REVIEW: Wolfenstein The New Order

Wolfenstein: The New Order
First Person Shooter, Action-Adventure
PS4, XB1, PS3, 360, PC

It has been quite a while since I have played a Wolfenstein game. The latest foray into the world takes place 3 years after the adventure found in Wolfenstein (2009). In this alternative history, the Nazis have come up with a lot of new advanced technologies, which led to Germany conquering the world's superpowers. In a last ditch attempt to turn the tide, William "BJ" Blazkowski and Fergus Reid attempt a raid against a weapons labratory when they are captured. Blazkowski manages to escape but is put into an asylum for many years before snapping out of his vegetative state when a group of Nazis come to the hospital seeking patients for their experiments and he kills the interlopers and escapes with Anya, the young nurse from the facility to join up with the resistance.


Gameplay

The gameplay is quite easy to pick up the weapons wheel allows you to set two of your weapons for quick switches. and the game plays well. I only noticed a few glitches here and there that never deterred from the enjoyment of the game. While the alternative history may be something we haven't seen before, the Nazis controlling nearly the entire planet, the shooter aspect is something everyone will have seen before. The weapons may be slightly different but the overall gameplay is familiar territory.  However, where Wolfenstein excels is the visceral appeal of killing the bad guys. Many of the weapons have a duel-wielding option that to me was unnecessary. Although it did come in handy a few times early in the game when faced with two robots coming at you at the same time.

While Wolfenstein the New Order is a shooter, many of the levels depend upon stealth and the use of knives in order to succeed and progress through the level. I enjoyed stalking my enemies through rooms and corridors and once I had my hands on a silenced pistol, I continued to hunt them and take them apart one at a time leaving the rest unaware of their partner's fate. Hunting down commanders to avoid them calling in reinforcements helps avoid future conflicts. But I would have liked to have had better AI on the soldiers. Sometime they would encounter a body and not even bother to go on alert but continue to walk their patrol route making it easy for me to pick them off.

One thing that I did enjoy was how you unlock new abilities. By completing mini-games through the levels you unlock new abilities. The skills also have to be unlocked in order, which adds a nice layer of depth to the challenges.

The levels are all unique and subtly show Germany's dominance in the world. There is a space station, a junk yard and a capital city to name a few all adding to the mythology of this alternative history.

One of the downsides to the game is the very old feel of having to press 'X' every time you encounter health, ammo, and armor. It would have been nice to just walk over it and collect it. There is also a lack of NPCs, making the world seem a little less populated. There are a few points in the game where the learning curve is high. At one point you enter a sewer system and are confronted by an armored dog and there is no clue as to what you are suppose to do; attack it or run away. Only after trial and error do you find out the answer. There are a few situations like this that bothered me a little.



Graphics

While the game deals with a very dreary subject matter, the game is quite colorful. The swimming aspect and alternative history allow for some spectacular visuals. I found myself immersed into the world that MachineGames created. The glitches I mentioned above can be found throughout the game but do not deter from the game. They are minor nuisances that are so small that they are only jarring for a second.

Audio

The music is rather subtle. As I write this review, I can't even really recall much of the soundtrack. I did enjoy the voice acting. From Fergus' Irish humor to the sounds of the guns. They all added to a fairly fantastic game.

Verdict

Wolfenstein doesn't break new ground with their latest in the franchise but it is one of the better games currently out there. The PS4 and Xbox One are flooded with shooters looking to get your money and Wolfenstein The New Order is the one that should be getting it. It is a fun game dealing with some truly ugly events that really occurred. The fact that MachineGames can bring them to light without repercussions speaks loudly to how well they blended history with their alternative vision. The fact that nearly every level has at least two ways to approach it gives it some replay ability. The lack of multiplayer  is blessing as it is a great single player campaign.

Overall 8/10