Return to Castle Wolfenstein Operation Resurrection

Return to Castle Wolfenstein's devilish alliance of Nazis and the undead works surprisingly well. Barring some dopey mechanical zombie dogs, it's a perfect premise for a first-person shooter, and remarkably sharp visuals and sound seal the diabolical deal. Even as a blow-em-all-to-hell-and-let-Satan-sort-em-out affair, Resurrection bristles with eerie pulp ambiance, thanks to its torch-lit catacombs and dilapidated castles. But if anything can bring your romanticized undead WWII fantasy crashing back to reality, it's inconsistent A.I. And, sadly, although some of your enemies employ squad tactics, other not-so-super soldiers wander aimlessly into the open. Still, it's what you don't get in this version of the game that hurts most. Whether the blame belongs to Activision or Sony is irrelevant--the fact remains that Resurrection is devoid of multiplayer modes in any shape or form. Considering that Xbox owners get splitscreen co-op, system-link play, and one of the deepest, most ambitious online games among today's consoles, that's an inexcusably raw deal, indeed.

As on PC and Xbox, PS2 Wolfenstein offers decent first-person shooting: some fun weapons, some lame enemies, a cool new ability to build up your stats, but mostly just what you'd expect from an ol' fashioned Nazi blaster, all under a coat of smooth, crisp graphics. Where the PS2 version takes a hit (and I mean a big hit, as in having its arms completely blown off) is in its total lack of multiplayer modes--the addictive online game is gone, without so much as a splitscreen deathmatch in its place. Lame.

Do you enjoy shooting Nazis, destroying zombies, and throwing switches? If so, then Resurrection is for you. Even if, like me, you're sick to death of switch-finding as the arbiter of progress through games, annihilating Aryans and massacring their macabre minions ought to amuse you throughout this pseudohistorical adventure. Entertaining as it is, however, Resurrections unadorned action offers precious little replay value. And I hate to beat an undead horse, but the others are right--the multiplayer modes that made the Xbox version so compelling have gone AWOL, and that's a capital offense.