Wolfenstein: The New Order
PlayStation 4
Nostalgia Factor:
Back in the 1990s, Wolfenstein 3D was my introduction to the first person shooter genre. I’ve been a fan of that game basically my whole life, but I have never bothered to play any of its sequels or spinoffs, outside of 2003’s Return to Castle Wolfenstein for the PS2. Although the game got favorable reviews, I personally thought it sucked. As a result, I wrote off the Wolfenstein series as dead. I didn’t give it much thought until 2014, when I heard that the series was getting resurrected for the current generation of consoles.
Over five years have now passed since Wolfenstein: The New Order initially came out, and I am just now finally getting around to playing it. Would I like this game, or would it turn out to be another disappointment ala Return to Castle Wolfenstein? Spoiler alert: I liked it. In fact, I liked it a lot more than the Doom reboot, which I initially had much higher hopes for.
Story:
Wolfenstein: The New Order takes place in an alternate reality where the Nazis use advanced robotic technology to win World War II.
It starts with BJ Blazkowicz, the protagonist from the previous Wolfenstein games, leading an attack on a Nazi research facility during the war. The attack fails, and BJ is grievously injured during the assault. He is sent to a mental hospital, where he spends 14 years in a vegetative state. During BJ’s 14 year absence, the Nazis win the war. BJ awakens when the Nazis attack the hospital, deeming the patients expendable to, well, whatever it is that the Nazis do. BJ fortunately “comes to” in the nick of time, and fights off the Nazis while rescuing the woman who had been looking after his health. You’d think he’d have lost some of his hulking muscle mass and that he would be too weak and unable to fight after being virtually comatose for 14 years, but some suspension of disbelief is required to enjoy this game.
BJ ends up with an underground resistance unit that is trying to disrupt the Nazi war machine. As you play, you’ll do things like bust people out of prison, destroy Nazi facilities, steal their technology, wipe out their bridges, and infiltrate their lunar facility. That’s right, technology is so advanced in this alternate timeline that the Nazis have a base on the moon.
I didn’t get caught up too much in the particulars of this game’s storyline. I was too busy blasting away at stuff to pay attention half the time. But I liked the premise of the game and how it is so uncompromising in how over the top it is.
Gameplay:
In the original Wolfenstein 3D, you didn't do much aside from run around and shoot bad guys. This game has a lot more depth to it.
Basic combat is focused around running and gunning, sure. You can equip up to two weapons at a time to blast away at your enemies. You want to duck and use corners as cover as much as possible. You rarely want to run into a situation with guns blazing. You can get surrounded pretty quickly and find yourself dead in no time.
There are stealth elements to be found in this game as well. There is nothing more satisfying than sneaking around a stage and knifing Nazis discretely in the back when they are completely unaware of you. You can clear entire areas sometimes without firing a single shot. Once an alarm is raised, however, enemies will flood the area and you have to resort to the basic run and gun tactics.
This is a very power-up heavy game. You are going to find new guns all over the place. Ammo is never a scarce commodity. Health items and armor upgrades seemingly hide out in every nook and cranny of the game, which is a good thing. This is a fairly challenging title, and I often found myself low on health and running for my life. Luckily, this game is filled with secret areas galore where you can restock and lay low for a little while.
When this game hits its full stride, it is very fast paced and almost arcade-like in its action. It is very fun and very addicting to play. Not to say that all you do is run around and kill stuff. You are going to be watching a lot of cutscenes. There is a lot of story to digest. There are also levels where you are in your base and you have to walk around and talk to people and run errands for them, which almost gives certain parts of this game an RPG-like feel.
Graphics:
Despite the fact that this game was released over five years ago, I was very impressed by its visuals. The world of this game is very fleshed out and well-detailed. You will see lots of small touches and personal details everywhere you look, that really make you realize how much time and effort was put into making this game look as authentic as possible.
Character models look really nice. Everyone is well animated. The environments are authentic and believable. It is very easy to immerse yourself in the world of the game. Wolfenstein: The New Order finds a way to make things like Nazi outposts on the moon seem believable.
The quality of this game's cinematics is top-notch as well. Maybe this isn't the most gorgeous game in the world like God of War or Horizon Zero Dawn, but never once did I stop to think that anything looked ugly or out of place. Solid stuff.
Sound:
This game's sound quality is excellent too. Roaring machine guns, massive explosions, the shouts of the Nazis raising an alarm when you are spotted: everything sounds undeniably fantastic.
The game's music fits its stages appropriately, although no particular scores stand out in my memory. The game can be very immersive when you play with headphones on. You can listen to small audio cues to determine your enemy's location, which is always helpful.
I remember the game's voice acting and dialogue being a little spotty at times, but I always was able to look the other way in that regard, This is a campy, over-the-top action title. No one is here to watch any Oscar winning acting performances.
Overall:
After being let down by the 2016 Doom reboot, I had similar expectations for this game. But it turned out to be a pleasant surprise! I had a lot of fun with Wolfenstein: The New Order. At its highest highs, it is an insanely addictive, fun, well-detailed, immersive, and action packed extravaganza. At its lowest lows, I found myself a little bored with some of the forced story aspects and character interactions with your fellow resistance members. I just wanted to get back to fighting Nazis, darn it! Can you blame me?
Not only is this a fun and addicting game, it has some replay value too with all of the collectibles and hidden trophies for you to unlock. I found myself revisiting several old stages to find things that I'd missed the first time.
One criticism I have is in the game's difficulty. I am always up for a good challenge, but there are several areas in this game that seem to be a little too unfairly hard for my tastes. I remember one particular area in the game in the bridge stage where there is a horde of enemies in the distance that are shooting at you with missiles and sniper rifles, while all you have are big, clunky, close range guns. Duck out from cover for a MICROSECOND to try and shoot one of your enemies and you're getting hit five times before you can even blink. Since your weapons are so ineffective when battling distant enemies, you have to rush in to fight them. But with limited cover around, I found myself getting torn to pieces in mere seconds. I eventually made it through this area, but I must have died about 30 times. I had to resort to cheap, ineffective hit and run tactics to slowly make my way through all the enemies. That part of the game was NOT something I would describe as fun, by any stretch of the imagination. And that's not the only area like that either. I must have found myself getting endlessly killed and having to try again at at least five or six other spots in the game. I definitely raged in front of my television set on several occasions.
But it was all worth it in the end. Overall, I look very favorably on my time with this game, despite its occasional overly challenging segments. I can't believe it took me so long to give this game a try. What is exciting for me is that there are several sequels and follow-ups that have already been released since this game hit store shelves nearly six years ago. I have heard that Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is even better than this game. I can't wait to play it!
Should you play Wolfenstein: The New Order if you haven't already? If you are a fan of Wolfenstein 3D and you want to see how far the series has come since the early 90s, definitely! If you are a fan of first person shooters in general, definitely! If shooters aren't your thing, this won't be the game for you.
I liked it a ton, however. I won't go so far as to say I loved it, but it far exceeded each and every one of the expectations I had for it. Good game.
Final Score:
B+
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