Too busy to devote 12+ hours a day to your gaming habit? Here's a review that's sensitive to your needs: Short and focused on just the things that a busy gamer like you really needs to know.
Busy Gamer Review - Wolfenstein RPG
Reviewed On: iPhone. $3 at this writing though we paid $5.
In a Nutshell: Turn-based battle action in the Wolfenstein 3D setting with tweaks to make it more playable on a touchscreen portable. The first-person perspective is intact, with options to punch, kick, shoot and eventually blow up enemies and stuff. The enemies have evolved; Hitler now has a soul patch - among other historical re-imaginings! Not the same game you remember from the '80s and '90s or even a few years back on the consoles, but not bad, either. Just different.
Learning Curve: Easy, regardless of your level of RPG experience. A translucent D-pad is your primary source of movement, although you can strafe by sliding your finger across the screen. (Difficult if your screen is sticky or dusty.) The training screens are written in non-gamer language, so even those new to the RPG/FPS worlds will understand what they are talking about - you don't even need to know what RPG and FPS mean. Training is also spread out a bit, so there is no one training mission--you're taught as you go. Other tips (save at any time, how to strafe) are periodically sprinkled in for good measure. Battle consists of selecting a weapon and tapping on the enemy in your line of fire. If you can figure out what "Inventory" means, you can pick up and play this game.
The Save Game: Manually save at any time using the Save option on the menu if you're obsessive about these things. Truth be told, simply quitting the game autosaves it - as you'd expect from any well-behaved iPhone app - so you're pretty well covered. In some cases, a combat save counted as my turn, meaning I didn't get to take a shot at the enemy. This only happened a few times while I was playing around with the save system, so it's possible I took a step to the side or did something else to count as my turn. It's not clear - but again, just pressing the iPhone's square Home button, or receiving a phone call, saves your progress just fine.
Family Factor: Teen and up. While there is no blood except on the walls, the game is basically killing Nazis and non-human combatants. Certain enemies explode into a pile of organic detritus upon defeat. Nazis just pass out on the floor, but will disappear if you kick them. The game has a number of G- and PG-level text jokes that will make you groan more than anything. Seriously, the puns are more violent than the game! Dying in the game is represented by a red screen followed by the menu.
Buy or Skip? Being an iPhone game, renting isn't an option here. Even if it was, this would be a Buy. It's a tremendously fun, fast game that you can pick up and set down at any time - perfect for busy gamers. Just don't expect the same Wolfenstein you used to play all night. Also, no multiplayer, so if that's a requirement you should investigate the new Wolfenstein game that just came out for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
On a Personal Note: We were living in Maryland 15 or so years ago when I was first introduced to Wolfenstein 3D. Gamewatcher was working in Virginia and had to stay at the office until around 11 p.m. every Thursday on deadline. I would occasionally take the train down to have dinner and see him early in the evening. One night while I was waiting for him to wrap up, he showed me the Wolfenstein 3D game someone had loaded on an office PC for these late nights waiting for the boss to make his final editorial decisions and let everyone go home. I was immediately hooked, rolling down the halls, kicking Nazi flags and – "Oh, crap. Dog!" For some reason, I just couldn't bring myself to shoot the damn dogs. Who proceeded to chew my digital nuts off! Gamewatcher came over and asked why I was getting killed. "It's a dog," I said."It's a NAZI dog," he replied. I shot the dog... but I still wasn't happy about it.
If you want to see what I mean, you can get Wolfenstein 3D on the iPhone now too ($2 at this writing with a free Lite version available), but the iPhone controls are kind of crappy. This RPG version is an improvement: The turn-based approach actually works better than a twitch shooter with the iPhone's touch controls.
