My Wolfenstein RPG (iPhone) Review:
Wolfenstein RPG is a port of a mobile phone game developed by iD software and published by EA Mobile. It is a first person turn based roleplaying game that has more in common with classic first person RPGs like Dungeon Master or the Wizardy Series.
It is based on the storyline of the Wolfenstein series but takes itself less serious than its source material. You play as Sergeant B.J. Blazkowicz who has been captured by the Axis military and is thrown in a prison cell to await experimentation and torture. In classic Wolf3d style Blazkowicz takes out the first guard he encounters in his cell and makes a daring escape. The storyline follows into Paranormal Nazi experimentation and is one of the more entertaining aspects of the title.
As you progress through the game it is hard to not notice that the developers designed the game with a style that is more consistent with cartoons than with Wolfenstein 3d. The game benefits from this style as it never feels monotonous or maze-like and differentiates itself from other games in the series. The environments are designed in 3d – and give the world a larger varied appearance especially when compared to the original Wolfenstein 3d game.
Combat is turn based meaning that you get to take a shot and then your enemies get to take a shot. This brings a more strategic balance to the action and certain situations like getting surrounded by enemies force you to carefully choose which weapons to use and where to run to if need be.
There is more to this game than just shooting at enemies though as you will meet friendly NPCs, find books to read, mix injectable super drugs that boost character stats, level up your character, and encounter mini-games through out the adventure.
All of this is very well designed and remains fresh throughout the ten level campaign. The only criticism I have is that there is no in-game music – and even though you can use your ipod library while playing the game I can’t help but feel the developers missed the mark by not including some of the classic music from the series.
Overall Wolfenstein RPG is a very entertaining turn based RPG with a good 10-12 hours of gameplay for a reasonable price – it is even on sale right now for a dollar.
8/10