REVIEW: Wolfenstein: The New Order

I have a love-hate relationship with id Software. I love Doom, despised Rage, and had never played Wolfenstein. My first exposure to Wolfenstein as a series came from Raven’s Activision published Wolfenstein on the 360, and VERDAMMT, was it a disappointment. Featuring poor graphics and sketchy combat, it was almost as if Wolfenstein had become nothing more than a brand upon which to make a quick buck with cut corners development.

It was with this Duke Nukem Forever inspired cynicism that I glazed over Wolfenstein: The New Order’s announcement.

I am reviewing this game as someone with Jewish heritage, whose family were affected by the holocaust, and as someone who has no previous investment in the Wolfenstein franchise. I expected this game to be a £45 beta key for Doom and a weeks’ worth of bitter resentment.

I hate to admit being wrong, on this I was dead wrong.

Pitting Wolfenstein as a single player title against “most pre-ordered game in history” Watch Dogs was a ballsy (and perhaps foolish) move by publisher Bethesda. I previously had no intention of buying this game, but after discovering that the pre-order included a beta key for my beloved Doom, I figured “fuck it.”

Wolfenstein: The New Order is an incredible game, which achieves things I previously thought impossible in a single player first person shooter. I already feel saddened as it may join its under-appreciated single player FPS brethren like Metro and Singularity, relegated to a bargain bin or a flash sale in Watch Dogs quadruple-A wake.

Setting & Story

The game puts you in control of BJ Blazkowicz, an American war-hero who looks to be the combination of 90s Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis, and it was with him that the surprises started. His deceptive muscle-head appearance is underlined with genuine humanity, as seen in BJ’s interactions with other characters and moving internal monologues.

The game features cut-scenes from the third person, rendered at 30 fps as opposed to the buttery smooth in-game 60 fps. It’s unknown whether this is a design choice or not, and initially I found it to be jarring, but the cinematic authenticity in 30 fps cannot be denied in application.

The characters in the central plot are well written, complimented with heartfelt acting and expressive facial design. It wasn’t long before my cynicism had been replaced with immersion.

A game set in a Nazi annexed Europe could have (perhaps quite literally) become be a minefield of stereotypes, insensitivity and ignorance. Nazi symbolism is banned in Germany, and Nazi memorabilia is banned in many other European countries, including the UK– despite otherwise having near ubiquitous freedom for expression. Machine Games treat all subject matters involved with a great deal of respect and caution, in a way that is moving, and more than occasionally terrifying. BJ frequently reflects on events throughout the game by way of internal monologue, and many, if not all, of his reflections could apply to the real atrocities of WW2. The lack of specificity in some monologues had me drawing comparisons with the real events of WW2. It reminds you that some of this shit really did happen (without the giant robots and cyborg dogs), it’s a powerful motivator for violent Nazi murder mayhem. It also creates an unusual sense of attachment with the usually silent FPS protagonist– I truly felt as though I was guiding a human being through the horrors of the game, rather than a muscle bound American action-hero stereotype (which is ironically what some of the characters accuse him of being during the game.)

Wolfenstein paints a bleak world in which Nazi’s rule, decorating towns red with swastika banners and innocent blood. Harrowing news recordings of stories of Nazi abuse and pillage, intermixed with propaganda pieces come across with eerie authenticity. There are a few Easter eggs and more light hearted references scattered around, which provide a ray of charm amidst all the misery.

Without going in to too much detail, the game impresses with mature treatments of subjects like survivor’s guilt, PTSD, sex, authoritative complicity and the hypocrisy of fascism. The villains draw a disturbing parallel to the mentality and actions of real Nazis, you’ll find little in them to sympathise with. Wolfenstein delivers a dark vision of what a Nazi victorious post-WW2 world could have looked like (ignoring the giant robots and cyborg dogs). The authenticity converges well with the science fiction elements, taking the edge off what would otherwise be perhaps a little too real. Giant robots, cyborg dogs, experimental aberrations, insane weapons, physics bending archaeological artefacts and Tesla-everything keep the setting fun, without sacrificing the seriousness of the story content. If Quentin Tarantino made a video game, it’s fair to say it would look similar to Wolfenstein: The New Order.

Graphics & Sound

Firstly, I need to say that for me, Wolfenstein has the best title screen track of all time. It’s like a mash up of Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Will Haven and My Bloody Valentine, AMAZING.
Music plays a big part during the game in creating tension and adding majesty to more difficult fire fights. The titular music fades in during a particularly epic Matrix reminiscent hallway shoot-out, a nice touch which caused me to grin inanely. Every gun sounds crisp and unique, and carving the meat from Nazi bones with mega weapons never sounded so good.

