Wolfenstein: The New Order

It’s no secret that the last Wolfenstein game fell flat on its arsch, it was shallow, lazy, and contained minimal engagement and replay value.

I’ve kept this game on the shelf for a while, and I’ve only come around to playing it out of obligation to the naïve loyalty I had for this series until its predecessor ruined my faith in it. As I thought I’d be stuck in that similar quagmire of disappointment from that experience.

Holy scheiße was I wrong...

This was far, oh so far from the case with Wolfenstein: The New Order.

Delivering a completely different, far darker narrative than any of its predecessors, the New Order puts you once again in the shoes of good ol’ B.J. Blazkowicz as you’ve never seen him before.

This game, right off the bat is a very personal experience, you’re not the agent you remember from previous games, but a dog of war just trudging through the harsh motions of World War II. The allies are mounting a full on assault on Deaths Head headquarters, and victory seems a hair within reach. And it is then that the game takes a very grim turn and you’re thrown into the thrums of defeat.

I won’t give too much away, the game is gripping and story rich with a lot of side lore to keep you good and engaged. As is custom with Wolfenstein since its birth, the curious scrounger finds the greatest rewards in the most unlikely of places and is giving plenty of unlockable goodies and gamemodes to keep that replay value nice and high.

You get a very, VERY minute RPG like talent tree that grants you perks towards a certain tree depending on how you’ve been playing (Stealth, assault, or explosively assault), but these three are all entirely within your reach to unlock far before you’ve completed the game. And it doesn’t put you at an overpowered disadvantage, either (BELIEVE me, I’ve played this on Uber difficulty and have been humbled beyond humbling).

The loadout is standard for the most part, with your pistols, assault rifles, sniper rifles, and explosives (Which, aside from the latter, are all dual wieldable, if that’s your thing). But I can genuinely say that the monotony of the weaponary didn’t bother me in the least bit as I was pretty engrossed in the story.

With dialogue and story to rival Dishonored and, dare I say it, Bioshock, Wolfenstein delivers some of the harshest realities and heart thumping experiences SINCE the aforementioned two for me.

The game is grim and definitely not a run of the mill FPS, it’s challenging for those who want it to be, and heart wrenching for those invested, easily one of the best games I’ve played in a very long time.