Man, we got Return to Castle Wolfenstein for Christmas one year along with a heap of other PC games and even the box itself was imposing. I must have started it maybe ten times over the years but never really got far. I’m pretty sure my Dad ran through it a bunch of times before the rest of us even made it halfway, to be fair we were busy having our asses handed to us by the AI. So, y‘know, heaps on… Anyway, Return to Castle Wolfenstein is a weird game and I don’t mean weird in a bad way, far from it. It just has a flair for some pretty out-there ideas which all somehow fit together perfectly. I honestly didn’t even remember half of this stuff. I entered the catacombs, saw the zombies and skeletons and I kinda just laughed. I know, I know. The occult, raising the dead and all that. We find out more as the story unravels, provided you actually watch the cutscenes and read the mission briefings.. which I never did back then. Still, it’s been a fun trip down memory lane. I’m more or less reliving my 2001 Christmas and New Year here, but with some quality of life improvements.
Return to Castle Wolfenstein was released in 2001 by Grey Matter Studios, previously known as Xatrix Entertainment. After releasing Kingpin: Life of Crime, Xatrix went through significant changes which led to a major rebrand and Activision managed to acquire a minority stake in the company. Return to Castle Wolfenstein proved to be a commercial success, leading Activision to outright acquire the company in 2002. Grey Matter was eventually folded into Treyarch, marking the end of the studio. The game’s story traces back to 943 AD. A German prince named Heinrich used dark magic to raise an army of undead and dark knights en route to conquering much of Western Europe before being sealed away in an underground tomb. Now in 1943, with World War II turning against Nazi Germany, Heinrich Himmler becomes obsessed with reviving Heinrich and founds the SS Paranormal Division in an attempt to harness this occult power for the Third Reich. The Allies learn about the plan and send B.J. Blazkowicz and Agent One to stop it, but both are captured and imprisoned in Castle Wolfenstein. Agent One is tortured for information and is killed by electrocution, while Blazkowicz stages a brutal escape and begins unraveling this occult Nazi operation. Hey, a story! I guess uh.. fourth time’s the charm?
For a 2001 release, Return to Castle Wolfenstein still looks surprisingly good. Every environment is well detailed without being unnecessarily cluttered, which makes for some pretty strong environmental storytelling, even for the time. From the first mission, escaping the castle, they’ve definitely engineered that sense of being deep behind enemy lines. The weapon models also match the scenery perfectly and the animations across the board still hold up well. It has to be said: you can definitely feel some of Kingpin’s DNA here. Certain areas have a similar feel even though we’re in 1943 Germany, while the bullet hit mechanics for both enemies and the player feel oddly familiar. The combat feels so grounded and I think Grey Matter were more comfortable with a straight-up first-person shooter than a first-person shooter with RPG elements. Maybe it’s the engine? Moving to the Quake III Arena engine seemed to allow them to deliver smoother weapon mechanics and a more fluid level to level experience. On the Steam Deck, the controller support feels natural and it works perfectly out of the box. I added a few of my own adjustments, with toggles for crouch, walking and a more intuitive secondary fire. Enabling gyro aiming also allows those fine aiming adjustments to become effortless and it elevates the experience even further.
They’ve honestly nailed that World War II setting, constantly reinforcing the feeling that you’re deep behind enemy lines. From cold, dark stone corridors and fortified bunkers and buildings through to the uniforms and equipment, everything sells you on the idea that you’re ripping through enemy territory with no chance of backup and no margin for error. There’s really no fluff here, the focus is clearly on tight environments that exist purely to be pushed through, cleared out and left behind. It all feels logically laid out and I think the developers deserve credit for consistently strong level design. Seriously, kudos. Where it really shines is how confidently the game leans into the occult nonsense. The SS officers come across as genuinely unhinged, treating forbidden rituals and ancient horrors like they’re just another weapon. The abominations they create are absolutely unsettling too. Super-soldiers? Who gives a shit. Lopers are feral, electricity-spewing monstrosities that can turn the entire floor into a death trap and they’re legitimately horrifying to look at. The weapons escalate alongside the madness too, we’ve got the usual World War II staples like Lugers, Thompsons and MP40s. The flamethrower is a nice touch, but then the Venom gun and the Tesla gun kick things up a notch. It’s not quite full-blown madness until you’re disintegrating Nazis with electricity.
