beating the campaign, and included some enhancements like surround sound.
Ports

The game was released for the Linux and Macintosh pl