Wolfenstein the New Order Review: Painting the Town Red

In movies there are classic colossal action heroes such as Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Willis. In video games we also have our fair share of testosterone built men of action including Duke Nukem, Doom Guy and Bj Blazkowicz. Just like the revival of the original action heroes seen in the Expendables it seems Bj Blazkowicz is back to show the video game industry how to really clear a room out of enemies; only leaving stains of blood where soldiers of hatred once stood.

 

The story is surprisingly deep, taking place in a very interesting alternative time line where the Nazis won the war and are now ruling the earth with an iron fist. After awaking up from a 14 year coma this definitely doesn’t sit well with Blazkowicz and with the resistance you strive to take down the Nazis, obliterating any enemy forces that have the unfortunate luck of being in your sight.

 

And when I say obliterate, I mean obliterate. This game definitely earns its 18 rating with gallons of blood protruding from every hit you deal on your menacing and sometimes gigantic foes. From intense gun battles to literally gut wrenching knife attacks; your impact on the world around you is completely unfiltered and presented on screen. However the gore is not only used for the players satisfaction when landing a well placed head shot but is also used to the stories benefit; showing the shocking horrors the enemy commits creating some really emotional scenes within the campaign giving you a really strong motivation to progress through the game.

 

Also helping make the games story so intriguing are the notes that you can find and read throughout the game that give a lot of back-story to the events happening around you, giving the story a unique richness that many other story driven shooters lack.

 

But sadly some of the cut scenes did not capitalise on the great story at hand as some had weirdly fast and disjointed paces and also seemed to stop abruptly; cutting music off or finishing just before the last syllable of the closing line of the scene. This often took me out of the experience, reminding me that I was just playing a game instead of the absorbed state I was in only moments ago.

 

Also what hindered the development of the very interesting story on hand for me was the annoyingly whispered inter-monologue that Blazkowicz has throughout the game; either mid mission to tell the player Blazkowicz feelings on the present situation or to give more depth to a montage in a cut scene. This ruined most character and sometimes even story development for me because not only could I not fully hear what was being said over the background music but also because of the constant, unchanging tone of his voice in these sequences he always seemed emotionless, simply citing the words instead of the usual great performance by the voice actor that was on show throughout the rest of the cut scenes where he was participating in actual dialogue.

 

What made this even more frustrating was that the characters of the game were actually very interesting too. From the Resistance members who had all hope ripped from them but are still fighting the good fight for the future that should have been, to the especially evil and poisonous enemies that you have to come face to face to, to vanquish in the hopes of making the world a slightly better place. Thankfully the game recognises the potential in the characters and when playing the sections in the safe house you get the unique opportunity to interact and build a deeper connection to the characters, helping to create a real emotional back bone to the story that really helps to drive you through the game, especially in the intense closing chapters of the game.

 

These sections of the game allowed for a great pace in the campaign, giving you down time so the game wasn’t just a constant stream of screaming gun fire and destruction which if non stop could have become tiresome after the first few hours of gameplay. What also helped this pace was the option for a stealth approach. While this technique is not as fleshed out as the core gun play it gives a good amount of variety and challenge to sequences in the game that could have just been a straight forward gun fight. Also this play style when correctly executed brings a great amount of pride to the player as you are able to take down a whole room of Nazis without having to shoot a single bullet.

 

However when the bullets do start to fire, ricocheting off the wall you are taking cover by, the game really does shine and become an absolute blast. The core gameplay is not only enjoyable to use but is fluent as well; allowing you to take full control of the badass Blazkowicz as you peer around corners, slide into cover and even dual wield massive weapons of destruction. All this makes you feel like a real badass as you brutally cut down you enemies, a la the terminator.

 

What makes this combat even more fun was the awesome assortment of weapons on offer. As Blazkowicz you can carry many weapons including a rifle that doubles as a laser cannon, a grenade launching assault rifle, and a futuristic laser gun, just to name a few. These innovative weapons give you a wealth of ways to take down your enemies and make you really feel like a badass as you wield these powerful and destructive machines.

 

And they are definitely needed as this game is one of the hardest games I have played in a while. Unlike other shooters where you can blunder in and out of a room relatively unscathed in Wolfenstein you need to be aware of every enemy in the room, where their weak points are, and where a secondary point of cover is. This is definitely a game where you can become very frustrated very quickly with almost no regenerating health and enemy types that take a lot to take down but only need one or two shots on you for the very frequently appearing game animation and screen to activate; there is a lot to overcome to free the world from this tyranny but I enjoyed and welcomed the challenge.

 

However through all the good points of the gameplay being offered up in this game there are some cons to the experience. Such as the system incorporated to picking up items and ammo. To do this you need to press square when over the object. However in a heated battle, with no time to stop and fastly diminishing supplies I would often miss where the ammo was and have to go back. Then I would still miss the item and start reloading as both functions are mapped to the same button; costing me precious time on the battlefield and leaving me open to any grievous attack the enemy forces want to lay on me. This irritating system that left me simply spamming the square button and picking up anything I found even if irrelevant could have easily been avoided by incorporating the common system in use now of automatic pick-ups seen in many games such as the Call of Duty franchise.

 

On the other hand another strength of this game is the great locals you get to shoot, explode, and generally create havoc through. There is a tremendous variety to the places your mission to take down the Nazi rule takes you, without spoiling any of the various mission locations there are some really hard hitting locations but also fantastical terrains that just shout out awesome. And all show heavy aspects of a unique Nazi alternate history style that make them even more interesting. However while on the majority the locals are a joy to tread through some can become a bit samey with each corridor feeling like the last with the same dull lighting, thankfully this is only on a few of the missions and especially isn’t a problem in the final hours of the campaign.

 

Now while the design is sometimes astonishing the graphics are never on a level to fully or impressively convey this. While the aesthetics of the game are in no way bad, with character models and animations being well devised and fluid, nothing really made my eyes pop or invite me to stop and just simply gaze out at a visually spectacular world like in past games such as Killzone Shadow Fall. Instead some of the sceneries seemed flat and some textures seemed basic and not in-depth making the world less immersive and encapsulating. This may be because this game both comes out on the last generation and this one, meaning the developer may have had to scale back for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions making this compromise completely understandable. However it is definitely a more noticeable con on the newer systems when stacked up against the other shooters available on the market.

 

Overall this is a very fun, brutal, and interesting shooter with a lot more depth and challenge than I ever expected but gladly welcomed with the exception of a few minor problems that only slightly hinder the experience.

 

Wolfenstein the New Order = 7/10

 

You can also see my articles on http://www.wildcube.co.uk/web/ along with a cool Internet radio station, playing music from the 80's to today.