People can be darn stubborn, and unfairly hard to please. Note to Raven Software: You've done nothing wrong.

I've been playing Wolfenstein for a while now and I'm pretty sure I'm about to beat it as the game says I'm over %80 done. I've been enjoying this wonderful game to no end, but surfing the internet and reading others' opinions, I find myself baffled at some of the responses I've seen. People have been dismissing the game as average and mediocre if not even downright bad, for reasons that I (mostly) find hard to accept.

Let me start with artificial intelligence, as this is the main gripe that I, and many others, have with the game. The AI, as stated by many others, is a bit… indifferent, I'd say. They can take their sweet time realizing you're standing right beside them and with the exception of them making good use of cover, their in-battle behavior is quite basic. On top of that, the graphics really are hit-or-miss. Sometimes the game can be quite attractive with dramatic lighting and well-animated enemies, but it can also look quite dated, especially when exploring some of the ins and outs of Isenstadt itself.

But, if there's one thing that I don't agree with people doing, it is blaming Raven for being unoriginal. Yes, the game has little to no innovation in it, but that's part of the whole thing. With the exception of then-astonishing graphics and enemies that could climb ladders (I'm not talking multiplayer here), what was so innovative about the praised Return to Castle Wolfenstein? Nazi zombies? Please…

I said it many times before and I'm going to say it again – games do NOT have to be original and innovative in order for them to be enjoyable. Hell, people have been playing Call of Duty 2 with different skins since 2005 on a yearly basis and I don't hear one eighth the complaints that I see about Wolfenstein, and those games had infinite respawns. Did Gears of War bring anything particularly new to the table? No. It refined the gameplay of one kill.switch and made it look and feel really great.

Now, Raven has done innovative stuff in the past, with the best example being the successful implementation of a third-person perspective to what is essentially a first-person shooter (see: Heretic II), but man – if there's one thing these guys can do, it's make action feel, sound and look good. And that is exactly what they've done with Wolfenstein. So yes, it doesn't break any new ground and it isn't always the prettiest kid in town. Screw that – this game is pure, unadulterated nostalgic fun, and for creating this pure, unadulterated nostalgic fun, Raven Software deserves some kudos.

My review will be coming soon. Thanks for taking the time and reading my blog. Now, for some questions:

1) Did you play Wolfenstein?
2) What did you think of it?
3) Do you believe games should be original and/or innovative if they want to be fun?