Let’s hit things off by giving a brief summary of your gaming history and where you currently stand in the world of e-sports.

zoidbergenstein: Well first off, I guess ive been playing semi-competitively since i was in elementary school with goldeneye 64 tournaments. I didn’t really get into to hardcore PC gaming until Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory came around and I saw my brother playing it online. We ended up competing at qcon 06 in w:et and decided that if we really wanted to pursue serious gaming, we would have to find a game that still had a more active community. Vash and I also formed NUC at this point, and  we played and won a bunch of tournaments around the country in various games. We then started preparing for ETQW, which ended up being a huge let down for all of us, but we still went to the first Qcon. We ended up being sponsored by pure gaming, but quit shortly after. Most of my guys kept playing in some fashion, but i retired from gaming for about 2 years and just recently came back for wolfenstein. We are now sponsored by area 51 gaming, www.area51gaming.com, and are ready to compete in Wolfenstein (which btw we think is a lot better than people give it credit for, the pro mod should fix a lot).

admzz: I started out in Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory (WET) about 5 years ago, just playing casually. I gradually started playing competitively, often on 3v3 teams and bad teams. I eventually ended up with a team called hostility, which had some members from united5 and some other good players, and did pretty well with them. I also had short stint with a team called next generation after that which ended up going nowhere, and is when I quit the game. After that I moved to call of Duty 2 and played with acid reign in CAL-m, then moved on from that to Counter-Strike: Source, where I was also in CAL-m. I got to cal-invite placement before the team stopped playing, and then played Call of Duty 4 most recently for clan kapitol at the beginning of the game, along with players anoxia, trg, le fEl, and defrag. I met zoidberg here in the beta for wolf and thought his team looked pretty solid, so I tried playing with them and it was a fit. So here i am…

Now I am sure that you two have tested out the single player portion of the game, but I know that your main concern is the multiplayer, so we will focus on that. What are your favorite and least favorite concepts that have been newly introduced to the Wolfenstein MP game play (eg. Veil)?

zoidbergenstein: I am not really a huge fan of the new stuff that has been added… I think the upgrades and veil powers take away from the team aspect of the game and don’t really have a place in competition. Ironsights don’t really bother me as much as they do some people, I don’t even have them bound to a key lol. I guess I am not really a big fan of any of the new aspects of the game, but I also dont think they are terribad.

admzz: As for what I like, the way that it is now at 5 head shots to kill rather than 3 is an interesting concept to me. It makes firefights longer, but still it takes skill. I also like the slow healing medpacks they have added in rather than the old style instant medpacks that made rambo medics huge in ET and RTCW. What i dislike would probably have to be the veil powers, veil sight and upgrades. I think all of these are made for people who play on public.

I think we can all agree that the MP could use some polishing, so what do you think are the top 5 most important things to focus on?

zoidbergenstein: 1. spawn times are way too fast 2. instant revives to make medics more important again 3. i think you shouldn’t be able to pick up ammo from any gun 4. being able to turn off upgrades server side 5. spawn times are way too fast.

admzz: Figuring out what spawn times work for what map, nerfing the mp43 by 10-15% less damage, instant revives , taking out veil/upgrades, and last would be removing the big STOP sign Axis sees through walls, showing where the enemy is going with the objective.

How do you feel about the map design of the game?

zoidbergenstein: I think some of the maps are outstanding! Bank/manor/hospital are amazing maps that cater well to competition. Some of the maps are definitely more suited to pubs. In rooftops for example, the kar and the mp43 can pick off almost an entire team before the mp40 is even within reasonable fall off damage range. It takes away the team work and crossfires that make these games great, and focuses on 2 classes trying to kill each other. Once the sdk is released i think several rtcw/w:et maps could be great in this game… tc_base anyone?

admzz: For the most part, I like the map designs. They are pretty small so the rounds aren’t ever too long. The only map I think has no chance in competitive play is rooftops.

Do you have any issues with the weapons found in MP?

zoidbergenstein: I think a lot of people will say the mp43 is too strong, and I agree somewhat. We run alot of our strats around the mp43, but I don’t know that I would nerf it too much. There’s only one allowed in scrims/matches, and its not good enough to wipe a whole team. In my opinion, increasing the range on the mp40 would do alot to balance the mp43. The fall off damage is ridiculous after a certain level while the kar98 and mp43.

admzz: Well, there aren’t many guns in this game that are useful. Its mainly the mp40, kar98, and the mp43. The one gun I (and many other players) have an issue with is the mp43. It’s far too powerful as it is. Good soldiers are running around dominating multiple medics/engineers at once all the time with the mp43. Personally I think the gun’s damage should be reduced quite a bit. As it is, the mp43 makes the game unbalanced.

