Castle Wolfenstein Multiplayer
The first and best multiplayer map released (mp_beach) is a team-based game similar to a UT Assault map: One team (Allies) has a certain amount of time to storm the beach on D-Day and capture some war documents while the other team (Axis) tries to stop them; its sort of a one-way CTF since the Allies have to carry the war documents back to a certain spot while the Axis just have to run over the documents to return them back to the original position. The player carrying the documents is marked by an exclamation point. Unlike a UT Assault map, you do not change from attack to defend at the end of a round unless you are playing stop watch mode (see game types).
So far, no Death Match or CTF maps have been released; going to have to wait for a mod for that.
Finding and connecting to a local or remote server is easily accomplished through the game's Multiplayer menu; if you've played any other fairly new multiplayer games, you know what the interface is like. For those of you that hate team killers (such as the kamikaze clan) there is system where you can lodge a complaint against someone who tk's you; 3 complaints (or whatever the sever sets it as) and they get kicked. Players can also get kicked if their score is below a server-specified limit. If you just don't like someone, you can call a vote against them and if a certain percentage of players vote to kick him, he is gone.
As of version 1.3, a new feature called PunkBusters has been added to the game. This component must be enabled on both the server and players machines to work. If it is enabled on the server, players will not be able to join unless they have it enabled too. PunkBusters scans your computer for cheats (such as the incredibly lame AimBot) and prevents people from using the cheats. This keeps the playing field level.
So, what makes the game a little like Counter Strike?
That would be the realistic damage - only a few shots and then you're dead. There are also different classes that affect the game. There are 4 different classes to chose from, each with its own special abilities that are dependant on your power bar. Having a variety of classes on your team is important. For example, on mp_beach, you will need an Engineer to blow up the wall and door that are marked with the demolition icon.
The last important aspect of multiplayer is respawning after you get fragged. In Counter Strike, you don't respawn; in UT, you respawn immediately. In Castle Wolfenstein you respawn at only specified respawn times (there will be a respawning of all dead players like every 30 seconds). This fits into the game-type map since these respawn times can be viewed as reinforcements. The server can set a maximum number of lives for players.
The 3 Game Types:
Objective (Wolf MP)This is described above and is the 2 team mode where 1 defends while the other tries to accomplish some objectives.
Stopwatch (Wolf SW)
Exactly the same as above except the two teams (team A and team B) take turns being the "attacker." Their is an intial time limit; the first team to be the attackers "set the clock" with their completion time. The other team then has to then try beating the 1st team's time. There are two options for alternation: ABAB and ABBA. In the first setting, team A always sets the clock; in the second setting, the 2 teams take turns setting the clock.
Checkpoint (Wolf CP)
This is similar to UT's Domination mode. There are various check points around the map of which teams can take control. A team wins when they have control of all of the checkpoints; time can alos run out and the winner is the team currently controlling the most checkpoints. If it is tied when time runs out, the game enters sudden death.
Additional Multiplayer Resources
MP Maps and Mods - for when you get bored of the 8 included maps.Classes - find out about the different classes available in multiplayer games.
Console Commands - console commands for running a server.