Wolfenstein: The New Order Review

There is a scene right in the midst of Wolfenstein: The New Order’s exhilarating and action-packed extended cold open, that basically defines your entire experience with the game going forward. Two of your fellow soldiers, after being captured by an insane Nazi scientist (and the game’s central antagonist) are about to be put to death, and the choice is yours to save one of them. At first glance this seems like a simple, typically generic morality choice, but as you progress it becomes clear of how loaded this choice is, how brutal the sacrifices of war are, and exactly how the guilt of of your actions as a leader sits in a heart. which all sounds pretty heavy handed, in fairness, but is still somehow all wrapped not only in one of the most pleasant surprises of 2014, but also one of the all around best first person shooter experiences of the current generation thus far.

In this latest iteration of the classic series, you once again play as World War ll Captain William “BJ” Blazkowics, who after the aforementioned cold open, spends the next fourteen years out of comission in a mental institution, only to find upon snapping to his senses that the Nazi’s have won the war, taken over the planet, and advanced their research and technologies a couple of centuries ahead of schedule. BJ of course still has a score to settle with the germans, having seemingly lost his entire squad, so back into the fight he jumps. It’s from then on that The New Order gets to the heart of what you probably came into this game looking for, and that’s huge exciting set pieces and lots of Nazi-killing… and boy, does this game deliver on those fronts. With characters that feel very much alive and moments of adrenaline that hardly felt false, even in the games quieter moments there literally isn’t single instance where I felt any sort of boredom, or that the plot was purposely trying to stall for time.

    Speaking of the action, the gameplay (while admittedly a bit standard-fare), is also dressed up in a way that feels fresh and exciting. Graphically, Wolfenstein is consistently lovely to look at. The environments are breathtaking, the Nazi-shredding kills are occasionally gruesome, and the game is always pulling wildcards and surprises from it’s sleeve to throw at you. Controlling BJ is fluid, fast and easy, though there are admittedly a very limited selection of weapons. Finding gun upgrades and having the option to duel-wield all of them more than make up for the lackluster arsenal, however, and scouring the levels for ammo, health packs, and armor make for the run-and-gun fare particularly intense, especially in it’s latter segments.

 

 

    Wolfenstein: The New Order, while not entirely flawless, is an absolute must buy for anyone looking for a fun and incredibly well-plotted First Person Shooter experience. It’s a game that not only embraces the insane, Nazi-controlled alternate-history hellscape it has created, but embraces it’s it’s predecessors (particularly in the form of an easter egg that may be among the one of the best in any game ever). When all is said and done, it gives a classic series a seriously wonderful foundation in an era of gaming that’s still slowly getting it’s footing.

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Score: 97/100