What are your thoughts on the MP upgrade system?

zoidbergenstein: I’m not a big fan of them… were actually planning on scrimming with all the upgrades tonight, including veil powers/flak/big bore, to see if its even playable at a competitive level, but as of right now, I think it’s a system for pubs and not for competitive gaming.

admzz: It is cool for people playing public servers, rather than people in competitive play.

I know I am definitely excited about playing this game competitively, as much as yourselves I am sure. What do you forsee in the future of WolfPro (game modes, leagues, etc)?

zoidbergenstein: Well, TWL and TGL have already announced that they plan on holding tournaments, ESL has said they plan on picking the game up, CEVO will hopefully pick it up, and I think we are all assuming it will be at Qcon next year. Right now there aren’t a lot of teams playing, but hopefully with a pro mod coming close to being finished, we will see the number of teams hit 40 or even more playing competitively.

admzz: The game seems to have an extremely small community for a game so new. I am hoping that it will pick up a bit more when promod is finished. There is also talk of money leagues/tournaments coming up in the near future, which should help get teams and players a little more interested in the game. As far as game modes, stopwatch is the only way to do it in wolf

Well that about covers it for me. Was there anything else you would like to mention before we close up shop?

zoidbergenstein: I think that about covers it for me, looking forward to leagues getting started for this game.

admzz: #51 @ gamesurge , shoutout to severity, swizza, joseph, and jesus.

Thanks for your time guys, and all your great answers to my questions! See you in WolfPro!

If we back track to the first few months after the announcement of the new Wolfenstein, we can see where people’s concern began to grow. There was little information about the game to be found on the web, and the closest things you could find were either artist renditions or screenshots of green Nazi zombies. New game additives such as “veil” and sneak previews of the powerful futuristic weapons arsenal looked for a promising single player, but the multiplayer of the game was immediately called into question. “Will we everyone be blasting eachother with high-tech energy weapons online? Iron sights, we don’t want another COD! Ewww green is my least favorite color…” I could sit here and read off a list of quotes all day, but I digress. In the early phases no one knew what to expect for the multiplayer portion of the game, except that the previews that had been released to the public were looking like what some referred to as a COD clone. From then on, the majority of information regarding the game was purely single player.

It wasn’t until a few months before release that information regarding the multiplayer was leaked. An interview with Carmack gave fans hope, as quoted in an interview about MP, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Gamespot coverage of the console MP gave insight as well, but restless wolf fans were still left in the dark. It wasn’t until a leaked beta version of the game hit the net, that people got a good look at what the multiplayer was going to be like. Within days there were numerous youtube videos, impressions on forums around the web, screenshots, you name it. This was the point when the Wolfenstein forums hit an all time high of chatter. Names were called, fingers were pointed, and all caps were abused. Id were definitely not happy about the leaked beta or the responses they were getting regarding the multiplayer, but it may have been the most successful beta test I have seen in a while, in terms of the output of information regarding bugs and demanded changes. An official public beta was definitely in order much earlier in the development, as the game was due to come out only weeks after the leak, but it gave the developers some things to think about in the meantime.

Only a week after release we can draw some solid conclusions about the game. One, the single player kicks ass! Two, the multiplayer needs some serious attention and quick. Why did this happen? It seems that the single player and multiplayer were separately developed, and the majority of the MP team were laid off (fired) shortly after release, reasons unknown. At this point someone purchasing the game for the multiplayer may be asking themselves why they should buy the game with all the disappointment. Here are a few reasons why the new Wolfenstein may not be as bad as many portray it to be, and why it may have a hopeful future. 1. Wolfenstein community manager stickies a constructive community feed back thread on the forums (hundreds of posts and views within only a few days). I can only hope that this collection of feedback is an attempt from id to keep their famous franchise alive, and give the game back to its fans. 2. Promod beta announced after the first week. Hannes=God. ET:QW could have used his expertise this early on, and I know that many people are depending on this guy’s work for Wolfenstein if the developers can’t deliver. 3. Gaming leagues announce ladders with promises of big rewards. Competitive communities always provide a new form of entertainment to a game. WolfTV anyone?

In all seriousness, this game is going to be worth the buy and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. The single player has gotten great reviews all around, and although the multiplayer is not what people wanted it to be, that may very well change soon. Either through intensive patching, community modding, or the combination of the two, the hardcore wolf fans do not want to see this game fail. Even now, simple tweaks to the game bring it one step closer to the feel of the original Wolfenstein and previews of Hannes promod are getting people excited. I am personally making my buy to contribute to the further development of the game, and am hoping that the Wolfenstein series continues into the years to come. *Detailed Game Review to Come*