This review was originally posted in May, 2014.
The Nazi soldier up ahead is oblivious. He has no idea that I, William J Blazkowicz – professional Nazi killer, at your service – am sneaking up behind him, throwing knife in hand and very bad thoughts in mind. I toss my blade at his head. Unfortunately, my aim sucks, so I stick him square in the calf. Doesn’t matter; he instantly dies, and his chest explodes as though he swallowed a grenade. His buddies round the corner – I sprint at them full speed, an automatic shotgun in each hand, and slide across the floor, peppering their bodies with 12-gauge shells. They turn to mush. Wolfenstein: The New Order makes no pretense about what kind of game it is. This is an oldschool shooter with modern trappings, one that effectively combines B-movie cheesiness with some truly great set-piece moments. Most importantly, it’s damn fun to play.
As William “B.J.” Blazkowicz, you’re humanity’s last hope against the Nazi War Machine. In The New Order’s timeline, the Nazis won World War 2 thanks to their uber-advanced technology (by which I mean robot dogs and mechs that shoot laser cannons), forcing the entire world to surrender to their might. Vast scores of people have been kidnapped to populate labor camps, where they’re forced to create supplies and munitions for the Nazi cause. The few civilians that remain follow curfews and do as they’re told, lest they face the wrath of Aryan brutality and experimentation. The plot is explored further in the standalone expansion – you can read our Wolfenstein: The Old Blood review here – but New Order succeeds in depicting a world consumed by fear, providing reason enough for Blazkowicz to join a group of resistance fighters, mount a counter-offensive, and do what he does best. Er, you know what that is, right?
New Order is a shooter that revels in the act of shooting and, for the most part, gunning down thousands of Nazis through the nine-hour campaign is great fun. Enemies explode in over-the-top gore. Heads disintegrate, limbs vaporize, and blood sprays in fountains from their bodies, making it quite clear that B.J.’s weapons aren’t shooting blanks. I’m not a psychopath (I swear!), but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit it all looks particularly spectacular on the PS4 and Xbox One.
B.J. has a diverse arsenal, and all of the guns are fun to shoot. Even though you have access to almost every weapon in the game by the halfway mark, gradual upgrades, like scopes and rocket launcher attachments, are teased out at a consistent pace to ensure you don’t get bored of firing the same ones over and over. Of course, you can dual wield just about any weapon in the game, which comes with a tradeoff; yes, blasting a mech with two auto shotties at once means doling out more damage, but it also means you’ll blow through precious ammo very quickly, and have to deal with significantly more recoil.
