Wolfenstein 3D, more than 20 years ago revolutionized the first person shooter genre and made a standard that even modern day shooters try to live up to. Kick-ass soundtrack, intense action and intuitive mechanics made Wolfesntein 3D the classic that it’s considered to be. Wolfenstein: The New Order tries to live up to that name, but with its own, specific twist.
This installment is way more story driven than any other Wolfenstein before, “The New Order” puts its own twist on the story telling and the way that the game is played. In the game, Nazi’s won WW2 so you are naturally, trying to sabotage, destroy, kill and in any way possible disturb the Nazi operations and diminish their influence. You take control of BJ Blazkowicz – an American, fighting German Nazi’s and saving the world from their evil doings. The story of the game shines with some great narratives, fun dialogue and bizarre events and Nazi experiments/actions that are seen by the character during the game just adding to the whole package. The game lets you feel powerful – grabbing two rifles, one in each hand and plowing down tens of enemies can feel very empowering and extremely fun.
The detail in this game goes far beyond the story, which the developer Machine games, put a lot of effort in to. True Nazi atrocities committed during the war are highlighted and some bizarre over-the top experiments are added to paint a more realistic picture of the alternate future. Guns, maps, characters also boast lots of detail in them. Facial expressions, clothing, individual character movement – all feel unique and different. Robots are a lot more threatening when they come at you full speed, but they aren’t as agile or as quick to change position as a real human being thus becoming more vulnerable towards your attacks. A fun feature inside Wolfenstein: The New Order, is a numeric health bar, the game offers a HUD which displays your health and armor, from 0 to 100. You don’t see many games have that anymore so it’s a nice touch.
There are a few frustrating things. Sometimes the cutscenes take too long (particularly the first cutscene), shooting is a bit lackluster, AI intelligence. The back and bones of the game are solid, but these small issues will harm the fluidity of your gaming experience.
Overall, Wolfenstein: The New Order is a great great game with some minor flaws that can get a bit tedious, but loyal fans of the series and new gamers all are going to find something likeable about the new Wolfenstein.