On the graphical side of things, Wolfenstein does have some issues. 1080p is the new buzzword, but it does little to hide the last-gen textures and uninspiring effects. Rage suffered from similar issues, textures are compressed “dynamically” in the id Tech engine, but sometimes they simply don’t decompress, leaving you with scenes that look like they belong on the first Xbox, let alone 360 or Xbox One. Another explanation might be a desire to achieve a solid 60 frames per second, sacrificing texture quality in the process. Differences like this are down to personal preference more than likely, I would have preferred a higher fidelity 30 fps game.

Cut scenes and facial expressions look incredible however but they may have been pre-rendered on a higher end PC and then ported in to the game, which might go towards explaining the gargantuan 70 gb installation required for this game. The graphics on a technical level might not be anything to write home about, but more positively, the art direction and design is top notch. From the enemy robots and abominations, Blazkowics’ impressive arsenal of boom-sticks and the levels themselves have an attention to detail that oozes forethought. Engines can be improved, and fidelity is something Machine Games can build on in any potential sequel.

Gameplay

I have to say, I haven’t enjoyed an FPS single player campaign this much since the original Bioshock. Every gun has great weight and devastating effect, each standing out in certain situations. Many weapons have alternate fire modes and produce spectacular cascades of gore when applied properly. In keeping with my Tarantino comparisons, this game is violent, gratuitously so, but they’re Nazis, so it’s cool right? From the satisfying head-popping sniper rifle to the silent knife throwing kills, wanton slaughter hasn’t felt this good since Fallout 3.

There are more than enough enemy types to keep the killing fresh. Regular Nazis, armoured Nazis, robo-cyborg-Nazis, rocket launcher wielding Nazis, robo-cyborg-dog Nazis, robot-reinforcement-summoning-commander-Nazis, etcetera. All require different tactics and weaponry for optimal success. I played the game through on hard-mode which provided a solid challenge, but the lack of regenerating health combined with a checkpoint save system occasionally meant I started upon a difficult stretch without any health. After several deaths became frustrating, and required me to exploit the idiosyncrasies in the A.I. to proceed. There are plenty of health packs and armour packs scattered around levels to help with this, and additional secret power ups would allow you to maintain a larger pool of health. The game could’ve definitely benefitted from a PC style quick-save system to avoid spawning you against impossible odds half dead. Another tremendous gripe I had was the games flawed radial menu and weapon switching system. The Y button switches you back to your previous most recent weapon, even if that weapon has no ammo. The radial menu is far too over sensitive, and doesn’t pause the gameplay. Combine these two factors with an army of armoured bullet sponges with suicidally aggressive A.I. and the games radial menu may just kill you more than anything else. Speaking of which, the A.I. can be quite erratic. Enemies get frequently confused with pathing issues on more complex terrain, unable to cope with some of Machine Games’ more intricate level design.

Wolfenstein also features a stealth system, a play style I found myself enjoying the most in the harder difficulties. You can sneak up on enemies to perform grim executions, in addition to using silenced pistol headshots or even throwing knives, all of which were incredibly satisfying to pull off. Once again however, the stealth system trips over the engine, as the OS-level A.I. doesn’t seem to properly comply with the play style. Enemies would all too often ignore dead bodies and continue following a set patrol path and ignore miss placed bullets flying past their noses. I recall having a similar experience with Rage’s stealth which used the same engine.

Level design is a big plus in this game, most areas provide for many different styles of play. Air ducts can be entered, allowing you to sneak up on unsuspecting enemies or occasionally bypass them all together. All the weaponry required to go balls-to-the-wall-gorefest-guns-blazing are present should that be preferred. The game has you traverse various settings, from FPS staples to the pleasantly unique. I never once felt bored, as Machine Games is careful to change the pace and tone of your experience as you progress, introducing new situations all the way to the end of the game.

Wolfenstein is a ray of hope in a genre that seems to feel more comfortable simulating corridor shooting galleries rather than put the effort in to create a more believable, more immersive setting and I sorely hope we’ll see more of this as the gen progresses.

The single player campaign is hefty, clocking in at around 12-15 hours (on hard mode). I felt as though I’d gotten my monies worth and then some, perhaps inspired in part by my low expectations. There are collectibles to gather and mementos to unlock if that’s your bag, as well as an alternate timeline inspired by a decision you make early on in the game, although I’m not sure how different this makes the game over all.

Machine Games identified the strengths of the franchise and the genre and put them to task, crafting an inspiring experience that leaves you hungering for more, but never dissatisfied. The game has some issues, but I believe they are more to do with the engine itself, as the weird A.I. and texture compression were issues I had experienced previously with id Software’s Rage.

Wolfenstein: The New Order is a powerful defence of the single player FPS. For me it will join the ranks of Bioshock and Metro Last Light as a top first person cinematic experience, and is probably the best Nazi killin’ game ever made.