Before Doom, there was Wolfenstein. Popularizing the first-person shooter genre and giving players the opportunity to mow down an army of Nazis and an intimidating robo-Hitler, Wolf 3D was successful and influential enough to found a series. Whether it's a remake, rebirth, or reimagining, Wolfenstein has returned with the same hero, special agent B.J. Blazkowicz, and roughly the same goal. Get psyched, because it's time to kill some Nazis. It's still a mystery what B.J. actually stands for, though.

There's certainly been some effort put into fleshing out the plot and background in this new Wolfenstein. You'll navigate a hub world and speak to individuals who belong to various factions, chiefly the Kreisau Circle or the Golden Dawn. There's a heavy emphasis on supernatural elements derived from another realm known as The Veil, where hidden paths are revealed, everything is green and floating, and explosive flea creatures are the native wildlife.

Despite the effort, Wolfenstein isn't always successful at pulling you into its world, and events rarely seem to fit together or change the way you play the game past asking you to navigate to a different spot on the map. But while you may not remember many names or details when you're done, but the game is still more interesting for having them in the first place. At the very least, you feel like you're part of a larger conflict.

Wolfenstein feels reasonably complete, meeting the basic standards and expectations you have for a modern shooter. There's a single-player campaign and a multiplayer mode with a handful of maps and a few different game types, including standard team deathmatch, and objective-based battles similar to the Enemy Territory games. The solo component gives a nod to open-world design with a city hub for you to traverse and explore, and sometimes lets you choose to take on available missions in any order you wish. You can customize your weapons with various upgrades at a black market location, and in multiplayer, you become more powerful as you earn points and unlock options.

The game checks-off plenty of feature boxes, but the implementation is often limited, or in the worst cases, completely flawed. You pay for scraps of non-linearity by repeatedly fighting your way through the same city chokepoints to get from one place to the next. If you want to focus on a particular weapon, you'll find the upgrades available to you at any given time are tightly restricted based on which missions you've completed. Online, new players will face veterans who deal more damage and take less shot-for-shot, creating a huge potential for one-sided matchups.

The game only partially succeeds at imitating elements that worked in other titles, but a game with a few compromised features turn out to be better than a game with no options, and Wolfenstein never completely fails. In the end, it manages to get by on its basic strengths.

Thanks to a solid set of weapons and controls that feel responsive despite a less-than-ideal framerate, you'll still enjoy killing Nazis even if the game takes a little while to pick up steam. Weapons actually start out feeling a little weak due to spotty accuracy, but become noticeably more effective as you modify them. Each addition to a weapon produces tangible results, and a fully upgraded weapon like the scoped MP-43 is satisfyingly lethal. Aside from a handful of historical World War II weapons, out of this world ordnance like the particle cannon give the game some much-needed personality, and leave you with a giddy feeling of power. The balance between realism and insanity is definitely one of the Wolfenstein's strong points.

When you're transported from the hub world into an actual level, it's more or less a linear run to the end. Fortunately, it's a good one. Supernatural enemies with paranormal powers are mixed in with standard soldiers in a way that provides challenging battles with many possible outcomes. As you make your way through the game, you pick up new upgradeable powers yourself that are predictable but effective--slowing down time isn't too original, but it does get the job done. The game provides a respectable challenge, and you'll definitely die in the normal difficulty, with more than a few deaths no doubt caused by numerous grenades tossed your way.

Confrontations gradually ramp up along with your arsenal. You'll gradually be introduced to tougher enemies like inviso-Nazis or lady commandos, and you'll run into a few large-scale boss fights that serve as milestones for your progress.

Wolfenstein uses the once-cutting edge technology that powered Doom 3 to pretty good effect, but at this point, it's starting to show its age. The locations themselves exhibit diversity and atmosphere. Eerie lighting, sound effects, and some gory Nazi carnage all feel appropriate given the themes, but everything feels a little dated and the action is a little choppy. During online play, the game sees a noticeable downgrade to its visuals.

There are many first-person shooters on the market that offer a package similar to Wolfenstein's. Some are better, thanks to originality and sheer polish, but there are plenty of out there that are worse. Players who are attached to the franchise won't be burned if they happen to pick the game up, and most shooter fans will be able to squeeze some enjoyment out of it. It's hard to imagine the multiplayer mode keeping much traction as the game ages, though, so look at the game as a short term investment. Does the world need a hero like BJ Blazcowicz these days? We're not entirely convinced, but there's always room for Nazis.

Reviewed on Sony Playstation 3.