Some missions require stealth and if you try to run in guns blazing, you’ll be restarting pretty quickly. Paying attention to the cutscenes and actually reading the briefings really helps here. Take note, past me. While stealth is a requirement in some sections, it never really feels forced or restrictive and clearing those missions brings a genuine sense of accomplishment. They’re actually some of the best missions and I think they helped me adjust how I approached the rest of the game. The stealth sections actually push you to slow things down, be more deliberate and think harder about how you approach each situation. My only real complaint is the difficulty. At times, the AI can feel relentless and overpowered with some of the elite soldiers hitting like a freight train. That being said, if you stick to the time-tested mantra of ‘save early, save often,’ you won’t have a problem. It really only becomes a problem if you refuse to shift gears. Return to Castle Wolfenstein is presented pretty clean and focused. The visuals, the interface and pacing all work together well without feeling flashy or overdone. The soundtrack also compliments that approach. They’ve tuned it perfectly to creep in and build suspense at the right moments, ramp up during tense firefights and, maybe even more importantly, knows when to shut the fuck up and let the atmosphere do the heavy lifting.
My return to uh.. Return to Castle Wolfenstein has honestly been pretty eye-opening and not just for the out-there occult nonsense, but for how well it holds up nearly 25 years on. It translates incredibly well to a modern controller or handheld and it delivers this oddly confident mix of grounded World War II pseudo-history combined with full blown dark occult themes. Through it all, it somehow manages to never collapse under its own ambition. We’ve got strong pacing, consistently solid level design and mission variety that keeps things fresh by switching between careful, stealthy infiltration to ridiculous, full-noise Tesla-fueled chaos. The escalation in chaos also manages to feel earned, like you’ve put in the legwork before the game really unleashes. My only real criticism is that the AI can be pretty harsh, but it kinda reinforces that theme of being behind enemy lines, which to put it incredibly lightly: would be pretty rough. It’s not perfect, but the rough edges play into the experience and still manages to feel incredibly focused and genuinely satisfying after all these years. Whether you’re revisiting decades later and reliving an early ‘00s Christmas like I am, or playing it for the first time, Return to Castle Wolfenstein well and truly earns its place among the boomer shooter greats. Turns out, I really should’ve stuck with it back in 2001.
Verdict:
Return to Castle Wolfenstein gives us a grounded World War II setting with some whacky occult nonsense folded in. The level design is top tier, the pacing is strong and the escalating chaos provides a thoroughly enjoyable experience which helps smooth out any rough edges. While the AI can be unforgiving at times, it has still aged far better than I expected absolutely earns a spot among the boomer shooter greats.
Deck Compatibility: 10/10
Overall Game Rating: 9/10 – Weird, Whacky Masterpiece
Steam Deck Specifics:
– I played the Steam version and installed the unofficial fan patch recommended by PCGamingWiki. You can grab Knightmare’s 1.42d patch from his website. This patch adds native widescreen support along with a number of bug fixes and stability improvements.
– As always, make sure the controls suit how you want to play. The default scheme is mostly fine, but a few choices don’t fit how I would normally play a first-person shooter. I went ahead and changed these. I’d highly recommend adding one of the back buttons to toggle crouch or walk for those stealth-heavy sections as it makes a noticable difference.
-Gyro aiming is something I never really bought into, until now. Boomer Shooter December has shown me the light. Enable gyro to make those fine aiming adjustments effortless and elevate your overall experience. Brief Gyro Guide: Coming Soon!
The short version: enable Gyro as Mouse in Steam Input (Controller Settings) and adjust the sensitivity to your liking, then with very slight pressure on the right-stick you can adjust your aiming with ease.
Dad with a Deck 
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