Wolfenstein: The New Order Review – Return to Classic FPS

Can you believe it’s been 22 years since Wolfenstein 3D came out? Gaming has come a long way since. Truthfully, in some cases it’s devolved into an uphill battle to see how far developers can push graphics. In most cases it’s about bringing virtual worlds to life, beyond what a gamer in 1992 would have ever imagined possible. For Wolfenstein‘s Nazi-infested world, that’s a horrifying thought.

Wolfenstein: The New Order‘s premise is simple: it’s a game about you being an ultimate badass, a man who shrugs off bullet wounds, following up with an unloading of frustration on not-so-innocent Nazi soldiers. And boy is it fun.

In the beginning of your adventure Hitler’s Third Reich conquers planet Earth in devastating fashion. They perform unspeakable things to those around you, and as a player you get to see some of it up close and personal. As you might imagine, it’s easy to find desire within yourself to suffer through the struggle of being an underdog with impossible odds just to see if you have any chance at toppling the regime, or at least making a few officers pay for what they have done.

William “B.J” Blazkowicz is endlessly vengeful throughout the journey. To say that The New Order is brutal would be an understatement. Some of the material here will make you flinch, and maybe even close your eyes. The Nazis are sold as a group with no boundaries, and early on you meet one individual who clearly doesn’t have any respect for human life. The narrative has a sluggish start, but after the prologue it feels like it keeps getting better as you progress through the journey. It presents clear objectives and makes your role in the world feel impactful. Yes, you’ll spend some time doing small tasks including fetch quests, but for the most part it stays on-point with you operating as a highly adept killing machine.

Although you’re in control of a lot of the action, the game’s story is progressed through a plentiful share of pre-rendered cutscenes. These cutscenes are well made but have the unfortunate effect of taking big set pieces out of your hands, something most AAA games in the modern era try desperately to avoid. The New Order isn’t necessarily trying to follow modern standards, though. It’s a game that more than anything feels like an homage to classic FPS titles. The cutscenes are only one small example. Remember the days when you’d walk into a room full of health packs and ammunition? That’s here in full force. Your health recharges but only ever so slightly.

As with the best of classic FPS games, the pacing is great. Wolfenstein might come across as an in-your-face shoot-em-up, but The New Order rewards you for being methodical. It’s a challenging game when played on Medium or higher, and therefore you’d be best off leaning how to use B.J.’s stealth skills to knock out enemies when the opportunity arises. Equipped with throwing knives, takedowns, and a silenced handgun, you can get through most of the game’s combat areas by being sneaky. Also, there are Commanders present in many of the enemy-infested areas which call in reinforcements when alerted. At the very least you should snipe or takedown these guys before they have a chance to make your job harder.

The weapon variety is good, not great. The game manages to present all of the basics, including an assault rifle, sniper rifle (which is underpowered), grenades, and even the ability to dual wield shotguns. A couple of these weapons evolve throughout the journey to be more potent. With no superpowers present and no weapon customization system, you’re at the mercy of a fun to use but rather simple weapon arsenal to do the dirty work.